HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1888-8-30, Page 6THE THREAD OF LIF3
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SUNSEUNE AND SHAWJ.
CHAPTER NVIIL—Coatrricanoos. ever, the depth of her distress to dream of
Elsie spent: a full fortnight: or even more, a Pressing even lIi sympathy 4poe06- her at 00
at Lowestoft; and before the vacated her i itiopportnue a moment, If ever the right.
hoepitablequartera he the Retie' rooms,it wee i tiena ter hint came at all, it could .come, he
quite uuderttocd between them alltact. she knew, only In the retaoto future,
was to follow out the aimple plat; of aetioll At the end of the pier, Elie halted the
so hastily sketched by Edie to Warrens chair, and made the chairman wheel Et as.
Elaie's fano desire now waatoescape ob$eiva, she directed, exactly opposite one of the
tion. Eyes teemed to peer at her from every open gapsin the barrier of woodwork that
corner. She wanted to fly for ever freta . ran round it, Then she raised herself up
Hugh—from that Reale 'alio bad at last aowith difficulty from her .seat She was
ttnconseicizsly revealed to aer, tke inrtaost ; holding something tight in her small right
depths of his own solace .and eelf•evntred, : hand; she had drawn it that moment from
nature; and slrewanted, to beowed the elide- the folds, of her 1104°44It was a packet'of
tine necessity for explaining to Others what ; papers, tied carefully in a snot with seine
only the three Retia at present knew --the heavy obfect. Warren Relf, observing eau
way she had +eonne to leave W biseetrand. 00141y from behind, telt' sere in his own
Hungering for sympathy, as vren=en s?cili sfaauheavy ebjeet by il+a curvet it,
banger in a great sorrow, alae had opened to described as it wheeled through the air
Elie, bit by bit, z be deodgates of her grief, when Elsie threw it. For Elsie had risen
and told piteenneel the whole of leer palrafaaal 1 now, pale and red by turns, rind was ding -
and pitiable story. In her own tided, Elsie irg it out with fovea teh energy in a Weep
w as tree twee the reproach of au attempt at
wolf-mutder; and Elie alud hdra 1',vlf accept
ed in good faith the peer heart-brcten gyre•
acceaxut of her adventure; het sine scold
never hope that tee cater world could he in-
duced to believe rut her ee er;eel itioerence-
She dreaded the reds road taints and: bespi-
d Tena aedi ienuetzdsea of ou Lister i;e,; sty ;
she sbrank frorki exresiing bereelf to iia engem
er ita eyeepetby, ebcb°rest (drily dis-
tasteful to her delicate nature- She
was threatened with the pinery_of a
eee wtpaper peragrepia. Hugh MI srngeee
lie of girded bee thaw lila eeay ehenee
0 escape, SIle accepted le wilitegly, With
+sat efterthoeg'st. All she tented Iii her
trouble wee to latch her posts" hea.I where
new would Cad it; and Ildtae 1,elf a plan
enabled her to do Oat* in the meet and
safest peeslble Planner.
I ee ea', rlre didn't Wild) to mastic Wigifred
utttrapgy. Winifred Roved her calish:Hugh.
Site eaw that now ; the recopuise41 ,it dfxs-
xiutatly,
She wondered elle ;-ido't aeell it
Plainly long before, '%iuifred hod utters
been se full of Hugh; bed tanked ea usrroy
-dltseaticzss bad seemed so deeply icltereete4
In all that concerned ilia Aud Hush had
offered his heart to Winifred—be the tame
mere or less, he had et tensa offered it. Why
should she with to wreck Winifred'a life, ae
that creel, selfish, ambit/0m men lead wreaks
ed her ower ! Site couldn't tell the whole
teeth neve without expoeilag klu,gh. And
ter Wiatit"rue'e sale at, leaee She weft eat
expcsehlm, end blight Wittifrea'a dream at.
the serY menseste et the drat: full teed:eq.
For W ifred ,,;Ake! Nay, rater for Lie
owns. For lit *pito of everything, elle still
loved him. Slat: ce del :sever forgive bialy.
Orif she didn't lava the Hugh *bet renally
was, she loved ae least the memory of the
]^Ensu *het was not ;;and the;: never bad
been, Fcr hie dent sake the cauld:sever ex.
pose that other base ereiatute'that bete hie
dance and wore hie features. Fer her own
love's sake, she could never be trey bon:. For
her womanly consistency, for her geese of
identity. she couldn't tura round and tell
the truth about bins. To acquiesce iiia lie
was wrong perhaps ; tut to tell the truth.
would have bees utore than humeu.
"1 wish," she cried in ber agony to ]:die,
"1 could go away and hide myself for ever
in Canada or Auetralfa or somewhere like
that—where he would never know 1 wets
roily Wog."
Edie stroked her smooth black hair with
a gentle hand, ; she bid views of her own el.
ready, bad Edie. "It's a far cry to Loh
Awe, darling,' shell ermuredaoftly. "" Better
come with mother Hud me to San Remo."
" Sue Remo ;" Elsie echoed. "'Why
San Demo ?°
And then Edie explained to her in brief
outline that she and her mother went every
winter to the Rivieratekia h with
them a
few delicate English gids of consumptive
tendency, partly to educate, but more still
to escape the bitter I,oglish Chriatrnae.
They hired a villa—tho same every year—
on a slope of the hills, and ongaged a rest-
dent governess to accompany them. But as
chance would have it, their last governess
had;juet gond off, In the nick of time, to get
married 10 her faithful bank clerk at Brix-
ton ; so here was en opporunity for mutual
accommodation. As Ed.e put the thing,
Elsie might almost have supposed, were elle
so minded, sho would be doing Mte, Reif an
exceptional favour by accepting the post
and accompanying them to Italy. And to
say the truth, a Girton graduate who had
taken highhonours at Cambridge was cer-
tainly a degree or two better than anything
the delicate girls of consumptive tendency
could reasonably have expected to obtain
at San Remo. But none the leaa the offer
was a generous one, kindly meant ;
and Elsie accepted it trust as it was intended.
It was a fair exchange of mutual services.
She mast earn her own livelihood wherever
she went ; trouble, however deep, has al-
ways that special aggravation and that
special consolation for penniless people;
and in no other house corld she possibly
have earned it without a reference or testi-
monial from her last employers. The Bells
needed no suob awkward introduction.
This arrangement suited both parties ad-
mirably; and poor heart•brokon Elsie, in
her present shattered condition of nerves,
was glad enough to accept her new friends'
kind hospitality at Lowestoft for the pre-
sent, till she could fly with them at last,
early in October, from this desecrated Eng-
land and from the chance of running up
against Hugh Messinger.
Her whole existence summed itself np now
in the one wish to escape Hugh. He thought
her diad. She hoped in her heart he might
never again discover she was living.
On the very first day when she dared to
venture out in a Bath -chair muffled and
veiled, and in a new black dress—lest any
one perchance should happen to recogniz:
her—She asked to be wheeled to the Lowes-
toftpier, and Edie, who accompanied her
out on that sad first ride, walked slowly
by her side in sympathetic silence. War-
ren Relf followed her too, but at a safe dis-
tance ; he could not think of obtruding as
yet upon her shame and grief ; but still
he could not wholly deny himself either the
modest pleasure of watching her from afar
unseen and unsrapeoted. Warren had hard-
ly so much as caught a glimpse of Elsie
since that night on the Mud. Turtle ; but
Elsie's gentleness and the profundity of her
sorrow had touched him deeply. He began
indeed to suspect he was really in love wish
her; and perhaps his suspicion was not en-
tirely baseless. He knew too well, how -
ani; Arch far, far into the water. It gruel;
the aurfaee With a dolt thud—the beavy
thud of a stone or a metallic body. In a
Second it bad snarl: like lead to the bottom,
and Elrie, berating into a silent flood of
team, had mrdered the eheirnaan to take her
bane nabs..
Warren P,elf, ekul►tios hastily down the
Stella behind that lead to the tidal platform
rudder the pier, had no doubt at all in bis
ossa mind what the object wan that Eeie.
had flung with such eery_ force into
alae deep water; for haat night en the
.11h4 -Trails as he tried to restore the in-
feasible girl to a raising gleam ellife avid
cetcecientouees, two distance articles bad
£alien, one by cite, ht the hurry..et the tnP-
riaer?t, 014 of her louts and drippau bosom.
Ile WAN not Miens, but he couldn't belp
obaervisg thea:. The first was a bundle
el water-logged lettere iR at hand which it
was impoastble for hint not to recognise.
The second wan a pretty little lads'a watch,
in gold and enamel, with a neat ineeription.
engraved :on a afield on the beck, dd E, t .
froth Ti. d," [n Lembardio lettere. It
wasn't; [rival Jtelf'a fault it be knew then
who Ii, M. was; ward It wasa't his .fault if
be knew now that Elsie Challonerhad form,
wily renounced Hugh Messinger', love,- by
flinging Iris lettere and preseute bodily auto
the deep sea, where uo one could ever ptee-
eibly recover them.
They had burnt into tier Heart, bvfug there
in her barioan, She weird curt' there ,,boot
treat her bruised aril. wounded Heart iso
leuger. Aud now ou title very drat day
Haat she had veutureld mit. she lauded her
love and ail that beloved to it in tlta't deeps
where Hatt Mas h:ger Itstuaelf had sent
her.
Cut even aa, Reuther bard. They were
Hugh's letters—those predece nuroir laved
letters. She went home that rnerning cry
log bitterly, and she cried till night, Dike
one who mourns her lout husband er her
chi drat. They were all she had left of
Hugh seed • of her day-dtearn. Ildie knew
exactly what she had done, but avoided the
vain effort tocomfort oreonsoleher. r Cont.
fort—comfort scorned of devils 1" Belie
web woman enough to know she could do
nothing. She only held her new friend's
hand tight clasped in here, and cried Wide
her in mute sisterly aympathy.
It was about a week Inter that Hugh
Messinger, goaded by remorse, and unable.
any longer to endure the saspellse et hears
bag nothing:further directly or indirectly,
as to Eleies fate, set out aae morning In
a dogcart from. Whitestraud, and drove
along the coast with. Ilia own thoughts. in a
bluing eurnligbt, as far ea Aldeburgh, There
the road abruptly atop'. No highway spans
the ridge of beach beyond ; the remainder
of the distance to the Low Lirht at Orford -
nen muat be accomplished on foot, along a
Ant bank that stretches for miles between
river, t c
eco and ri r
untroddcn d retkle ss
,
ono
, an
bare plank waste of nand and shingle. The
ruthless ata was pouring down upon it in
full force as Hugh Ideasfager began his soli-
tary tram along that uneven road at the
ldartell° Tower, jnat south of Aldeburgh.'
The more usual coarse is to sail by sea ; and
Hugh might indeed have hired a boat et
Sleughden Quay if ho dared; but ho feared"
to bo recognized as having come from
Whitestrand to make iequiries about the
unclaimed body; for to rouse suspicion
would be doubly unwise: he felt like amnr.
derer, and he considered himself one by im-
plication already. If other people grew to
suspect that .Elsie was drowned, it would
go hard but they would think as ill of him.
as he thought of himself in his bitterest
momenta.
For, horrible to relate, all this time, with
that burden of agony and angnieh and sus -
penile weighing down his soul like a mass
of lead, he had had to play as best be
might, every night and morning, at
the ardour of young love with that girl
Winifred. He had had to imitate with hates
fol skill the wantonness of youth and the',
ecstasy of the happily betrothed lover. Be
had to wear a mask of pleasure on his pinch-
ed face while his heart within was full of
bitterness, as he cried to himself more than
once in hia reckless agony. After such un-
natural restraint, reaction was inevitable.
It became a delight to him to get away for
once from that grim comedy, in which he
acted his part with so mnoh apparent ease,
and to face the genuine tragedy of his miser-
able life, alone and undisturbed with his own
remorsetul thoughts for a few short hours or
so. He looked upon that fierce tramp in the
eye of the nun, trudging ever on over those
baking stones, and through that barren spit
of sand and shingle, to some extent in the
light of a self-imposed penance—a penance,
and yet a splendid indulgence as well ; for
here there was no one to watch orobserve
him. Here he could let the tears trickle
down his face unreproved, and no longer
pretend to believe himself hippy. Here
there was no Winifred to tease him
with her love. He had sold his own soul
for a few wretched acres of stagnant salt
marsh : he could.gloat now at his ease over
his hateful bargain ; he ,could call 'himself
` Fool' at tie top of his voice ; he could groan
and sigh and be as sad as night, no man hin-
dering him. It•was an orgy of remorse, and
he gave way to it with wild orgiastic fer-
vour.
He plodded, plodded, plodded, ever on,
stumbling wearily over that endless shingle,
thirsty and footsore, mile after mile, : yet
glad to be relieved for a while from the
strain of his long hypocrisy, and to let the
tears flow easily and naturally one after the
ether down hid parched cheek. Truly he
walked in the pati of bitterness and be the
bond of iniquity,t. The ironwaa entering ins
to his own sous ; and yet be hugged ir. The
gloom of that barren stretch of water -worn
pebbles, the weird and widespread deaela
tion of the landscape, tbefierce • glare of the
rokhday Eno that poured down mercilessly
on hia aching head, all chimed in congenial,
lywith hie presentbrooding end melancho-
ly hnmonr, and gave strength to the poig-
nsncy of hie retneme aid regret. lie could
torture himself • to the hone an these
small matters, for dear Fltie's take; he
could do penance, .but not restitution. Ile
couldn't. even so tell out the troth before
the whole world, or right the two women
he bad cruelly wronged, by an open can-
feseien,
,At last, after mile upon mile of weary
staggering, he reached .the Low Light, -and
sat down, exhausted, on the barn shingle
just outside the lighthouse-keener'e quer
ter°,. Strangers are rare at Ofordneae; and
a, morose -looking man, sourced
by eolfttide,
soen presented himself at the door to Stare
at the new -copier;.
" Tramped it ?" he asked curtly with an
inquiring glance along the shingle beach. •
-" Ye—o, tromped it,'• Hngb answered with
a weary aigb, and relapsed into alienee, too
utterly tired to think of how be had best set
aeont the prosecution of lila delieste inquiry,
POW that he had pot there,
The Lean ,toad With bit band on hie hip,
and watched the stra.iager long and close„
with frank mute curiosity„ at. one watchea a
wild beast in its csge et A menagerie, At
last he broke the eeleiuu *Renee Ones more
with the elle inkleisitive word, " Why V
"Amesefaent,' Hash enewered, catebing
the u an'e laconic mtannar to• the echo.
For twenty minutes they tallied on in this
brief di_ejointed Soartoo faabiep,, with goon
den and atttwer ats to the life at Offordnese
tossed to and fro lila a ()pick belt between
them, till at last Hugh temehed at if by ac-
eidlent, but with auptenit skill, upon the
Esti itraotgnettiouef provisioning lighthouses.
Trinity Housa steatn•cotter" the man
replied to hia sheet suggested orrerryy, with
a abielong jerk of his ;send to seathward.
• Twice a month. Veryfele grub. Biecu t
an' pone an' tinned meets an' arch lute,"
" tf;ttr empleyeeeu the ctrtttr'e men,"
Hugh i.uterpoaed quietly, r' hlgat age a dW
Of life in their way aouietia .es.
The rru nodded. "alr' death, too," be
eeteuted with uueoaap;oloisiug hrevity,
Wrecks*."
"An' wires'."
" C,orgaea I"
"Ab, corpses,1
Ilona of 'too,"
" Here '1"
" Well, innnekinfleff., Aa the mirth nide,
moony. Alit with the tide, Cutter** mu,
tuna one wally a week or two ago, es it
might be Saturday. R'ght over yonder, by
the groyne, to witdward,
" eller
"Not this time--•gid—young woutan.°
"Where did she come from?' Hugh
esZel eagerly, yet eappareeeiree Crit +eager.
nese in his bee and vale taw well too he teas
airy
"How abould I knew:" the frau answer-
ed with something very like a*lingo "They
don't orgy their mimeo au' addeeares writ-
ten on their foreheads, es 11 they were ves,
dela. Lowestoft, Whitescrend, S'outhwold,
Aldeburgh—might 'a beenany on 'ern."
Hush continued hitiuquirles with breath -
!eta interest a few minutes longer ; then he
asked again in a trembling voice t "Any
jewelry en. her:"
The man eyed biro suapieloualy askance.
Detective in dleguire, or what ne wonder.
ed. "Ask the cutter's man,".hedrawled out
*lowly, After.a long pause.. "'Taint likely,
if there was any jewelry ona corpse, he'd
leave it about her for the coroner to claim,
till he'd brought her up here, is it ;''
The =ewer cog aaun otediloodoflight'
on the aeafaringview of the treaanre•trovo
of corpora, for which Hugh bad hardly before
been prepared in hia awn ailed. That would
acronnt ear her
notbeing recognised. Did
they hold an inquest?' he ventured to ask'
nervously,
The .Ilgilthouse-man nodded. 'But what's
the gond?--no evidence,' ho continued, 'Not'
identified. They mostly ain't, theso here
drowndod bodies. Jury brought it in
"Found drowndod." Convenient verdict—
saves a eight of trouble."
" Where do you bury them 5" Hugh oohed,
hardly ably to control bin emotion.
The man waved h'is hand with a, careless
dash towards a sandy patch just beyond. the
High Light. "Over' yonder," he answered,
' There's shiploads of 'em yonder. Easy
digging --easier 'an the shingle. We plant.
fad the crew of a Hamburg brigantine
there in a lump last winter. Went ashore
on the Oaze Sands. All panda drownded—
about a baker's dozen of 'em. Coroner cornea
over by boat from Orford an' alto upon' em
here on the spot, so you may term it.
That' consecrated ground. Bishop ran
down and said his prayers aver it. A eorpee
couldn't lie better or more confortabler, if ie
comes to that, in Kemal Green Simmet-
e�He laughed low to himself at bit own
grim wit ; and Hugh, unable to conceal his
disgust, walked off alone, as if idly strolling
in a solitary mood, towards the desolate
graveyard. The lighthouse -man went bank,
rolling a quid in hia bulged cheek, to his
monotonous avocations. Hugh stumbled
over the sand with blinded eyes and tot-
tering feet till he reached the plot with its
little group of rude mounds. There was
mound far newer and fresher than all the
rest, and a wooden label stood at its head
with a number roughly scrawled on it in wet
paint—" 240." His heart failed and sink
within him. So die was la?. grave 1—
E'sie'a grave 1 Elais, Elsie, poor deso-
late, abandoned, :heart -broken Elsie.—He
took off bis hat in reverent remorse as
he stood by its side. 0 heaven, how he
longed to be dead there with her 1 Should
he fling himself off the top of the lighthouse
now ? Should he cut his throat beside her
nameless grave? Should he drown himself
with Elsie on 'that hipeless • stretchof wild
coast ? Or should helive on still, a miser-
able, a retch ed, sell -condemned coward,
to pay the penalty of lis orueltyand his base-
ness through years of agony ?
Elsie's grave! If oily he could be sure it
was really Elsie's 1 Ha wished he could. In
time, then, he might venture to put up a
headstone aith just het initials -those sacred'
initials. But no ; be dared not. And per-
haps after all, it mightnot be Elsie. Corpses
name up here often and often. Had they
not buried whole shipbads together, as the
lighthouse -man assures him, after a terrible
tempest ?
He atood there lona, bareheaded in the
sun. His remorse was gnawing the very
le
A
We but of him. He was rooted taa the spot.
1 ndAt le h e
Elsie hold him suet boa nRk h.
roused himself, and with *terrible effort re-
turned to the lighthouse. " Where did you
say this last body came up'.'" he asked the
man in ae careless a voice as he could easily
Master,
The man eyed him sharp and hard. "Yon
seen precious anxious about that there youug
woman," he anewered coldly. " She floated
alongside by the groyne over. yonder. Tide
throwed her up_ That's where they mostly
come ashore f rem L,weetof a or Whiteetrand.
Current. aweepa 'ein, right along the coast
till they reset the Hens then it throws em
op by the groyne as. reg Far as one o'clock,
There a a cross eurrent there We that as
makes the point and. the sand;bank,"
lived altered, He knew fell well he
was rousine suspicion.;; yet he couldn't re-
frain for all that from gratifying bit eager
and burning desire to know all be could
OM poor martyred Alaie, He dared not
ask what had became of the clothes, mneh
at he longed to learn, hat he wandered away
slowly, step after step, to the side of the
groyne. Ila furtleer fao--e war eheltc ed ky
heaptd.ap abinglefrom thelighthouse man's
e ye. Bush sat dawn in the shade,; clese
under the timber Wilts, and looked around
him along the beach where Prole bad
been washed ashore, • it lifeless bard
harden. Something yellow glittered on the
sande hard by. As the inn caught it, it at-
rraoted for it second his er]eual attention by
its golden shimmering, His heart come up
whit a hotrod lute bit month, Ho lineae it
-=lee knew it -.-he knew it in adult. It was
E"aWa wtrtotb @ EbrWt i aE' lsie'r 1 The watela
tie himself had given—years and gears ago
-no ; six weeha linea only—as ,to 6irtinday
present—to poor dear deal. Bide.
Then Elsie woo dead 1 He wan vans of it
now. No need ter further dengeroaanee-
ttonin . It war Valet( rto hide he;
had 'oat been gentling. Velli ley busied
there hoped the shadow et a doubt, aa.•
kalewn and dithouonre d. It WAS D♦laio'a
grave and Elates warteh. Whet peon for
hops or for fear any lottger i
It wan Bite'. watch, hot rolled by the cur-
rent
urrent from iruweatof; pier, at •the lighthouse. •
turas had tightly told him was tteunl, and
044 ashore, everything elao wan. Always
eaest, by, the ride of theggrrooyase where the:
stream in the at timed.hairply outward at
t
the extrente ceetern nioet point of Suti'eik.
IIe picked it up with tremulous llogere art
kfesed it tenderly ; then he slipped it nlidab-
rorved into bait breasat-packet, close to bis
heart.-Eisio'a watelt, land began his returns
journey with as iehing bosom, over triose
Dummied.. ot baro nitches, away !sack to Aldeberga.
The beaaala arenled toner atub drearier than
befere. The orgy el resuwafe heel puled
away uew,audl the ceoluees of utter derpafr
lied gime over ieeterd of it. Il.alf.u;ay
eft. he sect down At last, wearier thou ever,
en the tang pebble ridge, and gaud %lee
more with awlmmiag a es at lira,. visible
token of Riiie s doom. Hope was dead in •
hie heart new. Horror and agony breaded
saver bit tool. The world without was dull
and drew; -the world witin was a tett,.
peat tat pasaiaa. He would freely have Riven
alt. he'.poerelaw, d titatnietnent to he dead end
isrwsled in one grave wzth Elsie.
At that Sante instant at the Low Light tbo'
cutter's mon, come ,riereass In, au open boat
from Orford, was talking careles aiy to the
uuderliuic at the lighthouse,
"How s things with you?'" he asked with
a mesh,
" Pretty :Moil alike, and that atodgy,"
the ether answered grimly. " How's '.
yours?"
" Well, we've tracked down that there
body.," the Trinity.Ilonereman said casually;
"the gel"a, I mean, as. I picked up on the
nate ; alt' after all • my trouble Rom, you.'
wonlin't ballkvo it, but, hang it all, there
ain't never it penny on it.
Fieteher of Saltoun.
The celebrated Fletcher of Saltoun, who
distinguished himself so remarkably by hie
politicel hoetility to the tyranny of the last
two princes ,,f the house of Stuart, by hie
zeal for the Revolntionunder King FPiltiam,
and by hie opposition to the legielatve union
between England and Scotland, by Which
the separate Importance of the latter was
for ever lost, and its prosperity.. natal*,
standing, wonderf ,Wily promoted,was the
principal proprietor of a large district in
lfaddingtonbhire, in which are situated the
village,, of Saltoun, East and }Fest. When
Air Fletcher saw the union fully eetablished,
and his own political career at a close, he
Appear', to have d'u. eoted his active spirit
too the improvement e£ hie country in the
useful arts. Accordingly the Scotch owe to
him the. fanners and the mill for making pot
or hulledbariey, Having resided a consider-
able time in Holland, along with other British,
malcontents, before the Bsvolution, be had,
obtained there the two instrnn?ents already
mentioned; and at a littera period of his life
he contrived to import them to Ha mon
native oauntry. With this view, in 1710 he
took James Meikle, a. millwright in his neigh,
bourhood, to Holland. Mr .Meikle went to
,Amsterdam, and Mr Fletcher took up. his
residence at the plague. The correspond-
ence between them is said to be still in ex..
ieteuee; and frons thence it appears that the
iron work of the barley -milt was purchased
in, Holland. An the D"Itch were always ex-
treacly jealous of the exportation or Intro-
danetiota tet,. foreign countries of any of their
manufactures or oatrittrents, hlr Meikle is
said to have been under the necessity or
disguising bion as a menial eerv:slt of hie
employer"a lady, and is that character ob-
tained per::i .sioal to see the tnatrnoents
which he wearied to imitate by attendin
the lady on pretended visite of curiosity.
Mr Meikle, on his rdtalrn to Salteen, erected as
barley-tntbl there, :noel made eked' cold the
instrtiiuent celled the fanners. The barley
mill bed c4uatent en4'.tivtnent, null.. Ssltoun
barley wan written upon ailment every petty
shop in ttsaScottish.village,,
"Not" the lighthouse -man murmured
interrogatively.
"No, not a fardeu," the fellow Dill res.
ponded in a disconsolate voice. "Wy
should there be, neither ? That'e'ow I put
it. 'Tain't it nob's. Tuna out sho warn't
nobody. after all, but one, a'those 'ereo
light.o'-loves down, yonder at Lowestoft,
?duet 'a been a aaflor'e Poll, I take it.
Throweed 'ereeif in oil Lowestoft pier ono
dark night, might be three weeks gone or
night be ,a fortnight, on account of a alter-
cation she'd 'a bin'avin with it young man
as sho teas keopin' company with.—Never
aeon a more promisin' nor a more disappin-'
tin' corpse in my horn days. Wen I pekoe
'er up, nays I to Jim—" Jim," says 1, as
confident as a ehurchwurding, "yon may
take yoar davy on .it 'boa a nob, this
gal, by the mere look o' 'er, 'au there's
money on the body."—Wy, 'er dress
alone would 'a made anyone take 'er for
a gonu-wine lady. An' does it turn out ?
A bad lot ! Just the pariah pay for 'er, an'
that in Suffolk. If it'adn't bin for a article
or two in the way of rings as fell off 'er fin -
gore, in the manner o' apeakin', an' dropped
as I may say into a 'meet man's pocket as 'a
WOO it a carryin"er in to take 'er to the mor-
tuary—wy,it do seem probable,it'e my belief
ae that there 'oneat man might 'a bin out
a ahillin' or so i:"'is private accounts throneh
the interest he'd 'e took in that there worth-
less an' unprincipled young woman.—
Corpses may look out for theireelvos in
future as far as I'm concerned. I've 'ad too
much of them ; they're more bother'n they're
worth. That's about the long an' short of
it."
(Ta EE coNTINDED.)
News from the Skeane river relates that
the troubles there are not so bad as it was
feared they would be. The constable who
shot the Indian is to be tried for manslaugh-
ter, and as a result the hostiles are said to
be satisfied. While this information is
brought down by a trader, the special con-
stables are working their way np the river
and " C" Battery is encamped at Fort
Simpson awaiting orders to proceed. It is
to be hoped that the affair may prove nothing
but a scare. When over, it will be well for
the Government to relieve the Indiana of
any grievance they may be labouring under.
This is a great year tor eclipses. Four
have already taken place, and another one
—a partial eclipse of the sun invisible in
America —is due on Wednesday next. Of
those that are past, two were total eclipses
of the moon and two partial eclipses of the
sun. The former took place on January
28 and July 22 rotpeotively, and were both
visible here; the latter took place February
11 and July 9 respectively, and were both
invisible here. Oa the 9th inst. the earth
will plunge into a meteoric zone, and " fall-
ing stars" ought to be more numerous
than usual. The most brilliant part of the
display will probably occur on the evening
of the 10th,
Al Boating SAW,
Wrr.'te,nt,l',lie SI, r;rancfr, Jr
i 7,(Miy oerr Me $el."
>rY t A, *MUMS, railcars.
When the vernal days are dale
And tie saltry sonueer Pisa,
Its lanCCucrorer nature brings.--
Then o;rne shady cool retreat
From the t. tty a stere and heat.
liatli health a_d lieau'ing la it's wings
Chetttg
(Treble) We aro exiling glad nitric,
Oho) Wo ars,silica glad and fere. Wo aro sellecg
fled eel fere
f eorbl \l a arosallieg, salters, € til"",og. sanding. ea.
:ca
stall and free,
rl asst We jrekr:;riay; ,radars, 'OUZOldccpl; Dat].
Ah"t:s
n: -.t the barlead hraSa..-
In it. da; t. tha t,, elrstu -.
Can latah the t.`.;.; abVs that brta'lhe a> d b alas
Weary tar.di!dratfeeble will
4',177 Lith bit ita;perfd .t slant
Butte's sdendraut gifts to prat euro,
Fn. wkere l:Alto S:. Francis Pact,
SRweruriiaeat by ferret d skies—
In as cwir eittire en its beeT:tr,,
Neel the *Interline asap:e treev,—
raa'd ba' (col refreshing' Orme—
We $eia with the linnets to o;ir *haat.
here "St. Lawrence" lint i l green;
Blends tivttb "r eat: r'd° mirky ebeeo,
White away through oleo Cesare"'ttdes:en t, --
Where it plus " U -f o.t sn'," tine
And .tonelloyele'sIslet divide,
Till" 'er la^_rrl `ua=Sa tthemunienilvdfriecia.
Bore—In fetefwl dava of ehf—
Alre Retiottlon wrathful roll'd,—
Loyal eons conserved the ?latlee'a fa'e,
And uprcared " t.frn;rarry'e Cairn"
—On the " lI'Aate.teirrlr:f D iri'a" 801u8n
To express their devotion to the state.
Nu—refreshed—our neturosings,
TIP. with songs, the welkin rings,
And. the 1. c—etnbowered in Its green—
Oives==for body, mind and heart—
Added strength to do Ilfe's part.
Tram the sweet cnehautmtnis of the scene.
rt a
(nota--F.seh line in the chorus !e repeated four
times, a -d if a number of voices can join in, the
beauty of the chores can be heightinet by each part
ravine' the wording,"
A Sweet Story.
LC8OU araaorcei
Once 1 thought her looks were haughty,
And her love was growiragcald,
And her smiles were faint and weary ;
And hor faith was los'ng hold.
Then erin;'nd slighted her
hunkd
And Ise*reed all her mows,
Till she faded, droop'd and pio'd.
We would always snarl tsgether,
And then go with aching heart
Sighing sore for one another,
Tonne solitude apart.
Tilt a nobler lore came o'er me.
And I sought her lone retreat ;
Where our wild impassion'd story.
Ended most divinely sweet.
Boy -Like.
Rr OtOROs COOPER.
From early dawn he roamed about
Withlances inquisitorial,
And in the house, likewise without,
He left some sad memorial.
No ono could tell, from those mild eyes.
What his remote intention was;
Ile loved to waylay and surpri'e,
And startling his invention was.
A violin he broke. in fun.
And afterward its brother flute ;
To see what made the tune in one,
And also what made the other toot.
The sawdust in the dolly packed
For him a wild attraction had ;
A watch be could not leave intact;
From this groat satisfaction bad. .
He dug, to see how grasses grew,
A bicycle he took apart -
Folks locked up all their books—they knew
He loved to take a book apart.
A drum had wondrous charms for him
To see Just where the noise came out;
With him around, the chance was slim
That unbroke any tot s came out.
But as he prowled about one day,
With hungry curiosity,
And near the cradle chanced to stray,
Hs shook it with velocity.
Packed off to bed ere he could sup,
His lips agentle sigh earn. from ;
Because he stirred the baby up
To find out whet a the cry came from 1
" You must lead quite a pastoral life,"
said the woman to the tramp, "roaming,
over the country in this beautiful weather.'
"Rather more of a pasture•al life,, madam,"
replied the tramp, sadly ; " I slept in the.
open air with eight cows last night."
li