The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1864-09-22
: The Coast Guardanan,s Tale. !.
Liz lFrom DiekensI Once. d Week.

. r 0ood evening. line night, thls.H tou
.s''Yes, sir,J1-a riiceish sort Of night, Pity
Il Tor us We don't have more of tIem.' fu8
II The scene was on the south coast of Corn
wall, where had retired few days before
the commencement of the long vacation, II
seek short repose from the turmoil ali,
> worry of the law; leaving behind he til,
old time worn buildings of Lincoln's inn
where the old sun-dial, with it's quaint mot
to,* seldom looked at, and still schooner
needed, so perpetually reminded US of thu
frail tenure by which we hold our lives;-
: leaving til, RbaIisters in their gowns anl
wigs, hurriedly passing from courts to con
situations, Cor in other words, from fee tc
fee } the lawyers, in their black dress, ane
with their bundles of papers under their
. arms; and the office boys, with big bags
a stuffed full of--what 1T would bt
hard to enumreate- briefs, cases, opinions
and all other multifarious pariphernala o.
the profession, evidently looking upon them
selves as no mean part of their respective
establishments ! leaving all this busy scene
land only too glad to do SO, to seek little
rest and quiet, in about the quietest part ot
England. | had taken rooms in a little vii
q lage about half a mile from the sea; and
Il the short walks, gradually extended, the
regular hours and the quietness of every
| thing internally and externally was fast
bringing me round again, when the circun,-
stances am about to relate took place .5a
i 1t was a fine moonlight evening, and /
stood gazing out OF my window at the few
strangers still passing up and down the viii
lage street, when a sudden wish came into
my head to take walk long the cliffs by
moon light. had often Thought Of doing
this, wondering what sort of life the Coast
guardsnen had Of it-those men by whom
every inch Of England, so they say, is walk
ed round every night, as they pace up and
down, night after night and year after year !;
and 50 ! resolved, at last, to put my long
tancied scheme into execution. -. e.. ,
bad been sauntering along for about
half mile looking at the blue waves. and
cchhequered here and, there by the sail of
some fishing boat, cleaning siIv er in the
moonlight. and at the long golden track,
| reaching from far away up to the base of
the clitts-the tootpath of the fairies, as
had been told long ago-and peopling it, in
my fancy, with the light spirits of the air,
tripping along in many fantastic maze, on
the gllttering surface, and calling to their
SISTER spirits in the water below, when l
"as Startled BY an approaching footstep, and
looking up, saw a man close to ME, while
thc inviting snelho of short pipe quickly
recalled me from my fancies to the sense of
I ordinary existence. ......
All that L noticed of his dress was that
he had on a rough pilot coat. with a low
hat, While o thick. walking-stick formed his
only apparent weapon of offence and de-
fence In short, il was with him that the
sentences first above written" were ex-
changed. i1N E-.l-el34t Ia- iaID -,....-f-
j soon found that my new acquaintance
was one of that very body of men that had
50 often pondered about; and SO, having
fallen into conversation, [ walked on bit
with him. -a.." a4"9 '1@H.
81 suppose you don't have much to do
now besides walking up and down, do your"
''Why, no, sir. There's not so much do
ing as there used to be, once on time
though l have seen some goings on in my
time-Mind where you are treading, sir"
he exclaimed. ''The cliff is not very safe
along the edge, and if it gave way you
would be smashed on the rocks below, like
a poor fellow knew was some time ago.
God rest his SOUL" sss. .s.-.
what Of him?" said ''Did any one
fall over here?"
'Why, no, sir, He didn't exactly fall
over and it wasn't over this cliff neither
but the one we shall come to next. Nv
beat ends there, and, as | am bit before
my time, | expect my mate won't be up for
ten minutes OF SO; aud if you like to hear
the tale, though it's not SO much after all, l
will tell you on the spot where it happened
Indeed, to say the truth, | shall be very
glad OF your company, for its whishtt
spot, and, often as have waited there, l am
always glad to turn my back on it again"
We soon reached the bay by the light of
the moon. After looking along the cliff, to |
see if there were any signs Of his companion
and not finding any, he sat down on a stone |
and lighted cigar, and, taking my place
beside him, he began ...'
ut is not SO many years ago. sir, eight |
or nine, maybe, when young gentleman
came down here, sas it might be you, to
spend month or so-our town being q |
quiet sort of place, ike. He wasn't a bad
looking sort of fellow, and had small and
white hands. Indeed, most people would |
have called him handsome, though there was
always kind of look about his mouth
didn't like to see. He was staying up at
the Miners Arms, and there soon got tales
about the town, Of the way in which he and |
two or three other wild young fellows about
here, as there are everywhere, used to go on;
the sitting up at nights, the drinking and
card playing and the,wild freaks they used
to be at. But as he always had plenty of
money, and paid his bill every week. Git was
by his own w1sh) Polmarthen, the landlord,
sir, never cared to say anything to him. He
was close man was PoImarthen, and no
doubt he made plenty of money ont of his
customer; but it would have been better
for him if he had never let Mr.. Henden I'M
der his roof His daughter, pretty Kate
Polmarthen as she was always called, was
the prettiest Egirl for miles about, q see you
guess what's coming) and many was the
glass he had emptied in her honor, and
many young man would have given much
to have stood well in her graces; but tho
she was a bit of firt, there was none that
had ever found favor in her eyes but Ralph
1regarva-a likely young fellow as ever
was seen. Folks often wondered how it was
that old Polmarthen ever allowed his daugh-
ter to engage herself to young Tregarva,
who was only a fisherman but although
the old man loved money much, he loved bis
daughter more; and though / hear there
was some trouble about it, yet, in the end,
he gave way to her in this. 1t was not long
however, after Mr.. Henden came down here
that change seemed to come over poor Kate.
She would sit silent for hours, and if Ralph
came to try and cheer her up, she would
speak sharply and harshly to him, and then
burst into flood of tears, and
beg his pardon, and kiss him, and tell him
that he was the dearest and best of men, and
that she was not worthy of him. | was
great friend of bir aDd Gathered most of
this from him at the time, poor fellow. | &
was sitting in my cottage, one day, towards
the evening, thinking it would be time to
be going off on my beat, when young IRE !
garva burst in, with face as white as a