St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-08-18
I, I, OUR. BET. ).

I s'Boat, gentlemen? IT will do you i,,, . i
deal Of good, Mr. Fred and you too, Mr.!
Wood, '' said old Dan, coming across a,c the
beach to where We were lying " 4" '"' ~
= Il can't 50, today answered, Wood: ri
have a confounded engagement. Shall you
ID, Astley?' ,.-.,.- .t, " H.: ." 2.',.' -,
yes, thint so, said, s. locking at ihe
sea, which just stirred by . slight breeze,
rippled and danced in the sunlight. :: 49,
'*AllI right. then. I shall have TO- bolt
in minute: What. an awful row there Is
This morning. ...,...,: =, ~
''The; beach is very full, sir,'' said Dan {;
sand see, you are in the middle of tn
crowd - Z u
We were not far from the battling m, ma
chimes; and on every side Of us were
groups Of people, laughing, talking, :tlirt-
iinlg=:::all ,supremslyy merry, and not over
careful about modulating, the; tones of;,heir
voices The man with the guitar appear
ed to be the only person on the whole
BEACH who. was not making a noise, He,
poor fellow, had broken one of the strings
of his instrument, and was sitting hy2l,im-
self, disconscola1ely, trying, to mend It. A
family of foreign minstrels had settled
themselves in front of the lapidary's shop,
and the: eldest boy was singing, an Italian
song, doing his utmost to make himself
heard. He was,,1 own, singing under diff.
ficulties. The laughter Of the bath eris
and3the buzz Of the takers hardly con-
duced to render his, voice the more audible
while, the old bells of St.. Augustinc's 5
church on the cliff above were ringing a
loud wedding peal. '''. : - .''S'''' .'''' =
"In the middle 'of the internal regions, /
should say. Ilnever heard such Il horrid
Babel in my life,'' mnttered Wood, as he
sthlked off, and went to the boat. ....;
u Expected that you would come, Mi.
Fred said old Dan. He always called
me MIR. Fred. We had been great friends
ever since he gave me my first lessons in
rowing, when I wasa very little fellow.
believe took to him then wonderfully !;
and since that time he had never seemed to
me to have changed nor to have grown
older. He always was, as far back as
could remember, the same sturdy, broad
shouldered man, with the same bronzed
ia sc, and the Same clear. Keen, gray eye.
He had been for several years on board, a
man of-war, but he was not a great talker
on any subject, and never, L believe, spoke
of his younger days: A ~superannuated,
half-witted veteran, who lived IN the town,
declared that he was with Dan Baker On
board H. NJ. s.. Etna. But the veteran
knet4 hothing about, DAMS history, and
Dan himself never told it to any one
There was something III It he evidently
wished to conceal, and the odd name Of the
boat, the Faithless Maid, was the cnly
ground on which curious people could
build. He was, in spite of his taciturnity,
a great favorite with US young fellows
We had christened him Cato; he seemed, to
AAsO sum q AAAuACu " tuV kItat hO-
man censor: He was so unyielding and
exact; so frugal in his diet, never drink
ing anything but water, eating very little,
and never smoking. He always gave the
impression, when he spoke, that he had a
vast amount Of knowledge in him, but
which he was unwilling to impart to others.
R:e talked very slowly, bringing out each
word with the greatest deliberation, as
though he chewed and digested it well
mentally before ' e.. pttaering TERI i: But he was a
good boatman, and was much sought after
BY the, people who were accustomed to
make use Of! the pleasure boats, at Gl;agate.
t'Strange scenes in these boats some
times, Mr.. Fred" the old fellow said sud
denly. after he had pulled for. some min
utes withput speaking. T. .s1ss1 @ Il: 4 - = Il:
E1',.Ah, ! suppose SOL answered careless
". and without thinking what said. Ny
thoughts were just then turned M upon aibet
s'yf sxEl=