Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1869-12-30

equally thrown away upon him, | trie,
stones | heaved at him with all m,
force the largest pebbles I could select
the majority of which he evaded b,
leapiug from side 10 side, and those
which struck him rendered him 50 fiji
rious that believe he would have kill
ed aud ate me if he could, whether
was dressed or not, but he would not
venture into the water after me still
At last, the time drawing on apacc fol
the appointed interview which | had
once looked forward to with such lie,
light and expectation, was fain, in an
agony Of shame and rage, to hide nv.
self in dry ditch in the neighboring
copse, where could zee what took
place without being seen, and there |
covered myself over, like babe in the
wood, with leaves. Presently my Lucy
came down, tlife more carefully
dressed than usual, and looking all
grace and modestyj the dog began to
howl as she drew near; she saw him
and she saw my clothes, and the noion
that ! was drowned Il could see it in
her expressive countenance) flashed up.
on her at once; for one instant she
looked az though about to faint, and
the next she sped OF again to the hotel
with the speed Of a deer. Gracious
heavens. decided upon rescUiny a
portion Of my garments at least, or upon
perishing in the attempt, and rushed
out OF the thicket for the purpose; but
my courage failed me as | neared the
savage animal, and | found myself Gn
some confused and palpitating manncr)
back in my dry ditch again with the
sensation of loss Of blood and pain I;
my retreat had not been ehccted-per
haps, because there was nothing to
cover it-without considerable loss, and
the beast had bitten me severely. |
protest that, from that moment, fright
ful as my position was, it did not move
me so much as the. reflection Of the hon
ors that would be showered down ON
that vile creature l knew that he
would he considered by Lucy and the
rest as SOFT of dog Of Montarg;s, an
afeotion@te and sagacious c. ea;ure,
watching patiently st biz appointed
post for the beloved master thai should
never again return to him. Presently
they all came back, Lucy and her moth
er and all the maid servants from the
inn, besides my fcllow-students and
fishermen with drag-nets, and medi
cal man with blankets and brandy (how
| enyiel the blankets and the brandy)
As ! expected, neither the womens
erica orthe mems labor in vain distress
ed me half SO much as the patting and
caressing of Towser; if she could have
only known when she dropped those
tears upon his cruel nose that there was
a considerable quantity Of human flesh
--my aesh---at that moment lying i'll
his stomach in an undigested state
| could not repress groan Of horror
and Indignation, Hush, hush, said
Lucy, and there was silence, through
which ! could distinctly hear Towser
licking his chops. was desperate by
this time, and hallooed out to my friend
Sanford-' Sanford, and nobody else,
to come into the copse with blanket.
| remember nothing more distinctly.
Immediately peals of laughter, now
now breaking irrepressibly
forth; expressions OF thanktulness, of
Of sympathy beginning-but
never hnished-harSt in upon, as it
were, by foods Of merrilnent; and the
the eternal barking, of that
dog left Killarney that
same evening; Lucy, and the mother
Of Lucy, and my fellow-students, and
the abominable Towser; | left them
for good and all and that WAS how my
engagement Was broken off, and why
there is no Mrs. Peony Flush, conclud,
ed the eurate, who had turned from
to deep carnation, and f.om
that to almost black, during the recital.
l felt for my poor friend deeply, as
many others did to whom | told this
under the seal of secrecy, and who re-
vesled it to their families. In place OF
the religious bookmarkers with Bibles
and crosses and crowns worked on
them, which used to be rained upon
Mr. Flush during the summer months
from anonymous but not altogether un-
known hands, he now received similar
encouraging tokens Of more earthly
character: wreath Of orange flowers,
with Hope on, Hope ever under it, in
floSs silk. and vignette, ON perforated
Of Robert Bruce and the
Spider, with medieval Illumination,
Never despair he was also
by some humorous artist with
the miniature Of dog couchant upon
a heap Of something, and 'Sempey
tidelis underneath. Hi, misfortune,
however, WAS in fair way Of being
forgotten, but for what occurred last
summer, B@nley had never had SO