The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1869-07-29

low lcaf, or has suffered some premature
abatement of his mental and physical fac
ulties. Whether he is really the Mggles-''
Here he was interrupted by "Miggles. O
Miggles. Migglesy! Mig and, in fact, the
whole chorus of Mi2gles in very much the
same key rs it had once before been deliver
ed unto us
We gazed at each other for moment in
some alarm. The Judge, in particular. va
Gated his position quickly as the voice seem
ed to come directly over his shoulder The
cause, however. was soon discovered in a
large magpe who was perched upon shelf
over the fireplace. and who Immediately re
lapsed into a sepulchral silence, which con
traSted singularly with his previous youbil-
ity. IT was undoubtedly his voice which he
had heard in the road and our friend in the
chair was not responsible for the diScourtesv
luba Bill who rc-entered the room after an
unsuccessful search. was 10th to accept the
explanation, and still eyed the helpless sitter
with suspicion. He had found 4 shed in
which he had put up his horses-but he came
back dripping and skeptical Thar aint no
body hui-h him within len mite o the sllanty
and that ar id old skeesicks knows it,
But the faith of the majority proved to be
securely based. Bill had scarcely ceased
growing. before we heard quick step upon
the porch, the trailing of wet skirt the
door vas flung open, and with 4 flash of
White teeth, sparkle of dark eyes. and an
utter absence OF ceremony or dif1idence, a
Young woman entered, shut the door. and
painting leaned back against it,
80, if your please, I'm Mig9eS"
And this was NIiggles. This bright-cyed.
full-throated young woman. whose wet gown
of coarse blue stuff could not hide the beauty
of the feminine curves to which it chung
from the chestnut crown Of whose head
topped by 4 mans oil-skn Soll-wester-to the
little feet and ;tnkles-hidden somewhere in
the recesSeS Of her boys broganS all was
grace-this was NIi@glcS, laughing at Us, too,
in the most airy, frank, of hand manner i'm
aginahlc.
You see, boys" said shc-quitc out of
breath, and holding one little hand against
her side, quite unheeding the speechless dis
comflture of our party, or the complete de-
moralization of Yuba Bill, whose features
had relaxed into IN expression of oratuitouS
and imbecile cheertulneSs-'.Iou see. bows
was morn two miles away when YOU passed
down the road. thought YOU might pull up
here. and so run the whole way, knowing
nobody was home but Jm-,and- I'm
out of breath-and- lets ne out
And here Miggles caught her dripping oil
skin hat from her head with mischievous
twirl that scattered n shower of rain-dropS
over us. attempted to put back her hair
dropped two hair-pinS in the attempt laugh
ed and sat down beside Iuba Bill with her
hands crossed lightly on her lap
The Judge recovered himself first, and cs-
saved an cNtravagant compliment.
IN trouble You for that hair-pin'' said
Mi@@les. gravely. Half 4 dozen hands were
eagerly stretched forward the missing hair
pin was restored to its fair owner: and Mig
giles, crossing the room, looked kecnlv in the
.are Of the invalid. The solemn eyes looked
back at hers, with an expression we had
never seen before. Life and intelligence
seemed to Struggle back into the rugged
face. Miggles laughed agan--it was a
black eyes and white teeth once more toward
This afflicted person s''-hcsi1ateI the
Judge.
jim" said Miggr~
''Your father"
NO"
"Brothcr?"
NO"
.lIuSband9"
NIi@gelS darled a quick. halt-delian glance
at the two lady passengers, who, | had no
ticcd, did not participate in the general
masculine admiration of Ali@"lcS. and said
gravely, NO, its Jim
There was an awkward pause. The lady
passengers moved closer to each other. The
Washoc husband looked ahStracedly at the
fire; and the tall man apparently turned hi>
eyes inward for self-suppor at this emer-
gency. But Miggles's laugh, which was
very infectious, broke the silence. Come,
she said, briskly, you must be hungry
Who'll bear a hand to help me GET tea9'
moments Yuba Bill was engaged like Caliban
in bearing logs for this Miranda the express
man was grinding coffee on the veranda: tc
myself the arduous duty Of slicin@ bacon
was assigned; and the Judge lent each man
his good-humored and volublc counsel. And
when Miggles, assisted by the judy and ou
llibamian "deck passenger" set the table
with all the available crockery, we had be-
come quite joyous, in spite of the rain that
beat against the windows the wind that
Whirled down the chimney, the two ladies
who whispered together in the corner, or the
magpe who uttered 4 satirical and croaking
commentary on their conversation. from his
perch above. In the now bright, blazing fire
we could see that the walls were papercd
with illustrated journals, arranged with fem
mime taste and discrimination. The furniture
was extemporized, and adapted from candle
boxes and packing eases, and covered with
gay calico, or the skin of some animal. The
armchair of the helpless Jim was an mgen-
Gus variation of 4 flour barrel There was
neatness and even Il taste for the picturesque
to be seen in the few details of the long low
room.
The meal was 4 culinary success. But
more, it was Il social trjllmph-chietly, think,
owing to rare fact of Miggles in guiding the
conversation, asking all the questions herself,
yet bearing throughout a tranknesS that re-
jected the idea of any concpalment on her
own part So that we talked of ourselves, of
our prospects, of the journey, Of the weather,
of each other-of everything but our host and
hostess 1t must be confessed that Miggles IS
conversation was never elegant rarely gram
matical, and that of times she used explctives,
the use of which had generally been yielded
to our sex. But they We're delivered with
such lighting up of teeth and eyes, and were
usually followed by 4 laugh-a laugh pecll-
liar to Miggles-so frank and honest that it
seemed to clear the moral atmosphere
Once during the meal, we heard noise
like the rubbing Of a heavy body against the
outer walls of the house. This was shortly
followed by scratching and shifting ut the
door. '.That's Joaquin" said Mi@gles in
reply to ourq questioning glances; "would you
like to see him?" Before we could answer,
she had opened the door and disclosed a
i