, 1873-11-23

| my privacy doen not 90. This is no hart1slip,
however, fer hayo always boon usot to rough
ing IT antl tl,oro is nothing objectionable to inc
9uonters Of village alo.houso. THUS ninokcd
my ppo, md lfBtoned to Or clatted with tho
few o,lstolners a. thoy canlo in from timo to
during tho day; but, Of oourno, as 1t waa whilo
tlloy woro ebsont that my atrango yialtor hnl
appeared, and NJ they know nothing Of Hin
| otherwise, ,thoy could Eiyo no information.
room-.whlol,, was fairly spacious, conatior-
with Two workn,on from tho limeLiilns,
sat tho ill-looktng fellow whom l had
waH gottng lnto,. Nas surprised to 500 him
ttloro, aud asked Of a fisherman closo beside ms
how It WAS this man had not gono OH with his
| craft and her cargo baforc 1t got dark.
bea a proper radical sort o chap, Tint Ralph
Dayner; thorc'a never no KNOWN what 1e'h DO
up to / Homevhilca l,ell go higgelr r!gl1t ono,
and aonswhilos ho II just leave It to Lia lad aud
txo ~ Ut tiuaee md reckon THAT'S What he'a up
| to now. I reckon Tho boy and ono o. orr mon
ull tnko tho Betsy round to IIolmstono Tonight
better than ho would hsue!f and hfH nliHB.'u
radical ho bo'n to hor too aonlow1tlos 6uro-lYl"
| I'm uso8 her ?" suggested.
"Yoa, reckon he doos," wont on tho man
"and sho DO poor sad nort q crotur, too, kind
/
you know, nlr, but little weak in llor heaa like'
and Ihat 4 makes It all tho wozso for hor, don't
Y OF course I could 600 plain1y enough. md Of
| course could now understand tho sounds had
heard from on board tho cutter in tho morning.
Our farther taIk wRs here interrupted by Tho
sound Of wheels stopping at tho door Of tho inn.
followed by tho hurried ontranoo Of two atran-
IN appearance rather like an uppor groom out Of
livery; tho otiicr. alao tall and strong, looked
like doctor. He said, abruptly, "Do any OF
you hero happen to hhvc seon wandering about
fapod man, with beard, drossod in black, and
wonring high has?" IT,.
l instantly replied that certainly had eeen a
person answering this description, and I briefly
leg So 9opea Wthoa aeub
Now look hero" ho added, addressing tho COM
pany generally, who wero OF courAa al attention; !;
:" he is . mailman, and this morning ho cacapea
reward to any ono who s1all bo tho means Of
helping III to secure him. Depoud upon it he ia
not far off, but as 1t is dark, arn afraid wo may
not DO ablo to ind him till tho morning. stll, II
mo and my man. no will go and do what no ean.
He'll DO slowing himsolf away under some barn
or hay-Tick or down on The shore somewhere,
p, pe1hapg,, 81, Can you lot ua have lantoFn or t"o'
Naturally the whole roomful WAS nstir by this
time. Eyory ono volunteered his Hervcos, and
couple OF lanterns being produced, and 1noye
uade towards tho door, THO doctor paused IS ho
warn you Of one thing ho is yery dangerous,
what no call o homioida1 meniac-that is to say,
ho will try to murder. trY TO- atranglo, any body
he gets hold Of who shows tho slightoHt foar Of
nozs; that is why. ho has been ul,ut up. But il
you faco him boldly, look Htraight into his oyo,
md show that you are not afraid Of him, you
will have no moro difficulty in dealing With him
hills; but 4 lo aces you shrink from himlfor M
instant he'll have his fingers in your ueokcloth
before you know where you arc, aud slight aa he
Is, bio Is aa strong rs q lion."
mood not say what flushed through my mind
at this moment. or, how thankful felt for tho
escape had had. Among tho ak or eight efgori
listening faces turned toward tho doctor while
he spoke, thors WAS only ono that grew palo; tls
ono who showed the slightcat sign Of cowardice
This Was Ralph RQayner, tue owner Of the cutter
drew back, unporceivod by everybody but me
with something that was very like ahudlor
Bnnk moodly into Ills CHAIR, and took dccl
draugllt OF tho liquor IN front Of him. wa
| tho last to lenvo tbs room as tho little crowt
wont forth into tho night and left him stil
sitting tloro.
; Having, by tho MD Of q lantern, conducted tl
doctor to tho spot whcro had been slotching
and pointed out tho way tho man had takon whcl
|
, mud to assist farthor in tho exciting search
, | Dayuor had not noyod from his corner in II,
, parlor whom pcarod in, and went to bed ful
Of uncomfortable reflections Upon. the escape
, hnd had from tho clutch OF those long, bony fin
, gors. Had not something urged mo to assum
, an angry, dominant tono toward tho upfortunat
| maaman rs promptly as I did, there is no doun
ho would havo yTeaked hts homieltfal prog,e,nsf ,,
/ sprineiug distance, aud then, like wild beast
would hayo atranglod mo or thrown mo over th
. Cliff. As it wau finding me prepared and roao
luto, he suddenly assumed the fa"ntng tone ent
hypooritical manner which hare understood tt
bo part Of the cunning displayed by those afalcs
, cd with this drcst Of diaeasea.
With 10 small regrot learned next morning
that tho search proved frlitlose, and that th'
hoaring that q 1lan-eating tiger was prowlink
, about tho nolghborhood. md I confess to hav
t ing heaitated abont going on with my work
Yot Icould not vol atiord to lose q day, and Al
, | once, would rely on being able to do so again
Therefore, Keeping sharp lookout, it was no
, long orc 1 WIS onsconced in my old poatlon
and fully ongrosaed with my sketch. As lucl
| would haye it, tho spot was unusually qnio
{ today Tho kilns, though still burning, wer
, not being fed tho Dotsy did not come rouns
from Holmatono and with tho exception nov
i and then Of two Or thrco natives loating about
on tho watch, ns they aaid ' for that theer crack
i chap, as nobody 'cept tho gentleman a-draftin
/ ! Ind olappel oyos on" had tho cliffs and tn
, road ill to myself, just at tho yory time when
could have ohserfully submitted to little com
, pany.
: Late in tho afternoon tho doctor and his man
, both looking weary mud travolatained from thoi
: want of rest md long tramp, paid mo a ahor
visit. Their scouts. they Baid, had failed to fin
any traco Of the fugitive. Indeed, believe th'
doctor was inclined to doubt the statement In,
made, for he oroBs-oxaninod INC again aud agni
7 upon the whole matter. An hour or more pasB
ed tho beach, as far as tho oye could stretch
waB quito deserted, as alao were tho tops Of til
cliffs, along which, from my position, I could SO
, aomo way. The sun was declining, tho thin flu
, Of blue smoke from tho imokiln Eoso prettil
across the little green platoau before mentioned
and the whole cffoct at thls time was ono Of peE
t ionolinoss. Ii lat, however, this was rudel
, broken by tho appearanoo OF Ralph Dayner com
ing down tho road. Ho was far from sober, an
! lurchea and staggered in his gait. Ho asoppo
. now aud thon, and appeared to bo looking "a
! oantly about soaward for Lis vessel. As
t noarod me ho Baid sulkily:
. "D'yc 'appen T ha' seen that thecr boat
D | mino?h -