American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-10-04
VOL. NNIII.
4 QUEER STORY.

water on such IA day, welding ones roc
with benumbed fingers, shows one an en-
thusiastic lover of the gentle art. AnI
such | was, and for once had got hold q
a good time. The water was just tn,
right height and color. the wind was cold
but not too cold tor the trout, and blow
ing down the stream, raising a nice cur
on the water, not strong enough to pre-
vent my throwing my fly right in til,
teeth of it. | was fishing up the rive
from Glandwy, and every other cast | rost
Il good fish, and generally brought then
to basket. After > o'clock they woult
rise no more, and whip rs | would coulC
not stir IA fin.
| was not sorry, then, when the mex
reach of the river brought me in full view
of the handsome stone bridge which sepa
rated the V, and which l knew car
lied the highroad which led to the marlle
town of Llanwyn. Thereupon l emerged
on dry land, and taking Off my wadine
boots and tlinging them over my shoulder
lit my pipe and started at a smart pace or
my way to Llanwyn. l was very tired bu
very happy, for l had good basket o.
fish, and my opportunities of fishing be
ing rare | appreciated my luck accord
ingly. After walking about mile, the
gloom of evening drawing on, and tho
hills seeming to close in upon me in nys
FERROUS shadows, heard behind me The
beat of hoofs and the rattle of wheels, anG
presently there overlook me a spanking
mare, drawing dog-cart, wherein was
seated a iiolly-looking man. with IA broad
good-humored face, wearing brown
great-coat- He pulled the mare up SHARP
and shouted out:
IF you are going to Llanwyn I'll give
you a liftr'
Nothing 10th, / scrambled into the dog
cart, whilst the mare executed a pas sem
on her hind legs, and away we went. We
were soon at Llanwyn, a neutral-tinted
Welsh village, consisting of long street
of novels, il big hotel, the Prince Level
lyn, ijutting out into the middle thereof &
rugged little church, dozen public
houses, and half dozen dissenting chap
els. At the Prince Llewellyn my fricnd
pulled up.
Come and have some beer The homo
brewed is capital. Dau glassiaa da c,orto
Annie darling" to the pretty Cambriar
waitress. The beer was really good; We
drank TO our respective healths, after the
kindly Celtic fashion, and struck up /;
friendship cemented by two other glasse.
of 'curao.'
Weagreed to dine together al six and while
my friend, whose name | found was Rob
erts, went to transact his business, | tool
a stroll around the town and called upon
the local fiy-maker, fisherman and barber
to talk over the fishing and lay in stock
of flies. | found myself AT six, with al
excellent appetite, at the Prince Llewel
lyn. Mr.. Roberts was punctual, and We
did justice TO the brOiled trout, saddle Of
Welsh mutton, and grilled chicken, which
formed our repast, washed down by IA
nous hOme-brewed ale. Dinner finished
there being no other guests in the coffee
room, we lit our pipes, brewed some
whisky punch, and began to talk of fish
over the fire.
Roberts, found, was thorough fisher
man and naturalist. and keen sports
man. We discussed the merits of ''all the
streams which flow in Wales, of all tn,
flies which cock their tails" till we fin
ished sundry tumblers of punch.
''Do you KNOW" said Roberts, "you re
mind me of friend of mine so much
really thought you were the very mar
his name was-Capt. Potts-he was
London man; perhaps you know him =
No, don't know him." l said.
"Ah, he was one of the Pottses who
smashed SO badly some years ago" sait
my friend, indulging with loud guflav
at the joke.
You remember the great failure o
Potts, Pumpkin IL Cope, the bankers, o
course? Well, this Potts was a nephew
of old Potts-Sir Tim Potts, you know
knew nothing of this, though, when
first saw young Potts. / met him on the
river, fishing. He was Il good fisherman
but you Englishmen don't often do mucl
on our rivers, and then go home and sa,
there are no fish in them. Well, | CAV,
him some wrinkles, which he profited by
and we got to be fast friends. We'v,
nothing to do, so draw up to the fire anc
I'll tell you about Potts and myself
always call it the merciful dealings o
Providence with John Roberts. You
shall hear:
lived in this town some ten years ago
| had just married, and lately commenced
practice as Il solicitor. l had been arti
cled here, spending the last year of m,
time in London with Fudge & Frizzleum
of Lincoln's Inn, Il great chanccry ant
agency firm, as | dare say you know. My
old master, John Jones, was just dead
and | thought there was a good opening
here. But | didn't find business come il
so fast. You see there isn't much litiga
ton in these parts. The big swells are il
the hands oftheir London lawyers, and if
poor freeholder wants Il bit of money, he'll
borrow it on a note of hand from a neigh
Dor, without a regular mortgage deed ant
1t isn't often that any land changes hands
and then | was the only lawyer in tn,
place, and that was against me. Still,
had all there was to be got. l was clerl
to the magistrates, clerk to the Highly way
clerk to the commissioners of this or that
but these things, although they SCUM,
large, don't bring in much. Well, wha
with furnishing my house and office, ant
so on, I'd spent the little money / had got
and had IN borrow moro still I kp.u
should come out right in time, and m,
wife, though young, was capital mana
ger, and would make II crown go as fa- IL
a pound.
However, L was very much pleased
when my eighteenth cousin, Watkin
William Watkins, IA man who had Away
been very friendly to me in naughty
distant sort of way, commended my atten
ton at Wyddham castle He told me
that Her Majesty had insisted on his ac-
cepting the onerous but dignified position
OF High Sheriff of the county, and that he
w. w. w, had graciously determined tC
appoint me his under sheriff He wa
also pleased to invite me to luncheon, ant
among the distinguished party at the cas-
tie l found an acquaintance, Capt Potts
who, with Lady Laura Potts, his wife
was on visit there. Potts was not on,
OF those fellows who are dcviIishly friend
" by riverside, dcuced cold in society
lie came forward at once To- claim nv nc
quaInlance and To introduce me to Lad,
Laura, delightful It'll; woman. Sh,
made Il slave of me at once fof course
subject to my allegiance to my MaryJanel
went home much pleased at M reception
and at the appointment | had received
not that it was worth very much in itself
but it gave me a sort of standing, and wa
an opening.
My relative didn't, however, forget t,
call upon me 10 find two sureties il