Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1873-07-04
A COOL HAND

lFrcm Chambers Journal
glorious summer evening In Lower
Ee,pt, with the asst glow OF sunset dying
away FROM tue minafeis of Cairo and
lie clustering towers of Mehemel ALPS
citadel; broad, shadowy, far-extending
culounadp, such US Martin would have de-
lighted to paint, skirilng basket Of
broad loaved tropical plants, rich In all
the splendOr of southern colOrlug; a man
pacing restlessly TO and fro, looking at
his watch about twice every five minutes.
The colouade in question is the piazza of
the Hotel du Nil; the man is Its latest
arrived guest-myself.
To be kept waiting for dinner Is motor
loi.ly the one injury which no English
man can forgive; but when one has tray-
erd all night, climbed the Great Pyra.
mil in the morning, and tramped all
round Cairo In the afternoon, the inillctiOn
becomes simply uuendurable. fonder,
al the upper end of the colOnade, stands
the long table, with its hanging lamps
and full dinner paraphernalia but not
sign Of food MS vet. am just beginning
to work myself into highly British and
patriotic rage (such things, of course,
never happening at home,) when man
hIfNlNhf HfN lhi iAbih hNnAhh hhA % ~
fluent Italian, though with a foreign ac-
cent Can you oblige me with light
Tor my cigar y
The voice is one which, once heard, is
net easily forgotten. seize the new
conner by both wrists ito his no small
auazement,) and drag him TO the light.
The moment our faces become ylsable
ihrre Is simultaneous shout;
"rhc Stole, sure enough ~
'Old Diogeues, by JOve :"
lu this wise do / and my college chum,
Mntacutc Hardy, meet once more. Since
We shook hands on the pier Vt Sou hanp-
ton, three years ago, he beading west
ward, and | eastward, on the course Of
travel which has proved much longer,
and infinitely more adventurous, than
either Of us fOresaw-we have had no
word Of each other and am startled to
note that the long wandGrngS and strange
adventures which have altered me almost
lryond recognition, and made me feel MS
though I had lived twenty lives In one,
have lett my old companion just as re-
memher him in the days Of lectures and
~ ue-partl,s. The same thoroughbred
inuk from head 10 ltel the snme zig ht
Elastic figure the same quiet thoughtful,
delicate face and above all, the same
MWNNHAAuA ANAA Iihi AAA NAANh AAb AhRANN'N
excitement Of boat race, or the hottest
fury of a iown-and-gown,h had never once
d-turbed. The venerable head Of our
co4cgc had once commended Hardy as
.l admirable realization of the ideal
Suic;' and the name, hing the fancy
OF the under graduates, rliesduy hecahc
universal. Ills own name, however,
would have described him quite us accur
aiely for In sheer imrerviOusness to
10 every extreme OF fatigue and exposure,
the burliest athlete of the university
might have yielded to the slender little
man who now stands beside me smooth
ing his trim moustache with a hand small
aud shape.y as young girls.
am about to burst into vollry of
questions but Hardy stops ne short.
"YOu know the old prOyorb rs Ill
talk between full man and a fasliugi'
aud between ttro fasting men, in my opln
lon, 1t is still worse Here come those
iazy bcggnrs with the dinner atlast, thank
ioodncssi 50 let us cat first, and talk
atcr.n
We do so, and to good purpose. The
meal over and the guests dispersed,
Hardy draws his chair out into the open,
lights cigar such as only he has the
giit Of picking mp, and laughs heartily at
nay r iusal Ol his offered case.
''Slill as great heather as eyer.ch ]
remember we used TO chaii you about youl
hon-appreclation Of liquor and baccy
hnt / thought all this wandering would
have cured you"
We'll, as to that, should say that q
man who hasn't learned to smoke aud
drink after four years AT Oxford may ht
considered hopeless at all events, VI
not learned to drink in Russia and Swe
d,n, or to smoke in Turkey and Syria
"Ah, You have done your Jerusalem
and Damascus pilgrimage, thenf
thought rs much. But where are yoI
from now :"
"Frum Arabin last-haylng a look a
tie Yemen Instruction Aud you y
"Just across from New Zealand" an
sWertd the Stole, as ceolly Ms if speaking
Of place within i've minutes walk
FOR ! don't count my halt at Point d
Gale. I've heen IL little about siuce
lefl tue varsity, though nothing To boas
of. Let me see, now the United States
urrj British Columbia, two; the Sand
Wi h lslands, three Guatemala, four
Brazil, live Peru, six Australia, seven
NV Zealand, eight d Cey,on, tf yo
like 10 count it) nine Egypt, ten: H'n
-not SO rsrD bad for three years work
How do yoil stand 2
"Ah, my dear sindbad, I'm nowher
beside you; only five countries outside q
Europe, aud not much to speak OF Il
Hfm. For tonight at least, yield 20
tine platform, and content myself wit
listening. Friends will please accept thi
nlnnatiOn."
"lf you can content yourself with lie
ten'ng," retOrts Hardy, you're the tlrs
ir, clcr ever met th It could. But wha
Shall tell you about ~
"Well, ] presume there Will not b
iiltr for the whole Of your narrative tf
night, SO suppose you PICK out the Det
adventure you've had, and tell me that 3
"H'm-let me see, | don't know tha
I've had any particularly worth telling
ai-M ers the Stole, with the mudesty Of
true genius. you wouldn't care 10 hta
how got lost among tue spurs OF th
Audes, or how some lndisns took N
Prisoner In Oregon, or how cay ma
ne ,rly gubbled me on the Rio Madeira,
how
"Oh, if you call those 'not worth tel
iue," / give in at once. The beat of mil
wouldn't be patch upon 'vm
Many thanks !or the compliment VI
! q ink do iecollecl onc yarn that III 50
" you. Mix yoi rei another glass
ltnor adc, and I'll tell sou bow l paid
ho el hill in California
Come, come, old fellow y remonslr
ted ! it's giving yourself rather d b'
Character, TO pi Oul, ~ the most wo
dellul event of your whole travels I'd
yon paid an hotel bllH
Wait till you've heard ihe,story, a
sN,rrd the imptrturbabe Hardy, ightn
acEsr as he spoke; there are INC
Ways than one Of paying bill, as yo
Who are an Oxford man, ought 10 knn
Have you put enough leuOn inf w
then Cuiilin rises disclosing Mr.. Mo
lacme Hardy on his way across
lmicl States.'
wien eft New York, the Paci
Railroad WAS Othmg Ike finished a
II II nal Lecn, tea To one / would
have gu', iy II. dent care for yc
Ncaicu i'pcSs; it's always better
slree OUT u line fsr ones self. AS y
may t'ini, there's uu game 10 be l
anywhere near the railways and
The best hits Of lhr Far WesL-Salt LII
Chy, The Grove OF Big Timber, the fo
mite Nulhy, the Sunkcn LHke-lie v
OIL til. track. Oa the whole, rat
agree with ftny old trapper chum, J
Musely, who seemed to have quit
spite against railways, and used TO