, 1873-07-20

answer him plainly, without artitloo or evasion.
And what answer was Bho to Eivo2 Tho timo
had boon when eho could have laughed hin, into
silence, or sbaahcd linn with look; but no'o
Blo darod not ovou attompt It.
In s1ts fashion tlinga proceeded for abont
weck. during which time the indofatigablo En-
agn lwho, though considerably tho youngest, Of
the community appearod to heyo fairly carried
cclvod tho brilliant idea Of adding to tho OVEN
lug amusonaonts whnt lo wau plcnaod to call - an
orchestra between tho acts "-or, in othor words,
. fow songs in tho intervals Of tho dances, sorv-
ing tue double purpose OF Varying tho ontortain-
mout and giving broathing-ti1no to tho less
praotiaod dnucors. Tho now plan hnd m i'm.
mcnso success. 4 vast amount OF hithorto un-
suspected talont wan suddenly brought to light
and Col. Tootyn GraVot Wiry old sabrclr who |
Ind lost log in somo forgotten akirmish of tho |
Sikh war, aatonishol the whole community by !
hiB performance Of tho bravo old German song |
Of The Crippled Soldier, whioh, as he naive1y ro-
marked, had always struck him as particularly
appropriate to himself:
A cannon-ball ooYnoa flying,
And knocks MY leg OF clear:
Well wllero'a tho ubo Of crytug7
Bood's cheap enough down here.
Ono shoo Ind stocking 1css-and no
30 much moro monoy aaved you know
To buy good German beort
At last thero came q day, when the Major
spoke out. On q quiet evening, whom oil WAS
still except the sounds Of Morry-mahing on tho
after-deek, lle esped her, little apart from tho
splondor Of tho moonlight, and gazing dreamiisy
into the glittoring foam. Now or mover! Ho
wont straight to her az he would havo marched
up to battery, and asked bravoly enough, but
nevor fott whom 10 throw bimself bare-headed
among, tho Sikh tulwars, the question upon
Which hung the whole Of hia future lifo.
She must have boen less than woman had Bho
nevertheless, 1t tnaied hcr Borely when II camo.
To give no anBwor wne impossible :; to answer
dcciavcly, in tho ftuttor Of her unstr1lng nervoB
was almost equally 30. Like d true woman, eho
oasayed to temporize
"Givo mo time, 8ho plcalod, "only little
tino to think it ovor."
"Time to think over It ~ echoed tho Majors
deep voice, with the faiutast tlngo OF Bcorn in
IL i t0n9 noT you have boon unconscious Of th'n
A Dutch Fortress when hard pressed, opons
its sluioos and inunlatea tho whole scone OF &C.
tion woman. whom drivon to extremity, inva-
riably resorts to tho eamo expedient: Mrs.
Errington burst into tears.
"You'ro too hard upon me-" she sobbed, in
tho tono Of distressed child how can you
talk to n1o like thls, whom my poor husband has
been only three months In his-graye 2" (Sho
brought ont tho last word with an effort, ns II it
had T. gravo or not.) How can you expect mo
to think Of now loyo already7 II I wcrc to
fofgssth 4 h h9. 80 could not expect him to o
The words had barely passed her lips when the
air shook With 4 tremendous explosion from tho
cabin, followed by yoll like TINT from q acalded
hyena-and thon the sound Of heavy fall.
II Murder !"
'sBuicldo u
Boiler burst n
"Powdor-t!aBk N
usp1ung q lonk!"
Shouting these and other conjsctures, the
whole throng rushed poll-mell into tho cabin,
whero ntrango HEht awaited them. But in
order to explain all this, we must 60 back q
little.
Bill Sawyer, like d true Engltshman, had neyor
once wnvered III bis resolution, or conHod to
watch for chance Of carrying. it out; but for
Rome time Fato aoened peraistentIy adverse
The covered oask romaincd securely ontombod in
it's garcoplngus Of baggage; and the few flying
class cabin served only to assure him Of this u.-
welcome fact Could he but have got tho cabin
to hplsclf for q single quarter Of ali hour, his
brawny arms would have made light Of the inter-
veping barricndo but this vaB precisely what ho
could mover succeed in doing. Seldom enough
could he coin any plausible prctoxt for intrad-
ing upon the eacrod ground and even whom
ho did, the oosat never seemed to bo perfectly
cloar.
"Too bad, by jingo" grow1ed the disappointed
explorer, rs no returned, ono evening, from 3
fruitlosa reconnaissance. "Im blost it there
nin't always somebody n-hangin' about that zero
cabin, without boin sxed."
Mr.. sawyer'e righteous indignation probably
hindered him from seeing how completely this
romcrk applied to himself; but, his sEipmates
woro quicker at apprehension, and greotod it
with ronr Of laughter that nado llis eara tingo.
Ia TACT, tho poor follows life had now become a
comrades upon tho long-do1ayed fulallment of
hiB rash promiso. from old Jack Davitt down
to little Joe, the chbn-boy, every ono had his
ling at Bill.
thirsty, a-waitin' for your liquor so 1ong2"
You'd best look sharp, Bill; II yer don't do
the trick aforo we sight Old England, we'll have
ycr up for par-lerry- blast it We dont!'
Toll yer what, Dill-you 60 and drown yer
se o rns sna yos sea 1dnn tne give y'F '"s tho lush
"Come, boys, you lcnvo Bill alone don't yer
SEQ hos n-goln' to wait till tho last day of tho
v'yago, and thou drink tho whole cask at ono
And 50 on by the hour III poor n began to
But, as tho good old Russian provorb has 1t,
" TO every man Ais hour, it he will but wait for
1t )" and deliyerance oamc ut last to the much
enduring Bill, in very unexpected way. On
the worry day Of tho Majors proposal, Mrs. Err
rington had suddenly rocolleoted somo ravinhIng
article OF mourning toilet which hhe had not yet
introduced to tho notice OF tho community, and
which (according to. the immomorial custom OF
articles when particularly wanted) turned out to
bo IN tho most n-gat-at-able Of hor many boxes,
the worry foundaton-stonc Of the groat pyramid.
As natural consequence tho whole odllce Aad
to ho pulled down; aud Mrs. Errington's Bor-
wants, who received strict ordora to put tho
the execution Of the order (as usuar till such
time as they should have nothing bottor to do,
and loft everything In stata quo. Dill-who hay
ing satisfied himself that all tho paaHongora wero
enough, to 60 through tho form Of roconnotring
-was not slow to appreciate thla astounding gift
Of fortune.
"Talk O. miraolesl" musterod tho devous ad-