The enquirer southerner., 1874-11-27

nurse uOiCeu dnu HS looo VI, CdtCH~
ing at his hat with one hand and
seeming to draw rein with the other.
The remainder of the party thought
his horse had SHE'D and run away
with him, but | saw thoroughly
the whole man9uvre, and a sudden
pang shot through my selfish heart.
On reaching the lake at the
point agreed upon, we separated
into little companies, and wandered
e3out at will, but keeping in the
vicinity of the camp until the horn
sounded for dinner. We were all,
rs is usual at picnics, in hungry
mood, and We did not dine mincing
| ly.
after dinner we lolled about on
the grass for while, then formed
plans for the afternoons campaign:
There were near by several canoes
or row~boats that were kept for
hire, and a fair proportion of our
band decided in favor of an excur>
ssion on the lake, some parties GO
ling in one direction, somein an
other. Three boat loads, twelve
individuals in all, determined to
lpay a visit to the tower Oh the op>
lposite shore of the lake, and about
Ithree miles farther up. As We
idlvided ourselves into parties Of
hfour, Z felt an irrepressible desire
ito have Harry Vanc, who had de-
Eclared for the tower, in our boat, SO
I called out:
| Harry, are you coming with
US : meaning by US, Downs and
myself.
j shall never forget the look Of
/ mingled pain and pleasure with
" hich he replied: No. Charlotte;
George Law is quar- cred in your
i boat
4 1t was half past three o'clock
4 when we entered near the tower
4 and drew the boats up on the beach.
4 This tower was an octagon building
three or four stories in height, con-
/ sisting of only one room to each
story, with a narrow spiral staircase
| leading from base to Summit. At
the top was an observatory not
much larger than a good sized bird
cage. which had once been furniSh>
! ed with asmall telescope mounted
son = 7ri-"i, h.-s "os NOW reduced
to "a very commonplace spy>gIass.
The basement was deep dungeon>
like hole, with grated door through
which one entered a subterranean
passage leading out to the shore Of
the lake. This tower, with its lean
to kitchen Or, rather, cook house,
was built ON a hill at the distance
of about two hundred yards from
the waters edge, and it was the
product of a quixotic Englishman,
an old bachelors fancy. The
whimsical man did not carry out
his original intention of making a
complete miniature castle of the
feudal times, but suddenly aban.
doned the enterprise and went as
he came, nobody knew whittier
This odd little tower had been sur.
rounded on all sides, save the dcel
bank next the water. by a dimutive
moat, which was now dry ditch
filled with weeds and wild flowers
there, too, was the wreck of toy.
l. like drawbridge, and within the
enclosure were several quaint look
, ing garden chairs cut into tht
, stumps of trees. There was fam
lily residing in the house, at leas
they made 1t an occasional residence
during the summer, but that they
wee absent, and the garrulous ole
servant in charge showed US owe
the premises.
'We stole down by the light of {
lantern through the underground
passage to the opening on the lake
1 we climbed the steep stairs an'
} peeped through the Old spy-gIass
; sat in the grotesque chairs, ant
gathered boquets from the quo1
2 dam moat. All these vaoaries con
C sumed so much time that, before W
e were aware, the sun was goin,
; down the westward flepe in a wa,
that, when we noticed it, sent US t.
: our boats with speed. We wer
soon gliding over the water in jovia
spirits and at a fair rate of motioI
; toward the camping place on tn
y shore next home. The three boat
f kept near together, and as we wen
4 we sang Tom Moore's Canadia1
$ boat song. Just as our voices wer
n ringing out
e "' ow, brothers, row, for the stream run
The rapids are near and the daylight
t past,
: sudden breeze almost took tn
o light umbrella with which | wa
d screening myself and companio
e from sun and wind( 1--WE had left gu
bonnets at the canp) out of m
= hand. The breeze subsidized for
C moment, then came again more Wig
e orously than before, and held o
s. steadily. Generally or frequentl
n stiff breeze rises on those lake
IF about or soon after sunset, but no,
N the sun was certainly half an hou
y high. Sudden squalls, especial
n when thunder clouds are hoverin
t. near, accompanied by dangerou
y disturbance of the water, are ur
& pleasantly often the concomitant
,e of boating on those shallow lake:
$, Looking around the horizon W
le discovered the cause of the suddenl