Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1875-05-19

made no impression upon her
Then ] returned to my friends
lodging, but had no better fortune
there; and, tired and cold, /
was obliged to patrol the neighbour
hood for three or four hours before
/ could gain admittance. ! was
not without fear that my friend of
the churchyard might be logging
my footsteps: but I saw nothing
to excite further alarm. Apparent
ly we had thrown him off the trail
altogether.
GAS soon as / got back to my
rooms / went to bed, and did not
get up till nightfall. The cold
seemed to have got into my very
bones. In the meantime my land
lady was loud in her complaints
against me for the loss OF her key /;
and as soon as rose and had dress
ed / was obliged to go to neigh
boring locksmith to try and re-
place it. But the locksmith had
no key that would fit, and / found
that it would cost as little to have
the lock replaced as to have key
made on purpose. I ordered a lock,
therefore, very unwillingly, for it
would cost four or Ave shillings,
sum that l could i'll spare. l was
sitting in a meditative mood, de-
pressed by rheum, and chagrined
at the loss of so much money, when
the locksmith, who had left the
house half an hour before, having
taken the measurements for the
lock, returned and asked to see
me.
"I have goods news for you,
he said, smiling; the key has been
found, and you will be able to get
it back for nothing. Such a nice,
merry old gentleman has found it,
sir I've brought him with me to
see You, and I'll bring him up stairs
if you'll allow me-
ga merry old gentleman he prove
ed to be, with tightly strapped
trowsers, very curly brimmed hat,
and spencer.
"Ah, merry dogs!' he cried
when he saw me. Cad, l wish 1
was young again. Oh, what games,
what jolly games Keys bless my
heart, what do we care about keys
fling 'em way in the street, bless
your heart ? and so the old gentle
man ran on. The locksmith took
his leave, but the merry old gentle
man remained, laughing and chat
ting away.
"'Then you have really fonnd
my key, sir? am very much OBJ
liged for the trouble you have la
ken. Pray, how did you find me
outg d at
9" Ha, ha ? cried the old gen.
tleman lose watch, go to the
Matchmaker; find key 60 to the
locksmith.'
"And you will kindly let me
have my keyY
"'All in good time, in good time.
1t isn't here, my boy; ! hadn't
pocket big enough. I should have
been obliged to hire a coach to
carry it ha, hal You must come
and fetch it, that's the fact. Come
and crack a bottle with me, you
and your gay young friend; jolly
dogs; ha, hap rtsh
81 was little disposed to turn
out; but my new friend was so
pressing in his invitation, and be-
ing anxious to recover my key, /
was persuaded to accompany him.
We called upon my friend, who
made no objection to bottle; and
SO we accompanied the old gentle
man home in a coach which he
hired, to his house, full of life and
merriment all the time.
"The old gentleman's house hard
ly correspondent in appearance with
the character of its owner. 1t was
decidedly dark and gloomy, in a
low-lying neighborhood, somewhere
near the river. But the old gen.
tleman had boosted so much Of his
cellar, and had given us in his con-
versation such glimpses of his hos
pital way Of life, that we did not
doubt we should be well entertain
ed, Notwithstanding the unprom-
ising look Of his abode.
&c Now, my boys, he cried,push-
ing us before him, first door to
the right. And I'm away to the