The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1876-03-02

woman see you are nearly SOlu OUT.
lilly looked up, and saw tall man,
with brown face and pleasant brown
eyes, scanning her closely-a gentle
manly looking sort of man, who looked
as if he might be the captain of a ship.
Tilly's heart gave q great bound, for
the gentleman's face seemed very
familiar to her, some way, and her first
thought was that it might be Jim. But
no Jim wasn't nearly as old as that
gentleman looked, and his features in
the picture, though there might be q
little likeness in them to his, were diff
ferent and then Jim didn't have those
great whisker. and that fierce looking
mustache. Any way, lilly. couldn't
keep her eyes away from him, or find
her senses long enough to heed what he
was saying to her.
So she kept looking at him, and he,
surprised that she should look at him so
fixedly, looked back ut her without say
ing word. But at last he smiled, and
said, laughingly, as he fumbled in his
pocket for some change: "Do you
like my looks SO very much, you little
bluebird2"
Tilly dropped her eyes, and blushed
scarlet, faltering out, timidly "I
thought that you looked like my brother
Jim."
"Indeed !" said the gentleman, the
expression of his face changing sudden
ly. "Where is your brother Jim r.
"I don't know, sir" said lilly /; "but
fear that he is dead"
"You don't know, then, whether he
is alive or not? 1 suppose you haven't
seen him for some time them"
"Oh, no." said Tilly, "not since I
was four years old; but have his pic
ture, and look at it every day. He was
a sailor, and sailed away on foreign
voyage, and have never heard from
him since"
"What is your name, my dear1"
questioned the gentleman, lifting Tilly's
surprised little face in both his hands,
that he might have better view of it.
But he did not wait for her to tell
him the name, but snatched her up in
his arms and held her close to his heart,
calling her his own little sister Tilly.
care you really Jim 2" said Tilly,
when she could recover her breath.
"Are you really lilly ?" said he, hug
ging her closer and closer.
"But why didn't you come home 2"
she asked, looking up shyly into his
| face,
"The ship L sailed in was wrecked"
said he, "and all on board, save the
second mate and myself, were lost. We
! succeeded in clinging to some floating
spars, until another ship came up and
took us in. That ship was bound to
China, and so to China was obliged to
go, of course. Then when We arrived
there, I WAS violently taken i'll of fever,
and was not sufficiently recovered, when
the ship was ready to sail again, to go
with her; and when at last, after nearly
three years absence, did touch my
native shore again, found the old
house empty, and learned that our
mother had died. Where you were,
lilly, no one could tell. All the old
neighbors seemed to have moved away,
and though I searched everywhere, L
was unable to find the least clew to you,
and at last concluded that you must
have died, also. Thoroughly disheart-
ened. L sailed again as captain of the
Swallow, and have never been in this
port since, until yesterday"
The old apple woman was almost as
glad as lilly herself to hear of the lit
tie girls good fortune, and Jim, who
felt that she had something to do with
bringing about this strange meeting,
gave her enough money to support her
self through good many rainy days
without risking her poor old rheumatic
shoulder out of doors. Miss Snip was
glad, too, though she hated to part with
lilly. And lilly thought that there
could not be another such happy girl
in the whole world as she was to have
such handsome brother to care for her,
and to be able to go to school every
day, and wear pretty dresses all the
time, for she did this after Jim came
home you, may be sure.