, 1876-11-17

hut resign myself.
4 will cut a long story short he
-ail
Gut he was not 50 truthful as some
men are. \ friend Of mine would have
,iasrrilss.l him n an "able-bodied liar
,.-Lut hc j. fonl Of old expressions.
..Susan let the telegram drop from
her hands. a. she said
'''Mha; can II be abOuE
She was not deaf then.
His will. NV dear, / chuckled; he
wants 20 make his will in our favor, and
would like my advice. He had quarrel
e,l with every other relation, except the
Wandering Jew Of n nephew and us,
un the score either Of punctuality or
pedigree
"'Silas. said my wife, 1T will never
do to go in such boots as those of yours.
II would be madness to go on such an
errand down at heels, with one stocking
linked at the toe, and an underlay /; it
would he simply ridiculous
81 will not detain you while describe
the drunken shoemaker that agreed
when he got sober enough to under
stand that 1 wished to be a customer
to send me pair of boots worthy of the
occasion.
"'They shall be of the right sort, he
declared, over and over again. OF the
right sort, at II, they should be at my
house punctnally.
Now if he had been man of his word,
1 might have been enabled to endure
the word punctual to-day but he was
not. The train would leave at 1.15.
Twelve came, but no boots half-past,
vet still they came not. 1t would take
quarter of an hour to reach the station;
and as 1 said to Susan twenty times that
"'I wouldn't have missed that train
for the world
"'Boots or no boots, off 60, said I
at last. If the train stops long enough
at Lewes. 1 will buy a pair there'-1 was
living at Hastings. IF not, tell Lionel
about the shoemaker disappointing me,
1t will be line for him, and put him in
q good humor to begin with
"Another minute 1 should have start
ed with my old boots polished like
glass; but I was stopped by the arrival
of dirty child with the new pair.
"I put one on in a twinkling-it fitted
admirably; then, giving the child my
old ones to take home to be repaired, I
stopped to put the other on, saying
gaily:
l.
"'Oh, confusion! By all that is per-.
verse-how stupid Why, how's this ?
Why, it's not the fellow one, but mile
too small
"I dragged at it till the loops cracked
again, and the prespiration ran off my
face like rain.
"'Run after that young imp of grip
1 shouted. Get my old boots back.
Stupid why. do you stand there? I
wouldn't miss this train for the worldP
"Why did you send the old ones till
you had tried the new?' retorted Susan,
sharply. I think you are the stupid
"She was right. But when I went
hopping off after the child, she was soft
ened in q moment, and darted to the
door. Whether the understanding tears
blinded her, or how It happened, 1 know
not but the young hussy,' as she
called her in her vexation, could not be
found.
"You are tired, 1 see, said Mr.. Sis
kin, as I yawned wearily, and tried to
smile; ''but the jokes in the sequel, and
have nearly done.
81 raved and fumed as stood with
one boot on, and the fragments Of the
other in my hand. The right was right
enough, but what was left of the left
was no larger than child's boot; moth
ing short Of hydraulic pressure could
have got my foot into it.
Nothing in the shape Of boots had I
in the house, but some old carpet slip
pers. It was raining, too; but in des-
peration put one Of the slippers on,
and started. Will the shade Of Hood
pardon me If I say, altering his lines q
shade
with breathless haste, like a soul in chase,
Isllpped 1t on and rin?
and caught the train, to my great sur
prise and Joy.
There was a handsome, sunburnt
fellow in the carriage, perfect gentle
man-capital, good-natured fellow he
was, too-entered into conversation at
once, and seemed so wonderfully inter-
ested in my story of the boots-strange-
" so, almost. He asked as many ques-
tons about my relative as If he had
been an old friend.
"'Lewes is no CO. he said; train
stops two minutes only, so that's a
stumper.'
"Then he talked little; and yet, as
I looked at him, noticed he was abb
stracted."
"Mlnd seemed other where"
I murmured.
Exactly. Apt-very apt"
And be grinned horribly.