Litchfield enquirer., 1881-05-05
.| -18F 7f. ts 1ssT TT FsI lT-. -s 2 WTIOLENO. 2865

worthy Jim differeLt creature altogether" | own did not much care for the role Abra. ham was assigning me. of joint trainer and
 mentor 10 this half.reclainIed criminal of his. l 1 thought, besides, he might as we'll have con- suited me beforehand. had preseut;ment
 that Lurcher would prove nuisance or some- l thing w"rse. But Abraham was Abraham,
 aud there was no quarrelling with him and
 l. too, felt the baliIy influences of the fragrant
 Rauenthaer and the summer night.
 l My dear fellow, you can't think how grate-
 ful feel for your giving high moral pur-
 pose tD our little expedition. AnIl am the
 more impatient to see this man Friday of l yours, as al to have the credit of helping
 you to form his character. Suppose we ring
 the bell and have him up."
 Notwithstanding the imperturbable serenity l of his temper, 1 could see that Abraham did
 not altogether like my cllaff Perhaps it was | not in the best taste with a stranger present,
 butt might be forgiven for blowing of my | passing snm,yance As l had only too many
 opportunities af lelnarkng afterwards, he treated James with partiality. with sOme- l Ihing savUuI ing of fondness, when IU usr
 slightly prejudiced mind seemed almost
 Arotesquely misplaced At that time, be it re-
 menbered. though had heard of Miss Molly
 neux, the mention of her name mepnt nothing
 to me. For cannot say that fell in love l with James at first sight, and still less did he
 grow into my affections subsequently. There | was tiuge of sickly sallow in his freckled
 complexion that gave one the impression of his 1 being morally unwh0lesonIe. He had sandy
 hair and d struggling whisker, with that
 abominaiion of ab0minatiOns, "a Newgate | frill;" and, by the way, resolved tLat my l first show of interest in him should be to urge | Cox to tell him to shave that off. There was
 d suggestion of lmpudence, too, in the snub
 of his n0se-toned down, however. by some | vacuity in his count enance, and heed. besides, l ny the air of drprecaiiun that pervatied his gen. l eral manners and deneanour For the rest
 he was dressed in a neat suit of tweed, and
 might have passed either for city clerk on a
 holiday. or the highly respectable young do- | nestle that he was. Of course 1 said s0me-
 thing civil and kind to him, and the chaplain
 d great deal more. He answered modestly
 and bec0mingly, saying very little himself. l l remarked that he scarcely ever lifted his | ryes to yours, and it was only by an effort
 that he got them as high as your necktie.
 Taking all things into consideration. however,
 perhaps that was natural and even commenda- | ble.
 l To a modest man, the wors. of canoeing
 abroad is the popular excitement that invaris- l ply attends it. The 'Kulnische Z"itung' had 1 inliniated Cox's arrival on the Rhine the | Cnblenzer Anzeigcr' and the 'Bingen Post
 nand duly notified the passage of the Englan-
 ier and of course we were the subjects of
 sundry paragraphs in the various journals
 that make their appearance in MayrnCe Nee l essarlly the boots or the boatman, or both, l had betrayed the movements we had tried 1 10 keep secret; and the Germans.
 as they go early to bed. are an early
 rising generation. Al 5.30 next morning there were the elements of a crowd assembled be. | fore the Engischer Hof: and it swelled to | something like popular demonstration during | the hundred yards or SO we had tC cover to hsR hAnH r.,n NI, ] fences had prepared us and had Abraham
 and been alone, should have horne it with | Olerable philosophy. But must say resen- ted the presence of Mr. LIrcher. and felt my l prepOssessiOns against hIm getting the better ! of me again. You must have remarked that cad never seems more caddish than when he
 Comes hearst to the most prirneval simplicity l ,f c,'stune to wOad, tatt0OIng, skins, or fig | leaves; and Abrahan's protege in low cut
 jersey, showing 8 considerable expaase of I bare neck behind, looked decidedly more like | 'Jlul" than James, and as if he had been l pred in Whiiechapel in place of Belgravia. l tie was far from being the sort of figure one ! would have put forward as the type of the fine young Eng glsh gentleman aud I felt that if
 inc worthy Mainzers judged us by our cnmpa- ny, they could hardly have thought much of either Abraham or myself
 il boots not to dwell on that tedions canoe V'yage on the chocOlale cOlOured waters of the
 winding Maine. The river would double back
 upon itself, like an eel twisting ils folds round
 Il fishing line Now we are turning our
 shoulders On the church -spire that had been
 our landmark ahead for the last hour or more; | he eininenCes that had been lunming on our
 port bow were shifted of sudden to the lar
 board a::d in the muddy maze of waters l creeping far below the land level, we got tein- pOrarily mnddled as tO the paints of the com
 pass. With the edge taken off the first excite.
 neni, the pasidling became decidedly dull and
 'nonotonous. and frequently was inclined to
 nurmur at Abraham for having let me in for | sa tiresOme piece of work But was fairly caught; and the weather was pleasant though
 warm, and l had not the heart
 to bother him with my grumbng For
 lhcre he was. paddling ahead, and pacidly | happy, to all appearance, in the thought that
 le was steadily lining down in condition. As for Llrcher, had no manner of ,inubt that he l entirely sympathised with me. He worked
 ahead with dogged resolution, it is true; but | there was sullenness in the very set of his
 shoulders. and suppressed irritation in the
 leavy b eaths he drew when either of us hap i'ened t0 be near enough to hear him. When we stopped tO picnic Dn the bank for rest and
 lunch. he was, perhaps, less engaging objact than in the morning, what with precipitation
 and an air of sulky disgust, which he made an effort to shake off when either of 4ls was look
 ing. Had been his patron should have felt | moved tO kick him; but Abraham regarded him with an expression of imperturhAhle be- 1 nignancy which found almost as irritating AS the gadtiies
 "A little knocked up with the heat and work, eh, James 7" he observed, chperiIy "Well, never you mind, my lad you'll sleep
 all the better and lunch noue the worse" Ja nes like the Western philosopher in Bret Harte's ballad who was doubled up in the scientific argn ,nent wi ;h the chunk of sand
 stone, ''sniled d kiul nf a sicklv nile" '" He
 was slnartng in the back and arms he con | fessed. and he had d nasty rush of blood to the head, but he hoped he might always have
 strength to do his duty.
 WhereupOn Cox left off unpacking the i'lncheon hamper to pay prlnpt attention tn the interesting victim. He patted hlm pleas antly on the aching back; he dipped his own
 pocket handkerchief in the stream, handing it to the martyr to bind TO md his forehead:
 and upon my word. really believe tha, he
 took an opportunity of insiiiously feeling his pu St. That WAS coming it rather tp, strong. and when Abraham remarked csnpassonate-
 ", ''the poor fellow has the maknys of a man in him, but certainly he does tire rather easi- ly." l responded, with an unnistakahle snarl. ''Ics just the very thing to do him good, if anything will !; and the only pity is.
 that your prnie ge does not appreciate his priv ileges more. And can't see. for the life of l me, II he stood the work on the R:iine, why he should knock up Ou this overgrpwn ditch, ''Ah, yes by the way" said Abraham. with blush, believe forgot to mention that the Rhine was rather tno much for him. The fact is, that 5y the time we got t0 CoblenzI thought he might possibly break down over the Lurlei and the Binyer loch; SO | packed him and his canoe on the rail. and sent him on to secure rooms at the Epglischer Hnf" ''Oh, indeed" l driIy responded: and I
 was glad to Abraham blushing deeper. It
 was the first time lever caught my worthy
 friend exhibiting anything appr, aching to a want of candbur and if made ,na th;nk ;,