Daily Kennebec journal., 1882-10-11
GaIes aao Sket1bes.
CONTINUED from Yesterday

Continued from yestefuhy.J
Thus the chief boatman to myself, the
passenger, and the conclusions arrived at
by that gallant seaman were confirmed by
time. No hint was ever CLEANED OF the
name or destination of the luckless ship
whence man and dog had drilled. No
relic. sign or clue was to be obtained from
auy of the wreckage floating near. and,
without doubt, she had been lost, as
MANY a gallant craft has been, leaving no
one 10 tell the ..how' or "why." The
two poor waits had told, and could tell
nothing; the man now. alas was as
dumb as the dog. Nothing that could be
CLEANED at any port shed any light upon
the affair.
And so kept the dog. and the sailors
prediction that the animal would take to
me kindly was verified. ] had rebelled
and prumbled at the business which took
me that wintry weather to Rotterdam, and
had rebelled and grumblcd still more
when the same wintry weather seemed
likely to make me miss my Christmas
dinner in my native town. Yet, many a
time afterward, as the dog thrust his nose
between nv knees or into my hand, and
licked il, and looked up into nv face with
the large, brown, eloquent eyes, as 1t often
seemed, in fearful gratitude, would gen.
tly pat him on the head, and say. Poor
old boy. dear old waif! | should have
been sorry to let you drown. / wonder
who you are, and where You came from
Oh! what tale you'd have to tell II only
You could speak! Well! well as l look
into your old mug regret nothing which
took me across the sea that Christmas
time"
1.-THE REWARD.
About four years after had become
possessed Of the dog, my health obliged
me to take long rest, and in the autumn
went off to Calaiscourt, q little watering
place on our eastern coast. Wall, OF
course, went with me; we were insep-
arabic. There was only one thing that
would ever induce him to leave my side
of his own accord. This was the sea-he
hated the very eight OF it. and could
never get him TO come within two or three
hundred yards of the shore. coax, scold,
or caiole him as I would. Therefore, when
found myself enjoying the tumbling waves
at their marge Master Wait always remain
ed at the top ofthe cliff, or up among the fish
ing boats and disnsed bathing machines.
He would not however, lose sight of me,
or allow his attention to be diverted from
my movements. following my progress in
parallel line. but always well in
land. believe the poor brute had very
bad time of it at such moments. He new
er appeared to forget the horror of that
terrible night on which ! picked him'up; ;
it was as fresh in his memory as ever, and
his great affection for me even could not
overcome it. sympathized with him,
but did not allow his terror to interfere
with my enjoyment OF the seaside; but as
ALWAYS knew | was sure of finding him
waiting aDxiously at the top Of the path
whenever returned to the upper cliff. ]
spent most of my time upon the sands, or
upon low sea-wall which ran beside
them. | should her state that he was a
poodle. rs the sailor had binted when he
was rescued; and like dogs of his class.
had at one time, no doubt, been shaved all
round his headquarters and legs. Evil
IDENTIFY. however. he had been neglected
on board ship. and when | rescued him.
he had not been subjected to the ridiculous
and barbarous process for several months.
|. too. continued to allow his coat to
grow. only clipping it at times here and
there for the sake of his comfort and clean
liness. The result was not very fiatter-
ing to his personal appearance. In fact.
he was an ug!y dog. and had no fear of
his being stolen or otherwise losing him.
| disregarded. however. his external
shortcomings in consideration of his
quekness and intelligence. which were
quite extraordinary.
Amongst the few visitors at Calaiscourt.
| had noticed very charming young lady.
walking constantly with AN old gentleman,
upon my iavorite beat. They lived in q
small house right down upon the shore.
and | never cbanc,d TO meet them fifty
yards from the sea. so fond did they both
appear of remaining close to it. They
were constantly, too. going out for sails
and excursions. bnt they were always
alone. They appeared to know no one,
nor to make anv acquantances. | got the
idea. | can hardly tell why. that there was
something like cloud resting on these
two. In spite of a bright and happy tenn
permanent. there was occasionally an air
of pa,hos in the young glrl's face. ~
have watched her standing. gazing far
out to sea, unconscious. apparently, of
everything around her. The old gentle
man likewise had the same sad. absent
look i'm his face. but to much more marked
degree, and telt sure there was something
melancholy in the background of their
history.
A lonely batcbelor. condemned to com
pulsory idleness in dull watering place,
might have found far less attractive per-
son than this young lady invested with in
terest. even without the halo of romance
which my imagination had thrown around
her. don't hesitate to say that made
inquiries about her, but, beyond learning
her name, and that she and her father
came from London. found out nothing.
would have given worlds for an introduc-
,ion. and romantically longed for some-
thing to happen as a pretext for making
her acquaintance. little suspected how
near my wishes were to realization. | was
seated one evening upon the shore. watch
ing the two as they strolled backward and
forward on the lower walk, when. con.
trary to their usual habit. they took the
path leading to the top of the upper cliff.
on the edge of which. as usual, old Waif
was lying in wait for me.
could not suppose that they had even
noticed INV existence was therefore free.
thought, to walk in the same direction,
without being suspected Of following
them. Ny interest was on the rapid in
crease. and began to find myself never
ouite SO happv when she WAS ont of nv