The Arkansaw traveler., 1882-11-26
CHAPTER II.
THREATS.

an abundance of windows looking out or the river. and with eolorcd pictures O ] the Thames hung round the walls The only other occupant of the room was ar austere and elderly maiden lady, dining All b / herself, of whom Mr. Humphrey: rather cruelty remarked that. considering l the number of lcap-years she must havt seen II WAS ctriaus she had not taken ad vantage of any of them On this Mir Maurice rather indignantly retOued tha there were certain spcctacles which de served sympathy rather than r'dtale and we ali agreed with that eminent The incident passed by. No bones were broken.
 After dinnar Wc went ogiSide: theg, was till some warm color in the sky. and the smooth river caught a faint glow q, t $, IIc awIX un Ter the dark green trees. The woods were que now: In the tWjiiehi there was no sound but Inc sof, rushing of the water over the weir one began wishing taat these young people might sing m the gathering darkness, down here by the side ofthc rushes. They were thinking of other things. 4-----t tt-eatir,e.- -ALss-Nenton.- the laIlc, ot the two gentlemen :" you will so fot an cN,ursion on the river to-morro% The i,.et ls. a man know has put d iittlc toy steamer d, my disposal Il ls down al Cookam just now 1 could have il up hero for you a, any hour you chose.
 \ steamer says our young .amefi- ,,n friend, what shame Il would be tn bring steamer into this quiet place
 The barometer of the young man fice falls ten degrees; that of his rival jumps up hundred.
 .. And that isn't the worst of t. says the other. eagerly. 70. no, not at all. The loys of trip Tn small river steamer are most multfarious. FIrst you run aground. Then your waves upset d sklff. and the two men in Il make use of the most awful language. Then you take of somebody's ou,-riggcr. And so on. and so on. until you wish you had never been born and, indeed, when you go ashore. your own mother wouldn believe you ever had been. for your den- tity IS completely lost and smo,hcrcd up in the coal dust that has been showercd on you. No. no, Miss Newton, don't you be a--. mean, don't you so iii ., fis CT steamer Now i! you really want to en- Joy the river. ili show you how. We shall ge, ! big flat punt and moor it out below the weir. and VIC shall have luncheon on board and plenty of books. and box of wa,er-co olors. If you like to sit and read. we'll. If you like to spin for trout, you Can have my line. Ii you want to sketch. you have all the scenery about YOU. Now that Is how yop ought to spend Il nice, idllns, cnIoyabfc day on the Thames.
 NIT. Humphreys mds quite pleased with this burst of oratory. Do you like the picture" he might have asked. m the words of the romantic Claude Nc;nettc And she did like the picture. She said Il was charming. She hoped we should have that boat
 And the wa,ef-eolors .' said Mr Maurice, with something of Il sheer Where do you propose to get them about here =
 .'l brought them with me, replied his riy;,l with a certain maIestiC-calm
 !" Q. do you paint, Mir. Humphreys: :: Miss MaD said directly.
 No. Miss Newton. l don't. But knew that you did, and SO l brough, the Colors.
 It was not for second or two that any ot us observed how this unhlushing per. son had tipped. He had brought color. for her But had he not vowed and sworn that he was never 50 surprised ir hi, lite as when he saw that carriage drive up 10 the door of the Complete Angler
 Perhaps you brought with you the trout for which Miss Newton Is to fish : said the younger man, with ghastl, grin on his face.
 70. dear. no. There are good trou about here.
 Never saw any.
 "rerhaps not-not al the end of youi own line anyway. But If you will talk, the trouble to look through Land ana Hdtt2. for April 1873, you will ind s description of trout taken here which turned the scale a, siN pounds there V
 And the happy fisherman
 Was your humble servant.
 Now. whether this was true or not. n, one could say, for files of Land ana ! IiIa.tr are not as common Tn the county as buttercups. The bold assertion how. ever. scored one for Mir. Humphreys, anc pretty nearly put the finishing touch te his rivals resentment and chasrn. w, began to wonder when these two woule rush at each other.
 :" Now. young people" said the lad, who looks after us all. "dont keep loung ing about the river side, or you will ge chilled. You must all go of for a shor walk before bedtime. all excep, myself I am going indoors to unpaok.
 In one momen, the young man hac dartcd forward. He would show Mis- Newton the shortest way round to th, road. Was il not delightful! evenin: for Il stroll and how differently situated one was in the country.
 Humphreys and walked after thes, two. and our hght-hearted friend wa mos; uneommonly morose. Sometime he whistled but that form of gayet, sounded strangely in the silence of tn, evening He had his eye, fixed on th, two figures before him. and kep, prett, close upon them.
 So veD still and calm was the evenin, that we could not but ovcrhear what Mis-: Mary and her companion were talkin,