Ellsworth American., 1883-07-26
&isfellaneoas.
Strengthening Burrows.

well. ! never saw anything like that
Capt. Crofts round that old lady in all NV
life. Hes dancing attendance from morn
ing Till night, and sakes alive. if he isn't
tying on her sunbonnei for her. Well
never Wonder what I would seem like TO
have my Billy grow up TO be as attentive As
that" and the voice, half scornful at first,
took on longing, yearning expression, sug-
gestlve OF fearful eyes, al the mention Of
''my Billy"
The speaker, Mrs. Bo1les. lived in Sea-
port, usuals spoken of as a fishing village,
owing TO the fact that many fishermen had
lived there in years gone by; but the town
was an old one. and possessing great natural
attractions, and being a suburban town,
man, fine residences now graced it's winding
avenues.
About two wears before, . weather be aten,
sun-burned man. unmistakably a sailor. had
bought a tasteful little cottage near the
beach. This he had fitted up, beautifed and
emsellished. until Mrs. Harris declared i, to
be perfect pink of place"
Over this pretty house. Cap'n Sam, as the
boys hSd learned to call the genial man, had
installed his white haired mother as mistress
u,
II would appear. had never lived.
In small barn at the rear Of the cottage
was kept fine, steady horse, and low
basket carriage, and every fair day the Cap
tain and his mother went abroad" as Mrs.
Bowles expressed it, on long, pleasant
drives.
As have hinted. Cap'n Sam was great
favorite among the boys Of the place. Who
else would harness up the sturdy horse into
big wagon, and give them such grand
drives upon occasion? Then the great hick-
ory and chestnut trees at the foot Of his lot
were free for the BOYS TO visit as often as
they liked, only they must never damage in
any wa, the fine. old branches but when it
came to spinning yarn, ah, then a, who so
beguiling, nay. so perfectly bewitching, as
the sea bronZed mano
Ii had long ago become a subject for
harmless banterlng among the BOYS, and
rather relished than otherwise by the cap
tain, that he was gallant and unce easingly at
tentiye TO his sweetheart" My fair, old
sweetheart he had once in their hearing
called his mother. and they. Of course, live
ly little wretches that they were, would new
er forget it.
But one day, the boys. quite a little crowd
Of them, found Cap'n Sam on the rocks at
the beach. There were breakers tina, after
noon, and particularly at such times il Was q
favorite diversion with the seafaring man. to
sit high on the rocky beach and watch his
second love, the sounding sea.
II was at times like these the boys delight
ed in finding their old friend, and coaxing
him for one Of their "heart's delights" which
he well knew meant story of tempestuous
seas or foreign lands.
But on this particular afternoon the cap
tain was brooding sombrely. habit he often
had when BY himself, and this time he couldn't
throw off the mood, even at the approach of
the merry boys.
In vain the better reared of them banter
ed, declaring she'd had a jilting but never
mind, they expected to be Tilted themselves
in time to come y while the less msnnerly
Billy Bowles guessed "thered be q caudle
lecture at home"
AT length. partly emerging from his brown
study, the captain said soberly:
"Boys, do you know what I've been trv-
ing to do every day for the last two years ?"
Oh, why, for certain they knew all about
it, they-the merry youngsters Of the town.
"Been a-courtIn' chiefly" Jimmy Hollis
observed "he'd worn himself all out a-pet-
tin his sweetheart"
That last opinion evidently struck the ten
der spot, and the boys found that tor once
Cap'n Sam was in no mood for jokes or BAN
ter. and being very quick to see which way
the wind blew, the kind sailor few minutes
later addressed to row of very serious
young faces what one boy afterwards termed
"a perfec' brick of Sc -mon."
Boys" he said, .l've been irving every
day Of my life for the last two years to
straighten out furrows-and | can't do it ~
One boy turned bis head in surprise to-
wards the captains neatly kept place.
"Oh, don't mean thar kind, lad. don't
mean land furrows," continued the captain,
SO soberly that the attention Of the boys be-
came breathless as he went on:
"When was lad. about the age Of you
boys, was what they called hard case ;
DOT exactly bad or vicious but wayward and
wild. Well, my dear old mother used to
coax, pray and punish-my father was dead,
making it all the harder for her, but she
never got impatient. How in the world she
bore with all my stubborn, vexing ways 80
patiently will always be to me one of the
mysteries in life. knew it was troubling
her, knew it was changing her pretty face,
making it look anxious and old. After
while, firing of all restraint ran away, went
of to sea and rough time had Of it st
first. Still liked the water, and liked jour
neying around from place TO plsoe. Then !
settled down TO business in . foreign land.
snd soQA hseaas Proapaaosss and aou oeeaA