Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-23

Il MEl-huONn WAL dGlGI III huoutus MutlN
he moved hay-fields and cOrn-fields, and
sometimes tossed bOulders about by way
of a change, and the bOulders might be
seen as proof positive of his existence.
Was not the spectre-hOund seen nightly
in Peel CASTER And was it not matter of
notoriety that ''Dame Eleanor Gotham,
Gloucester's wife, haunted the same
place? But there was no need to 90 be-
y0nd the glen itself; it was full of COB
Inns. The waterbull, the glashtyn, and
the nightsteed had been seen by many old
enough to believe their own eyes; and as
for the horrible grOans of these noisy
spirits, on winters night it was not
safe to go out sOf doOrs-at any rate,
without the protection of a chaplet of
bollan feailleoin. And yet this stranger
had the impudence to say that it was
all nonsense, that boaganes were a
myth!
ooh, but Eve heard them, Mr.. Graham, -
said Elsie
~ on heard the wind, Elsie.'
And Pve seen them, tOO.''
''You thought so, Elsie. but YOU were
wrong. GU could not see what does not
exist"
ITS all very well for you as hasn't seen
them to say they don't exist; but its
other people that have seen them, and
they know that there are boaganes every
where"
Here was an awkward stumbling-biock.
To marry woman who believed in COB
Inns did seem outrageous. Every night she
might be putting out bowls Of water for
them to drink, and laying dust ON the floor
TO observe their footsteps in the morning,
and then brushing it very carefully from
the door toward the hoarth lest whole
h0useful of good luck should be swept
away. There would be no doing any
thing for fear of offending these ridicu-
lous spirits.
Robin Graham had decided upon at
tempting avery dangerous thing-nOth-
ing more or less than an experiment in
matrimony. He really had become some
what tired Of the trammels and ways of
the society in which his life had been
spent, and he had grown so fond of Elsie
that he had determined to marry and edU-
cate her. The same thing had been done
before, why not again? About three
months before this time he had come TO
the glen for the purpose of fishing, and he
had taken and furnished a picturesque
little cottage. He had been thrown much
into Elsie's company; she had helped him
with his boat and his lines, and she had
shown him the best places to 20 for cod
and whiting and mackerel. In this Wav
their acquaintance had progressed rapid
ly, until 1t had reached the present sta re-
lie was sure that she was good and beau
tiful; what more could he want in Wife?
OF course, it would be useless to think of
raising her to his level; it would be equal
ly useless to think of descending to hers:
but surely somewhere between there
must exist platform on which they
could meet on equal terms. Compromise
Is the very essence Of a happy married
life; Robin Graham had resolved to put
this principle into practice without de
lay. He had studied the simple habits of
the people about, and he was convinced
that the thing was practicable, though
perhaps not without some little friction at
first. This evening, however, two or three
trifes such as Elsie's grammar had
Jared rather painfully upon his sucepti-
bllltles, but nothing so much as this reVe-
latiOn about her superstition. She had
displayed, too, an unexpected amount
of Obstlnacy; in the interest of her edu-
cation, this had to be eradicated at once.
elsie, your charms would be just as
useful to you as a straw to a drowning
man. Such notions are out of date:
they belong to the days of witchcraft
and nonsense; / assure you they would
make you ridiculous in sOci-amOng
educated people. And as for these pre-
pOsterOus b0aganes, you must give up be-
heying in them-yOu really must. There
never were such things, and III prove it
to YOU"
Though he had adopted the foolish de-
vice of trying to stl engthen his case by
a mere assertion, Elsie was so strong in
her convictions that she refrained from at
lacking him at his weak point. She said
simply:
''lts Joe Quilliam that has told me about
them many time. Oh, and believe him
too"
"What can an ignorant fisherman know
about Such rnattoro a''
"Or an ignorant tisher-girl either, Mr..
Graham?"
This harsh classification of his intend
ed wife with an awkward common lout
Of fisherman was exceedingly objection
able. Like many others, he considered
himself vastly superior to every woman
in his own rank Of life, but he looked
upon the women on a lower rung Of the
social ladder as much superior to the
men. Somehow or other these two opln-
ions had never been brought into JuXta-
position in his own mind; if they had
been, perhaps he might have been able to
reconcile them, conflicting though they
seem. The very idea that this beautiful
girl belonged TO the same class as that
rough fellow, Joe Quilliam was enough to
make one shudder. Robin Graham hasten
ed to repudate it.
Joe Quilliam is all very well in his way,
no Doubt" he said; "but-"
The shadow emerged from the far side
Of the boulder, and took the shape of
a tall, pOwerful-lOOking fisherman, in
knee-bOots and blue guernsey. He had a
pleasant, open face, though its express
sion was half sad and half angry as he
advanced toward the couple on the edge
of the cliff.
You here, Joe?" exclaimed Elsie in
evident alarm.
L'Var thfc annpx-a1 Ipnl,in
''What does 1t matterY' he asked. lis
teners never hear any good Of themselves,
and Quilliam is no exception to the
rule"
Jaw, I'm here plainly enough, an you
may say l came to listen if it suits you,
Mr.. Graham" said Quilliam; "but this
know, that it wasn't my own dom at all
an / thought it better to keep quiet than
to be disturbin' Elsie by sneallin' off
anyway, until you began for to speak O.
me, and then it was best to come out for
sure"
Elsie gave him a timid little smile of
thanks.
''That was very thoughtful Of you, joe -
she murmured.
And now | want to come to plain
un'erstan' in with you, Elsie" Quilliam
went on. ITS not for me to deny that
haven't heard what you've been sayin'
! between yourselves, for L haVe-an' It's
veXed me more than enough. An FIRST
of all let me have my say about the
! bOaganes, which this larned gentle
man here comm from England
where they know so much, though they
live in towns for all that, says is all non
! sense. Tut! any fool with eyes and ears
in his head-and that's not much to ask
! for him, l reckOn-cOuld talk of bOaganes
! that he has heard-aye, an seen, too, by
the hunnerd. It's only this very night
| an it's solemn truth Pm tellin' yOu-as
sat watchin' for the Mary Jane, which is
! about due, | saw a great black thing reaI
/ itself out Of the water just inside o. the
! tideWay vOnner, an it looked aroun' an
/ gave a terrible moan, an then sank again,
/ an l saw no more Of it; an On'y for my
bollan cross here, I'd ha' run for the glen
/ for it was somethin' dreadful"
This horrible picture wrought upon FL
sizes Imagination to such an extent that
| she uttered a slight scream; whereupOr
the FISHERMAN, hastily dIsengaging the fish.
bone that was tied round his neck, handed
it to Elsie, who took 1t eagerly. He shot
triumphant glance at Robin; but Robin
was unequal to the Occasion-he could
| only laugh cOntemptuOusly. To put HIM
/ self in opposition to this ignorant fel.
! low, and run the risk of failure, was
what he wished to avoid at all hazards
unfortunately, however, it was forced
upon him in a very unpleasant way.
Maybe, you'll remember last Hollan'
| tide Eve, Elsie," continued Quilliam
! anyway. those ribbons round your neck