Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1884-05-15
JExxIE'S DIPL0MACT.

Everything looked grim. massive and
cut OF humor about the hard-feafured
old homestead. Dark Ridge.
The s0mber walls. draped heavily. as
II IN mourning. with the dark. wrifhiny
IVY, were cerfzinly grim-lO0king and
massive enough; and. II thev were not.
IN their way. Ont Of humor, II Is not In
the power Of architectural phys;Ognomy
% express il-hum0r. II the grimness
OF the exterior was austene- the grim
ness Of tho Interior was morose. A
certaiG obdnraee air of missrfhropv
clung 10 everything. The heavy panels
Of the walls. the smoky holdings of the
ceilings. the deep carvings Of the mas
siFe furniture. seemed 70 the nervous
and imaginative little horsekeeper ike
% many wrinkles Of enc great implaca-
ble fr0Eu-
In this lair fiFed and growled John
Eldritch. bachelor and landlord: eccen-
tric. irascible. reclusiTe- .-Auld John. ,,
his ne.ghbers called him though lie
was not old; aad yet neither had he
ever seemed to be Young. In his earli-
est boyhood he had been considered \
1Daist unco' bairnie" His shock hair
did not brisfle from the outside of his
cr1nium with less regard TO corven-
tona. modes than his shock of quaint
notions bristled on the inside Of IL This
tact and the rather more weighty one
that his manners sat as awkwardfv an.
loosely on BIN as did his awry garments
gave him no little repute rs a phiioso-
pher- bis philosophy was, however.
at very stera mold; '.poss;meestic, .
he termed IL
How John ever came into possession
O. his universal premise-'-whzterer Is
ought not 10 b" do not know. brf.
having once adopted the spectral waiE
he clnng 70 Il with an heroic obStiuacv
quite Inspiring
The especial object of Johns sbhor-
renee was the weaker sex His anfipsthv
% anything and everything feminine
was fairly ecsfafic-
The feckless. blefherln' corb;es -
he would v0ciferzfe They care for
naeihing hut dafiin and clanerin'. L
wanna hae Ouything tae do wi them"
Ninna ye, John 'Bide q Wee
AMID John was a great rider. He
Snd his shaggy old road mare, Meg"
wene known far and wide; and great
was the merriment they afforded the
keen-witted peasanfry on the line of
their expeditions. which often were ex-
tended for dayE For their JOURNEYS
were but one continued obstinate con
test for the mastership. But If there
was any doubt as TO who was. de fEeto.
master (n0re politely mistress) Il did
not exist in the ninds of Megyy or the
lockers on Whatever 1t occurred 10
this er-zfic animal to do she did. in
spite Of the railing inFectires of her
irnfe but impOtenf rider. Did a clump
Of grass on the hillside offer special en-
6cement-
Whoa whzre ye gangin moo, We auld
farrsn meere
But his mandate was As futile As his
ironT- Meg's nose was hiliward. snd
Il John did not fancy being dragged
under the low-sxeeping branches. his
only successful strafacsm was To sin
OF in the rear and await, with as good
Tor as III grace As possible, the pleas
ure Of his companion Did a particu-
larry cog place by the roadside incline
Meg 10 rest. the celerity with which the
sfaid philosopher slipped from bis sad
die and the turbulent enthusiasm with
which he exPostulafed with his COM
plzccnf partner, as she lay blinking /
depuecatngiy AZ her iege lord. Oc- /
much suppressed laughter |
among the unsympathetic observers
u
Nesting In one Of The little glens
nat creep out from the picturesque /
md historic valley of the Tweed was
be quaint. retired homestead of Glen /
Sook- Glen Nook was the peaceful 1
l0me 6f David Leister, \ former mer-
.hsnt Of Edinburgh. retired. by IL /
lealfh. and his sister, ~Jeanie - Ieis-
e. "DzTic was a genial, medita-
I'VE. gentie-mannered man Of. perhaps.
orty-fve years Jeanic was q very
mall. very briShf-wiffed. very PLACID,
cry winning maid of some thirty sum-
1erE- IL seemed always to have been
umlner with her
AT Glen Nook John and Megrv were
'cither infrequenf nor unwelcome visit
n To the mild-tempered Dsvie there
eemed something cutie refreshing in
he aimless blusSer and acerbity Of his
riend-
And JeanieP Yes; she liked him.
lis treafmenf Of her. indeed. was de-
igned TO be = lofty and u1gracious re-
erve. fitted. he thought, to Impress her
uly with the ard0r Of his misanfhroDy.
was not iii many years sfierward
nat be learned how vigilanf those
uief eyes were; how they had watched
i'm when he sat at meals, smuggling
be bits Of bread into ais sleeve, and
hen afterward he saunfered. with a
r0tesque air Of unconcern. behind the ]
arm. how quickly they caught the /.
indiing (the moisiening. she thought)
the eyes. As be heard the expeetant I
ries Of the little nest Of mOtherless
1bins he had come 10 feed; and when l
e sat. one day on the bank os brook, I
ying to quiet the sobs Of a very dirty !
&c very ragged little urchin. whose
'ot. torn by a thorn. he had washed {
nd wrapped IN his handkerchief. be :
- startled oy the breaking Of q twig. :
{ thought II only some frightened Z
ma The step was very Light, indeed. I