The Mineral argus., 1884-10-02

and France, happening to have earned
a spell of leave" as sailors call it, /
was very naturally spending it in tour
ing through the Scottish Highlands, my
only companion being as usual a noble
Newfoundland, that not only performed
the duties of body-guard and sentry over
my person, but also those of light por-
ter, for he carried my portmanteau.
Had 1 possessed and desire for exclu-
siveness on this journey, 1 should have
been quite miserable, for wherever /
went, on steamboat, in trains, or walk
ing on foot. my princely companion was
the subject of conversation and admIra-
ton. If I had tied a slate about my
neck and pretended to be deaf and
dumb, I might have been allowed tn
hold my tongue, but / should have had
to write.
Who that has travelled in sum-
mer among the Wstern Isles of Scot
land, does not know the grand steam
ships of the country with their splendid
decks and palatial saloons? One beau
tiful day my dog and l we're on board
n of these boats on our way to Port
rec, the capital of Skye. Nero was
looking his best and sauciest, his GRIM
son silver-clasped collar showing off his
raven black color to the best advantage.
L seated myself in an out-of-the-way
corner right abaft, with a book to read.
and threw my tartan plaid over the dog,
L thought we should escape observation,
and / should not have to answer the same
question over and over again, which Ihad
been replying to for the last
month. But the book was too inter-
esting. l became absorbed in it, I lost
myself, and when I found myself again,
l had lost my dog. But yonder he was,
with quite a crowd about him, his beau
ty greatly enhanced by the rich colors
of the plaid that 1oated from his broad
back on each side of him, making him
look like some gaily caparisoned ele-
plant or embryo Jumbo. From the
laughing..and talking / could hear, it
was evident he was amusing them by
performing his various tricks, such as
sneezing, making a bow, saying Eyes"
standing on alternate legs, &C., all OF
which brought him buns and tit-bits.
"Your dogs been 'avin' a blow out, "
a sailer said to me. az seed i'm eat the
the best 'alf of a turkey, besides two
pork pies, and no end of lumps of sugar,
biscuits and buns"
1 soon stopped the performance, but
did not get away until 1 had told the
whole history of the dog, his breed and
pedigree, and the points and character
istics, whims and oddities of Newfound-
lands, and about fifty anecdotes of dogs
in general-given a kind of canine Leo
ture, in fact. / had become used to
the role of public platformist by this
time.
The dog slipped down that day to
dinner with the rest of us, and lay
down between a young German gentle
man and myself. The steward wished
to turn the dog out. I said, Certain
ly, by all means" The great good
natured dog also said, Certainly, by
all means" when the steward address
ed him, "Dut." the dog added, you'll
have to carry me-"
As the Newfoundland weighed over
nine stone, the steward permitted him
to remain. Then the German and
1 got talking about the weather,
the ship, the sea, my country,
his country, history, poetry, music, and
painting. His English was very good
and his accent almost faultless, and his
conversational powers were great; but
though he could speak well, he could
also listen, and the earnest look, the
smile, or the occasional hearty though
we'll timed laugh, showed he possessed
a soul that could appreciate originality
in others, in whatever form it came.
Before I was an hour in this young Ger
mans company, I had come to the con-
clusion that there were only two human
beings on board the steamer, and that
they were Hans Hegel and myself.
I have reason to believe that Hegel
himself was much of the same opinion.
We stayed at the same hotel, and
next m~orning-and a delightful morn
ing it was-as we sat together on the
pine-cladL Lump, with the blue waters OF
the Loeb shimmering in the sunshine
far beneath us, and on every side the
marvellous rocks and wondrous hills,
we agreed to travel in each others COM
pany for the next three weeks at least.
When I say that those three weeks
got extended to six, it will readily be
believed that we enjoyed ourselves thor
oughly. OF all romantic scenery it has
ever been my luck in life to gaze upon,
that of the Winged Isle" is by far and
away the most enchanting. See Skye
in summer and you will have something
to think about and dream about until
your dying day.
l was somewhat proud to be able to
show my newly-found friend all the wild
hoo ntioc Of tho ialnnd Ahn mrrtor;onn