Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1885-11-18

| Win her sorrow.
But young hearts are made Of strong ma
terial, and blithesome Ella was soon
| absorbed In her household duties, and now
not a shade Of trouble appeared upon the
smiling face.
Let not my readers find fault with Miss
Ella when disclose the fact that she had
| q strong penchant for pet dogs. They were
childhood, and all the dignity OF young
ladyhood lacked power to wean her affec.
tion from them now. Great shaggy fell
lows with affectionate brown eyes were
her special favorites, but every canine,
| from the puny pug to the slim and grace
full greyhound, found a place in her affec-
tions. They had, as she herself expressed
IL, afforded solid comfort and consola-
ton" all her life, and she never had the
least occasion to find fault with them until
to-day, when her most particular pet
| covered her with shame and humiliation.
This is how 1t happened: Downing her
large un-hat, and calling her pet Niger
and a smaller satellite named Ruby, she
| sailed forth for her usual evening walk,
which eventually ended in a race or scram-
BILE on the way home. All went well until
| Niger encountered casual acquaintance
In the shape Of a pugilistic looking black
| cur, who was evidently on the war path.
He shifted around Niger, which proceed
ing must In dog language have meant a
challenge, for Niger, to his eternal dis
| grace, Immediately threw down the glove,
SO to speak Qending the while a very un-
willing ear to the agonized entreaties of
his young mistress), wavered moment,
and then went for his opponent with vim
which promised to make things lively all
round. Ruby made few spasmodic
dashes toward the combatants, but deem
| ing prudence much safer than valor in this
instance sat down at a safe distance and
watched the fight uneasily. Miss Ella
was in despair, and looked around in vain
for assistance; espying a stick she picked
| 1t up and poked aimlessly in futile effort
to separate the angry animals. She had
| just given up the attempt when, to her
great relief, man appeared on the scene.
| he was grimy and ragged, but she took no
notice of that, and begged him earnestly
to save her pet from the monster who was
seemingly bent on devouring him. An
amused smile fickered around the mans
mouth for an instant as he looked at her,
then, grasping a dog with each hand, he
| flung one of them clear over the fence, and
was about TO fling the other i'm an opposite
direction when Ella grasped him by the
| coat-sleeve and claimed her pet, all dirty
and disgraced as he was.
Pm sure Pm very grateful, indeed"
stammered our distressed heroine, as she
| held out her hand toward the stranger
he took no notice OF her action, and, lift
| ing his hat with grace which would have
done honor to a Chesterfield, walked
| quickly out of sight.
A few days after that identical tramp
| in truth, he looked a typical specimen of
the tramp from his shirt button, conspic-
uous by its absence, to his dusty shoes
called at the cottage. Now, Mrs. Winters
pet aversion was tramp; the very name
suggested visions of murder, fire and rob-
berry. When, perchanco, she did give en-
ployment to such people, ii was under the
nd
always with fear and trepidation.
"He wanted some kind of work. m'm,"
that was the tenor of James message from
the kitchen. A hurried and anxious con-
sultation with that ancient and worthy
domestic disclosed the fact that the
"kindling was almost out" Relying
upon the assurance of the intrepid
on him, she was told to show him
to the wood -pile. Later on Jane set him
down to dinner in the kitchen, and, acting
upon pre-arrangement, took the liberty of
giving Mrs. Winters wink, whereupon
that wise and cautious woman ensconced
herself behind q convenient ambush and
proceeded to study Mr.. Tramp.
For the first time in her life her opinion
wavered. The cap which half concealed
his face when she had first seen him was
now laid aside, disclosing to view Il broad,
white forehead, surmounted by II hand
sunburnt, but there was no mistaking the
beauty in every line of it-a youthful face,
with not even the shadow of n mustache TO
hide the clear-cut, refined mouth. She
came and saw, and was almost conquered.
There could be nothing bad, she argu I'd, in
that comely young face. She had seen
honest brown eyes like these before. some-
where. He certainly could not be one of
the class which she detested so much
Yes, she would get him to give the flower
garden hand, also.
They are busy every day now among the
flowers and weeds, Ella and Mrs. Winters
taking a hand. The tramp" proves a
valuable acquisition. His taste and know
ledge anent matters horticultural surprise
them. He preserves a stolid silence unless
when spoken to, and to Elias surprise
never once recalled the incident of the dog
fight. Owing to her secluded life Ella
Winters ideas of. men and things were
mostly gathered through the medium of
the modern novel: therefore she could not
be blamed If her imaginative mind found
ample exercise in the study of this brown
eyed youth who so badly played the role
OF tramp. His age might be twenty lone
or twenty-five, and an expression that
crept over his face sometimes in furtive
manner reminded her of the pictured face
upon the mantel-piece.
what do you think of our gardener
now, mammal" inquired Ella over her tea
cup one morning.
"My dear, I think he is just splendid"
answered her mother, looking radiantly
through her glasses at Ella.
"What do You think found him doing
yesterdayW went on Ella, with peculiar
smile.
Mrs. Winters looked up now with shade
of alarm upon her face. Was she wrong
after all to allow herself to be so easily di-
vested of her fears! But her anxiety was
allayed by the smile upon Elias face.
~ surprised him reading this, mamma"
holding up pocket edition of "Les Misera-
bles" in triumph. "In French, too" con :
tinued Ella, nodding her little head in a
wise manner.
Ella is helping him to tie up some rose
bushes to-day and tries to draw him into
conversa ton. His usually reticent manner
changes little, and he astonishes her by
his knowledge of books and their authors.
His language and manner evince the great
est taste and culture, but he soon checks
himself, as IL by an effort, and relapses into
almost sullen silence. To her surprise ne
came to the parlor window one day and
presented her with an exquisite half blown
rose, and she accepted IL from bhis hand
some vagaboud with as much grace and
thanks as IL it had been given by prince !;
aye, and blushed, too, under his gaze as
she pinned 1t in her bosom. Willie Gaynor
is expected in week, but there is little
Suiu upoup us coming, anu Ella seems TO
have lost much of the fervor with which
she had awaited his promised arrival a
month ago. A great change had come
"o'er the spirit of her dream" in that one
short mouth, and she dared not question
her heart, which even now could tell her
strange story could it give voice to the
truth.
Mrs. Winters, whose fears had been
sleeping all this time, began to feel some
slight qualms of conscience, aud was glad
when the work of imprpving the garden
was nearly at an end. Just now she Is
holding serious consultation with Jane
In the kitchen regarding the ACCESSIBILITY
of dispensing with the "hired man,
"Things are in the best of ORDER" Jane
averred, winding up with an emphatic as
surance Of his being to her mind perfect
| gentleman, never asking question, and
always speaking TO her (Jane) as if she
were "a born lady"
The warmth of the girls defense showed
| plainly enough that he had captured that
| side OF the citadel.
Willie GaYnor's arrival is close at hand.
Ella was restless and nervous to-day, and
| resorted TO the invariable panacea for all