The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-01-03


 D anation can offer for such phenom- enon is, that our mutual antipathy had become so much part of ourselves, that we could not let it perish for lack oi nourishment.
 Perhaps we were not conscious of this at the time, and when we agreed to go on walking tour together in North Wales I think it was chiefly because we knew that we could devise no sureI means oi annoying one another {; but, however that may be, in an ill-starred day for my own peace of mind, we started upon jour ney from which but one of us was lated to return.
 pass by the painful experiences of the first few days of that unhappy tour. l will say nothing of Barnium's groveling animalism, of his consummate selfish ness, his more than bucolic indifference to the charms of nature, nor even of the mean and sordid way in which he con- trived to let me in for railway tickets and hotel bills.
 wish to tell my melancholy story with perfec. impartiality, and am sure that am not reduced to exciting any prejudice to secure the sympathies of all readers.
 shall pass, then, to the memorable day when my disgust, so long pent up, so imperfectly concealed, eliminated in one grand outburst of a not ignoble in- dignation, to the hour when summoned up moral courage to sever the bonds which linked us so unequally.
 remember it so well, that brilliai { morning in June when we left the Tenn perance hotel, Doldwyddlm, and scaled in sulky silence the craggy heights of Cader ldris, which, presume, still over hang that picturesque village, while. as we ascend, an ever-changing and ever improving panorama unrolled itself be- tore my delighted eyes
 The air up there was keen and bracing, and recollect that l could not repress an aesthetic shudder at the crude and primitive tone which Barnjum's nose had assumed under atmospheric influences. l mentioned this for we still maintained the outward forms of friendship), when he retorted, with the brutal personality which formed so strong an ingredient of his character, that if could only see myself in that suit of mine, and that hat (referring to the dress 1 was then wear lng), should feel the proprie;y of letting his nose alone. To which replied, with sarcasm that l feel now was a little too crushing, that had every intention of doing so, as it was quite painful enough to merely contemplate such spectacle and he, evidently meaning to be offensive, remarked that no one could help his nose getting red, but that any man in my position could at least dress like gentle man.
 took no notice of this insult Bunt- ing q don't think I mentioned before that my name is Philibert Bunting)-a Bunting can afford to pass such inslnua- tions by; indeed, l find it actually cheaper to do so, and fattered myself that my dress was distinguished by sort of studied looseness that would appeal at once to cultivated and artistic eye, though, of course, barnjum's hard and shallow organs could not be expected to appreciate it.
 overlooked it then, and presently we found ourselves skirting the edge of a huge chasm, whose steep sides sloped sheer down into the slate-blue waters of the lake below.
 How can hope to give an idea of the magnificent view which met dur eyes as we stood there-a view of VI lch, as far as am aware, no descripti n has ever yet been attempted?
 To our right lowered the eaks of Dol gelly, with their saw-like tli cutting the blue sky with faint ,,ca.-lg sound, while the shreds of whit cloud lay below in drifts. At our feet were the sun-lit waters of the lake, upon which danced a fleet of brown sailed ht ring boats; be. yond was the plain of Cape Curig, and there, over on the left, sparkled the falls of Y-Dydd.
 As l took all this in felt longing to say something worthy of the occasion. Being possessed of a considerable fund of carefully dried and selected humor, | frequently amuse myself by species of intellectual exercise, which consists in so framing remark that word or more therein may bear two entirely opposite constructions; and some of the quaint names of the vicinity seemed to me just then admirably adapted for this purpose.
 was about to gauge my dull witted companions capacity by some such test, when he forestalled me.
 You ought to live up here, Bunting" !" said he; "you were made for this iden- tical old mountain"
 was not displeased; for, Londoner as l am. have the nerve and steadiness of a practiced mountaineer.
 '" Perhaps l. was" said, good-humor- edly;" but how did you find it out?' "lI tell you," he replied, with one of his odious grins. "This is Cader Idris, ain't it? well, and you're cad awry dressed, ain't you? Cader Idressed, see ?" (he was dastaid enough to explain). That's how get at it p
 He must have been laboriously lead ing up to that for the last ten minutesl
 solemnly declare that it was not the personal outrage that reused me; I simply felt that paltry verbal bubble of that description. emitted amidst such scenery and at that altitude required protest in the name of indignant nature, and protested accordingly, although with an impetuosity which I afterward regretted, and of which can not even now entirely approve.