The Ottawa free trader., 1885-11-21

Cato puts IL Ny bans and antidots arc boti
befo-s ma. Bat what rogue and Pc isan
slavs am / TO go wool-gathering thus
Who's the boyP'
Pike introduced mo to Mr.. Campbell n
'the juvenile hero OF the company, the CEN
ing man, the future Romeo etc.
The Old gAtleman said, with swn
smile:
| Excuse me, sir, old men will still he talk
ing; it's the privilege Of age You arr
young and sanSuins. Ahi was young anc
sanguine once myself. Ihope you will have
better fortune than befel me. You have al
open brow and frank eva You can lool
man in the face; I'm sure you're moi
afraid. It's "A bal thing to be afraid. On:
moment of fear blighted the life of man
know rs well us ! know myself Cleanli
ness, they say, is next to godlness, but IAN
illness il above everything If a man insults
you if he is as bi, as Goliath, don't wait tC
| talk, hit him first; hit him if your heart l.
quaking, if your nerves are shaking; hit
him II he kills you afterl A brave man can
only die but once; but the cowardl Ah
God help the poor miserable coward. for he
dies every day, every hour he live'" He
paused, and looked strangely round as he
took Off his hal, pasSed his hand through his
beautiful hair; then he stopped, took up a
handful OF snow and rubbed it on his brow,
moppei it dry, and said with lowdespond-
ing moan:
"Oh God l could be bounded in a nut
sholl, and count myself king Of infinite
space were it not that l havs had bad
dreams" Then he continued: 81 fear you
will think me rather eccentric, and SO | am;
but was not always thus, was ], Pike' l
was-what was II Pm sure forget. Well,
ani how is Madame la Pike and the young
fishes1 And the stock debit And do we
still delight thr lieges with Sir Edward Nor
timer, an1 Pizarro, and tho Raillie, and
Caleb BalIerston' And get glorious as of
yore on tho mountain dew, fresh from Glen
livatf Then, in an altered tone, and with
tSuch Of sadness in his voice, 'Of all
things else, avoid that, young gentleman.
Remember, There's death in the pot Only
begin with that, and 'Facilis descensus
Avorni.' All the rest Is easy; slap, bang,
down you go through the primrose path TIL
you get TO the abyss at the bottom"
At this moment Pike cut in with:
I've saw Lang Willie last night at
Paisley"
"Dhyour responded the other; ",hen you
saw one for whom
Nature might stand up
And say to oil the world--'Thi, was man."
After moments pause he began to hum
annie Laurie" half aloud and half to him
self. At last Pike whispered HIM, then he
changed altogether, and said:
''You're good fellow, Pike. What is it
the Baillie says to Rob R)yi You're sort
of kind Of honest rogue lut as to money,
Keep your trasl, BailLe; keep your trash
See, although We have got to our last
Roberto, yet,"-and he sent bright new
shilling spinning in the air and caught it
deftly-" what is it Cleopatra's mailed
Bacchus says. Yet have we brain that
nourshes our nerves. not, by the by, that
he could have had much brains to spare
when he made such an ass Of himself for the
sake OF that proniScuouSly amorous and de-
cidediy disSolute OH gypsy. Good bye,
good bye; good luck to you at kllmarnock.
May your shadow never grow less; may
your stock deot never increase; may you
never share l2ss than half crown a night,
and candles to boot. Ia, ta we pray
heaven to have you in its holy Ike pingr'
And so, throwing his head aloft, he walked
rapidly down the hill, singing as he passed
out of sight the song of Autolycus-
jog on, jog on, the footpath way,
And merrlly hent the stiie "a
A merry heart goes all the way;
Your sad tres in mile a.
That was how | made Curly's acauaint-
ance; and, indeed, that was the first and
last and only time | ever saw Donald
Campbell untl-but | must not anticipate.
With reference to the remainder of our
journey
As i'll n theatre, the eye, of men,
After vel -graced actor leaves the stage,
Are idly bent on him that enters next,
Thinking his prattle to be teiious;
Even so would the reader regari our cd.
ventures at kilmarnock as tedious and r
relevant so | pass them by, and leave the
record for another time and place
In the next chapter | viii take up the
thread of Curly's and Willies story as il
came almosg under my own personal cog
nizance, many long day after poor old
Pike and had parted company forever