Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1885-05-14
FOURTH COUSINS.

In the bhIl1 Suiiiihpt VI iCuV Il WtHb
[upon visit TO a distant relative of
Emine who lived in one of the Shetland
Islands. II was early summer with
myself then; | was medical student
with life all before me--life and hope,
land 10Y and sorrow as web. ] went
north with the intention of working
hard. and took quite n small library
with me; there was nothing in the
sshapc Of study Idid not mean to do,
land to dive at; the fora of the Ultima
Thule, its fauna and geology, too, to
say nothing of chemistry and therapeu-
#tics. So much for good intentions, bat
N II may as well confess IL as mott
never once opened my huge box of
Books during the five months lived at
X, and if | studied at all it was
Hfrom the book IF nature, which is open
ftO every one who cares to con its
pages.
The steamboat landed me at Ler-
wick, and | completed my journey,
with my boxes, next day in an open
3b0at.
4 1t was very cold morning, with a
8gray, cold, choppy sea on, the spray
&irom which dashed over the boat, wet
hing me thoroughly, and making me
feel pinched, blear-eyed and miserable.
even envIed the seals ! saw costly
asleep in dry, sandy caves, at
the foot Of the black and bectling
brooks
How very fantastic those rocks were,
but cherries, SO cheerlessl Even the
sea-birds that circled around them
Seemed screaming dirge. An open
fng ia wall Of rock took us at length
INTO a long, winding ford, or arm OF
The sea, with green bare fields on every
kide, and wild, wcird-like sheep that
eazed on us for moment, then bleated
bnd lied. Right at the end OF this rock
stood my friends house, comfortab BILE
pnd solid-lcoking, but unsheltered by
single tree.
II shgn't stay long here | said to
DnyseI, as landed
An hour or two afterward | had
thanged my mind edtirely. I was
seated in d charmingly and costly fur
unished drawing-roora upstairs. The
windows looked out to and away
across the broad Atlantic. How
s.range it was; for the loch that had
led me to the front of.the house, and
the waters Of which ripplcd up and
down the very lawn, was part OF the
Herman ocean, and here at the back,
and not a stones throw distant. was
the Atlantic! Its great, green, dark
pillows rolled up and broke into foam
against the black brcastwork of cliffs
beneath rs. The immense depth of
US waves could be judged of by keep
ing the eye fixed upon the tall, steepie-
IKE rocks which shot up here and
there through the water q little way
out TO sea-at one moment these would
appear Ike lofty spires, and next they
would be almost entirely swallowed
Beside the fire, in an easy chair, sat
my gray haired old relation and host,
ana not far off his wife. Hospitable,
warm-hearted and genial both of them
We're II marriages really are made
" heaven. could not help thinking
theirs must have been. so mpeh did
'hey seem each onhcr's counterpart
PRESENTLY Cousin Maggie entered,
smiling to me as she did so; her left
hand fingered fondly for a moment on
ler fathers gray locks. then she sat
uoSn unbidden to the piano.
on the strength of my blood rela-
uonship, distant though it was, for
we were really only third or fourth
cousins, | was made member of this
iamily from the first, and Maggie
treated me as a brother. | was not
enurely pleased with the latter ar
'ahgement, because many DAYS had
moi passed ere concluded il would
uea pleasant pastime for me to make
,ose TO Cousin Maggie. But weeks
ssnI by, and my love making was
Slii postponed; IL became sine die
Aino OF a probability. Maggie was
'onslantly with me when out of doors
my companion in all my fishing and
'nooung trips. But she carried not
u rod but even rifle herself; she
souid give me lessons in casting the
land did; she often shot dead the
sea's mat had merely wounded, and
wi prowess in rowing astonished me,
s sna ner daring in venturipg so far to
~ our broad. open boat, often
"aae me tremble for our safety.
frequent visitor for the first two
non'ls OF my stay at R. was a
sJuug and wen TO do farmer and fisher
sno came in his boat from neighbor-
%g Island, always accompanied by his
,w sser ana they usually stayed day or
s .So ! was not long IL perceiying that
wi, wis UT. Ihorforth was deeply in lore
NV my cousin; the state OF her feel
az @ward him it was some time be-
,v,e ! con'd fathom, but the revelation
a w. ~ last and quite unexpectedly.
f,, anere was an old ruin some distance
moa lhe house, where, one lovely
ss Sunlight night, happened to be
s,as ou alone. | was not alone. how
wi oer! from window could see my
D"sin and Thorforth coming toward
a place, and thinking TO surprise
"'u' ! drew back under the shadow