Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-05-22

Bless us the whskey must have been
strong said he, heas picked up his jacket.
IN be there in minute, Nelly, "
And so 1t was that when Mr., HOdsOn
went into the little front hall, he found
everything in trim readiness for getting
down to the lock-the proper minnows
selected, traces tried, luncheon PACKED.
and his heavy waterproof coat slung
over Ronald's arm.
Seems. you think cant carry my
own coat Mr. llolsOn said for he did
not like TO see this man do anything in
the share of servant-work whereas
Ronald performed these little Offices quite
naturally and as II matter of course.
IN take it. sir" said he; land If
you're ready, now, we'll be of. Come
along, Duncan
An! he was striding away with his
long deer-stalker step when Mr.. Hodson
stopped him:
Wait a bit, man; l will walk down to
the loch with you
So Duncan went on, and the American
and Ronald followed.
sharp this morning"
Rayther sharp
But this must be very healthy life of
yours-out in the fresh air always-plenty
OF eXerCiSe--and so fort h -
Just the healthlest possible sir"
But monotonous a little?'
Deed no, sir. A keeper need never be
idle if he minds his business; there's al.
ways something new on hand"
"Thrn we'll say it is a very enjoyable
life, SO long as your health lasts and you
are tit fer lie work ~
This was apparently question.
Well, the head stalker on the Rothie-
Mount forest is seventy-twu years CT age {;
and there is not one of the young lads
smarter on the hill than he is
An exception, doubtless. The betting
is all against your matching that record.
Well, take your own case what have you
to look forward to aS the result of all your
years OF LAHORE ] agree with you that in
the mean time ii is all very fine; can un.
derstand the fascination of it even, and
the interest you have in becoming ac-
quainted with the habits of the various
| creatures and so forth. Oh, YES, ! admit
that-the healthness of the life and the
interest Of it and dare say you get more
enjoyment out of the shooting and stalk
ing than Lord Ailine, who pays such a
preposterons price for it. But say we
give you fairly long lease of health and
strength sufficient for the work; We'll
take you at sixty; what then Some
thing happens rheumatism "A broken leg
anything That cripples You. You are SUI
perseded; you are out of the running !;
what is to become of you -
Well, sir" said Ronald, instantly
I'm thinking his lordship wouldna think
twice about giving pension to man
that had worked for him as long as that. i"
son, whose first article of belief was that
all men are born equal, had come to Eu-
rope with positive resentment against
the very existence of lords, and "A dctesta-
ton of any social system that awarded
them position aud prestige merely on ac-
count of the accident of their birth. And
what did he ind now Here was a
young fellow of strong natural character,
of marked ability, and fairly indepen lent
spirit, so corrupted by this pcrnicious
system that he looked forward quite nat
/ urally to being helped in his old age by
/ his lOrdship by one of those creatures
who still wore the tags and rags OF an
obsolete feudalism, and We're supposed to
/ protect" their vassals The House OF Peers
had n pretty bad time of it during The next
few minutes if the tall, sallow-laced, gray
eyed man talked with little vehemence,
his slow, stacCato sentences had II good
deal of keen irony in them. Ronald lis.
tened respectfully And perhaps the .es-
ture was all the more severe ;hat the lee
turer had but little opportunity of dellv-
ering it in his own domestic circle. Truly
II was hard that his pet grievance won for
him nothing but sarcastic sympathy