Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-11-14
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DEVIL CALDRON.

1tso happened that the young man Of the
caravan had two considerable faults. The first
faultmy reader has, no doubt, already guessed !;
he was constitutionally lazy The second fault
will appear more clearly in the sequel; he
was, also constitutionally, inqu.sitive Now,
his laziness was of that not uncommon kind
which is capable of great deal of activity,
SO long as that activity is unconscious, and
not realized as being in the nature of icork;:
and its possessor, therefore, would frequently,
in his idle way, bestr himself a good deal;
whereas, if he had been ordered to bestir
himself, he would have yawned and resisted.
Here his other constitutional defect came in,
and set him prying into matters which in no
way seriously concerned him.
No sooner was he L # to his own medita-
tions, which the fail hful Tim (yyho had fortu-
nately been away on a foraging expedition
during the episode described in my last chap
teri was not at han1 TO disturb, t,Ian our
young gentleman began pulling his brains
over the curious inIorina, iGl she Ead gwen
him. The facts, which he had no reason to
question, ranged themselves under four heads:
~ Matt had been cast ashore fifteen years
previously, at an are when she could pro-
nounce the word Pa" 1t followed, as q
rational argument th,t she lad been, say,
one year old or thercabouts.
C9 Mr.. Mont hal foU-,d her, and given
Ter into the care of NALa,l . Jones', ard had
since handed that worry SUNS of money for
taking care Of her. Query, What reason had
the said Monk for exhioitii2.., So much care for
for tho child, unless he wo-e a person of Won
derfully benevolent Cisisos.,.c1, which my
hero was no5 at all inci.nci ID bolievci
C) Said Monk and said Jones were on very
L. L,
difference il their social positions Que,'v
again, Wcs there Gny private reason, any
mysterious Elowlctyc, any secret shared LII
common, which bound their interests to-
gethers
~ Last and most extraordinary of all,
said Monk had now expressed his wish and
intention to marrying tho waif he Lad rescued
from the Sen, committed to the care of said
Jones, and brought up in ragged ignorance,
innocent Of grace or grammar, en- that lonely
shore. Query again, and again, end yet
again: What the deuce had put the idea into
Monks head; and was there at the bottom o.
j. any deeper and more conceivable motivs
than the one of ordinary affection for a pre-.
~, IL uncultivated, chldi
The more Charles Brinkley pondered over
all these questions the more hopelessly puz-
e.ed he became But his curiosity, once
reused, could not rest. He determined, II
possible, to get to the niidrif Of the mystery.
So intent was he Oh this subject, which fitted
Ia beautifully with his natural Incidence, tina,
he at once knocked OF painting for the day,
and aIter treas sin, on the fare with which
Inn lad u S tine appeared, he strolled
aeayt ~; : T.. seashcre
10 EaA To- gone fa.' " hen he saw approach
ING him q tai fE,ure which h, seer,nd t. rec
ognize. It came closer, and he saw that it
was Mr.. lIon,;, Of Monkshurst.
This time afonk was on foot. Ee wore a
dark dress, with knickerboc,lers e1l Heavy
shooting boots, and carried a gun. A large
doc, ct the species mIcher, followed at his
heels
Z. inkley was passing by without any salu-
tat.ol, when, to his surprise, the other paused
AMI LfteI LIS Lat.
II beg your pardon, =" he said. eve have
met once before; and think havo 10 apollo
gi0e to you for unintentional incivili.ly. The
fact is-hum-I mistook you for a-vagranti
1 did not know you were a gentleman
So staggered was the artist with this greet
ing that he could only borrow the vocabulary
Of Mr.. Toots:
"Oh, its of no consequence" he said, at.
tempting to PASS on.
but the other persevered.
Il assure you, Mir, Mr. q have not
the pleasure of knowing your nance, that
had no desire Of offending you; and if did
50 beg to apologize"
BEiniley looked keenly at the speaker His
wol>' and manner were greatly at variance
with his looks-even with the tone of his
voice. Though he smiled and showed his
teeth, dark frown still disfisur h.s brow,
and his mouth twitched nervously, as if he
were i'll at ease
Regarding him thus closely, Brinkley saw
that he had been somewhat mistaken as to his
age. he was considerably under fifty years
OF age, but his hair was mixed with e ay and
bus features strongly marked as with the scars
OF old passions. A handsome man, certainly;
an amiable one, certainly not! Yet he had
peculiar air of power and breeding, as of one
accustomed to command
Curiosity overcame dislike, and tho young
man determined to receive Mr.. Monks over.
ture a. arniahly Is poMihle.
dars ny It was mistaks," he aid.