West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-10-30

a moment; then, rushing b~reathlesslv
down to tue water again, find him lying
upon the bank, much shaken, bruised
and exhausted. but holding on 10 his
rod doggcdly.
The fish is sulking in tho lower
pool" he explains, emptying the water
from his pockets. when I've had a
rest you must come and rouse h,M IL
with stones"
This respite is brief. That game fish
Is soon careering round the second
pool, but the effort is a final one. Very
Don he is lying in tho shallow water,
almost passive.
We have no gan with us. and Captain
Croft's big landing net would not even
hint at inclosing such n leyiathan as
this.
Dick leads the fish steadily shoreward
until il is almost aground; then Captain
Croft warily circling around il. scoops
1t up in both arms, and, behold, the
great salmon is glittering among the
ling and hea,herl
A loud cheer arises from the whole
party, and little Bella, in a paroxysm
of triumph, kneels beside the silver
monster and kisses its slippery side.
Thirty pounds at least we cry.
mo, twenty-five, perhaps" say the
gentlemen. 'And a grand fish in per-
feet condition"
The excitement OF the sport has com.
pletely driven all thoughts of Dicks
coming departure from my mind, but
they now return with force. ale
shat have n chance" | declare TO my
self, and ponder n little while the Others
are stepped in fish worship.
Dick" L eXclaim, authoritativcly,
you must go home at once, instead of
lettering about here, dripping like "A
Newfoundland dog. Ethel and / will
walk back with you"
Catching Dicks eye, / see that he
understands me. Come along" he
says.
Ethel takes my arm on the side re.
mote from Dick. She is remarkably
silent, and shows a tendency to blush
about nothing, fearing possibly that her
anxiety about Dicks dangerous es-
capade just % may have betrayed
her. Dick, feeling that he is now, as
he would himself phrase it, lin for it,"
maintains n no less impcnetrable
dumbness. Never have two such leaden
companions fallen to my lot before or
since.
Ii is a relief thai the beauty of the
winding moorland path, stretching away
behing us, compels me to stop and take
out my sketch-book.
I'm stay with YOU" says Ethel,
~nervously.
What, and leave poor old Dick to
jog home aloneP"
"EhP' says Dick, looking at me with
comical terror. Don't let me drag
her with me if she wants to STAY
Nonsense; go away, Ethel. can't
have you iidgeting about me while /
am drawing"
Their aSsinuous good nature in pre-.
pairing my water-color box and block
for action knows no bounds; neither
fulsome hints nor cross requests will in
duce them to depart. AT length, when
| am busy with my first wash, and re-
fuse with sulky steadfastneSs TO answer
any more questions, or to offer any
further pretext for their moving hand
or foot on my behalf, they stroll shyly
Oft together. Ether's eyes on the
ground, Dicks on the distant horizon.
Craning round upon my camp-stool.
| watch them down the long slope OF
brake-fcrn and heather, straining my
eyes as they grow indistinct after cross
ing the stream, and finally disappear.
to leave me one the wiser for all my
gazing.
Anxiety prevents my sitting still for
ten minutes together. My sketch is a
curiosity-a phenomenal specimen OF
the kline of daub producible by the con-
vulsive dashes of a hand totally unas-
sisted by a mind, which is too agitated
to do its duty.
My eyes yearn to pierce the small
knoll behind which the twain have dis.
appeared. Are those two heads n
nearer to each other than when | saw
them lastP
For years we have looked upon Dick
as a brother; tomorrow night, when he
has departed, many tears will be shed
which he will know nothing of. His
going TO India. too, is a mere freak, q
decision reversible. | really believe, by
a single word from Ethel. Again, Dick
Is his W master, unhampered by that
lack of gold which quenches the hopes
OF so many young fellows. Well, /
have done my best, and, now they have
had a clear hour with their.fate in their
W hands, may as well collect my
pariphernalia and follow them.
As | pace homewaTd and gaze over
the swelling hills, the sun setting ''be-
yond their utmost purple rim, ''saddens
me. Solitude and the gloom of even
tide, melancholy as a %long-drawn sigh
of nature, settle upon my soul; by the
time have reached the last bridge to
be crossed, the castles / have built con-
corning Dick and Ethel have crumbled
one by one.
Suddenly / stumble upon them among
the rocks. and my hopes rush to the
surface once more the glow OF happi-
ness upon these I'VE faces admits of but
one explanation.
You old brick" begins Dick. clasp
ing my two hands with a fervor which
| trust he will never repeat. 'If il
hadn't been for you, I should never
have done iti''
And Lucy. adds Ethel in q thrilling
voice. with her arms round my neck.
you're a doar old thing; if it hadn't
been for the salmon and Dicks going
IN alter IL, he never would have"
Done this interpolates Dick, kiss
ing her again and again, with a cool
indifference TO my presence which
bathcs her face in crimson. ''But we
haven't the courage TO 90 in without
You, he adds, when he has quite done
his whispers in her ear.
you'll have to, though. Master
Dick. ] reply, dashing onward and
into the midst of the asionished proup
in the inn parlor
ITS twenty pounds ten ounces.
shouts Bella. BY way II greeting.