The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1885-05-14
FOURTH COUSINS.

In the early Summer of 1860 | went
upon a visit to distant relative of
mine who lived in one of the Shetland
Islands. It was early summer with
myself then; [ was medical student
with life all before me--life and hope.
and JOY and sorrow as well. I went
north with the intention of working
hard, and took quite small library
with me; there was nothing in the
shape of study did not mean to do.
and to drive at: the flora of the Ultima
thule, its fauna and geology, too, to
say nothing OF chemistry and therapeu-
ties. so much for good intentions, but
i may as well confess it as mott
never once opened my huge box of
books during the five months lived at
R, and if | studied at all it was
from the book of nature, which is open
to every one who cares to con it's
pages.
The steamboat landed me at Ler-
wick, and L completed my Journey.
with my boxes, next day in an open
boat.
1t was very cold morning, with a
gray, cold, choppy sea on, the spray
from which dashed over the boat. wet
ting me thoroughly, and making me
feel pinched, blear-eyed and miserable.
L even envled the seals | saw costly
asleep in dry, sandy caves. at
the foot of the black and beetlipp
rocks.
How very fantastic those rocks were.
but cherries, SO cherries! Even the
sea-birds that circled around them
seemed screaming dirge An OPEN
ing in wall of rock took us at length
into long, winding ford, or arm of
the sea, with green bare fields on every
side, and wild, weird-like sheep that
gazed on us for ~ oment, then bleated
and fed. Right at the end of this rock
stood my friends house, comfortable
and solid-looking, but unsheltered bv
single tree.
81 shan't stay long here" l said to
myself, as l landed.
An hour or two afterward l had
changed my mind edtirely. | was
seated in charmingly and costly fur
nlshed drawing-room upstairs The
windows looked out to and away
across the broad Atlantic. How
strange 1t was; for the loch that had
led me to che front of the house, and
the waters of which rippled up and
do"n the very lawn, was part of the
German ocean, and here at the back,
and not stones throw distant, was
the Atlantic! Its great, green, dark
pillows rolled up and broke into foam
against tho black breastwork of cliffs
beneath us. The immense depth of
its waves could be Judged of by keep
ing the eye fixed upon the tall, steeple-
Ike rocks which shot up here and
there through the water little way
out to sea-at one moment these would
appear like lofty spires, and next they
would be almost entirely swallowed
I'D.
BESIDE the fire, in an easy chair, sat
my gray haired old relation and host,
and not far off his wife. Hospitable,
warm-hearted and genial both of them
were. If marriages really are made
in heaven. could not help thinking
theirs must have been, so mnch did
tney seem each onher's counterpart.
Presently Cousin Maggie entered,
smiling to me as she did so; her left
hand fingered fondly for moment on
her fathers gray locks, then she sat
down unbidden to the piano.
On the strength of my blood rela-
tionship, distant though it was, for
we were really only third or fourth
cousins, l was made member of this
family from the first, and Maggie
treated me as brother. | was not
entirely pleased with the latter ar.
rangement, because many days had
not passed ere 1 concluded it would
be pleasant pastime for me to make
love to Cousin Maggie. But weeks
went by. and my love making was
still postponed; it became sine die
kind of probability. Maggie was
constantly with me when out of doors |
my companion in all my fishing and
shooting trips. But she carried not
only rod but even rifle herself she
could give me lessons in casting the
fly-and did; she often shot dead the
seals that had merely wounded, and
her proves in rowing astonished me,
and her daring in venturing so far to
sea in our broad. open boat, often
made me trcmble for our safety.
A frequent visitor for the first two
months of my stay at R was a
young and well to do farmer and fisher
who came in his boat from neighbor-
ing island, always accompanied by his
sister and they usually stayed day or
two was not long in perceIvlng that
this Mr.. Thorforth was deeply in love
with my cousin; the state of her feel
ing toward him it was some time be-
fore could fathom, but the revelation
came atlast and quite unexpectedly.
There was an old ruin some distance
from the house, where, one lovely
moonlight night, / happened to be
seated alone. / was not alone, how
ever; from window I could see my
cousin and Thorforth coming toward |
the place, and thinking to surprise
them, ! drew back under the shadow