The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-10-24

III ~ lRWI the road to Xii
!. !. !. !" !: !" !
i! " NhUn marnock, We bad
~ ~ left Grcanock ior
MI O. Glasgow by train
q NJ leaving our lug
W i w., sag, 0h're va,
. u N - no much of III to
~ b, ent for us
while we Wake on to Pa sloy, vince Pike
had a friend in the local rage ian, Mr..
Jam cson--popularly known As Lang
WBh,'-who would lie GOOD for "A SOW
eregn \ as! when W. got to Paisley, we
fouul "I.any WILLIE was 'undcf the
weather himself and the eNpc.'i soy
eroEl lwiullel down to five sulllings-
which was the entire amount Of bis nights
share for acting "Bertram,' in the gloomy
but powerful tragedy Of t at name
When The play was over MIR. Jameson
took Us TO his lodgings, oavc IL a heart7
welcome and hot supper, af err which l
sat and listenel while the veterans acte /
'their young encounters Der aoa.n.' Amidst
Their pleasant "reminiscences Pike happnnet
10 uenion the name Of Curly At the
sound Jameson became sad AM silent
After while Pike inquired:
"WLore is he the moor!
"God knowsn replel the other. "Pve
not seen him fra month or mora He ave
bursts out when tee anniversary OF that
awful time comes round lie generally
STAYS away for month or SIX weeks, an
comes back without word, ali resu nes
his life where he left Off just AS nothing
had happened. Poor Curiyl Poor Fora!
But there; what is it Mistre5; Mac! eth
says!--
,Yit oil t..nallr
Sh,ul! be without re gard; whats done is
done
So sup uD and clear out--that is, if you mean
TO go to kilmarnock tomorrow. Goodbye,
young gentleman. hope yCu'll be lucliier
than tbis weather beaten oil villain anj
myself. Stick to the text; study night
and day: and, who knows. YOU may take
the world by storm one of these days"
I'm try sad.
GOOD lad Good lal Remember, there's
no such word H. Goodbye, + Ike; good
luck - YOU at kilmarnccS.
And SO we took our cave of Lang vii
lie, and sought our humble hosiery, where
ten minutes later lay iat asleep not even
diofmIng # the influence that accidental
enc unt'r with Mr. Jameson AMI anbtnor
yet ~ cone were to have on my future dei-
tiny
Ngyt morning, atnr We he'd Tail orr
score, wr had only eighte pence left; Tut
W a, ~ money VIXEN you have youth,
he strength and am5ition Thank
Goo | hal all these; as for my com
panion, poor fellow, he hal had so many
rubs Of fortune that he was equal 10 any
fate BY the way, his rame was not "Pilie'
at all; he had mercy arrived ct that
sobrqu1t from his marvellou, voraciy, aud
his eXrnord mary facial resemblance 10 the
pike fish. He had fulfilled one short engage
mcnt in + inburgh or Glasgow some thirty
years before met him, bu al tn interrcg-
nun had been pass ID vagab N liZing about
in balls AMI barns in the small towns of
Scotland. He was always in debt, always
IN difficulty, but somehow or other he always
kent niioat, always kept n light heart and
alWnys Ia | Il pleasant word for every body.
Although 1t was in the month Of May, tho
snow vas on the ground; fortunately for III
IL had been frozen into fine crisp con-
si.tcney The sun flushed the horizon with
''ndrr violet, lighting the hilltops with
fire, and making the distant road, which lay
before w. alive with rub,es and cmeralds
and other precious stones, set in great
masses of COLL and silver. or course, when
We came up with them our mqgic jewels
van.shed--no, not quito VANISHED they had
ony gone ll,tle further Off; aud 50 we fol-
loyol ~ their track, just as th, people fol
low in the pursuit of pleasure in Noel
Pntoa's picture 1t was inleel, n lovely
morning, and the yount biooI ran riot IN
my veins whlc thu blr chirp'd AMI sane
10 ii from every helg, | WIS in love with
.t ,l Ian iaal 4,
me the trough brak, through whch great
ness must pass nstt'rei my,c f that
was another Edmund kcln in embyro-be.
side was | not al out 10 ~ en- nj the Theatre
Ruy ai kimlrnock, in Romeo, CAlaSl this
Thaafr Royal turned cut TO be a blrn over
stab!cN / was Romeo already. | must
confess my mind was sorely eXercis Il rs to
my future Juliet, Miss Madeline Montmo
reucy. Was she short or tall slim or stout,
dark or fair Il may rs well state at once
that she turned out to be old enough For my
mother, and wore false front" so think
il was callcd) ! was TO have guinea a
week and a benefit, all the receipts, after
the shares and stock debt were taken up.
So, building these castles in the mir, |
trottci along, full Of the delightful antici-
pations Of youth and hope; while, as for
Pike, he was as JOlly as usual. About mid
day we stopped at a farmhouse "A little out
OF the main road, where he negotiated q
lunch Of oatcake and milk for sxpence out
of our lit le store Whom we had done
ample justice to our frugal repaSt he took a
pull at his pipe, and then we resumed our
journey beguilug the time with snatche,
of song md theatrical "reminiscences, OF
which he had an abundance. Incidentally
he ment Oued the name of Curly; then he
stopped and changed the subject. This re-
mind d me OF the hitch in the conversation
on the preceding night, so ! ventured to in.
quirs who and what Curly" was. After
some hesitation Pike told me the story am
about TO relate-a story remarkable enough
under any circumstances, but RENDERED still
more remarkable by an incident which
actually occurred during its narration. Had
il not been for this strange coincidence tn,
narrative would not have needed thi, in
duCtlOn.
CHAPTER l.
nppur