The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-04-11

J May ask WheIe you come Ilonl' l Naiu'
/ Iuoon. where do You livc'
/ "T logt srcoling, she stretched ont her
arn and I.i.ted across the lake in the dtrcr-
.tn of G. ..ua. | could not help noticing
/ then, os an artist, that the sleeve Of her gown
was l.,.erad IN, and that h.r arm was
round ind vu'l formed, and her hand, though
ROUGH ami sl".burued, quite gcutooIIN small.
'.'Ii it's not iuquisiti'c, may ask your
nance
"1at,' was the reply.
/ ".I- taa,aUt What is You other Nance
".i.yu g.. no other name. Ina Matt, |
am
".mdeed! Do your parents live hcrcf
"'Got no parents, was the reply.
"'Nour relations, then. You belong to
some one, suppose?
"Shc gave me another nod.
eyes she answered, nibbling rapidly !
belong to William Jones
"'Oh, TO hjDt,' / said, feeling ns familiar
with the name rs if | had known 1t all my
LIE. But he's not your father"
'Nhc shook hor head cmphaticallv.
" .iut Of course he's II relatonf
Another shake of the head.
"'But YOU belong to himH | said, consider
ably puzzled. where were you boinC
81 wasn't born at all, answered Matt. i
come ashore
This was what the immortal Dick Swivel
Ter would have called staggerer looked
at the girl again, inspecting her curiously
from top to toe. Without taking her eyes
from mine, she stood on one leg bashfully,
and fidgeted with the other foot. She was
certainly not bad-looking, though evidently o
very rough diamond. Even the extraordiD.
airy hcalgcar became her well.
az know what yen was doing there, sho
cried suddenly, pointing to my easel. y on
was pantiugH
"Tho discovery not being brilliant one
! took no trouble TO COniir:n it, but Matt there
upon walked over to the canvas and STOPPING
down, examined it with uudisguised curiosity.
| Presently she glanced again at me.
81 know what this is she cried, pointing.
| It's water. And that's the sky. And that's
| trees. And these herc'-for n moment she
seemed in doubt, but added hastily-'pigs.'
"Now, as the bjcct represented flock a
sheep budding together close to pond on n
rainy common, this suggestion was not over
complimentary t. my artistic Skill was on
| the point of correcting my aStute critic when
she added, after a moments further inspec-
| ton:
"'No; they're sheep. Look We now, know
They're sheep
"'rray don't touch the paint, / suggested,
approaching her in some alarm. 1T is wet,
and comes Off
"Shc drew back cautiously; and then, as a
preliminary to further conversation, sat down
on the grass, giving mo further occasion &c
remark her length and shapeliness Of limb.
| There was free-and-easiness, not to say bold
ness, about her manner, tempered though 1t
was with gusts of bashfulness which began tc
amue me-
"'Can You paint facesf she asked, du.
biou5ly.
If replied that | could even aspire to that
accarn lislMcnt, by which | understood her
TO rgaa portrait painting, if need We're. She
gave a quiet nod Of satisfaction.
"'T1cre was painter chap came to Aber
glyn last summer, ard he painted William
Jones.
"'Iadccd3 l said, with an assumption OF
frrall} interest
"'Yos; / wanted him to paint me, but he
wouldn't. He painted William Jones father
though, along O. William JONES'
"This with an air of unmstakable disgust
and rccrimnation. | looked at the girl more
obscrvautly. 1t had never occurred TO me
till that moment that she would make a CAPT
tai picturc-just the sort of study which
would teeth fair price in the market.
adopted her frec-and-easy manner, which
was CONTIGUOUS and sat down on the grass
opposite to her.
81 tell you what it is, Matt | said, IA
military, III paint you, though the other
painter chap wouldn't
''You will, she cried, blushing with de-
light
Certainly; and very nice portrait
think you1l make. Be good enough to take
off your hat, that | may have better look
at YOU.
'She oboyed mo at once, and threw the
clumsy thing down on the grass beside her.
She glanced at mo sidelong, laughing, and
showed her white teeth. Whatever her age
was, she was quite old enough to be coquctte.
promptly rs possible put the questions:
'You have not told me how old You are.
"I'i.tcan,' she replied, without hesitation.
al should have taken You to DO at least a
year older
''She shook her head.
cts fifteen year come Whitsuntide,' she
explained, since l como ashore
although was not little curious to know
what this coming ashore meant, L felt that
all my conversation had been categorical to
monotonv, and l determined, therefore, to
reserve further inquiry until another occa-
sion. Observing that my new friend was
now looking at the caravan with considerable
interest, | asked her if she knew what it was,
and if she had seen anything like it before.
She replied in the negative, though l think
she had n tolerably good guess as to the cara
vans uses thought this good opportun-
ity to show my natural politeness. Would
she like to look at the interiori She said she
would, though without exhibiting much en-
thusasm.
II thereupon led the way up the rteps and
into the vehicle Matt followed; but, 30 soon
us she caught glimpse Of the interior, stood
timidly on the threshold. What Is there in
the atmosphere Of house, even the rudest,
which places the visitor at a disadvantage as
compared with tho owneri Even animals
feel this, and dogs especially, when visiting
strange premises, exhibit most abject hui
R,,t 4 not panarysllYp The