Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-05-20
TlG Evil Genius.
A DOMESTIC STORY.
CHAPTER XVI.

1ullCGlldI " HIS IlolllllS appointments WIFI
Kitty, Mr.. Sarrazin was out in the early
morning, waiting on the pier.
Not breath of wind was stirring; the lazy
mist lay asleep on the farther shore Of the
lake. Here and there only the dim tops of
the hills rose like shadows cast by the earth
on the faint gray Of the sky. Nearer at hand,
the waters of the lake showed a gloomy sur
face; no birds flew over the colOrleSS calm;
no passing insects tempted the fish to rise.
From time to time a last left leaf on the
wooded shore dropped nOiSe'C SLY and died.
No vehicles passed as yet on the lonely road;
no voices were audible from the village;
slow and straight, wreathS of smoke stole
their way out Of the ChimneyS and lost their
vapor in the vapory sky. The one sound
that disturbed the Sullen repOSe of the morn
ing was the tramp of the lawyers footsteps
as he paced up and down the pier He
thought of London and its ceaSeleSS traffic,
its roaring high tide of life in action, and he
said to himself with the strong conviction
of tOWn-bred man: How miserable this
isv'
A voice from the garden cheered him just
as he reached the end of the pier for the
fifteth time and looked with tifty-fOI in
tenSty of dislike at the dreary lake
There stood Kitty behind the garden gate,
with fShing-rOd in each hand. A tin box
was strapped on one side of her little body
and a basket on the other. Burdened with
these impediments, she required assistance.
Susan had let her out of the house, and Sam
uel must now open the gate for her. She
was pleased to observe that the raw morning
had redeemed her friends nose, and she pre-
Sented her own nose to notice as exhibiting
perfect sympathy in this respect. Feeling s.
knowledge and experience as an angler, she
handed the tiShn9-rOdS to him. My fingers
are cold" she said; ''you bait the hooks"
lie looked at his young friend in silent per-
plexity; she pointed to the tin box. PLENTY
OF bait there, Samuel; we find maggotS do
best" Mr., Sanazin eyed the box with I'M
disguised disgust and Kitty made an Unex-
pected discovery. you seem to know moth
ing about it," she said. And Samuel answer
ed cordially: ''NOthingr' In five minutes
more he found himself by the side of his
young frend-With his hook baited, his line
III the water, and strict injunctOns to keep
all eye on the float
They began to fish
Kitty looked at her companion and looked
away again in silence. BY way of encour-
aging her to talk the goOd-natured lawyer
alluded to what she had said when they part
ed over night. You wanted to ask me some
thing" he reminded her. What is it?"
Without one preliminary word OF warning
to prepare him for the shock Kitty answer
ed: Il want you to tell me what has become
OF papa, and why Sgd has gone away and
left me. You know who sgd is, don't your
The one alternative left to Mr.. Sarrazin
was to plead ignorance. While Kitty was
inStructng him on the subject of her govern
no hoI IN no CHI,
say to her next The result added one more
to the lost opportunities of Mr.. Sarrazn's
life.
You See," the child gravely continued,
you are clever man, and you have come
here to advise mamma. [ have got that much
out of grandmamma, if l have got nothing
else. Don't look at me; look at your float.
My papa has gone away, and sgd has left
me without even saying gOOd-by, and we
have given up our nice old house in Scotland
and come to live here. tell you don't I'M
derStand it, II you see your float begin to
tremble and then give a little dip down as if
it was going to sink, pull your line out of the
water; you will most likely find fish at the
end of it. When | ask mamma what all this
means she says there is reason and | am
not old enough to understand it, and she
looks unhappy and she gives me a kiss, and
1t ends in that way. You've got bite; no,
you haven't; it's only nibble; fish are so
sly. And grandmamma is worse still. Some
times she tells me Pm a spoiled child and
sometimes she says well-behaved little girls
don't ask questions. That's nOnSenSe-and
think it's hard on me. You look uncom-
Portable. Is it nay fault? | don't want to
bother you; [ only want to know why sgd
has gone away. When [ was younger /
might have thought the fairies had taken
her. Oh no! that won't do any longer; Pm
too old. Now tell me-"
Mr.. SarraZin weakly attempted to gain
time; he looked at his watch Kitty looked
over his shoulder "Oh, we needn't be in
hurry; breakfast won't be ready for half an
hour yet Plenty Of time to talk of Sgd; go
on"
Most unWiSely Seeing that he had to deal
with a clever child and that child girl,
Mr. SarraZin tried flat denial as a way out of
the difficulty. He said: Il don't know why
she has gone away" The next question fol
lowed instantly: "Well, then, what do YOU
tbjnk about it?' In sheer despair the perse-
cuted friend said the first thing that came in
to his head.
Il think she has gone to be married."
Kitty was indignant. ''GOne to be mar
RED and not tell me ~ she exclaimed. ''What
do you mean by that?"
Mr.. Sarrazin'S professional experience of
women and marriages failed to supply him
with an answer. In this difficulty he eXerted
his imagination, and invented something
that no woman ever did yet. shes wait
ing" he said, Ito see how her marriage sue
ceedS before she tells anybody about it,"
This sounded probable to the mind of a
child. Il hope she hasn't married beast"
Kitty said, with Il serious face and an omin>
Gus shake of the head. when shall I hear
from Syd?"
GIr. Sarrazin tried another prevarication-
with better results this time. You will be
the first person she writes TO, of course" AS
that eXcuSable lie passed his lips his float be-
gan to tremble. Here was chance of chang
ing the subject. ''Fve got a tish!' he cried
Kitty was Immediately Interested She
threw down her own rod and assisted her
ignorant companion. a wretched little fish
appeared in the air, wriggling. Its a
roach;" Kitty pronounced Its in pain,
the merciful LAWYER added: ''giye it to me t"