Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-05-27

v,
value of my suggestion, and went away al
once to consult with tie landIady. In the
meantime | sent for the gardener and told
him what | was thinkin2>of He was one OF
those stolid Englishmen who possess re
sources which don't express themselves out
Wardiy. Judging by his face you would
have said he was subSiding into Slumber TN,
der the InflctlOn Of a sermon, instead of list.
enlng to lawyer proposing a stratagem.
When had done the man showed the meta
he was made of. In plain English he put
three questions which gave me the highest
opinion OF his int ligence. How much Ing.
gage, Sir" AS little as they can conveniently
take With Them [ said How MANY Der.
sons" The two ladies, the child and nv.
SELF Can you row, sir? In any water
you like, Mr. Gardener, fresh or salt Think
Of asking me, an athletic Englishman. if |
could row! In an hour more we We're ready
to embark and the blessed fog was thicker
than ever. Mrs. Presty yielded under pro-
test: Kitty was wild with delight; her moth.
er was quiet and resigned. But one circum.
stance occurred that | didn't quite under
stand-the presence of a stranger on the pier
with a gun in his hand"
''YOu don't mean one of the spies?''
Nothing Of the sort; | mean an idea OF
the gardeners. He had been a sailor in his
time-and that's trade which teaches man
Gf he's good for anything) to think and act
on his thought at one and the same moment
He had taken peep at the blackguarCls in
front of the house, and had recognized the
shorter of the two as native Of the place,
perfectly we'll aware that one of the fixtures
attached to the cottage was boathouse.
That chap is not such q fool as he looks
says the gardener. If he mentions the boat
house the other fellow from London may
have his suspicious. | thought | would post
my son on the pier-that quiet young man
there with the gun-to keep lookout. II
he sees another boat (there are half dozen
on this side OF the lake, putting off after us,
he has orders to fire, on the chance of hear.
ing him. A little notion of mine, sir, to pre-.
vent our being surprised in the fog. Do you
see any objection to it? Objection! In the
days when diplomacy was something more
than a solemn pretenSe, what member of
congress that gardener would have madel
Well, we shipped our oars and away we
went Not quite haphazard-fOr we had
compass with us. Our course was as straight
as we could go, to village OH the OPP oSite
side of the lake. called Brightfold. Nothing
happened for the first quarter Of an hour
and then, by the living lingo (eXcuse my
vulgarity), we heard the gun!'
What did you do?''
'Went on rowing, and held a council. This
time / came out as the clever one of the
party. The men were following us in the
dark; they would have to guess at the di.
rection we had taken, and they would most
likely assume Gin such weather as we had)
that we should choose the shortest way across
the lake. At my suggestion we changed Ou1
course, and made for large town, higher
up on the shore, called TaWley. We landed,
and waited for events, and made no discov
cry of another boat behind us. The fools
had justified my confidence in them-they
had gone to Brightfold There was half an
hour to sp1Te before the next train came to
Tawley; and the fog was beginning to lift
on that side of the lake. We looked at the
shops, and l made a purchase in the town"
stop minute said Randall. is Bright
fold on the railway"
NO
us there an electric telegraph at the
place?'
yes"
''That was awkward, wasn't it? The first
thing those men would do would be to tele-
graph to TaWley."
IN OF doubt of it. How would they de-
scribe us, do you think?'
Randall answered: "a middle-aged gentle
man-tWO ladies' one Of them elderly-and a
little girl. Quite enough to identify you at
IaWIey If the statiOn-master underSt pod the
message"
Shall l tell you what the station master
discovered, with the message in his hand?
No elderly lady, no middIeaged gentleman;
nothing more remarkable than one lady
and little boy"
RandaPs face frightened. "You parted
company Of course" he said; land you dis
guised Kitty! How did you manage H?'
Didn't say just now that we looked at
the shops, and that / made purchase in the
town? A boys ready-made suit--not at all
bad fit for Kitty Mrs Linley put on the
suit and tucked up the chiIds hair under
straw hat in an empty yard-no idIers about
in that bad weather. We said good-by and
parted with grievouS miSgivingS on my side;
which proved (thank Cod to have been quite
needless. Kitty and her mother went to the
station, and Mrs. Presty and l hired car
riage and drove away to the head of the lake
to catch the train to London. Do you know,
Randall, L have altered my opinion of MrS. |
PreSty."
bdllQd1 SInllGQ. on, TOO, nave 1Ounu
something in that old woman he said, |
(which doesn't appear on the surface"
1.-The occasion seems to bring that some
thing out" the lawyer remarked. "When
proposed the separation, and mentioned my
reasons, expected to find some difficulty in
persuading Mrs. Presty to give up the adj |
Venturous journey with her daughter and
her grandchild. [ reminded her that she had |
friends in London who would receive her |
and got snubbed for taking the liberty. i
know that as well as you do. Come along
I'm ready to go with YOU 1t isn't agree
able to my feelings to own it, but | expected |
to hear her say that she would consent to |
any sacrifice for the sake of her dear daugh- |
ter No such claptrap as that passed her lips. |
She owned the true motive with super.Or- |
ty to can't which won my sincerest respect |
'Hll do anything she said, to battle Herbert |
Linley and the spies he has set to watch u.s.
l can't tell you how glad | was that she had !
her reward on that same day. We We're too |
late at the station, and we had to wait fol- |
the next train. And what do you think hap |
pened? The two scoundrels followed us in |
stead Of following Mrs. Linley! They had |