Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-05-28
The Evil Genius.
A DOMESTIC STORY.
CHAPTER XXVI.

morning, waiting On Tire pier.
Not a 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 gloomy sur
face; no birds flew over the colorless calm;
no passing insects tempted the fish to rise.
From time to time last left leaf on the
wooded shore dropped noiseleSsly and died.
No vehicles passed as yet on the lonely road;
no voices were audible from the village;
slow and straight, wrcaths of smoke stole
their way out of the chimneys and lost their
yapor 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. lie
thought of London and its ccaSclesS traffic,
its roaring high tide of life in action, and he
said to himself, with the strong conviction
OF a town bred man: How miserable this
iSW
A voice from the garden cheered him just
MS he reached the end Of the pier for the
ffteth time and looked with littyfO.d in
tcnsity of dislike at the dreary lake.
There stood KITTY behind the garden gate,
with a lishiug-rod in each hand. 4 tin box
and 4 basket on the other. Burdrned with
these imprdiments, she required aSsi~tan'c.
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-
scented her own nose to notice rs exhibiting
perfect sympathy in this respect. Feeling
misplaced confidence in Mr.. SarraZiu's
knowledge aud experience as an angler, she
handed the iishng-rods to him. My fingers
ARE cold" she said; you bait the hooks"
lie looked at his young friend in silent per
pcXity; She pointed 10 the tin box. PLENTY
OF bait there, Samuel; We find maggOts do
best" Mr. SaudZin eyed the hOx with I'M
disguised disgust and Kitty made an unrx-
pectcd discovery You seem to know moth
ing about it," she said. And Samuel answer
eel cordially: "Nothingu' In five minutes
more he found himself 10y the side Of his
young friend with his hook baited, his line
ia the water, and strict imjunction5 to keep
an eye on the float
They began 10 fish.
KITTY looked at her companion and looked
away again in silence. BY way of enc0ur-
n"ing her Ia talk the gooi-natured lawyer
alluded To what She had said when they part
cd over night you wanted TO ask me some
thing, he reminded her What is it,
Without one preliminary word ct 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 LETT 10 Mr. Sarrazin
was to plead ignorance. While Kitty was
in~tIncting him on the subject Of her govern
cSS he had time Ia consider what he should
say 10 her next. The result added one more
to the lost opportunities of Mr. SanaZinS
life.
You See" the child graycly continued,
You are clever man, aud you have come
here To advise mamma. | have got that much
out Of grandmamma, If 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
dcrstand ii. II you see your float begin to
trcmblc and then give a little dip down as if
1t was going To sink, pull your line out of the
water; YOU will most likely lind a fish at the
end Of it. When ask mamma what all this
means she says there is Il reason and | am
not old enough to understand it, and she
It ends in that way. You've got a bite; no,
you haven't; it's only Il nibble; fish are 50
sly. And grandmamma is worse still. Some
times she tells me I'm spoiled child, and
sometimes she says wcll-behaved little girls
don't ask questions. That's nOnscnse-and
! think it's hard on me. You look uncom-
Portable. Is it my 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, mol that wont do any longer; I'm
too old. Now tell me"
Mr. SorraEiu weakly attempted to gain
time; he looked at his watch. Kitty looked
over his shoulder. oh, we needn't he in a
hurry; breakfast won't he ready for half an
hour yet Plenty OF time To talk of Syd; 90
on"
Most unwisely (Srcing that he had To deal
with a clever child, and that child girD,
Mr.. Sarralin tried Hat denial rs a way out of
the difficulty. He said: Il don't know why
she has gone away" The next question fol.
lowed instantly: "WclI. then, what do Won
Hink about it, In sheer despair the pcrsr-
cuted friend said the first thing that came in
to his head
81 think She has gone to Ice married"
Kitty was indignant Gone To he mar
ried. and not tell me - she exclaimed. what
do you mean by that?'
Mr.. Sarralin's professional experience OF
women and marriages failed Ia sapply him
with an answer. In this difficulty he rNcrtcd
his imagination, and invented something
that no woman ever did yet Shes wait
ing, " he said, Ito see how her marriage sue
crcds before she tells anybody about it,"
This sounded probable to the mind OF a
child. II hope she hasn't married Il beast"
kitty said, with a serious face and an omin,
Gus shake ol the head. when shall hear
from Syd2'
h'r. Sarrazin tried another prcvaricutou-
with better results this time. you will be
the first person She writes To, OF course" As
that eScuSahle lie passed his lips his float be-
gan To trembIc. Here was a chance of chang
ing the subject I've got a iiSh!'' he cried.
Kitty Was immediately Interested. She
threw down her own rod and assisted her
Ignorant companion. 4 wrttrhcd lit'e fish
appeared IN tho air, wrggliug ITS a
roach;' KITTY pronounced. Its in pain"
the merCiful lawyer addcd; give it To me-
Kitty took it of the hook and oheyCd. MIR.
Sartnzln, with humane gcntlcncSS of hand
ing, put II back into the water Go, and
God bless YOU said this excellent man. Us
the roach disappeared joyouSly with flick
OF its tail. KITTY was Scaudalizcd. That's
moi SPORT She said. Ca. yes, it is" he an
SwCrcd-"Spolt to the fish"
They went ON with their angling What
embarrassing question would KITTY ask next?
Would She want to he told why her father
had left herr No; the last image in the
chtld'S mind had been the image of Sydney
NcSterhcd, She was still thinking of it
when she spoke again.
u wonder whether YOU'RE right about
Syd. She began You might be mistaken
mEhtnt you" | sometimes fancy mamma
and Sydney may have had a quarrel. Would
YOU mind asking mamma IL that's true"' the
anccttouatc little creature said. anxlouSly.
y on see, can't help talking OF sgd. I'm ST
fond OF her; and do miss her 81 dreadtulv
every now and then; and I'm afraid-oh.
dear, dear, I'm afraid shall never see her
again.! She let her rod drop on the pier and
put her little hands over her face ANA burst
ont CRYING.
Shocked and distressed good Mr.. Sarrazin
kissed her and conSolrd her. and told auoth.
or cNcuSablc lie. Try 10 be comforted, Kitty;
I'm SURE YOU will see her again
Ills conscience rcproached him rs lie held
out that false hope. 1t could never be! The
one objectionable sin, in the Judgment of
tallihle human creatures like herself was
the sin that Sydney WtStCrtield had com