Wichita daily eagle., 1886-03-24
KRELL'S JOHN.

OF all the dreary months Of the year, Jan
uary is the dreariest, down by the sea; being
synonymous with high gales and deluges Of
rain, alternated by snow-squalls and bitter
freezing cold. Lucky the fisher who has beer
sufficiently forehanded to allow himself hol
iday during that time Better to doze by tn.
humblest fireside, though the good wife scold
and the habies cry, than riding the winte,
waves, stung by the snow-bees and numbed
by the wind, with more than likely only a
frozen nose or fingers to pay for the toll
II any mariners were awake to this indis-
putable fact. the Stormhaven fishers certainly
were. for as January is the dreariest month,
50 Stormhaven was the dreariest place in
which to spend it. A poor, browbeaten little
settlement whose sole boast was more wrecks
and drowned men than any neighboring vii
lage
Shaken by the gales and dashed by the
waves, it bore a foriorr aspect of fright, as
not knowing in which quarter 10 look for
safety. The houses, built for protection from
the wind, faced all points of the compass, and
the streets in turn followed the erratic exam
pie Of the dwellings; which, though undoubt-
edly convenient, was scarcely according to a
surveyors idea Of beauty. In fact, on the
mildest summer day, Stormhaven was not in
viting in appearance: and now, in sputter.
ing, angry SNOW gust, which chased the waves
toppling over each other towards shore, il
looked like some deserted village Of the polar
regions, rather than the respectable Atlantic
town it claimed to be on the map.
Some signs of human life were visible on
the beach, however in the shape Of four men
engaged in launching q fishing boat, regard
less of the driving flakes. Anything but a
cheerful party apparently, three Of the num-
ber wearing scowls varying in intensity from
mild perPlexify to deepest wrath while the
fourth and youngest concealed his brow, and
consequently his feelings, beneath an oil-skin
cap drawn low over his eyes
In silence and gloom the quartette worked
on until the perplexed members feelings over
came him. He was mild-featured giant in
a faded pea jacket, whose pockets he nervously
explored as he spoke.
~Ef wot we sed las night. Kreil. causes you
ter go, in course we'd ha' taken il back be
slowly volunteered. but his right-hand CON-
panion snapped him up before the words fairly
left his mouth.
Speak fer yerself, young feller.- growle,i
the second speaker, with dignity. -Ef Timthy
Krell ez hankerin' fer friz nose. let him get
il, sez l, Ef man is gump enuh ter put of
en- sich a sturm jes' fer . few words let him
60, sez /, Wot's SD en- joke sh'd be took en-
joke, an IF q man makes arrest of il, 'tain't
my fault. nor yours nuther.r
John Kren said nothing He had proven
the golden value Of silence from experience.
Moreover. his father and himself were
alone to make the voyage. be preferred suf-
fering frozen nose peacefully. rather than
bringing down the parental vials Of wrath to
no purpose.
Most Of the Stormhaven residents considi-
cred ~Krelrs John Is rather weakmindeSi
in giving way to his fathers oddities As he
did; forhearance and submission being moth
ing short Of IN imhecility, to their vigorous
understandiAgx At - one should have a
VIII Of his own, II he ever expected to poses
such . thing. and surely . man Of no spirit i
poor creature. But Krells John persisted
on his tranquil way, heedles Of criticism or
advice. He bad very great reverence for
the ffth commandment, and q still greater
horror of family disturbances
The most convincing arguments in the
world would rebound Intellectually from The
chain-arnor Of his fathers ot<tinacy, g
wherefore waste BREATH
On one opinion alone be remained firm. IN
Pite a threafs, snsers, and stoeminR Tia,
o2inion. naturally, w1s ths identical one oi