Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1886-02-24

plctcly driven al Thoughts If D'ck's
coming departure from my mind hut
they now return with force. He
shat have chance" declare To my
self. and ponder little while the others
are stepped In iish-worship.
dick" | exc,aim, authoritatiyoly.
''you must 90 homo at once, instead of
lettering about here, dripping like
Newfoundland dog. Ethel aud / will
walk back with you"
Catching Dicks cyc. | see that he
understands me. Come along" he
says.
Ethel takes my arm on tho side re-
mote from Dick. She is remarkably
silent. and shows tendency to blush
about nothing, fearing possibly that her
anx ETY. about Dicks dangerous es-
capade just now may have betrayed
her. Dick, feeling that he Is now, as
he would himself phrase it, ''in for it."
maintains no less impenetrable
dumbness. Never have two such leaden
companions fallen to my lot before or
since.
1t is q relief that the beauty of the
winding moorland path, stretching away
bching us, compels me to stop and take
ont my sketch hook.
I'm stay with you" says Ethel,
nervously.
"Whai. and leave poor old Dick to
jog home aloneP'
"Ehp" says Dick. looking at me with
comical terror. Don't lot me- drag
her with me If she wants to stay"
Nonsense; 60 away. Ethel. ! can't
have. you tidgeting about me while /
am drawing"
Their assinuous good nature in pro-
par ng my water-color box and block
Tor action knows no bounds; neither
fulsome hints nor cross requests will in
duce them to depart. At length, when
! am busy with my first wash, and re-
fuse with sulky steadfastness 10 answer
any moro questions, or to offer any
further pretext for their moving hand
or foot on my behalf, they stroll shyly
off toget er. Ethers eyes on the
ground, DICKS on the distant horizon.
Craning round upon my camp-s.ool,
! watch them down the long slope OF
brake-fern and heather. straining my
eyes as they grow midst net after cross
ing the stream, and finally disappear.
to leave mo mono the wiser for al my
gazing.
Anxiety prevents my sitting still for
ten minutes together. My sketch Is .
curiosity-a phenomenal specimen OF
the kind Of daub produc BILE by the con-
vulsivc dashes of a hand totally unas-
sisted by mind, which is too agitated
to do its duty.
My eyes yearn to pierce the small
knoll behind which the twain have dis.
appeared. Are those two heads any
nearer to each other than when ] saw
them last?
For years we have looked upon Dick
as a brother; tomorrow night. when he
has departed, many tears will be shed
which no will know nothing Of His
gong to India. too, is a mere freak.
decision reversible, / really believe, by
a single word from Ethel. Again, Dick
is his own master, unhampered by that
lack of gold which quenchcs tho hopes
OF so many young fellows. Well, l
have done my best, and. now they have
had clear hour with their fate in their
own hands, may as we'll collect my
paraphernalia and follow them.
AS pace homeward and gaze over
the swelling hills. the sun setting "be.
yond their utmost purple rim, "siddeus
me. Solitude and the gloom of even
tide, melancholy as O long-drawn sigh
OF nature. settle upon my soul; by the
time have reached the last bridge to
be crossed, tho castles have built con.
Germ ng Dick and Ethel have crumblod
one by one.
Suddenly l stumble upon them among
tho rocks, and my hopes rush to the
surface once more; the glow OF happi-
ness upon these two faces admits OF but
one explanation.
You old BRICK" begins Dick, clasp
ing my two hands with fcrvor which
l trust he will never repeat. If 1t
hadn't been for you, 1 should never
have done it!''
"And Lucy" adds Ethel in thrilling
voice, with her arms round my neck,
you're dear old thing; if it hadn't
been for the salmon and Dicks going
in after it, he never would have"
Done this" intcrpolates Dick, kiss
ing her again and again. with cool
indifference to my presence which
battles her face In crimson. ''But we
haven't the courage TO 60 in without
you." he adds. when he has quite done
his whispers in her ear.
"You.ll have to, though. Master
Dick" I reply, dashing onward and
into the midst of the astonished group
in the inn parlor.
Its twenty pounds ten ounces"
shouts Bella. by way Of greeting.
Come outside, girls" I exclaim
breathlessly, land I'll show you some
thing worth hundred salmon"
As we emerge from the door the soft
twilight shows us the prettiest picture
we have ever looked upon; and the
happiness which underlies the shyuess
of the one face and the sparkle and tri-
umph of the other wakes an answer ng
chord in our hearts as we murmur:
"Welcome, brother. London Society.