The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1888-11-10

bulky figure of man, which came rum
ming, or rather reeling, against the bull |
warks alongside of her, where it-or rather |
he--was instantly and violently sick, Au- |
gusta was, not unnaturally, almost horri- |
fled into following the figures example, !
when, suddenly growing faint or from !
some other cause, it loosed its hold and |
rolled into the scuppers, where it lay feebly |
swearing Augusta, obeying a tender inn
pulse of humanity, hurried forward and
stretched out the hand OF succor, and
presently, between her help and that OF
the bulwark nettngs, the man struggled
to his feet. AS he did so, his face came
close to hers and in the dim light she re-
cognized the fat coarse features, now
blanched with misery, Of Mr.. Meeson, the
publisher. There was no doubt about 1T,
1t was her enemy; the man whose behavior
had directly, rs she believed, caused the
death OF her little sister. She dropped his
hand with an exclamation of disgust and
dismay, and as she did so he recognized
who she was,
"Hullo" he said, with faint and rather
feeble attempt to assume his fine old
crusted publishing g-company manners.
"Hullo Miss Jemima-Smithers, I mean;
what on earth are you doing here?"
II am going to New Zealand, Mr.. Nee
son." she answered, sharply; "and | GER
tainly did not expect to have the pleasure
Of your company on the voyage"
Going 10 New Zealand" he said, 'are
your Why, so am /; ut least, / am going
there first, then to Australia. What do
you mean to do there--try and run round
our little agreement, eh? II won't be any
good, tell you plainly. We have our
agents in New Zealand, and n house in
Australia, and IL you try to get the better
Of Nelson's there, Nelson's will be even
with you, Miss Smithers-Oh, Heavensl
feel as though were coming to pieces"
Don't alarm yourself Mr.. Meeson,"
she answered, Il am not going to publish
any more books ut present"
THAT is pity" he said; because your
stuff is good selling stuff Any publisher
would find money in it. l suppose you
! are second-class Miss Smithers, so we
! sham. see much of each other; and, per-
! haps, II we should meet, it might be as
well il we didn't seem to have any ac-
quaintance. II don't look well for a man
| in my position 60 know second-class pas
sengers, especially young lady passengers
! who write novels"
"You need not be afraid, Mr.. Meeson;
have no wish to claim your acquaintance,
said Augusta.
! AT this point her enemy was taken viol-
emily worse again, and, being unable TO
stand the sight and sound of his writing
and groaning, she fed forward; and, re-
flecting on this strange and awkward
meeting, went down to her own berth,
where, with lucid intervals, she remained
helpless and half stupid for the next three
days. On the fourth day, however, she
rc-appeared on deck, quite recovered and
with an excellent appetite. She had her
breakfast, and then went and sat forward
in rs quiet place as she could find. She
did not want To see Mr.. Meeson any more
end she did want to escape from the
stories Of her cabin mate, the lady's maid
This good person would after the manner
OF her kind, insist upon repeating 10 hcI
q succession of histories connected with
mem bers of the families with whom she
had lived, many of which were sufficient
to make the hair of II respectable young
lady like Augusta stand positively on end
No doubt they were interesting TO her in
: her capacity Of novelist; but as they were
all of the same color, and as their ten
) dency was absolutely to destroy any be
lief she might have in virtue as an inher
, ent quality in highly-deyeloped women
J or honor in man, Augusta soon weared o
these chrOniqltcs scandGlcHScS So she
went forward, and was sitting looking u
. the white horses" chasing each othel
5 across she watery plain, and rejecting up
. on what the condition OF mind of thos,
ladies whose histories she had recently
heard would be il they knew that thcil
most secret, and in soma cases disgracefu
and tragic, love affairs were tho common
talk OF dozen servants halls, when sud
, denly she was astonished by the appear
ancc of n splendid official bearing a book
d, At first, from tho quantity OF gold lac
, with which his uniform was adorned, An
susta tsok him to be tho captain; but i
presently transpired that he was only tn
chief steward.
Please, Miss" he said, touching his ha
, and holding out the book in his hand to
, ward her, the Captain sends his compli
!. nents and wants to know il you are tn
/ young lady who wrote this
: Augusta glanced at the work. 1t was
! copy of "Jemima's Vow" Then she re
a piled that she was the writer OF it, and tn
steward vanished.
a Later in the morning came another SUI
, prise. The gorgeous official again ar
+ Captain desired him to say that order
: had been given to have her things moves
I to cabin further aft. At first August
a demurred to this, not from any love c
a the lady's maid, but because she had
; truly British objection to being ordere
a about.
: Captains orders, Miss said the mar
. touching his cap again, and she yielded.
0 Nor had she any cause to regret doin
g so; for, to her huge delight, she found hel
L self moved into charming deck cabin o
3, the starboard side of the vessel, some littl
Y way abaft the engine-room. 1t was ev
IDENTIFY an officers cabin, for there, owe
n the head of the bed vas the picture of tn
= young lady he adored, aud also som
}. neatly fitted shelves OF books, Il rack {
r telescopes and other seamanlike contr
? vances.
;, "Am I to have this cabin to myself?
5 asked Augusta of the steward.
II "Yes. Miss; those are the Captains o,
V ders. 1t is Mr.. Jones' cabin. Mr.. Jont
y Is the second officer; but he has turned i
with Mr.. Thomas, tho FIRST officer, an
;, given up the cabin to you"