The Washington critic., 1888-03-17
Al. MARSHALL.

|, They didn't look much alike and
they didn't talk much alike. One
was tall and strong, with black hair
and cruel mouth, its expression
partially concealed by his moustache.
The other was slender and delicate,
with curly blonde hair and soft blue
eyes. They tramped into town one
morning from nobody knows where,
as men tramp into new mining towns
, every day, and took up their quarters
in an old log-hut on the outskirts.
They were likely-looking fellows,
both of them, and stuck together like
Siamese twins, at first. The dark one
dropped into the store couple of
nights after they came and ordered
lot of groceries. He asked q number
of questions, and before leaving told
the storekeeper that his name was
Joe Marshall and that the boy with
him was his brother AL. He didn't
say why they came there or how long
they were going to stay, but when he
had found out what he wanted,
tramped back to his cabin.
For the first two months the strang-
/ 1ers kept entirely to themselves, and
Though they always greeted the men
about town pleasantly, seemed to hold
\ aloof. This might have been rather
dangerous concession to dignity, but
for the evident bashfulness Of the lit
tie chap which was tacitly accepted as
an excuse by the brawny miners The
lads came in the spring, and late in the
summer, the owner of the Bulls
h Eye mine, who had built q substantial
residence in the town, brought his
family there, and after that every
man who had "biled" shirt wore IL
z on Sunday for the express purpose of
captivating the pretty daughter of the
wealthy owner of the Bulls Eye.
The Marshall boys got acquainted
with Colonel Dugdale, who invited
them to call at his house.
w This they did, and the shyness Of
la AL. was as noticeable there as the
|N witty brightness of his brother.
ri Colonel Dugdale had little boy five
| III years old, and when AL. would call
with his brother, which was getting
to be pretty often now, he would just
spend the time twisting the curls of
"Little Dug" as he had been nick
n named, and tell that young gentle
man the most marvellous stories about
giants, brownies and fairies. Every
now and then Little Dug" would
say, "Go on, AL. What's the matter ?"
and if anybody had noticed, which
they didn't, they would have seen the
young story-teller gazing intently, and
with strange look in his blue eyes,
at Miss Dugdale and his brother Joe,
sitting on the opposite side of the
room and talking very low. At
first Miss Dugdale had shown
marked preference for the
younger OF the two brothers, but as
that soft-voiced, handsome young gen.
tleman had repelled all her advances
and Mr.. Joe Marshall had been most
devoted Especially in the absence of
his brother), she finally melted to-
ward him, and close observer might
have discovered that now, after three
months, she was 'gone' on him rs
the other eligibles about town dis
consolately admitted.
Well, one evening, after Mr.. Joe
Marshall had been even more devoted
than usual, and just as they were
leaving, AL. said to the heiress, taking
her hand land his own hand was as
small and white), miss Dugdale, you
shouldn't firt with my big brother.
1t might be dangerous for him, you
know, as his affections have been pre-
viously engaged. Good bye"
"Good bye" said Miss Dugdale,
A looking very pale and clinching her
hands, while Mr.. Joe Marshall,
4 frowning heavily, said, ''"Truly, my
4 brother is inclined to be facetious.
Good night"
Al. didn't come to the house
any more after that, and Mr.. Joe
Marshall came the next day and was
more devoted than ever, and ex-
planned everything to the entire sat
isfaction of Miss Dugdale-and who
couldn't make satisfactory explana-
tion to woman who loved him-the
course of true love, in direct contra
diction to the time-worn adage, ran
on smoothly, oiled little, perhaps,
4 by the thought of Papa Dugdale's
plethoric pocket-book. Meanwhile
the young hopeful of the house
hold grew disconsolate and asked
for Al. every time he saw his
brother, so that the latter once said
N angrily, when nobody else was
around: Damn AL, )" in q most un-
brotherly manner. Then he ex-
planned how AL. was notional chap
and had taken it into his head that
Miss Dugdale didn't like him and
couldn't be induced to come there any
more. This didn't satisfy Little
u Dug's longing to see his old friend
II and so one day when the Chinaman,
who was paid to watch him, went in
n the house for something, he trotted
of in the direction of the Marshall
"shanty." The unfortunate China
man searched every place but the
right one for the missing boy, who
II turned up about two hours after
i ward and informed the assembled
n family how he had gone over
to see AL, and how he was afraid to
go in, because he had heard such loud
talking, but had looked through q
8 crack and saw Joe Marshall scolding
his brother like everything, and how
Al. said that he oughtn't to go to see
that girl any more, when Joe grew
angrier and struck him hard with his
# fist Then, instead of hitting him
a back, Al. just burst out crying and
n threw himself on the floor. "Little
M Dug" confessed that at this stage he
was SO frightened that he ran home;
and Miss Dugdale, who had grown to
"A dislike the smooth faced AL, who had
told such a story about his brother,
M dismissed the occurrence from her
n mind as that of brothers natural
U quarrel
81 Indeed, she was too much infatu-