The Florida agriculturist., 1889-08-14

be commanded at will, and seldom occur
when they are wanted. 1t seemed that
he must trust to whatever unaided merit
he possessed to win her heart.
Pauline had always been mature for
her age; but since the calamity that had
fallen upon her she had developed
greatly. She was graver and more taci-
turn than before. and her manner was
more thoughtful and controlled. She
seemed already to have outgrown her
girlhood and to have attained the strength
and experience of woman. All this
was in the judges favor; for his age was
the factor in the matter which he feared
most If they coul0 meet on more nearly
equal terms in this respect, he could feel
more confidence as to the rest. She con-
versed with him on his own intellectual
level, and consulted him freely and con-
fidentiaIly on all matters of interest to
herself. No friendship between man
and woman could have been more init
mate and genuine; but it was something
more than friendship that the judge
longed for; if he could have detected a
single glow Of passion in her cheeks he
would have been much :appler man
On the other hand, Pauline was quite
able to veil her feelings; and no young
woman of healthy mind can be expected
to show what emotion may be in her,
or even to acknowledge it to herself,
until she has been fairly challenged.
At length, having become quite accus-
toned to the management of the boat,
they decided to make the trip to the island.
The lunch basket was packed and slowed
amidships; fish lines and hooks were
placed in the locker in case they should
come across a school of bluefish. cuSh
ions and wraps were provided for Mrs
Nolen, and extra ballast was put into the
hold, in order to keep her steady in case
the wind should increase. An early
start was made. for the breeze was so
light as scarcely to rllffle the water, and
set nearly in a direction opposite to that
which they wished to GO In order to
get out of the little cove it was necessary
to use the oars; but after that the wind
gently swelled the sail, and, proceeding
by long tacks, they slowly made their
way toward the island that seemed to
quiver and waver in the heat on the ho-
rizon
About II o'clock the breeze freshened
a little, and the boat slipped more
swiftly. but still with an even, gliding
motion, through the water. The judge,
who fancied he detected signs Of blue
fish, now relinquished the helm to Pau
line, and got out his lines. The squid
was thrown out astern, and cut tiny
wake through the waves, while the
judge, with his finger on the line, watch
ed it like hawk For an hour, in spite
of several false alarms, nothing was
caught, but finally there was an unmis-
taxable tug, and, hauling in with fever
ish rapidity, the judge, in few mo-
ments, had the pleasure of lifting on
board fine large demijohn, tightly
corked, which had been hooked by the
handle
After the laugh had subsided the judge
suggested that the deInijohn might con-
tain something, and he knocked off tho
head against the gunwale of the boat.
About pint of salt water came out and
then fragment of wood-apparently
part of the lid of cigar box. on which
something had been written with a pen
Gil. The writing was almost obliterated,
but two or three words. or portions of
words, still remained
''See if you can make them out. Pau,
line" said the judge, after scrutinizing
the inScrintiOn a few moments tEVOur