Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-10

CARDS the common necessities of life-fo
these are but OF small account-but tn
deener necessities Of sympathy and hope ant
confidence. Stand fast Craig Roystonl-
this rock shall fly, from its firm base as sool
as II Well, my young friend, J" he continued
quite cheerfully and brsvely, "you hsv
seen me in a mood that is not common will
me; you will say nothing about ito her
especially. She puts her trust in me; snC
so far. think, 1 have not failed her.
have said to her Come the three corners o
the world in arms, and we shall shock them;
all fortune buffets uselessly agains
mans unconquerable miud.' Sh,
knows the race she comes of, an6
the motto of that race: Craig
Royston holds its 'front.' Well, well; nov
lot me thank You for this beautiful evening
and on her behalf too. She is at the tim,
when the mind should be stored with pleas
ant memories. Perhaps have been over.
communicative, and made you the victim
Of idle fears; but there will be no more o
that; tomorrow you shall find me in my
right mind"
he held out his hand. The young man
did not know what to say-there was Sc
much to sayl He could only make offer oil
some further little hospitalities, which Mr.
Bethune declined. Then the steward wa.
summoned to put ont the lamps and make
other preparations, so that the White Rose
should fold its petals together, for the slum-
Der of the night. And presently q pro.
found peace reigned from stem to stern, and
the last plashing of the oars outside had
died away.
But it was not to sleep that vincenHde.
voted the early hours of this night and
morning. His mind was tossed this way
and that by all kinds of moods and projects,
the former piteous and the latter wildly I'm.
practicable. He had never before fully
realized how curiously solitary was the lot
of these two wanderers, how strange was
their isolation. how uncertain was their
future. And while the old mans courage
and bold front provoked his admiration, be
could not help looking at the other side OF
the shield; what was to become of her, when
her only protector was taken from her? He
knew that they were none too well of, those
two; and what would she do when left
alone? But If on the very next day he
were to 90 to Mrs Ellison and borrow a1O,-
900 from her, which be would have mysteri.
Ously conveyed TO old George Bethune? BE
could repay the money, partly by the sacrifice
of his own small fortune, and partly bv the
assigning over Of the paternal allowance,
while be could 60 away to Birmingham, or
Sheffield, or wherever the place was and
earn his living by becoming Mr.. Ogden's
private secretary. They need never know
from whom this bounty came and it would
render them secure from all the assaults of
fortune. Away up there in the Black
Country he would think of them; and it
would Tighten the wearisome toll of the desk
If he could imagine that Maisrie Betbune
had left the roar and squalor of London, and
was perhaps wandering through these very
Thames-side meadows, or floating in some
White-garnitured boat, under the shade of
the willows. There would be rest for the
pilgrims at last, after their world-buffetings.
And SO be lay and dreamed and pitied and
planned, until in the window of the small
state-room there appeared the first blue-gray
Of the dawn, about which time he finally fell
asleep.
But the next morning all was briskness
and activity around them flags flying,
colored awnings being stretched, pale swirls
of smoke rising from the stovepipes, the pic
nickers in the meadows lighting their spirit
lamps for the breakfast tea. The sun was
shining brightly, but there was a cool
breeze to temper the heat; the surface of the
stream was stirred into silver; the willows
and rushes were shivering and swaving; a
scent of newmown hay was in the air.
Already there were plenty of craft afoat on
business or on pleasure bent; early visits
being paid, or masses of flowers, ferns and
palms being brought along for purchasers.
Maisrie was the first to be up and out; then
old George Bethune could be heard gaily
singing in his stateroom, as an accompani-
meat to his toilet:
Hey. Jonnie Cope, are We waukin yet
And are your drums a beatin yet
If ye were waukin, l would wait
To meet Jonnie Cope in the morning?
Finally when Vincent, with many apologies
for being late, made his appearance outside,
he found the old man comfortably seated in
the stern-sheets, under the pink and white
awning, reading a newspaper he had pro-
cured somewhere, while Maisrie was on the
upper deck OF the houseboat watering the
flowers with a can that she had got from the
steward.
And indeed to this Young man it appeared
q truly wonderful thing that these three,
some little while thereafter, in the cool
twilight of the saloon, should be seated at
breakfast together; they seemed to form a
little family by themselves, isolated and
remote from the rest of the world. They
forgot the crowded Thames outside and the
crowded meadows; here there was quiet and
a charming companionship; band that
was playing somewhere was so distant as to
be hardly audible. Then the saloon itself
was SO pretty; for though the boat was
named the White Rose, there was a good
hutings and cornice were pink where they
were not gold, and pink were the muslin
curtains drawn aronnd the small windows;
while the profusion of deep crimson roses all
round the long room, and the masses of
grapes and pineapples on the break asst
table made up a picture almost typical of
summer, in the height of its luxuriance and
shaded eoolness.
"This seems very NICE" said the young
host, ''even supposing there were no river
and no racing. / don't see why q caravan
like this shouldn't be put on wheels and
taken away through the country. There is
an idea for you, Mr.. Bethune, when You set
out on your prilgrimage through Scotland;
wouldn't q movable of this kind be the
very thing tor Miss Bethune and you?--you
could set it ahoat if you wanted to 60 down
a river, or put it on lorry when you
wanted to take the road"
"I'm afraid all this luxury would be out
of place In Caledonia, stern and wiid,'"
the old man said. ''No, no; these things
are for the gay South. When Maisrie and
seek out the misty solitudes of the North,
and the graves Of Renwick and Cargill, it
will be on foot; and if we bring away with
US some little trifle TO remind US of Logan's
streams and Ettrick's shaws, it will be
simple tbing-a bluebell or a bit OF yellow
broom. have been thinking that perhaps
this autumn we might begin"
'fOh. no, grandfather" Maisrie interposed
at once. ''That is impossible. You know
you have the American volume to do first.
What pity it would be-" she went on,
with an insidious and persuasive gentleness
which the young man had seen her adopt
before in humoring her grandfather, "if
someone else were to bring out book on the
~ hos, N01 l.