Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-09-21

bed, and was tired too. Tietjens, who had
been lying underneath the table rose up
and went into the least exposed veranda as
soon as her master moved to his own room,
which was next to the stately chamber set
| apart tor Tietens. If mere wife had
wished to sleep out of doors in that pelting
rain it would not have mattered, but Tietjens
| was a dog, and therefore the better animal.
l looked at Strickland, expecting to see MIN
| fog her with whip. He smiled queerly as
a man would smile after telling some hideous
domestic tragedy. "She has done this ever
since I moved in here" he said. "Let he
CO."
The dog was Strickland's dog, so I said
nothing, but felt all that Strickland felt
| in being made light of. Tietjens encamped
| outside my bedroom window, and storm
| after storm came up, thundered on the
| thatch and died away. The lightning spat-
tered the sky as thrown egg spatters
barn door, but the light was pale blue, not
yellow, and looking through my split bam-
boo blinds could see the great dog stand
ing, not sleeping, in the veranda, the hackles
alift on her back and her feet planted as
| tensely as the drawn wire rope of a sus-
pension bridge. In the very short pauses of
the thunder tried to sleep, but 1t seemed
someone wanted me very badly. He, who
ever he was, was trying to call me by name,
but his voice was no more than a husky
whisper. Then the thunder ceased and
Tletjens went into the garden and howled at
the low moon. Somebody tried to open nv
door, and walked about and through the
house and stood breathing heavily in the
verandas, and just when 1 was falling
asleep faneied that 1 heard wild ham,
mering and clamoring above my head or on
the door.
1 ran into StrickInnd's room aud asked
him whether he was j,l and had been call
ing for me. He was lying on his bed half
dressed with pipe in his mouth. 81
thought you'd come" he said. Have I
been walking around the house at all ?''
explained that he had been in the din
ing room and the smoking room and two or
three other places, and he laughed and told
me to go back to bed. 1 went back to bed
and slept till the morning, but in all my
dreams. was sure was doing some one an
Injustice in not attending to his wants,
What those wants we're could not tell, but
futtering, whispering, bolt fumbling,
lurking, lettering, some one was reproach-
ing me for my slackness, and through all
the dreams I heard the bowling of Tietjens
In the garden and the threshing of the rain
1 wss in that house for two days, and
Strickland went to his Office daily, leaving
me alone for eight or ten hours a day with
Tietjens for my only companion. As long
as the full light lasted 1 was comfortable,
and so was Tietjens. but in the twilight she
and moved into the back veranda and cud-
died each other for company. We were
alone in the house, but for all that it was
much too fully occupied by tenant with
whom had no desire to interfere. 1 never
saw him, but could see the curtains be-
tween the rooms quivering where he had
just passed through; 1 eould hear the chairs
creaking as the bamboos sprung under a
weight that had just quilted it; and could
feel, when L went to get book from the
dining room that somebody was waiting in
the shadows of the front veranda till I
should have gone away. Tietjens made the
twilight more Interesting by glaring into
the darkened rooms with every hair erect
and following the motions of something that
could not see- She never entered the
room, but her eyes moved, and that was
quite sufficient. Only when my servant
came to trim the lamps and make all light
and habitable she would come in with me
and spend her time sitting on her launches,
an invisible extra man as he
moved about behind my shoulder. Dogs are
cheerful companions.
explained to Strickland, gently as might
be, that would go over 10 the club and find
ior myself quarters there. admired bis
was pleased with his guns and