Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-07-17
red them. Thev were a cnnnle nf nrdInaru

ing in the most unheard-of manner. Can't
you understand that mean TO pay YOU well
for any trouble give youp But whether you
like 1t or not, here / stay to-nigb', To turn
me ont would be sheer murdern
so saying pulled of my overcOat and be-
gan shaking the snow out of my whskeTs.
daresay my determined attitude, my re-
spectacle, as well as my muscular appearance,
impressed my unwilling hosts. Anyway,
they gave in without more ado. Whilst the
woman shut the door, through which the
snowflakes were whirling, the man said sui
lenly:
We'll. you'll have to spend the night on
chair. We've no beds here for strangers
Specially those as amt wanted"
VERY well, my friend. Having settled
the matter you may as well make yourself
pleasant Go out and put my horse under
cover, and give him a feed of some sort
make mash if you can"
After given the woman quick glance as
IL warning, my Scowling host lit horn lam
tern, and went on the Grand l suggested.
gladly sank into chair, and warmed myself
before cheerful fire. The prospect of spend
ing the night amid such discomfort was not
alluring but had, at least, a roof over my
head.
AS rule, the more churlish the nature, the
more ayarlci0us II is found TO be. My prom
Use of liberal remuneration was, after all not
without its effect upon the strange couple
whose refusal to afford me refuge had so
nearly endangered my life. They conde-
scended to get me some tea and rough food.
After had disposed of all that, the man pro-
duced bottle of gin. We filled our glasses,
and then, with the aid of my pipe, | settled
down to make the best of a night spent in
hard wooden chair.
had come across strange people in my
travels, but have no hesitation in saying
that my host was the sullenest, sulkies = most
bOorish specimen of human nature | had as
yet met with. In spite Of his recent ill-treat-
ment of me was quite ready TO establish
matters on friendly footing, and made sew
eral attempts To draw him into conversation.
The brute would only answer In ponosylla-
bles, or often not answer at all. So gave
up talking as bad job, and sat in silence,
smoking and looking into the fire, thinking a
good deal, it may be, OF some one should
have met that morning at Lilymere, had the
wretched snow but kept Off
The long clock-that cumbrous eieht-day
machine which inevitably occupies one cor
ner of every cOttager's kitchen-struck nine.
The woman rose and left us. / concluded
she was going to bed. II so l envied her.
Her husband showed no sign of retiring. lie
still sat over the fire, opposite me. BY this
time l was dreadtully tired every bone in
my body ached. The hard chair which, an
hour or two ago, seemed all could desire,
now scarcely came up TO my ideas of the com
fort j was justly entitled to claim. My sulky
companion had been drinking silently but
steadily. Perhaps the liquor he had poured
into himself might have rendered his frame
of mind more pleasant and amenabe TO reA-
son.
my good fellow" l said, 'yow chairs are
excellent ones of the kind, but deucedly UNI
comfortable / am horribly tired. If the re-
sources of your establishment can't furnish
bed for me to sleep In, couldn't you find a
mattress or something TO lay down before the
tTeY'
you've got all you'll get tonight" he an
swered, knocking the ashes out of his pipe.
"Oh, but saw"
$50 do say. / say this: If you don't like
1t you can leave ii. We didn't ask you to
come"
You internal beast" I muttered-and
meant it tool declare had not been so ut
terly worn out l would have had that bullet
headed rufiian up for few rounds on his
own kitchen floor, and tried to knock him In
to more amiable frame OF mind.
Never mind / said, but, remember,
ciyility costs nothing, and often gets reward
ed However, II you wish TO retire to your
own couch, don't let your native politeness
stand in your way. Pray don't hesitate on
my account. Leave plenty of fuel, and 1
shall manage until the morning."
where you stay, stay" he answered.
Ihen he hlled his pipe, and once more re-
lapsed into stony silence.
bothered about him no more. doZed off
Tor Few minuteS-woke-doZe off again
Tor some hours. was in an uncomfortable
sort or half sleep, crammed full of curious
dreamS-dreamS from which started, Won
dering where l was and how L got there L
even began TO grow nervous. All sorts of
horrible travellers tales ran through my head
1t was in just such places as this that unsus-
pecung VoyageTs were stated to have been
murdered, and robbed, by just such unmiti-
gated rufiians as my hOst-I can tell you that
altogether spent most pleasant night.
10 make matters worse and more dismal,
the storm still ragged outside. The wind
moaned through the trees, but il had again
changed, and knew from the sound on the
Wlndow-paneS that heavy rain had succeed
ed snow. As the big drops of water found
their way down the large old-fashioned
chimney, the tire Kissed and spluttered like a
spiteful vixen: Everything combined to de-
prlVe me OF what dogs sleep could by sheer
persistency snatch
think / tried every position which an ordi-
nary man, not an acrobat Is capable of adopt
ing with the assistance of common wooden
chair. i even lay down on the hard flags. /
actually tried the table. propped up the up
per half OF my body against the corner walls
OF the room; but found no rest At last 1
gave up all idea of sleeping, and fully
aroused myself. l comforted myself by say
ing That my misery was only tempOrary-that
the longest night must come 10 an end
My companion had by now succumbed TO
fatigue, or to the combined effects of fatigue
and gin-and-water. His head was hanging
BILE attitude. l chuckled as looked at him,
feeling quite sure that If such clod was cap
able on dreaming at ALL his dreams must be
worse even than mine. l filled another pipe
poked the smoldering logs into blaze, and
sat almost nose and knees over the fire, find
ing some amusement in specializing upon the
condition of the churl before me, and thank
ing the Lord was not like unto this man.
Suddenly an idea flashed across me.
had seen this fellow before. But when
or where l could not remember. His feat
ures, as looked at them with keener inter-
est, seemed to grow more and more familiar
TO me. Where could / have met him? Some
where or other, but where? | racked my
brain to associate him with some scene some
event Although he was but an ordinary
countryman, such as one sees scores of in
days ride, only differing from his kind on ac-
count OF his unpleasant face. L felt sure we
were old acquaintance. When he awoke for
q moment and changed his strained attitude,
my feeling grew stronger and stronger. Yet
puzzle and puzzle as / would / could not call
TO mind former encounter; so at last be-
gan to think the supposed recognition was
pure fancy on my part.
Having smoked out several pipes, thought
that cigar would be a slight break to the
monOtOny of the nights proceedings. Sol
drew out my case and looked at its contents.
Among the weeds was one of lighter color
than the others. AS | took il out / said to
myself, "Why, old Brand gave me that one
when | was last at his house." Curiously
enough that cigar was the missing link in the