The Forrest City times., 1892-03-25

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 a quick glance as if warning, my scowling host lit a horn lan- tern. and went on the errand l suggested. l gladly sank into a 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 avaricious it is found to be- My prom ise of liberal remuneration was after all not without it's effect upon the strange couple whose refusal to afford me refuge had 90 nearly endangered my life. They conde- scended to get me some tea and rough food. After 1 had disposed of all that, the man pro duced a bottle of gin. We filled our glasses, and then. with the aid of my pipe, ] settled down to make the best of night spent in a hard wooden chair.
 had come across strange people in my travels, but l have no hesitation in saying that my host was the sullenest sukie; .. most boorish specimen of human nature 1 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 sev- eral attempts to draw him into conversation. The brute would only answer in monOsylla- 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 good deal, it may be, of some one l should have met that morning at Lilymere, had the wretched snow but kept off.
 The long clock-that .eumbrous eght-day machine which inevitably occupies one cor ner Of every cottagers kitchen-struck nine. The woman rose and left us. 1 concluded she was going to bed ii so l envied her Her husband showed no sign of retiring. He still sat over the ire, opposite me. By this time 1 was dreadfuly tired: every bone m 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 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 ameGable to req son.
 My good fellow,'' I said, your chairs are excellent ones of the kind. but deueedly un- comfortable. l am horribly tired. If the re- sources of your establishment can't furnish a ped for me to sleep in. couldn't you ind mattress or something to lay down before the fire?'
 "You've got all you'll get tonight" he an- swered, knocking the ashes out of his pipe.
 "Oh, but say?o
 ''So do say. I say this: If you don't like it you can leave it. 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 ruffian up for few rounds on hls own kitchen floor, and tried to knock him Tn. to more amiable frame of mind.
 Never mind." l said, but, remember. ciyility costs nothing, and often gets reward ed However if 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 l shall manage until the morning"
 Where you stay, stay, he answered. Then he filled his pipe, and once more re- lapsed into stony silence.
 1 bothered about him no more 1 dozed of m NEAtE. nt naI for some hours. l was in an uncomfortable sort of half sleep, crammed full of curious dreams-dreams from which l started, won- dering where was and how l got there. I even began to grow nervous. All sorts of horrible travellers tales ran through my head. It was in just such places as this that unsus- pecting voyagers were stated to have been murdered, and robbed, by just such unmiti- gated ruffians as my hOst-l can tell you that altogether l spent most pleasant night.
 To make matters worse and more dismal the storm still ragged outside. The wind moaned through the trees, but it had again changed, and knew from the sound on the window-panes that heavy rain had succeed ed snow. As the big drops of water found their way down the large old-fashoned chimney, the fire hissed and spluttered like a spteful vixen. Everything combined to de- priye me of what dogs sleep could by sheer perSiStency snatch.
 l think 1 tried every position which an ordi- nary man, not an acrobat, Is capable of adopt ing with the assistance of a common wooden chair. l even lay down on the hard flags. 1 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 I gave up all idea of sleeping, and fully aroused myself l c0mforted myself by say ing that my misery was only telnporary-that the longest night must come to 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 sideways, and he slept in a most uncomforta- ble attitude. l chuckled as l 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 nlled another pipe, poked the Smolderlng logs into blaze, and sat almost nose and knees over the fire, find ing some amusement in speculating 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 1 looked at them with keener inter est, seemed to grow more and more familiar to me. Where could l have met him? Some where or other, but where? l 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 a days ride. only differing from his kind on ac- count of his unpleasant face. l felt sure we were old acqualntanceS When he awoke for a moment and changed his strained attitude, my 1efllllg grew SIOllStI SlIOIlSeI. l ti puzzle and puzzle as 1 would l 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, 1 thought that cigar would be slight break to the monotony of the nights proceedings. So 1 drew out my case and looked at it's contents. Among the weeds was one of lighter color than the others. As l took it out l said to myself, Why, old Brand gave me that one when I was last at his house. Curiously enough that cigar was the missing link in the chain of my memory. As l held it in my hand 1 knew at once why my host s ugly face seemed familiar to me.
 About fortnight before, being in town, had spent the evening With the doctor. He was not alone, and was introduced to a tall pale young man named CarTston. He was pleasant polite young fellow, although not much in my line. At first judged him to be n would-be poet of the fashionable miserable school but hnding that he and Brand talked so much about art l eventually decided that he was one of the doctors many artist friends. Art is hobby he hacks about on grandly- Alem Brands own attempts at pictures are simply atrociOusD
 Just before I left. CarTistOn, the doctors back being turned. asked me to step into an- other room There he showed me tine DOT trait of a man. It seemed very cleyerly drawn. and 1 presumed he wanted me to cIiticlSe IL.
 Fl am precious bad judge" 1 said
 Il am not asking you to pass an opinion" said Carriston. Il want to beg favor of you. am almost ashamed to beg II on so short an acquaintance"
 He seemed modest, and not in want of money so | encouraged him tO proceed.
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