The morning call., 1892-08-07
WITH RON WILL.
CHAPTER /.

blue depth oil SKY, anu tne feHecieu sun
light fings IFS way between the shadow of
branches and clusters OF leaves. 1T is an
ideal andscape-a landscape trembling in
liquid light and shade. / am still locking
downward into this sunIit leafy scene, and
living more within it than in the material
world around me, when | became conscious
of maiden eyes gazing up laughingiy into
mine. Never was loveler face mirrored in
natures looking-glass. The eyes are large
and dark. with a liquid light of their own
beaming between the black, quiyerlng
lasbes, the full lips are half-parted with in
Quisitive surprise, and round the oval face
there is halo of reddish-brown hair re-
sembling the autumn foliage in lis russell
tint.
The face is gone. A slight movement
Of my boat has blurred my watery mirror;
and there is nothing more to be seen down
there. 50 | return TO earth. glance up at
the high bank under hlch my beat IS
moored. where the pendant branches almost
meet oYerhe al. l look around me with the
faint hope that tha face Is not dlSem-
bodied shadow mere creation OF pc
etc fancy" The landscape, which had
seen repeated in the river, is visible III all
its actual beauty. with the sunlight oreak-
ing in between the leaves. But no laughing
eyes now meet mine.
| sink down into my boat, but not with
meeting my water-nymph again. | loose
my boat and let it glide of its own free will
downstream | have no III ught of hurryng
away. l am still in the deep heart of the
wood, and this shady stream is It's life.
flowing gently through Il.
| came out Of this deep solitude at last.
The river broadened and / pulled vigOr-
cusly up stream in the hot, dazzling sun
light Presently pretty riverside mn was
reached and / was greeted by tie landlady
nit ffaT n ShR
suspected me of possessing a spark OF TO-
nance 1t was my dlnnerthat troubled her.
It had been put back, as size expressed ii,
a dozen times and was nearly spoiled. Nor
cid matters improve when she discovered
that | had lost my appetite and was even
less inclined than usual TO be laxative, or.
more strictly speaking, to tolerate her talk.
She naturally concluded that her cooking
was at fault l FASTENED to assure her that
II was the weather; her cooking had
nothing to do with it. She appeared paci-
fed, and l now took the opportunity OF put
ting question which had been on the top
Of my tongue all dlnner-time.
"Who lives"-anG | tried toSpeak with as
much indifference as SSible-"whO lives In
that fhe park with white house on the
.ope? That little river down stream, what
ever its called, runs through the property.
Any one OF lmpOTtance?'
Why, that's Watering Hall. Colonel
HetherSett lives there"
4 q
escape NE, of which | soon repented. Not
mat | wished TO aide from the landlady, for
any deep reason. that tie name of HetheT-
seit was familiar to ME. But | quickly
realized that had looSened her tongue. l
knew all. more, at least, than she did about
The owner Of Watering Hall; | was quite
convinced Of that. The question was, how
10 put an end 10 lOQaaclty? | dispensed
with ceremony, II any was expected Of me;
So hastily leii MY seat at the table and
l.
Tag fer a match. Scarcely pausing to light
my cigarette l made an escape into the open
air ana turned my steps in the direction of
WAGERING Hall.
Some 10 years ago. while / was still stu
dent at ~. Bartholomew london a Sc
TiOus affair mad come under my notice. A
man Was brought into the hospital late one
night, seriously injured. Tie had been
found in one Of the by-stTeets in the neigh
b0ThOOd of Smithheld in an unconscious
state. 1t was apparently case of Attempted
murder. though what the would be aSsaSs in 5
actual motive had been for the attack
whether revenge or rObbeTy-Was never
clearly ascertained. No robbery had been
committed, and when my patient recovered.
alter some weeks OF suffering. he threw no
Light on the matter. | was in constant at
tendance upon him. and it was MY unex-
pressed belief that be could have partially
solved the mystery II he so disposed But
he volunteered no explanation. The bust
hess WIS 80 10 QfCldEeG, II MS LAWYER :
hands; and X did not appear TO be any one
else's right 10 interfere. And yet ! was
deeply interested, not only IN the case, but
ID he striking appearance Of my latient
and many remarkable traits in his eharac-
ter. 4 word, often a mere look from him
would instantly obtain obedience. lie never
showed sign of ill-temper; and vet he
made one feel that he was naturally pas
5lonaie, and that 10 provoke him would be
dangerous experiment. His very voice
n,rfnrn nd nj don fr1.f. Ia
was HetheTsett, as | now distinctly remem-
beTed-COlOnel HetheTsett of Wakerjng
Hail; and on taking leave of me he ex-
tracted promise that should | ever hap
pen 10 be ia the neighborhoOd of Watering
l would pay him visit. His name even
the name of the village, had almost entirely
escaped my memory. Ten years In the
midst OF busy professional life in London
VIII force man to forget everything except
his Immediate surroundings.
The twilight is nearly gone; the last ravs
die out as the clouds raise and cover the
sky. The day is over; and when gain the
high road, dark and lonely with its steep
hills on either side, II IS night At turn
IN the road. and only few yards ahead of
me, L observe broad streak Of light stretch
ing across the highway. On the hillside,
AZ the point from which the light appears
10 issue, blush transparent flames rise like
lambert tongues or FIRE toward the dark
sky, As ] approach nearer and come within
L
from large limekiln standing back some
PAGES from the road and built against the
hill. a man springs up suddenly from the
ground. | aee0st him with a CHEEKY Good
evening. The Waterman, as | conclude
him 70 be, gruffiy echoes my greeting
why, my friend" ] venture 10 remark.
you're warm enough here to roast an OK 70
Ut is warm" replied the Waterman.
But Ii Is worse-mueh worse-on q bIaZ-
ing hot day, can tell you. And that" ne
adj t.rEtu L
night"
l begin to feel that this great furnace by
the roadside has a certain fascination for
me. It's huge iron doorway is red-hot, and
the fire within roars Justify.
docs it need much Stoking?" I INQUIRE.
at looks furious"
"Ay; more stOking," says the man, than
yoD mlg5t suppose. l seem always at il.
never think o taking a wink of sleep ALI
night long. lie down and smoke and
watch That's what 1 do; smoke and watch
that fire. He needs feeding five or, maybe
six times the hour. Looks hungry now
dent he?"
The man approaches the kiln as he sneak =
with long pole IN bis hand 1t looks to me
Ike barge pole with iron hook and pike
DO you live here?" / ask him, for / am
growing interested in the man as well as
the fire.
why. yes; that's my home" and he Jerks
his thumb over his shoulder toward small
wooden hut beside the kiln. "At daybreak
nay mate relieves me and [ turn in. You'll
not often catch me coming out of my ken.
mel, as he calls 1t, Till after dark"
The life seems TO agree with you," and ]
glance while saying this at his muscular
figure.
agree with me?" he repeats. with an
odd laugh. ''Ay; it suits my purpose,
guy'nor. don't complain"
And now he pulls open the iron door, and
through the chiBks between the bars the
fierce fire lights up his face. have fol-
lowed him while talking; but the intense
neat forces ne to step some PAGES back he
IS IN his shirt-sleeves, which are rolled up
almost to his shoulders. He is Certainly
remarkably pOwerful-ooking fellow.
with ting arms of ctaln.ar. ..,..r ,