Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-01-28

between his paws lay the dog you saw
with me tonight
Good evening, I said Il am of on a
cunning cruise, and should like, with your
permission, to remain with you over night.
He looked annoyed, and thought, sus-
picious. but, nevertheless, answered with 3
perfectly well bred air i am afraid can
not keep you. as my accommodations are
limited. My hut has but one bunk and so
you would be obliged to sleep on the floor,
told him could manage somehow, as
| had several quilts In my boat down at the
cove. and all asked was shelter, which |
trusted he would not refuse.
1t ia too early for birds he said, and
moreover. there is a storm brewing; you
had better give up this trip and return to
the mainland tonight; you have a fair
wind
But persisted, and very reluctantly he
bade me bring up my dunnage from the
shore. I thanked him and turned back
toward the beach. The dog arose ard fol
| lowed, and was at once struck with his
noble proportions. | patted him on the
head as we went along and he seemed 10
| COX upon me as a friend. Upon closer
| about eight feet wide by twelve long A
chimney of rough beach stones was built
| 81 the further end, but for some reason
the fireplace had been boarded up and
| % ,i,..,t
| built against the wall. one narrow bunk on
! the opposite side, chest which also
served as a seat, a gun, fishing lines, oil
clothes, etc, were about all saw IN this
/ humble cabin. Night was fast coming on
/ and was getting hungry. | begged per
| mission of my host to use his stove, and
1 in short time had dish OF steaming tea
and the contents of my frkln set upon the
| table During this time he had remained
| sitting on the chest, silent, except when
| asked direct question, and answering al
ways III monosyllableS. | noticed, howcv-
| er. that he watched me closely and seemed
suspicious Of every movement. Well.
thought |. YOU are a sociahle old chap, to
say the least; one night under your roof
will suffice for me; but was destined to
remain longer than that, and to listen to
I strange revelation.
VIII you join me in cup Of tea:
asked
Thank you, he replied, 4 have eaten my
supper.
Well. had no idea of letting hi. incivil-
ity affect my appetite, and | ate hearty
supper In silence A. | arose from the ta-
ble the patter of rain sounded on the roof
and gust Of wind moaned il the tree
tops. Having lighted my pipe tried to
draw my strange companion into conyer-
sa.ion, but it dragged. and finally aban-
doned the attempt Meanwhile the wind
was rapidly rising; an equiuoctial gale Of
unusual power wss upon u. II now oC-
Cured to me that | had not asked the name
of nv host. and this | now veutured to
do. He turned, almost tiercely
What does 1t matter 10 you? Gall me
Peter, If you like, that is a good old name.
With these words he put on his hat and
went ont into the storm
His sudden departure surprised me hut
decided that he had gone to the shore to
make certain the fastening Of the boats
/ and 80 gave the matter no further thought
! II wa. evident that had veniured into a
| bears den; still cannot say that regret
| ted having come. There was certain
| novelty in the situation that made it
| interesting This man must have a his
| tory of no ordinary nature. Had he suf
/ fered some great wrong, that made him
| shun mankind: Was he ostracized by
/ some act Of his own: | would make il
my business to fathom the mystery. All
| these things reyolyed in my mind a.
/ sat smoking before the fire Meanwhile
I the storm increased in fury. Strong
| blasts of wind ragged through the forest
! and shook the hut, albeit it was well pro-
tected. The sea roared upon the rocks as
though anxious to join the awful carnival
| ! arranged my blankets beside the stove
and lay down. Presently Peter returned,
but a. he did not address Ine remained
silent and he removed his steamiug clothes
and threw himself into Ills bunk Ny
slumbers that night were very uneasy.
The strangeness of my position, the hard
ness of my bed the turmoil without, all
cOnspired against sleep. In the gray, un-
certain light of dawn, the first thing no.
ticed was my host sitting upright 10 his
bunk regarding me with fixed stare
| was puzzled and somewhat disconce.t-
ed He seemed to distrust aud fear me.
What for: was the next question. How
ever, said good morning and he answer
ed me pleasantly enough. What is your
profession:' he suddenly asked Il am
junior partner in the firm of B. L. & Co,
Boston, replied. My answer seemed to
please him, but he only said: You do not
look like labOring man, | thought perhaps
you were a detective. | noted the re-
mark Now why should he think me de
tective, instead of book k-keeper or com
mission merchant! All. why! If this man
had a secret and this was now my firm
fully convinced that no man can forever
hold any secret of awful import. Sooner
or later its weight will drag him down un
til he pours the story of his crime OF
wrongs into human ears.
The revelation had SO long expected
came at last l had been two weeks upor
Little Islsnd. Delayed at first by the
storm which swept the whole New Eng
land coast. afterwards fingered by Pc
J ter's request. Gradually his icy reserve
and distrust had thawed out and l founC
him q most interesting companion. Ii
many ways l had discovered him to be
man of considerable and varied informa
ton. We had hunted and fished together
! and by degrees he seemed to attach him
J self to me with child-lke eagerness Sc
, when / had been there week and sug
} gested leaving he would not hear of it fo
at least a week longer. For, said he, my
loneliness will be intolerable when you ar,
gone. 1t seems as though a special desti
ny had sent you into my dreary life
was one of those rare autumn days and W,
were seated upon grassy slope on tn,
| south side of the island. Beside US LAY
the dog. The sun had set across the west
! ern sea and out of the east in all her glory