The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1893-01-13

CHAPTER VII.
The hero of this narrative is, Of course,
Jim Leigh. It Is true that Jim is not
and never has been a particularly heroic
parsonage; STILL so far as heroic writers
and readers are concerned, he stands, for
the time being, In that proud position,
and must abide by the consequences Of it.
One Of these is necessarily the occurrence
OF a considerable hiatus in the record Of
his career; for what Is an unfortunate
writer to do when his hero disappears
into the interior Of Abyssinia, or the least
frequented provinces Of India, and will
getherS II only knew something of the
circumstances under which, during all
those years, jim slaughtered lions, tigers
and elephants and bears in the happy
hunting grounds of three continents, l
should doubtless have many a thrilling
adventure TO chronicle; but could never
get anything but the most bald and
meager recital Of his performances out of
him; nor do dare to draw upon my i'm
agination, for my own sporting expert
ences do not extend beyond the shooting
Of partridges and pheasants, and even
those l am very apt TO miss when fur
ried
Unfortunately, too, Jim is one Of the
worst correspondents have ever had to
deal with | did indeed receive letters
from him with tolerable regularity; but
for any information Of interest that they
contained, they might as well have been
written upon the back Of a postal card
'.lt is awfully hot here, but have got ac-
customed to it and don't mind. Yester-
day we were very lucky, killing two fine
tigers; but our average SO far has been
hardly up 10 the mark" And so forth,
and so forth. That is scarcely the kind
Of thing that one wants to hear from q
man who has quilted his native land in o
state Of bitter disenchantment and misan-
thropy and who at the end Of six years
ought surely to be much better or much
worse than when he started
Jim never alluded to his misfortunes,
nor made any inquiry as to the fate Of
those who had caused them. / gener-
ously gave him q few items Of intelli-
| gence without having been asked; but he
did not refer to them in his replies, and in
/ like manner be ignored my representa-
tons that owners OF landed property
ought not to be absentees for an indefinite
period Once or twice be spoke vaguely
of coming home, but something always
occurred to make him postpone his re-
turn, until, as have said, he had been
wandering about the world for no less
than six consecutive years.
Now 1t came to pass that one hot after
noon in the height Of the London season l
had returned to my chambers, physically
and mentally exhausted, after an intel
4 lectual luncheon party, and was saying TO
myself-with very great truth and justice
that Of all forms Of social cruelty
luncheon parties are the most wantonly
malignant, when loud rat-rat as from a
| heavy stick, made me glance at the door,
/ through which, after an instant Of delay,
there strobe into my presence tail,
broad shouldered, bronzed individual, who
had Jim Leigh's eyes and nose, surmount-
ing black mustache and beard entirely
unknown to me, The nose, however, was
enough TO swear by; and | don't know
when in the course Of my life have been
more delighted TO behold familiar and
| prominent feature. / welcomed him with
a warmth which hope was as agreeable
to him as it was sincere on my part, and
he smiled all over his face, quite like the
Jim Of old; so that | freely forgaye him
/ his beard.
"And now that you have come back at
last, you mean TO stay at home, like a re-
spectacle English country gentleman,
trust, " said ], after had made him COM
Portable with an arm chair and cigar
and something cold to drink.
"Well-I suppose so," he answered,
with a shade Of hesitation. "lo tell you
the truth. I'm utterly sick end tired Of
foreign lands, and should like nothing
better than to settle down 1T Elmhurst
for the rest of my days"
"What should prevent you from doing
as you likeS You can't mean that you
haven't got over the trouble that drove
you away yetg'' said |, for | thought we
had better come to the point at once.
II believe have got over it, don't
know for certain" he answered slowly.
Let us talk about something else. Tell
me all about yourself "
So told him all about myself and his
observations upon my literary achieve
ments.were hattering and discriminating,
though think he was n little bit nervous
lest should ask him whether he had read
ny works, Then he went on to speak Of
friends o., former years,
'Poot old Lord Staines is still alive, /
hear, "'he remarked.
'.IIe is still alive, replied, ''and not
likely to die, SO far as know; but you
would hardly recognize him. On sunny
mornings one meets him in bath chair
in the park, with Lady Mildred walking
beside him. He doesn't talk much nova
days, but he likes 10 see people, and he
seems to be quite happy when he is al
lowed to have his little grandson with
him told you that he was reconciled
with the Bracknells long agosp
Jim nodd,d "And how do they get
onf" he inquired, asking the question
with someth ng Of an effort.
"Many people arc curious to know" !
answered. THAT Jis, Il you mean. bow