The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-11-08
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DEVILS CALDRoN

THE DEVILS CALDRON
It so happened that the young man
Of the caravan had two considerable
faults. The first fault my reader has,
no doubt, already guessed; he was con-
stitutionally lazy. The second fault
will appear more clearly in the sequel;
he was, also constitutionally inquisi-
tive. Now, his lnziness was of that
not uncommon kind which Is capable
of q great deal of activity, so long as
that activity is unconscious, and not
realized as being In the nature OF
work; and its possossor, therefore,
would frequently, in his idle way, be-
stir himself a good deal; whereas, IL
he had been ordered to bestir
himself, he would have yawned
and resisted. Here his other constitu-
tional defect came in, and set him pry-
ing into matters which in no way seri-
ously concerned him. A little time be-
fore the period Of his present excur-
sion, when he was studying law in
Dublin, and rapidly discovered that he
loved artistic amateurship much bet
ter, he had often been known to work
terribly hard at leases" in which his
curiosity was aroused; and may add,
in passing, that he had shown on these
occasions an amount of shrewdEess
which would have made him an excel
lent lawyer II his invincible objection
to hard work, qua work, had not In
variably interfered.
No sooner was he left TO his own
meditations, which the faithful Tim
(who had fortunately been away on a
foraging expedition during the episode
described in my last chapter) was not
at hand to disturb, than our young
gentleman began puzzling his brains
over the curious information she had
given him. The facts, which he had
no reason to question, ranged them
selves under four heads:
(1) Matt had been cast ashore fifteen
years previously, at an age when she
could pronounce the word papa" 1t
followed, as rational argument, that
she had been, say, one year old. or
thereabouts.
(2) Mr.. Monk had found her, and
given her into the care Of William
Jones, and had since handed that
worthy sums Of money for taking care
of her. Query: What reason had the
said Monk for exhibiting so much care
for the child, unless he was person OF
wonderfully benevolent disposition,
which my hero was not mt all inclined
TO believer ia1. Is
(3) Said Monk and said Jones were
on very familiar terms, which was
curious, seeing the difference In their
social positions. Query again: Was
there any private reason, any mys-
terious knowledge, any secret shared
In common, which bound their In
terests together?
(4) Last and most extraordinary OF
oil, Mr.. Monk had now expressed his
wish and intention of marrying the
waif he had rescued from the sea,
committed to the care Of said Jones
and brought up In ragged ignorance,
innocence Of grace or grammar, on
that lonely shore Query again, and
again, and yet again: What the deuce
had put the idea into Monks head, and
was there at the bottom of 1t any deep
or and more conceivable motive thar
the one Of ordinary affection for Q
pretty, II uncultivated, child? ,yB.4
4 u The more Charles Brinkley ponderet
all these questions the more hope
lessly puzzled he became. But
bis curiosity, once reused, could mo-
nest. lie, determined, II possible, Il
get to the midriff OF the mystery. 81
intent wns he on this object, whicl
fitted In beautifully with his nstura