The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-02


when one morning received note from
my old friend. Tommy Cameron Of Clinton.
He begged me 10 come and stay with him
for a month; "the shooting IS excellent"
he said will not bore you with details.
After deal OF trouble I arranged it with
the chief. and alighted al D-y station
at the close OF a lovely September day.
Cameron met me al the station. and after
an hours drive through most beautiful
country we reached Clinton. Here sur
prise awaited me. for. in my ignorance.
had expected TO have none but male SO,
eiety during my stay; but an entering the
house two young ladies came forward
to greet US: they were the Misses Cameron.
and kept house for their brother. lie had
not mentioned them in the invite, he said,
lest I should refuse on conscientious
grounds.
Well! at dinner that evening found that
the company of young ladies who were
simply bubbling over with animal spirits
was charming; much more so than the
lonely bites I had all along made out to
enjoy so at my club. I soon found my
self wondering what peculiar form of men
tai disease had been upon me when had
5oined the club; but so strangely are We
constituted that at the same time / was
asking myself how I could withstand the
wiles OF Beauty-such as theirs-for a
whole month, and refrain from bringing
discredit on this honorable concern.
got on fairly well during the first week,
as kept with Cameron most of the time.
Whether he gave me away or not, ! cannot
say, but they seemed to know ! was sNlin-
ming them. and they tried every docoe-
as only women know hOw-to draw me
out. You may laugh, but 1 was utterly
helpless.
/ struggled hard against what I now con-
slider my natural self but It was too strong
for me- One by one all the theories and
arguments that I had fed on disappeared.
melted by the sunny eyes OF these girls;
they would not bear inspection by their
light, and l. as If to make up for lost time
fell to my task of ladies man with zest
that would have shamed any professional
at the game To add TO the hopelessness
of the situation, Tommy was away for
several days in the second week, and i was
entirely at their mercy.
ASH said, there were two OF them, Madge
and Flose. Madge was the younger ana
prettier; she represented the musical ana
artistic instincts; Flose on the other hand,
the establishment She was very nice but
she went in for such awful things she had
some favorite toads in the conservatory
and she would 20 rambling about the coun-
try and bring home all sorts Of animals
insects and other unthinkable things-and
cut them up-imagine girl doing that.
Sometimes at dinner she would rip out with
some new and startling information con-
corning the internal arrangements of this
or that animal; or she would take us to her
study where she had whole rows of bot
tied specimens, and would point out the pc
culiarity of any new specimen, while on
her work table you might see various or
ganisms in a state of partial dissolution,
and on these she would dilate until ], not
being used 10 it, began to feel just . bit
oueer. Yes, this girl was decidedly too cleN-
er.
The other one. as l said, was not so
heavy and went in for art; and, as you
know, l have little leaning in that dlrec-
ton myself 1t was natural, therefore
that when she told me she was going 10
paint little river scene near the house,
] should ask II l might be of use. ! OBJ
tanned permission to wait on her, and we
started the picture. Now, you must know
that II a fellow and a girl who are both
a bit sweet on things artistic get together
and talk about them, and paint, they stand
a good chance of getting sweet on each
pened; the picture didn't advance much
she didn't seem TO mind, and I'm sure l
didn't.
In this pleasant way the days passed until
Cameron's return, when, of course, there
were innovations. We would have a day $
fishing, and then a day at shooting, or a
long tramp over the hills; but, TO be frank,
I liked those little bits artistic much more
than fishing or shooting, and when out on
she hills would wish myself back at
Madges side.
When out on one of these early morning
4ramps we met young fellow whom TOM
NV introduced Is Arthur Clisby, frlepd OF
his He greeted us cordially and after a
Chat he left us, promising, in being asked
10 favor us with his company at dinner
that evening On the way home learned
a little of his history. He was the son of
a large ship owner of Dundee, and was
the family failure; his chief failure as far
as I could gather. being that he couldn
knuckle under. He had been student at
Glasgow University, and had promised TO
rome off we'll, but his individuality-which
always came at the top at the most awk-
ward noments-asserted itself. He was
reproved for being doubter of some dicta
scientific, and for being too much given 10
asking questions. A violent alteration
ensued, during which he called his pro
fessor "a musty old heap OF fossilize'.
learning" As a result he left Glasgow,
and soon after had a quarrel with his
father, and having decided that they could
not get on together. they agreed to differ
and part. He had come out here into the
-vilds to live, and devoted his time to abb
Htract scientific problems, chiefly in the
electrical line.
At breakfast Madge asked me how
liked the Hermit" THAT'S what they
called him.
''oh, he seems very nice fellow" an
ewered.
Eyes, he is a nice boy, but he is so very
quiet"
Then we fell to chatting of him, and
Floss Joined in and discussed him, his
merits and dement's, just as though he
were one of her bottled specimens. Then
we talked of other things, and Madge said
that she hoped TO finish her picture that
day il / refrained from helping. But l
was determined that she shouldn't work
TOO hard, and ii remained unfinished.
Dinner time came, and with 1t our guest,
but instead of the jolly good fellow of the
morning he was quiet, oppressively so,
never speaking unless directly addressed,
and only answering with few quiet, di-
rect words / never saw a more remark