The Irish standard., 1896-05-30

5S
through which we had just passed.
!: road q little beyond M sWerv6d' sharplylsssl
to the 1eft, ira 1iI$ g tteI
ridge, led to the clustered hou5es 81 the
& village mile away, Right before us
was the long. gentle slope Of. the hill
terminating. in the low plain knew col
well. fringed with lmarsh and veined with
narrow tidal streams; and still farther!
on was the bays, glittering in the SUM
like vast sheet. of bejeweled azure.
Here and there, along it's margin rose.
knobs on which grew clumps Of stuntedl
trees. Above one of them, a little nearerl
us than the resi-. could be seen the!
chimney Of the old house, as lonely a|
habitation as man. could desire. i
sThere," said to my companion,l
pointing to the spot, .'there is your ideal
hermitage" II
vi.
What would have been the result
upon my fortunes had the asylum;
seeker failed to be satisfied with the
retreat selected is a question over which,
I have since wasted much time. On the
whole, it is probable that should have
seen little more of him, the chances be-
ing that in day or two he would have
disappeared, leaving, perhaps, sum of
money sufficient in his eyes to compen-
safe me for services rendered to that
t. of hn 81
lessness which then possessed me that.
though contingency of this sort had
been in my mind from the first, the
thought of it had no lettering influence
AS it was, however, he seemed to be!
content with the choice made for him
and ready to carry out our contract.
The task of settling him In his new
rhode proved to be unexpectedly easy
The owner Of the old house was glad toI
dispose Of it for a song, throwing IL, q
patch of marshland along with the lit
tie hill on which this building stood.
Though it was in need of repairs, and
though wind and weather had left
many mark upon it, it was still a
stout structure, with stanch beams and
firm foundation, capable, apparently,
OF withstanding thesgales of a score Of
!, winters. It was bullt on the surnmitof
the hummocls, which rose about 40 feet
above the sea-level, a rocky spur
pushed up into the light and air from
some stratum buried under the low
lands of the coast. Upon the rocks was
scanty covering Of soil, sbade1y suffl-
cient to give support to the fringe OF
dwarfed evergreens which surrounded
the dwelling. Halfway down the slope
on the west or landward side was a.
spring about which was patch Of turf,
. the only bit Of green on the premises,
for the soil under the trees was dull
brown in hue, and the seward ter
races were too steep and stony to give
root to even the hardest OF grasses. 70
the east, directly between the knoll and
the beach, was a marsh, which also
curved about the rocks to border their,
southern side On the north tidal
stream flowed so close to the base of The
slope that one could step from boat to
the lowest of the rocky lodges 70 the
west the land was level, but not marshy,
and the line of long abandoned wagon
track could be traced straight across to
the hill from which Lamar had gained
his first view of his refuge. Rodney
town was considerably more than a
mile distant, but about halfway be-
tween the village and the knoll were
three or four farnhouses. Their occu-
pants would be lamar nearest neigh"
bors, at least on the land side. TO the
south, perched on another rocky point
about quarter of mile away, was the
hut of a family Of fishermen, who were
not likely to be intrusive. !.
AS has been said, the business OF taxi
ing possession was simple matter, and
the night after our arrival we passed.
in the house by the bay. Lamar showed
amazing energy in making the place.
habitable, and within a week wonders
were accomplished. a wagon-load of
furniture and fitting was secured from
the village; turned glazier to replace.
the. broken window-panes, whose ah-
senee had. served at least to save the
place from the reproach of musti-
ness; and my employer developed
no mean ability as a carpenter. To
be sure, it was mere box OF
a house, making our labor so
much the lighter. :but 1 felt a
good deal of pride in The results. On
the ground floor was q living room,
with kitchen behind it, and 9 small
room opening from the kitchen. Above
were two rooms of fair size, both of
which, Lamar told Mi; he should re-
.quire for his own uESSf: It had been
agreed, soon otter our arrival, that q
should find quarters in one Of the farm
houses between the refuge and the VIII
lage-an Arrangement entirely to my
liking, for the prospectof dwelling UNDER
the same roof with Lamar was not all
Turing. He was as .unsympathetic as
an iceberg, hardly more loquaeious,
and the mystery he maintained was
not Of the fascinating sort. In the
week we passed together came TO dis-
like him exceedingly. Sometimes, when
days labors were ended he would sit
for hours putting away at his cigar.
watching the wreaths of smoke, but
speaking not a word, and hardly hono,-
ing me with a glance. What Els re-
Elections might be was beyond my
power of conjecture; yet managed.
with considerable satisfaction, to con-
vince myself that he had committed;