The Yale expositor., 1896-12-18

those who differ from him ne Is Us oD-
stinate as a mule. Anyhow, ne mas
always had his own way with me-
This custom, so far as l am concerned
commenced years ago, when we were
boys at school together, and l nave
never been able to shake OIL the PAD
habit of giving it TO him. lie mas
promised to see that my Queens Eng
lish is presentable; for, to tell the
truth, am more at home across coun-
try than across foolscap. and my mn
gers know the feel of the reins or the
trigger better than that Of the pen.
All the same, l hope he won't take
too many liberties with my STYLE baa
though it may be; for old Brand at
times is apt to get-well, bit prosy.
To hear him on the subject of hard
work, and the sanctity thereof, APP
proaches the sublime!
What freak took me to the little GOD
forsaken village of Midcombe In the
depth of winter, is entirely between
myself and my conscience. The cause,
having no bearing upon the matters /
am asked to tell you about, is no ones
business but mine. / will only say that
now / would not stay in such place,
at such a time of the year, for the sake
of the prettiest girl in the world, let
alone the bare chance of meeting her
once or twice. But ones ideas change.
l am now a good bit older, ride some
two stone heavier, and have been mar
ried ever so many years. Perhaps,
after all, as l look back, l can hnd
some excuse for being such an ass as
to endure, for more than a fortnight.
all the discomforts heaped upon me
in that little village inn.
A man who sojourns in such a hole
as Midcombe must give r"-.e reason
for doing so. My osterSt+ie reason was
hunting. / had a as.se with me, ana
n second-rate subscription pack OF slow
going mongrels did meet somewhere In
the neighborhood, so no one could gain
say m yexplanaiton. But, II hunting
was my object, got precious little OF
it. A few days after my arrival. Bit
ter. biting frost set ina frost as black
as your hat and as hard as nails. Yet
still / stayed on.
From private information received
no matter how, when, or where
knew that some people in the neigh
borhood had organized a party to go
skating on a certain day at Lilymere,
a fine sheet of water some distance
from Midcombe. l guessed that some
one whom ! particularly desired to
meet would be there, and as The skat-
ing was free to anyone who chose to
take the trouble of getting to such an
out of the way place, / hired a horse
and an apology for dog-cart, and al
ten in the morning started to drive the
twelve miles to. the pond. / took nc
| one with me. / had been to Lilymere
once before, in the bright summer
weather, so fancied 1 knew the way
we'll enough.
The sky when / started was cloudy
the wind was chopping around in way
which made the effete rustic old hostlel
predict a change of weather. He wa:
right. Before l had driven two miles
light snow began to fall, and by the
| time I reached wretched little way
side inn. about a mile from the Mere
a film of white covered the whole coun
try. I stabbed my horse as well as
could. then, taking my skates with me
walked down to the pond.
Now, whether l had mistaken thu
day. or whether the threatening fall o
snow had made certain people chang
their minds, don't know; but, to m!
annoyance and vexation, no skater
were TO be seen, and, moreover, tn
uncut white surface told me that non
had been on the pond that morning
Still. hoping they might come in spit
of the weather, put on my skates an,
went outside-edging and grape-vininl
all over the place. But as there was Il
person in particular-in fact, no one a
ALTO note my powers, l soon go
tired. It was, indeed, dreary, drear
work. But l waited and hoped unit
the snow came down so fast and fur
iously. that / felt sure that waitin
was in vain, and that / had driven t
Lilymere for nothing.
Back l went to the little inn. utterl
disguised with things in general. an
feeling that to break someone's hea
would be a relief to me in my rresen
state of mind. OF course, a sensibl
man would at once have got his hors
between the shafts and driven home
But. whatever l may be now, in thos
days l was not sensible man-Bran
will, 1 know, cordially endorse this rt
mark-the accommodation of the in
was not such as to induce one to hinge
within it's precincts; but the fire wa
right good one, and drink, which
slxillfully manufactured out OF som
hot beer, not to be despised, and prove
warming to the body and soothing
the ruffied temper So ! fingered owe
the big fire until began 10 feel hungr,
and upon the landlady assuring m
that she could cook rasher, decide
II would be wiser 10 stay where ! wa