Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-08-20
followed mine.

sponsive as a tomb"
The comparison is excellent said
avoiding a direct answer to her
query. as most men with an aversion
10 unnecessary falsehoeds would have
avoided ii. 1.-THE servant is deaf. and
ler master is sometimes SO self-ab-
sorbed that he Is ever worse of than
She"
What wretched existence. Is his
health altogether gomez"
lie is more comfortable now than
when he came here
l knew that she was studying my
face, but kept my eyes averted.
1T is strange that in this gossip
loving village so little is known of
him. she went on. Zone hears that he
is retired brewer from the south; but
that seems TO be the limit of knowledge
Of his antecedents"
1T is the accepted version" said l.
Really. ! know little of his history be-
fore he retained me"
Our craft was nearing the mouth of
the tidal stream, and few more Wig
orous strokes shot it out upon the
smooth waters of the bay, hardly rip
pied by the gentle breeze. To the
north were two sloops crawling along
on their way to the village To the
south and east curved the long tongue
of land which formed the boundary of
the bay on two sides and sheltered it
from the ocean swell. Not more than
half mile from where we were, cat
boat lay at anchor. with solitary fig
ure lolling over her side. The whole
scene was full of the restfulness of the
summer afternoon, and the spell of it
stole upon us, as if we left behind with
the land its anxieties, sorrows and
fears. For a time the boat driftad on,
propelled more by a current of the
lay than by the occasional strokes of
the oar. The girl was half reclining.
trailing one of her hands in the water
and with the other toying with the
handle of her parasol. the shaft of
which rested on her shoulder. We
We're both day-dreaming. when a hail
came to rouse us from our reveries.
Looking up, found that we were close
to the anchored craft, and that John
~ ~ ~ ~ i'tRhN ItRN AN1lI bo w
none too soon. In a moment we were
the catboat, and his hand had
canght the gnnwale of the skiff.
"Halloo. Johnson!" said |, what
sort of fishing are you doing here?
Business or fun?"
Fun mostly, SIR" he answered,
pointing to hand-line hanging over
the side. Nothing of a bigness to be
caught here. How does the lady like
the boat?"
Very much indeed " said Miss Gray.
You'll find she works easy, ma'am,"
said he.
I'VE discovered lot of dried mud on
the thwarts, said l. You can see some
of it yet" ,~..a--,-. -
THE boat was as clean as a whistle
yesterday. Somebody must have been
out in her tween then and now"
Il believe she was in use this morn
ing" l admitted.
We'll, whoever it was" johnson de-
clared, after a survey of the slxiff, she
must have landed somewhere on the
flats, where there was mud, and
- NNNNN ~ III hAlC dpOdIu
ag'in. Here's another of his marks"
And he sent long arm into the bow
of our little vessel and picked up the
stump of a cigarette from the plank
ing. AS he held it out for inspection
the paper unrolled, showing the dark
grains of the tobacco.
1--WE seen that sorter cigarette be-
fore, Doc, and / guess you have, tco. but
not round these parts" he SAID. 'Da-
goes fancy EN-"
'And you don't, Ell? Well, m of
your way of thinking, but the gentle
man who was out in the boat this morn
ing wasn't. Come up to the house to-
viii you. and give Miss cray
sailing lesson ?"
"Ay, ay. sir sad Johnson THE
hoat's very clever under sail. I'll be
glad to show her any little p'ints she
needs TO pick up"
Your colonel can't be called a very
tidy mariner, no matter what his other
virtues may he" said !, as we recntered
the inlet.
''Why do you call him my coloneI?'
the girl asked, and it seemed to me that
detected slight increase in her color.
lie is a friend of my aunt's, hardly OF
mine, though I've always found hmm
very agreeable"
"And attentive?" / hazarded under
the spur of revived jealousy.
Scarcely that" she said. quietly,
though he was always most KIND to
me-"
The spur went deeper.
'Oh, of course said l. rashly, land
he must have had such delightful OPP
rortunities,
''IIe IS a charming man." she an
sweled. with n smile which filed me
with misery. l dare say she read me
easily. and was quite prepared to pro-
long the teasing had the chance been
given her. But. looking over my shout
der. my glance fell upon Lamar's
somber abode. The sight of it made
me silent. and. sullenly settling down to
the oars, / sent the ligh. craft swift