New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-07-16

!
get that big one Just over there! Won't muth
be pleased? What dirty boots you'll have Shaii
I hold your stick for you to cling on to?
Then he noticed Dorcas GOOD morning!
said he. with gay courtesy. isn't 1t fine
May morning."
ut be that surely. little masterr' answered
Dorcas. in high delight Then "the little gentle
mans dada"-he never achieved a separate iden-
tIty in the mind of Dorcas-scrambled up from
the swamp in which he had been standing He
too, proved most approachable. ana she iearheu
that the youthful potentate in the REFER jacket
had never walked so far before, that the scropeo
out old quarry" just beyond the Blue House
was his destination, and that he would prop
ably come again next Sunday
He came every Sunday morning all through
that summer. and always with his dad. Some
times they went tapping for fossils in the dis
used quarry sometimes they came with butter
ny nets and caught "Tortoseshells' and wall
Browns" and upon one great occasion "rriui-
larry" But whatever they sought or whatever
they caught, Dorcas was always, as who should
say "in at the death" and shared the excite
ment and the triumph with them
The little gentleman was very frendly-a child
Is quick to recognize an admirer az any pretty
woman-and II Is possible that the attendant
father understood and INDUCED the childless
Vcman's craving for chids affection. Some
times Dorcas felt qualm Of conscience ana
wondered whether her adored young gentle-
man ought not rather to be In church these
sunny Sunday mornings; though had he been in
church ne certainly could have been nowhere
In the neighborhood of the Blue House But she
was comforted when she heard that ne went
with his mother to a children's service in the
afternoon. Henceforth she gave herself up TO
the study Of natural history and the worship OF
her dear little gentleman" with light heart
Even in winter ne sometimes came 'of a fine
Sunday" and Dorcas would spend many hours
of the following week vainly trying to determine
whether she admired him most in a sailor suit
or in the brooches and CATERS OF which he was
so proud One never to be forgotten day the
rain came down In torrents just as her sultan
and his grand vzier reached the Blue House.
They took shelter with Dorcas, and the sultan
was graciously pleased 10 be lifted up that he
might reach a certain mug from the top shelf
of the dreseer-a mug which had belonged to
lin as gone" Dorcas made gingerbread
cats and ducks, and her artistic efforts went
80 far as to attempt king with crown upon
is cad" After RECALLING hiTself with these
delicaces her sultan would hold up rosy face,
ornamented by sundry sticky streaks, to be
kissed In farewell; and when she had watched
him round the bend of the canal her eyes would
grow dim and she would go back to the Book
of Revelation, murmuring to herself "The Lard
gave and the Lard ave took away. Blessed be
the name Of the Lard"
or course the many charms of the little
gentleman" were duly reported to Elijah. and
the residence of Ethni Hartman took re-
hat hpta
stones throw from that Of her sultan.
1t was "A wet summer and there came four
wet Sundays one after the other. Vainly did
Dorcas try to fix her mind on the streets of
jasper, while all the time she was straining
her ears for the sound OF the little voice that
never chimed into the stiffness. She grew TO
hate the patter of the rain the path outside;
the fact that the canal. for once, was full. ,
ard three barges passed in one week, did not
console her. The gingerbread animals grew
stale and ccumbly between two plates and the
gorgeous mug. "A Present from Fairford," was
put back on the top shelf OF the dresser again.
The weather changed and there came q love- /
~ Sunday. Elijah off to the cat and Com |
passes usual; Dorcas busted about with a T
pleasant sense Of expectation and went and
stood on the towing path, her eyes fixed on the
distant bridge Some boys went by to battle be-
yCnd the second bend, with laughter and shout 7
ing. Then the only sound was the hum of bees
settled on the purple scabious growing atop the
crLmbling Cotteswold wall
On Monday Dorcas could bea- II no longer.
81 be that tewey and narvous | don't know
what be about" she remarked, she locked
the door of the Blue House and hid the key
under the mat. Should barge come-well, it
must manage somehow! Barges were never in
a hurry. She had come TO a mOmentous de-
csiOn. She going to inquire after her lit