The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-12-23

You'll take care of the little ferns,
John? One is delicate and wants more
to drink than the others"
I'm take care Of them" he promised
her, land I'll be sure and tell you when
my ship comes home"
But for all the real hope he had, the
ship might have foundered long since,
and they both knew it.
The, train is just Off Goodby, dar
ling! take care of yourself"
"Goodby, John! Write me very soon,
She could not see the kind worn face
for tears as the train left him behind,
but she had Bottles to console her, and
he had nothing! Nothing but faithful
ness and a quiet, courage under the
shabby coat as he went back to his
work.
Uncle Marsh's house near Brighton
was quite the grandest that either Lucy
or her companion had even entered in
their lives. Money seemed to ooze at
every pore and Bottles, unfortunate
Boobies, had the i'll luck to disgrace
himself the very Irst evening. A lovely
| Persian cat was one of the chief orna-
ments in the drawing room, and Bottles
had glanced askance at it, remember
ing with difficulty his company man
ners. But when Lucy took the magnih-
cent animal on her lap Bottles hardly
maintained forbearance forsook him.
! He took flying leap and his mouth
was full of Persian fur in a moment.
There was grand hubbub over the
| insulted cat, hurt only in her dignity,
and Bottles was peremptorily consign-
end to the sta bles, while the Dachs and
! the Pomeranian could come and go at
their pleasure The master of the house
decided this, and Lucy could not rebel,
keenly as She felt it. But she did not
| feel it so/keenly as Bottles, and If she
could outmanoeuvre the vigilance COM
mittee of butler or footman or both, he
would scuffle wildly past them, and
burst into his mistresss room painting
with an eager delight that was touching
to see, He tripped up the butler once,
who was fat and a heavyweight; there
was a second hubbub over this although
the cat was considered the more valu-
able animal of the two, and then Mr..
Marsh contemplated the ACCESSIBILITY OF
claiming the fierce Bottles up Lucy
prevented this, but only by discouraglng
further mutiny. and Boobies began dim
ly to see that his palmy days were over
even in a pleasant place where rabbits
grew wild.
Trus, his mistress came often to see
him, and they had pleasant walks to-
gether, but nothing was quite the same:
the happy freedom, the dear companion
ship was gone, for the other dogs went
with them, and Bottles had horrible
suspicion that the Persian sat on her
knee Of an evening when he was shut
away from her. He wondered sadly
why their old friend John never came
down to see them and almost cried in
his tender little way, when Lucy men
toned his name. But be noticed that
she mentioned it less and less as time
went on, for the new life of luxury and
prosperity, with it's gayety and change,
was slowly making the old one dim
and far away. She and John CORE
sponded frequently, but at times even
he faded into the background Of her
thoughts, pushed aside by newer inter-
ests. Mr. Marsh had laughed over the
notion of such an engagement
What! my niece marry poor devil
of clerk, who can barely earn his own
bread and cheese. Nonsense, my dear!
Unless I am much mistaken, friend
Rushton will have a word to say about
that"
He was in high good humor with Lucy
just then, for Sydney Rushton was even
richer than he himself, and came with
hattering frequency that argued
matrimony.
And Lucy? Well, her eyes rested on
long onthe gloom of poverty, was dazzl-
i L ~, 10 .rJit INp-, y,
and she let herself drift on the gilded
stream of Mr.. Rushton's attentions,
without heed of the course they took.
She knew that in spite Of shabby coats
John Sinclair was gentleman, and
that her uncle and his associates we're |
not, but they We're rich and she was |
tired to death of struggling. SO With |
out looking forward she lived for each |
day as it came and the old life slipped |
away into a distorting mist which !
showed the discomforts and obscured |
the blessings.
But Bottles hated Sydney Rushton,
for he taught Lucy to cycle ana in I
little while the pace grew too fast for |
the town bred dog to keep up with. He |
hated those glittering circles that ran
away from him, in spite of desperate
effort and sometimes the temptation |
assaled him to gnaw the fat plualp |
tiresB and make them useless, but he
was too faithful ever to do this, ard
would sit patiently awaiting his n'is-
tress's return in order to greet and well
come her On one of these occasions
Sydney Rushton struck him, for the
eager little paws against her dress We're
muddy Lucy turned on him, her deli"
cate face quiyering with indignation,
"How dare you touch my dogi How
dare you."
but the brute was injuring your
dress"
She picked up Bottles, mud ana all,
and kissed the tan head.
LET him injure my dress as much as
he likes but never touch him again"
He laughed, but her anger nettled
him, and he decided that when she and (
her dog belonged to him that he would
10 as he liked. Through that day at ;
east she hated Mr.. Rushton as cordially s
as Bottles himself did, and for a week
she carried the dogs dinner herself 10 ;
he stable and then the awakened loyal
" went to sleep again. She was so oc-
,upied with visiting and entertaining {
hat she had no time to remember Der /
I'D faVOrite, and for long miserable