Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-06-08
The Tanning of a ShreW.
CHAPTER l.

Crowds Of trippers were pouring in
to Dunoon, that picturesque little town
that has won for itself name as q
watering-pla second to none on the
Firth OF Clyde.
On the fine June morning when Mr..
Sam Forbes first set eyes On it he
thought it one of the prettiest and
quaintest places he had ever seen.
But then Mary Dawson had taken up
her temporary abode there, along with
her father and her younger sisters, and
he was probably looking at the town
through CupiQ's spectacles. At any
rate, as he stood On the deck of the
steamer, bear ng rapidly down on
Hunters Quay, and looked out on the
town stretching along the western
shore of the Firth there rose before
him a mental vision of fair girl with
pretty face in loose frame of golden
locks, with dimple in her cheek, and
the seriousness Of a sage in her beau
tiful brown eyes. 1t was picture well
calculated to throw a glamour over a
less romantic town.
But inueed DunoOn possesses many
charms of it's own. bringing the
sweeping curves of Milton and Bolgay,
the town stands partly on the low plat
form of the Firth's old sea margin
partly on gentle ascents, with back
ground of broken, heather-clad braeS,
and the heights Of CoWal aspiring to
L hn Oh, in, fln L;
charming Indifference to town-like
regularity, villas and cots being blend
ca with gardens and trees, with sea-
wood and mountain all within easy &C
cess.
Sam Forbes had followed the DaW-
sons to Dunoon, and Mary was the
magnet that drew him hither. When
she left Glasgow the light seemed to
vanish from his lifes horizon, and he
turned his face Dunoonwards as natur-
ally as the flower turns its petals to the
suns eye.
He had a fixed purpose in his mind.
He had determined to ask Mr.. Daw-
sons permission to pay his addresses
te Mary, and to have done with uncer-
tainty.
He had no difficulty in finding Heath
cottage, and he walked boldly up the
garden to the door.
well, declare! If there isn't Sam
Forbes" cried Lottie Dawson, who
happened to be at the window, to her
sister Mary. What can have brought
him here?"
Mary opened two lovely eyes, like
full-blown violets.
How can | tel?" she asked inno-
Gently.
Lottie regarded her with skeptical
look
You're a deep one, Poll, she saio,
admiringly, and would have thrown
dust in Solomon's eyes"
The remark fell on mary like i1le
air.
Lottie ran to the door and looked
out into the passage.
"He has mysteriously disappeared .
she said, turning to her sister with a
look Of comic disappointment on her
pretty face.
Dear me, what a fuss you make
about nothing at ALL said Mary. rs
there anything more strange in Mr..
Forbes calling upon father here than
in Glasgow"
Calling on father" said Lottie, with
a derisive little laugh. Yes, there is,
and you know it, Miss Prim. Ora
cious, Poll, what a face you've got,
Well, I'll spare your bushes, but
must find out if he is with father"
And she crept along the passage like
a cat on wall tipped with broken
glass, till she reached the door Of her
fathers room. She did her best to
play eavesdropper, but, though she rec
ognized Sans voice, she could not
make out a single word of what he
said.
ooh, | know what it means" she said
to herself as she stole back again
Father will say Bless you, my chill
dren,' and Poll will cut him dead. She
never was like other girls, and hates
men a great deal more than she does
SIM"
ou, L oll, SuS SAiSo, oS ShS SiAoS,
back into the room, SANS holding
forth to father like a
She stopped abruptly, searching thu
room with mischievous eyes.
Mary had vanished.
That's just what guilty wretch
would do, now" she said. well
she'll never hoodwink me again."
Meantime Sam was having it GU
with Mr.. Dawson, pleasant-faced
middle-aged man with well-forme,
features, bright eyes and a smiling
mouth.
When Sam summoned up sufficien
courage to ask his consent to MARI
his daughter Mary he looked as if yo
might have knocked him down wit
a feather-if ever that astounding fea
was performed
'What?' he gasped, fairly surprise
out of his accustomed suavity. ''Mal
ry Poll?" And he laughed heartily
Sam, you're mad. I'm sure Pc
won't marry you"
81 think she WILL" said Sam, quie
ly; Eat least I'm willing to run til
risk of rejection, if you've nc objection
sir"