Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1900-12-13
in such successes as might fail to my

llOu ailLltHeIlCdl W lulIle, LUZ L was
getting over-fonG of brooding, and was
becoming almost too dreamy for this
practical workaday world.
And found SO much to admire IN
this middleaged Irishman during the
early days of an acquaintance which
soon ripened into friendship, that pro-
posed he should stay with me and finish
his book, working up his ILLUSTRATIONS
whilst the memory of the places and
persons they represented was still fresh
in his mind.
Every day he had some new story to
tell, either of his early life or his late
wanderings and it was impossible to
feel downhearted or dull in his COM
pany. And yet, even whilst the edge of
his satire was at it's keenest, whilst his
conversation bristled with epigram and
sparkled with w.t. whilst the contagion
of his laughter and the fun that lurked
in his eyes We're perfectly irresistible,
the mans heart was bearing a burden
of sorrow that, when I came to know
it, made me marvel at the iron will
that would not let it rise to the surface.
He was dashing artist, working
very rapidly. and just the man to illus
trate the,rollicking book he had written,
and I encouraged him to work hard,
for could give it my honest opinion
that when the Child of his BRAIN as
he called it. should go forth to the
world, it would be warmly welcomed.
Sure, it's little correction it's had"
he would say, land I'm afraid I'm too
indulgent parent. But then, as our
old sergeant in the Militia used to tell
us, 'Arrah! av We made a mistake, be
smart wild ut. and stand still. Don't
be thryin to get straight And so I'll
let it go as it is, and maybe they'll
think the mistakes are the truest parts
of it.
And so we went on working together,
he praising my painting, and finding
beauties in it that were hidden from
my eyes. and that probably only exist
ed in his fervid imagination; and I
lauding his writing to the skies, until
we came to be the most enthusiastic
Mutual Admiration Company, Limited,
on earth.
He was almost a child in matters
financial, and he would sell little gems
for tri1e. until 1 came down upon
him and constituted myself his moddle-
man, when the "pot-boilers" went up
in price, and he was proportionately
happier in the prospect afforded of
buying himself back.
I shall never forget the evening on
which he finished his book. I had been
away all day, and came back to find
him sitting staring at the pile of MS.
before him.
I'm thinking" said he, pointing to
the MS, that it'll be great traveller,
and will well-nigh ruin me in postage.
Faith I've mind to inclose a bushel
of money orders, and ask the first
publisher send it to to pass it round,
taking them all in alphabetical order,
and if it doesn't wear out by the time
it gets to ~ in London they might ship
it off to New York"
II don't think you'll have all that
trouble" I said, and a sudden impulse
Selling me I added, Suppose we go to
London and take it with us? We could
travel by boat, and I think the trip
would do us good"
And so it came about that Fate once
more interfered, and this why I say
that I cannot forget the evening, be-
cause it was upon it that I made the
proposal which led to my coming into
touch again with the Ragged Thirteen.
1t must not be supposed that I had
ever forgotten the debt I owed the men
who had separated me from my father,
or that my thoughts did not often have
him for their subject. He had been
too important factor in my early life
to be forgotten, and whereas time had
toned down the recollection of the series
of events that had been so startling in
their occurrence, it, and absence, had
made my heart grow fonder for him
who had been parent, friend, and COM
panion in one.
And while trod the London streets
again, the bracing air, and the hustle
and stir that obtained, chased away
the lethargy that had crept over me
in the South, so that the eagerness
which at one time had possessed me to
repay With interest the injuries that
had been put upon me began to re-
assert itself, and to urge me to pick up
the thread of investigation that I had
allowed to slip through my fingers.
I had not heard from John Anguish
for some time. Things We're at a
so his last letter informed
chance, my dear SIR" wrote he, ''often
and then, if we've the skill to play it
at the right time, we win the game"
He was apparently still waiting for
Madame Fortunes aid, and I proposed
paying him a visit as soon as we found
ourselves comfortably settled.
Avoiding the suburb in which my
father and had previously pitched our
tent. went northward, and was for
tunate enough to find claiming little
villa, out Enfield way, furnished in
most approved bachelor style; and
having further secured the services of
a handy man and his wife, we settled
down to pass the summer in our new
quarters-I financing the concern, and
Mcguire religiously booking against |
himself so much per week for board
and lodging, until the sale Of his prec-
ious work should bring him in enough |
to wipe out all obligations, and set him
free, though tits in love with my fet-
ters, am" he would add, when we
discussed the matter
He was away one afternoon worrying,
or trying to blarney, some publisher
Graves, our man, had gone out for
supplies; his wife was performing the
mysteries of her toilet in her own par
ticular region of the house; and was