The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-23

in his accustomed place cutting at a big
meat pie; his brow was knitted, and with
the whole strength of his soul he seemed
intent upon this job of cutting the pie.
His long hair and the hair upon his
cheeks and chin accentuated the express
sion of his pale face, which was one of
wildness and of grief so subtle that 1t
might scarcely be known as grief by the
heart that ached with it; but when he
raised his eyes Hardy saw a darkness
upon his vision as though the shadow of
death was on his eyeballs
"Wtll you have some Of this pie?" said
he, quite sanely.
Thank you, SIR" answered Hardy
"We'H shift for ourselves" said the
captain, turning to the attendant. Bring
whatever else there IS in a quarter of an
hour
The man left the cabin. The captain,
with the knife and fork poised, without
serving Hardy viewed him intently dur
ing short passage of silence, and then
said:
Johnny has strayed away from this
ship and he's left his drum behind him.
but" he added, smiling with his heart
moving smile Of superiority, II shall find
him.
He loaded a plate and thrust it at the
length Of his arm towards Hardy, who
took it.
Are not you eating, sir?" said Hardy.
"How's the ship?" was the answer.
Hardy reported the sail she was under.
The question, the all-important question.
whether sights and been taken, was not
| asked. The captain took a piece
of meat out of the pie and gave 1T to the
Newfoundland, who sat beside him on the
deck.
II don't like rich clergymen," he said,
abruptly. THE man who steers his ship
to the glowing gates of heaven should be
rich in heart and love. The precious
freight is that; let him despise a wealthy
parson. Take up your cross and follow
me- Dye remember it, sir? But you and
the like of you give your cross to the
coachman and get inside
| He spoke this in a voice of thunder,
and his face was grotesque Hardy was
| eating with difficulty. The chatter of the
| afflicted brain is pain to the hearer for
| the sane strokes make the inconsequen-
tial talk as CHASTITY as the lifelike mo-
| tions of the electrified corpse.
From time to time the dog got up and
| moved about the cabin shifting. He was
| missing Johnny. He would come to Har-
| dy's side and turn his gentle, affectionat te
| eyes up at the mates face in such dumb
| inquiry as would be holy if it We're hu-
man; then he would go to the captain
and do the like. The poor man played
with some meat out of the pie but did not
| eat. He had been educated at a great
| public school and his speech and voice
| had the culture of breeding, and the
| lapses and diversions of the talk that he
| addressed to Hardy made his language
| more pitiful than shocking. He as often
| spoke wisely as insanely, but Hardy saw,
even whilst he sat, that the loss of his
| boy had confirmed him in his lamentab.e e
| prepossession. He was mad, but in such
! fashion that unless he acted visibly the
| madmans S part the crew would fail to
| see it.
The attendant came down with more
| food for the cabin, and this the captain
did not touch. Presently he abruptly
rose and entered his berth, reappeared
with his cap on, and slowly stepped up
the companion-ladder.
1t was Hardy's hope that the poor fell
low might give such orders as would in
duce the men to suspect him mad, al
though he felt they would believe he was
only temporarily deranged by the bitter
loss which had left him heartbroken; and
yet some needless or absurd order, some
unintelligible shifting of the course for
| example, some needless setting or reduc-
ton of canvas, must act like surgical
| operation and quicken their scent, which
would help him to come to a decision as
! to the right thing to be doHe; and whilst
he went on munching his dinner he found