The weekly examiner., 1901-03-16

E. she hurried up and down, calling in the greatest distress.
 And while she called there rode into the alleyway a big man on brown horse. He had a cheery face and kind eye. It was the bad man, J. Bar ton Fenton. He looked at Miss Egg lantine curiously, but she fairly flew at him, so eager was she for informa- l ton.
 .sOh, sir, will you please find out if your dogs killed my cat this afternoon? ? 1 She-she got out-and I'm so afraid she is dead. She is pet-black and 1 white-and her name is Juliana." l The big man looked at her tumbled hair, her anxious face. her quivering lips and trembling hands. He took off his hat and said. very gently: l "I hope that the cat is safe. I will certainly see about it. Will you come. into the yard, there, at the side gate ?7 1 Miss Eglantine obeyed, and in a few moments the bad man came out of the stable.
 sI'm very sorry to give you such news" he said; "some one threw the cat over the fence when the pups were out in the alley. They took it as 3 challenge and at once killed it.'' l Killed 1ti'' repeated Miss Eglan- tine, in weak voice; sskilled Juliana!'
 sNow, I'm ever so sorry" repeated her host, ssand I'll do most any thing to make up Have one of the pups? They're capital fellows and have long pedigrees. You can take your choice Miss Eglantine shook her head. She could not trust herself to speak or move for fear of tears. She only stared at | him in the most helpless way. In that disheveled and abandoned hour some of her gir1ish beauty returned. MT. J. Barton Fenton felt his heart stir as never before. Why, here was one of those women that existed in books, all heart, all sensibilities. She was really of another age.
 MT. J. Barton Fenton smoked some very black cigars that night and looked i gloomy He could not get the sound of those awful sobs ont of his ears. He soon knew all about the little wom- an and her hard life. for his hostler, Sam, was known to the cook at Mr. Confey's, and the full extent of the tragedy was revealed to him.
 sHer paw gwine tuh kill Fer some day. said Betty, confdentially; Ines drinkin' hard. She don know what ails sim.',
 It seemed a really pitifu1 tragedy to MT. Fenton, the death of the one thing the poor little woman had to bestow any love upon. He felt much to blame somehow, and took it out on the pups. Then bright thought struck him, and he sent Sam away on the brown horse and haunted the stable until he re- I turned.
 Sam had cat under his arms which yowIed at every step. It was very black, 1ong-haired cat, with large green gooseberry eyes, and it had a tail that was thing to be dreamed about.
 'Dish heah''s one ob de fines of cats, sah,' said AR, with great respect 3..Dish heal lis wuth forty dollahs. she say. De woman dat sells lem say she send the bill to yuh' office to-mor- I row.''
 i MT. Fenton regarded it with a crit- ica1 eye. All cats were alike to him.
 Tt would be pretty expensive l throw if ss, old man I got frisky, wouldn't it?" unused Mir. Fenton, "but I'll risk it. Now, how'll we send it, Sam, so as to do it in great shape?"
 t'Oh, I'll fix all dat," said Sam. "You see, gets nice basket, and I puts the cat in, and ties de top down wid red ribbon an keard. Den I gets big bunch ob red roses, an wid dem two in my hans, I walks up to de front do bell. I ring dat bell, an Betty she comes, an I bows am says: Desc hyar air foah Miss Egg lantine Confey, wid de compliments I ob ma marster.' Dah, ain't dat fine?'
 laughing.
 'sWell, that is rather pointed way, but don't care. Go ahead, Sam, but don't break me up on roses.
 And so a beautiful and strange thing went into Miss Eglantine's life to comfort her in the dark days that were to come. The immediate result was little pink letter of thanks. one quaintly worded and earnest. It made MT. Fenton very thoughtful. 1 It was not a week after that when Sam brought in the news, one morn ing, of Mr. Confey's sudden and seri- ous illness. Then there were some days of uncertainty. MT. Fenton sent Sam over to help, and ventured on 9 note of sympathy. Sam was full of the affection Miss Eglantine had for that new cat. It seemed pleasant subject to talk about. One night Mir. Confey's life went out, and with him the annuity on which the two had lived for years. The neighborhood gathered to the funeral, and were much edified when MT. J. Barton Fem ton appeared in fine carriage.
 Well, to give the devil his due, he has acted very decently," said the father of the family across the