The times., 1901-04-28

might trust the assurances Of this strang-
er. ,o,, -,., -. -
iously thankful to see that Nflet purred
10 him as though he inspired confidence;
for as a rule she fuffed at new acquaint-
ances and declined to know them.
TN do it kind: | promise faithfully.
II humbly thank you, sir. If you Just
speak soft and call her Fflet, she Il be
more tract BILE"
Not daring TO look again al his /old
friend. Joe hurried off as fast as his with
cred legs would carry him, sobbing as he
went. Vilet struggled 10 follow him, but
was prevented, and; like her poor old mas
ter, she had to yield to the inevitable.
The fisherman waited until Joe had pass
ed out of sight and hearing, and then with
one Whirl of his strong young arm he
threw the ferret bag and stones right into
the deep Of the river. But Nilet was stlll
safely In his arms, and he looked at his
captive smilingly as he gathered up ms
fishing tackle and hurried off to the
manor Vilet cried piteously after the
vanished Joe, but she was quite without
fear for her own personal safety. his
touch was kind and gentle, and he called
her Ni'let
Young, warm-hearted, generous, with
all these feelings stirred to the uttermost
by the painful scene he had just witness
ed, Ni'lets jailer made nothing of the dis
tance to the Manor. and StOrmed the prl-
vate entrance as one who had perfect
right to do so Without asking leave of
anV he brought his captive right into the
presence of the young squire himself,
who was transacting dry business, and
horribly bored and out of temper at his
durance vile on so fine an evening.
Jack you fortunate, lazy, idle beggar!
I've been enVying you the whole bless
there? A cat?'
hand on his shoulder. and looked down at
him with eager eyes which, but for the
absurdity of the thing. the squire could
have sworn had tears in them.
10
cats. Do you know what | have just
seen2-a poor old man trying TO drown
his little friend and companion before go
lug off to the house He tried so hard,
but he could not do it. Oh Tom! to see
such heartbreak in an old face it is bad
enough in the young, only .omehow you
know it will mend again; but this one
so old and so helplesS-suCh a good face,
too, honest and upright. so patient, too,
for all its pain. Godi TO think of man
world narrowing down to one faithful lit
tie cat and he trying to drown IL at last!
He made me think of my own dad as ne
might be some day until could scarcely
answer him-there's such sublime p5thos
about helpless old age. Now, IOm, you
must let me rent cOttage-at once! no
deIayi-and wen have him out of the
! Union before another twenty-four hours,
please Cod Now for the queen of cats!
Where can we keep her secure for the
night? / would not lose her for hundred
pounds, and / would not lose the joy
of their meeting tomorrow for twice
| hundredI
He paused, for his breath caught, and
for a few moments the squire looked care
fully out of the window
Sit down, old man-you and your pre-
cious cat! We must talk this over, you
know; and please remember that l am in
the Job as we'll"
1t was rather late the next day-for
Jack Selhurst and the squire had been
tremendously busy-when the former en-
tered the old mems ward of the Union.
There they sat like poor forgotten pawns
which had been swept off the board of
life and were waiting to be returned
whence they came. All OF them looked
more or less forlorn, and poor old Thorne
sat somewhat apart, quite spent and eX-
hausted with all the emotion of the pre-
vious day He had not vitality enough
to be much astonished at the advent of