New-York tribune., 1901-04-14

ior the sun Was westrg fast. and he had to be
! IN the house before il sank Taking Vi'let in
MS arms, he held her gently a moment. and then
! lfied 10 put her into the weighted bag; but the
task was quite beyond him, and he rel -ased
her to hide his face and try to stifla the sobs
mat were shaking his wthered body from head
, to foot.
Il can't do it,' he sobbed wildly. 4 can't
The fisherman took the bag from him and
waited few moments.
I'll do it" he said kindly. Leave your little
lilend TO me; III do it when you gone
quite spent With the force of his emo
ton. Joe looked anxiously to see if he might
trust the assurances Of this stranger.
Youth do ii kind?' he Queried 50 anXiouSly.
, th3nitu To See that Niet purred to him
though he inspired confidence; for as a rule she
futfed at new acquaintance and declined to
IN DO it kind; promise faithfully"
humhly thank you sir. If you'll just speak
soft and call her Ni"t she'll be more tract ble''
Not daring To look again at his old friend. Joe
hurried of as fast his Withered legs would
t" follow him. but was prevented. and like her
p""r old master she had to yield to the ineVi-
Tn. fisherman waited until Joe had PASSED out
II -l1ht and hearing. and then with one Whrl
of L.+ strong young arm he threw the ferret
5ar an! stones right into the deep Of the river
loo at his captive smllingly as he gathered
up his fishing tackle and hurried off the
Manor. Nilet cried pteously after the vanished
joe. bat she was quite without fear for her own
personal safety His touch was kind and gentle,
and tie called her Niet
Young. Wa'n hearted generous with all these
feelings stirred to the uttermost by the painful
scene he had just witnessed. Nilets jailer
made nothing OF the distance to the Manor and
sturmed the private entrance one who had
perfect right to DO Without asking leave
Of any he brought his captive right into the
presence Of the young squire himself. who
transacting dry business, and horribly bored
and out Of temper az his durance vile on so fine
an evening
Jack. You fortunate. lazy. idle becgar, I've
been enVying YOU the whole blessed What
the deuce have you got there? \ cat
His friend went over to him. laying hand on
his shoulder. and looked down him with
eager eyes which, but for the absurdity of the
thing. the squire could nave sworn had tears in
them
Yes cat. Tom. the very queen of cats. Do
You know what have just seen?-a poor old
man trying to drown his little friend and com
panion before going off u the house He tried
50 hard. hut he could not do it. Oh Tom, To see
such heartbreak in an old face; il is bad
enough in the young. only somehow you know it
viii mend again: but this nne-so old and
helpless-such a good face. too. hone and up
right. 50 patient. too. for all its pain. God to
think Of a mans world narrowing down to one
faithful little cat-and he trying to drown it at
last, He made me think Of my dad h.
might be some day until could scarcely answer
him-theres such sublime pathoS about helpless
taSe-at 0nCei no delay.-and well have him
ont of the Union before another tuentv-four
hours please God, Now for the queen of cats
Where we keep her secure for the night"
would not lose her Cor hundred pounds. and
would not lose the JOY of their meeting tO-mor-
for twice a hundred''
He paused. for his breath caught. and for A
few moments the squire looked carefully out of
the window.
sit down old man-you and your precious
cat We must talk this over. you know; and
please remember that | in the job as WelI.''
1t rather late the next day-for Jack
Selhurst and the squire had been tremendously
buSY-When the former entered the old mems
ward If the Union. There they sat like poor
forgotten pawnS which had been swept off the
board Of life and waiting to be returned
/ whence they came. All of them looked more
/ less fOrlOrn and poor old Thorne sat some
. what apart. quite spent and exhausted with all
the emotion of the previous day. He had not
vitality enough to be much astonished at the
advent Of the stranger to see him, but he felt it
was meant assurance that he had fulfilled
. his promise.
You did it kind sr?" he queried; but he had
. no heart ask further. The mere thought of
/ Ni'let lying stark the bottom of the river
was too much for his hardly maintained com
pOsure.
Il did it kind" the young man answered
gently. and now | have obtained permission
TO take you for little drive; will you Gomez"
Too inert to way the other, yet
responding to the kindly manner OF the invita-
tion and rather amazed at it. old Joe looked