Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1904-07-08

suit OF coarse flannel. His hands were
big and broad and very red, his head was
thickly covered with coarse black hair,
and he spoke the broadest of Cornish
dialect in a voice of thunder. Having
finished my inspection of number one, ]
glanced at number two-namely, my
aunt. She was a comely looking wom-
an of forty, very stout and motherly in
appearance. She wore a cotton dress, a
large coarse apron, and a curious cap.
My amazement at the sight of these
two individuals was so strong that
could scarcely force my lips to utter a
word; but if my surprise was great,
theirs seemed greater. After the first
glance at me, they looked uneasily at one
another, the genial smiles faded from
their faces, and the words of welcome
died upon their lips.
A pleasant interruption to all this was
John Rudd, who at this moment came
in with my trunk upon his shoulder and
placed it down on the kitchen floor. Then
he made a dive into the voluminous folds
of his coat and produced a packet.
THAT be for you, missus," said he;
"a little present, wi a suitable inscrip-
ton O. my avn making"
Thank you Mr.. Rudd," returned my
aunt, taking the packet. "You'm very
kind"
Read the warses, missus; read the
warses!" said Mr.. Rudd, w~hereupon she
proceeded to do so.
1t was a proud moment for John
Rudd; he seemed to expand with pleas
I1rQ And tbnunh tn oil ;nton@o .-I -,-
poses he was gazing upon Mrs. Pen
dragon, he rolled one eye round my way,
as if to watch the effect upon me. When
the reading was done, he smiled affably,
while my uncle brought down his open
hand heavily upon his knee.
"Waal done, John, wal done!" cried
uncle, heartily; while another voice
n which l then heard for the first time,
said:
"Oh, Mr.. Rudd, what beautiful poetry
you do write!"
AT the sound of the voice, all eyes,
mine among the rest, were turned upon
the speaker, whom l discovered to be a
little girl somewhat about my own age,
SO pretty and so quantity dressed, she
looked like a little Dresden china shep-
herdess.
"Wha, Annie!" said my aunt.
Il declare I'd forgot all about 'ee!'
my uncle added. '"Come var. nv lass.
and say how do We do to yer c%ousinv'
At this, the little girl came forward,
and, gazing earnestly at me, timidly Of
fered me her hand.
Suddenly, John Rudd, who had been
fumbling about his coat again, produced
another packet, which he this time, hand
ed to my cousin. She opened it, and
found it contained a brightly colored
shawl and a sheet of foolscap, on which
some ines were penned. Knowing Mr..
Rudd's weakness, Annie proceeded to
read the lines:
ITO Annie Pendragon, who charms all
beholders,
John Rudd, of st. Gurlott's, sends this
for her shoulders;
That she'll always be happy, in sunshine
and in flood,
IT'S the wish of her friend and admirer.
]. Rudd."
Having read the verses, Annie fell to
volubly admiring them and the shawl;
but Mr.. Rudd, feeling the praise too
much for him, gleefully took his depart
ure. He paused at the door, however,
to give me a last look, and to express a
wish that we should become better ac-
quainted.
The moment he was gone, attention
was again concentrated upon me. MY
aunt took a good look at me, trying to
lind traces of my mother and father in
my face. My uncle discovered l was
both wet and cold; while Annie said:
why don't you give him his supper,
mother? I'm sure he must be hungry
after that long ride wi Mr.. Rudd."
Armies suggestion was adopted, and
we all sat down to supper. While I
ate, 1 had leisure to look about me. The
kitchen was large and homely in the ex-
IRENE, with a clean stone-paved floor be-
meath the great black rafters above, from
which hung fiitches of bacon, bundles of
tallow candles, and divers articles of at
tire. The ingle was great and broad,
with seats within it, formed of polished
black oak, and the fire burned OH the
open hearth. In one corner was a recess.
with curtains, containing a bed, which
l afterward discovered was to be mine
for the night.
Very little was said or done that even
ing. Ii l was astonished at the sight of
my relatives, they were equally so at the
sight of me. A sort of constraint came
upon us all. I was not sorry to find that
they were very early people, and that at
ten o'clock they retired, and left me to
make myself as comfortable as I could
in the presided in the kitchen.
(To be continued,
Passed 'Em Up.
Cholly-I say, Fweddy. let's on and