Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1906-05-10
CHAPTER III.
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS.

more to resume his interest in human
affairs. How the girl hovered about
him! She tucked the shawl more snug
ly around his feet; she arranged and
rearranged the pillows back of his
head; she fed him from a bowl of
soup; she read from some favorite
book; she smoothed the furrowed
brow; she stilled the long, white, ner-
vous fingers with her own small, firm,
brown ones; she was mother and
daughter in one. Wherever she moved,
the parent eye followed her, and there
lay in its deeps a strange mixture of
love. All the while he drummed cease
lessly on the arms of his chair.
And Mr.. Robert, watching all these
things from affair." Mr.. Robert sighed
dolorously. The residue air in his
lungs was renewed more frequently
than nature originally intended it
should be. Love has its beneficences
as we'll as its pangs, only they are
not wholly appreciable by the recipi-
ent. For what is better than a good
pair of lungs constantly filled and re-
filled with pure air? Mr.. Robert even
felt a twinge of remorse besides. He
was brother to a girl almost as beau
tiful as yonder one Ito my mind far
in two years he had not seen her nor
made strenuous efforts to keep up the
correspondence. Another good point
added to the score of love! And, alas!
he might never see this charming girl
again, this daughter so full of filial
love and care. He had sought the cap
tain, but that hale and hearty old
sea-dog had politely rebuffed him.
"My dear young man." he said,
"I do all | possibly can for the enter
tainment and comfort of my passen-
gers, but in this case l must refuse
your request"
"And pray, why, sir?" demanded Mr..
Robert, with dignity.
For the one and simple reason
that Col. Annesley expressed the desire
to be the recipient of no ship introduc-
tions."
What the deuce is he, a billion
aire?"
you have me there, sir. l confess
that l know nothing whatever about
him. This is the first time he has
ever sailed on my deck"
All of which perfectly accounts for
Mr. Roberts sighs in what musicians
call the doloroso. If only he knew
the colonel! How simple it would be!
Certainly, a West Point graduate
would find some consideration. But
the colonel spoke to no one save his
daughter, and his daughter to no one
save her parent, her maid, and the
stewardess. Would they remain in
New York, or would they seek their
far-oft southern home? Oh, the thous-
ands of questions which surged through
his brain! From time to time he
glanced sympathetically at the col
onel, whose fingers drummed and
drummed and drummed.
Poor wretch! his stomach must be
in bad shape. Or maybe he has the
palsy" Warburton unused upon the
curious incertitude of the human anat-
omy.
But Col. Annesley did not have the
palsy. What he had is at once the
greatest blessing and the greatest curse
of God-remembrance, or conscience,
If you will.
What q beautiful color her hair was,
dappled with sunshine and shadow! .
. Pshaw! Mr.. Robert threw aside his
shawl and book Git is of no real i'm
portance, but l may as well add that
he never completed the reading of that
summers most popular novel; and
sought the smoking-room, where,
with the aid of a fat perfecto and a
liberal stack of blues, he proceeded to
divert himself till the boat reached
quarantine. | shall not say that he
left any of his patrimony at the ma.
hogany table with its green-baize
covering and its little brass disks for
cigar ashes, but l am certain that he
did not make one of those stupendous
winnings we often read about and
never witness. This much, however:
he made the acquaintance of very
important parsonage, who was pres
emily to add no insignificant weight On
the scales of Mr.. Roberts destiny.
Iit W dS d INuSSldll, yOuIS, handsome,
suave, of what the newspapers insist
on calling distinguished bearing. He
spoke English pleasantly but imper-
fectly. He possessed a capital fund of
anecdote, and Warburton, being an
army man, loved a good droll story. 1t
was revelation to see the way he
dipped the end of his cigar into his
coffee, stimulant which he drank
with Balzacian frequency and relish
Besides these accomplishments, he
played very smooth hand at the great
American game. While Mr.. Roberts
admiration was not aroused, it was
surely awakened.
Mr.. hero had no trouble with the
customs officials, A brace Of old
French duoling pistols and a Turkish
simitar were the only articles which
might possibly have been dutiabIe.
The Inspector looked hard, but he was
finally convinced that Mr. Robert was