The Irish standard., 1908-07-11
ward her.

wy uedE young lduy, 1 sdlQ, anu
as I spoke caught myself thinking
her really good looking. IF she only
did her hair decently," thought, "Td
call her beauty, really believe I
should" MY dear young lady," I
said, tell me in confidence and per.
haps can help you. Do you-er-are
you-er-er-interest in Lord VIII.
fred? If, so allow me, I conjure you, nay,
| beg of you, to put all thought of him
out OF your head. He doesn't mean 1t,
but he is graceless young flirt He
doesn't mean a word he, says. Let
me warn you-be advised
stopped short. In the midst OF
my well-meant flow Of words stopped
short, for, could l believe my eyes,
the secretary was laughing at me.
my dear old man." she said-she
did, actually-"my dear old man, your
warnings are superf1uous, for l am q
married woman" and, still laughing,
she left the SE9:9?aai;s.r,n-v-. E99ais -
Alone. sat for moment speech.
less with astonishment. as the secre-
tary left the room, and. as took my
way slowly and thoughtfully upstairs,
l resolved that this was another thing
that would not tell Vincent: he
would be far more likely to ridicule
me than to thank me for my effort in
his behalf
Some time after this, on a perfect
day, Agatha Third and IL had spent
almost every hour since the dinner In
her company, l may remark-had
planned little excursion which would
keep us outdoors all day. We were
going on a picnic up the little river.
Have you ever tried picnic for two?
Given the right companion and day
like that. I'd warrant it to cure any
attack OF the blues. Agatha Third had
assured me that the prettiest spot for
our luncheon was little island in the
center of the stream where the current
ran broad and deep, about three miles q
below the castle.
The day was fair, the girl was fairer,
and the moments were full of Joy to
me. We had crossed little bridge
about mile from the castle and were
proceeding up the left bank of the
river when sudden turn Of the stream
brought two others of our house party
into view. On the opposite bank was
Vincent in high boots, knockerbockers,
white shirt with sleeves rolled up, and
n farmers broad-hrimmed hat Of
straw. He was busy over broken
fishing rod which he was trying to
mend. In the center of the stream.
where the current ran swift and dan.
gerously deep, a girl stood on large
bowlder, fishing. Other bowlders at in
tervals between the one she was stand.
Ing on and the shore where Vincent
was indicated the means by which she
had attained her precarious position.
| recognized the girl as Agatha Sec
ond. and smiled pityingly as thought
OF poor Vincent. invariably wasting his
time with the wrong Agatha.
HHullo!" they cried, cheerfully, and
we waved our hands and asked them
what luck they'd had This isn't al.
ways safe question to ask n fisher.
man, but notice that people who are
not fishing themselves invariably find
great satisfaction in asking 1t. Vim.
cent said he hadn't caught any fish,
and asked If I'd landed mine yet. Just
like his impudence! He'd say any,
thing II he thought it was funny, no
matter how 1t might annoy other peo.
pie.
Just as I was thinking of some re.
tort polite enough to utter aloud,
Agatha Seconds rod began to bend
and jerk, and Immediately there was
so much action going on that in my ex.
citement forgot what | was about to
say. am fisherman of some skill
myself Well, the pole began to bend
and the Agatha on the rock began to
scream and Vincent shouted direc.
tions from the bank-"Easy there,
easy" he entreated her; give him
more line, Aggie, more line"
Il can't" she screamed at the ton
Of her voice; Something's caught, and
he pulls So
THE reel!" I shouted. jumping up
and down. "The reel! Press the knob
and let her go!"
| knew in a moment the sort she
had. 1t was just like mine. a patent
one with spring reel-mine often
stuck that way All this time the
fish was leaping about, sometimes
jumping out of the water so that we
could see him, and he was big fel-
low
Let mt alone; ] can do 1t myself"
cried the girl, as Vincent started to
help her, but even as she spoke her
trim little foot slipped on the wet
stone, and, losing her balance COM
pletely. she fell backward into the
deep water. while the rod disappeared
upstream.
In moment Vincent was running at
top speed along the bank till he came
to little point G: land near which the
drowning girl must pass. AS she ap.
preached he leaped into the water.
and striking diagonally upstream,
seized her by her clothing, and, fight.
Ing his way back. safely gained the
point OF land. Meantime l had run
up tho river toward q hoat that bod