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martensite 7
Se ncaa
TO A fe
himself.
July 8, 1882.
<tez:GOLDEN DAYS:se =
491
older competitors in their deeds of wick-
edness.”?
“Only for Darcy, I think that the fel-
low would perhaps have killed me,” re-
turned France, with a slight shudder,
while Dar, in the midst of his embar-
rassment, found himself wondering why
an Oxford graduate, who had only been
in this country a short time, according to
his own account, should say ‘our
Younger river thieves,’”? and seem to
know so much about them.
“Ah, yes!’ returned Mr, Pyle, with a
shadowy sneer—or what Dar fancied was
one—“ quite aromantic rescue, indeed
and not unlike those one reads of in the
deleterious works of fiction which I hope
my future pupils will always shun.”
He looked very solemn as he uttered
these last words, and Fred shrugged his
shoulders slightly.
“Atter this bold attempt,” continued
Mr. Pyle, who spoke in a rather precise,
stilted—studied, would perhaps be the
- better expression—sort of way, ‘¢I pre-
suine you will deposit your money on
reaching home.’’
“Well, I don’t know,” slowly an-
swered the captain, who, having re-
signed the helm to Dar, had walked for-
ward, whither Mr. Pyle followed him,
where he was filling his pipe. “ ‘There’s
een so much bank-bursting and rob-
beries and embezzlements, and such, of
late, that I had thought of keeping my
bon’s under my owneye. What do you
think, Mr. Pyle?”
“‘Many people do keep securities of
this kind by them,”? Mr. Pyle returned,
with the slightest possible glance at the
captain’s attentive face, ‘for, as you sug-
gest, the frightful depravity of the pres-
ent day makes it doubtful what or who
totrust. That young fellow—is he a re-
lative, Captain Arnold?” asked Mr.
Pyle, suddenly, in a low tone, looking
toward Dar,
And then the captain narrated Dar’s
history, so far as he had learned it from
the boy’s own lips.
“Are—are you certain of his honesty?”
cautiously inquired Mr. Pyle, who for
some reason, which he could hardly ex-
plain to himself, had_begun to entertain
a slight feeling of dislike toward this
keen-eyed boy who said so little, but
whom Mr, Pyle had caught studying
him intently more than nce since they
efte
--Captain Arnold waited till his pipe
was lighted hefore answering.
“Honest ?’’ he repeated, in a low tone.
“One wouldn’t want to look into them
eyes of his but once to satisfy himself.
I ain’t ofen mistaken in a_ face,” Ca,
tain Arnold continued, ‘¢and that’s one
reason, Mr. Pyle, that I hired you on
sech a short acquaintance.”
Mr. Pyle coughed softly behind the
1m of ‘his hand, and seemed—if I may
e allowed the expression—to wink at
But as the boat worked out
into the sound, where a short, choppy
Sea happened to be running, he was
obliged to go below, where for some
hours he lay in all the agonies of sea-
sickness.
With this exception, the trip was ut-
terly uneventful, though very enjoyable.
A strong southwest wind developed the
cutter’s sailing faculties to such a degree
that the patent log gave her rate of speed
as ten knots an hour for six consecutive
hours, and at daybreak on the following
morning she was moored to the little
wharf, and her crew seated at the break-
fast-table in the Arnold house, discuss-
ing Miss Jessup’s fragrant coffee and
teinpting break fast-rolls.
fter the meal, a chamber was assign-
ed to Mr. Pyle, and the captain, taking
his tin trunk, carried it up stairs to the
- So-called “study” room, to the great in-
ward curiosity of Miss Jessup, who
dropped her dish-cloth and shook her
fist viciously, as she saw Dar accompany-
ing Fred and France on the way up
Stairs, in answer to a call of Captain
Arnold.
“T want you to seo where I put this
trunk,” said Captain Arnold, closing the
door; ‘“so’st in case of fire, if I shouldn’t
happen to be here, you'd know just
where to lay your hands on it.”
8 he spoke, he pulled out the lower
drawer of the secretary, between the
bottom of which and the floor there was
considerable space. Placing the trunk
in the cavity thus formed, he put the
drawer back in place and rubbed his
hands together complacently.
“Nobody would think of looking there
for it,” he said. “And now that’s off
-my mind, so, Dar, you and I will go
down to the cutter and clean her up a
bit, for I see the steamboat brought a
ook
lot of passengers this morning, and like
enough there’ll bea call forthe ‘Shadow’
by to-morrow or next day.”
Dar gladly obeyed, for he had resolved
toshow the same interest and zeal in
serving his kind-hearted employer that
he would in pursuing his own chosen vo-
cation, even though he had no particular
fancy for his present occupation.
But he was quick to learn and read,
to obey, so that the captain felt satisfied
that Dar would do very well after a few
trips. His shoulder was stiff and _ sore,
so that he was not able to do any heavy
work as yet; but the wound, which was
aslight one, promised in a few days to
be entirely well.
Fred and France rowed to town in the
small boat to do some marketing, so that
Miss Jessup and Mr. Pyle were left as
the sole occupants of the house. And
searcely had the others gone, when Miss
Jessup darted up stairs.
“Tm bound to know what the mean-
ing of all this private whisperin’ an’
cavortin’ off to New York without tellin’
me their errant means,’’? muttered Miss
Jessup, setting her thin lips together, as
she thought of the little tin trunk whic
Captain Arnold had carried with
much care, and hurried out of- sight
almost as soon as he entered the house.
“That new boarder—Spile, or what-
ever his name is—don’t seem to be no-
where round,’ Miss Jessup said to her-
self, as she cautiously opened the door
of the study-room and peered in.
But Miss Jessup was slightly at fault.
Mr. Pyle’s curiosity as to the where-
abouts of the tin trunk was, if anything,
stronger than Miss Jessup’s curiosity as
to its contents.
And while that worthy lady softly en-
tered the study-room by one door, Mr.
Pyle was about to enter by the other,
when, catching a glimpse of Miss Jes-
sup’s angular form standing in front of
the old secretary, he darted behind the
door itself, and, with an expressive smile
on his smooth face, stood quietly watch-
ing her movements.
She opened and overhauled the con-
tents of every drawer; pulled down
some of the books from the shelves
overhead and peeped behind them, and
even, with the aid of a chair, succeeded
in getting a view of the very top of the
secretary; but all in, vain, and with a
very baffled look on her sharp face, Miss
Jessup stood for a moment considering
the matter.
“He keeps all his vallyble papers in
that secretary,” she mused, half aloud.
“)’ve seen ’em there fifty times. Now,
where under the canopy—’
“You seem to be somewhat unsuc-
eessful-in your search, iny dear madam,”’
very unexpectedly said a smooth voice ;
and Miss Jessup jumped as though a
pistol had been fired close at her ear,
[To BE CONTINUXD.]
ee
A YOUTH OF WONDERFUL STRENGTH.
The following legend is very familiar
throughout Lapland: Ani ame year-
ly to take tribute of the fishers. None
knew of his ‘coming or going, but he was
always seen on the shore when the boats
caine in from the sea. very year he
challenged the fishermen to fight, but
his enormous size frightened them. For
many years he was the terror of the
White Sea coast.
day, a young man appeared
among the fishermen, and asked to go
with them. He soon showed that he
ssessed great strength. When asked
to wring a wet glove dry, he squeezed
the glove so hard that it crumbled into
powder. The fishermen marveled at
his strength, thinking, too, that when
the terrible Anika should appear again,
erhaps the youth could fight him. At
ist Anika ‘came, and demanded his
tribute.
“The fishermen refused the robber, for
the first time, and said that they had one
among them who would fight him. “Ife
he!” laughed the giant, as the youth ap-
proached ; “ be careful, or VIL demolish
thee.” They agreed to fightin a ring,
ona hill near the sea, and in the jollow-
ing fashion: Each combatant was to turn
asomersault and strike his enemy in the
chest with his feet. Anika took the first
turn, and struck the youth, who did not
budge. - At the second blow the young
man recoiled a yard; at the third blow
he went back a fathom. ‘Then it was the
youth’s turn. At the first somersault he
drove the giant back a fathom; at the
second, three fathoms, and at the third
he flung the huge searobber seven
fathoms outside the ring, dead. They
buried him and piled the stones over his
Tave.
s “Thank God, each of you,” said the
youth; “your enemy is no more. Ience-
forth none shall molest your fishing.
God be with you.’”’
Then he disappeared forever.
SOME FISH STORIES.
BY PISCATOR.
1 am prepared to demonstrate these
two propositions: First, that fishing for
brook trout is the choicest kind of pisca-
torial sport; and second, that it affords
about the most healthful exercise one
can possibly get. Ithink I could con-
vince any one of the truth of my first
proposition, by drawing a picture of a
brook flowing swiftly on through wood-
land and meadow, its banks gemmed
with wild-flowers of every hue, its waters
tumbling merrily adown little preci-
pices, or spreading out in sheets of sil-
ver, with birds caroling in the tree-
tops, and the warm sunshine showering
a golden glory over all.
OrI might maintain the second propo-
sition, by declaring how many times I
have become rested, and fitted to take
up life’s work anew, after a day spent in
rubber-boots; or by stating how many
invalids I have known to improve their
health by this very exercise.
But I will not now take either of these
methods. Instead of that, I will relate a
few incidents of personal experience
while handling the rod and line, feeling
sure whoever reads them will see
that I must have had both pleasure and
My early boyhood was spent in Maine,
and in aregion where trout were very
abundant. One day my father and I
went a mile fron home, to plant a field
with corn, and I was led to be unusually
industrious, from his telling me that if
we could finish the work before night
we would spend the balance of the after-
noon fishing in a stream near by.
After a smart day’s work, the task was
completed, and, an hour before sunset,
we were on our way to the brook. There
was a saw-mill on the stream, with a
large dam near it. -
Just below this dam was a deep pool,
where the water was constantly covered
with foam, and shaded by several large
trees—an admirable place for trout.
Father sat on the bank, while I climb-
ed out upon some large rovks, and
dropped yD No sooner did it
strike the water than a large trout took
it, and anded him at father’s feet.
Then another and another and another
met the same fate, in rapid succession.
Oh, how they jumped at the bait!
It was just at the time of day when
fish bite most freely, and, as fast as I
could handle them, I pulled out the
“speckled beauties” till I had caught
thirty-seven from that one pool,
They were not very large, but weighed,
probably, froma quarter to a half-pound
each. It was an unusual catch, even for
that region, and I forgot all about my
weariness, as we marched into the little
village, carrying the trout between us
ona forked stick, and told the wonder-
ng men and boys that I caught themall
in one place.
But the queer thing about it—and this
is why I tell this incident instead of
others—was that one of the trout had
had his back broken several times _be-
fore being caught. He was some eight
inches in length, and from head to tail
his backbone had been sharply broken
at about every inch. Ile was a queer-
looking thing, indeed. I suppose he
must have been caught in the wheels of
a mill when he was very little, and had
grown up in the shape in which the ac-
cident left him.
Ihave been sorry a good many times
that I did not preserve him asa curious
specimen for a museum, but in those
days boys were not taught to do such
things, and after being shown around,
he was disposed of with the others.
It was-not in vain that I caught him,
however, for father made use of it to
show me that just as this fish grew up
with the crooked back which he re-
ceived when little, so if boys get bad
habits when young, they will be very
likely to retain them when older—a
Jesson which I have found it useful to
remember,
As I grew to manhood, I still loved
the sport, and I have caught trout in
widely distant parts of the country. I
think the most satisfactory experience I
ever had was in Nova Scotia. In some
of the sparsely settled portions of that
peninsula, these fishes are found in
such nuinbers that any story of approxi.
mate truthfulness would probably be
regarded as a great exaggeration.
It is true that most of them are small,
hen compared with those caught in
the famous lakes, but the multitude of
them, and the ease with which they can
be taken, more than compensates for the
disparity in size. Every little pool is
full of them, and one can often catch a
dozen without moving from his tracks.
once saw a gentleman take a seat on
an old log, and without rising, catch
over thirty handsome trout from be-
neath a single pile of brush.
fternoon, near sunset, I stood
knee-deep in water, at the confluence of
two little streams, and pulled out one
hundred and six froma single pool, not
one of which measured less than eight
inches in length, and very few of which
were much larger.
In company with half a dozen friends,
Icamped fora month on the bank of a
sinall river, and it was the work of a few
moments only to go out and get fish
enough fora full meal.
One afternoon, I determined to see
how many I could catch, so I went up
the stream about three miles from camp,
intending to fish in the good places as I
returned. with me a tin-pail,
which held about twelve quarts.
Ina little while I had this full, and
leaving it suspended on a tree, that
minks might not rob me, I went on pull-
ing out the finest trout and stringing
them on forked sticks. Before night 1
had caught three hundred by actual
count.
Then I started for camp, and, as it was
i Ileft the river bank and
followed down an old road. I had a
heavy load—the pail of fishes—in my
hand, and several large sticks full tied to
a stout club and carried across my shoul-
der, and 1 traveled so slowly that it was
dark while I was yeta long way from
iny companions. :
On the way I came across a black bear,
who was out looking for his evenéng meal
of blueberries.. He scented the tish, and
evidently wanted.them, for he began to
follow me. He kept coming closer and
closer, till I felt that he was altogether
too intimate.
I didn’t want to part with my tish, and
I knew the bear would not try to take
them from me,
; Most of the stories about bears attack-
n ople are purely imaginary. A
wourde bear will fixe, asany Wounded
creature will, and a dam will defend her
evbs, but in any other case a bear is too
wild to be dangerous.
I resolved to drive this one away. So,
laying down my strings of fish, Iswung
the stout club about my head, and, with
the most hideous war-whoop which
knew how to raise, I ran straight towards
him. Ife was dreadfully frightened, and
with a cry of distress almost like a child,
he ran away into the woods and troubled
me no more,
you ask what I could do with so
many trout, I reply that I pickled a
thousand of them and brought them
home to my friends, and found that,
after being soaked over night in fresh
water, they retained quite a little of the
taste of trout freshly caught.
But this recital of experience makes
ine uneasy, and I inust stop writing and
take a morning stroll along a brook near
by, where I learn that some trout are
being taken every day by the boys of
the neighborhood.
a
THE GRAND GEYSER.
The Grand Geyser, on Fire Hole River,
in the Yellowstone Park, is, undoubted-
ly, the most remarkable geyser in the
world. It is situated on the summit of a
high ledge of rock. The opening through
which the water is thrown has a diame-
ter oftwenty-five feet. When an eru
tion is abou occur, this opening is
filled with boiling water. Then, sud-
denly, with a leud noise, immense
clouds of steam rise to the height of 500
feet, and the whole body of water ascends
in a gigantic column to the height of 90
feet. From the top of this column tive
jets shoot up to a height of 300 feet from
the ground. The earth trembles under
the descending deluge from the vast
fountain. After playing twenty minutes,
the geyser subsides, and al beco:
uiet.
. . . : fo
—— — >
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