Show lID I U l U lAM 1 dl j fi II A I = < L = J b < > I > < 6 J > > S > < l zj24 r If Y r i JI t II II rt I S4i I 1i ol O IT lJe i I t k Jf c j1 > c J > J 1 i < i Ic 1i 111 1 II J 1li fir t liltt w I f J J 111 1 for f-or = I Copyrighted 1896 by S R rockett No father said Blltem with decl j to enough slon 1 am not half good the make a parson of You must give living to Harry He will make a first mousing rater He is all the time about among books I BUliam and his father were standing together in the rectory garden which looked over the beautiful vale of St l them John Hellvelyn slept above stretched out like a lion with his head low between his paws The lake glimmered glim-mered beneath all dreamy in the light midsummer haze Bees hummed in the old garden and the flowers on which they made themselves drunken reeled and shook with the press of the revelers revel-ers erThe old rector of Applethwaite was dead This day of midsummer had been his funeral day An old man full to the brim of years and dignities he had lived all his life under the wings of his brother the squire rooted safely in the family living dining every Sunday Sun-day and Thursday at the hall and reading his 100 sermons in a rotation as settled and regular as that of the crops But now the old order was changed and according to the squires providential arrangement the new order or-der was to be Billiam His real name was William with something very distinguished after it Yet nobody thought of calling him anything but Billiamexcept only the squire when as at present Bllliam and he differed in opinion Then he said William Reginald Setoun Orm I itnwaite will you dare to disobey your father And Billiam hung his head for he knew that a day was coming when he would At school he had been called Bllliam for the reason that a Yorker is called a Yorker because it was obvious that he could be called nothing else The boj whose Latin verses he did said to him Iiow go on old Billiam hurry up I want to go out to the playing fields to smite that young toad Scott miner for makng faces at me and making me laugh in chapel So to save time Billiam gave him his own 4 copy of verses und saw the plagiarist pass to the head of the form next day on the strength of Billiams iambics Yet that boy never even thought of 4 thanking the author and origin of his distinction Why should he It was only old Bllliam Billiam failed also in gaining the love and respect of his master to the extent which upon his merits was his due For one thing he was forever bringing all manner of brokendown sparrows maimed rabbits and three legged dogs into the schooland if possible pos-sible even into the dormitory Then smells of divers kinds arose and bred quarrelsome dissensions of a very positive posi-tive kind The house master came up one night to find Bllliam with an open knife in his hand driving fiercely into a throng of boys armed with cricket bats and wickets Whereupon he promptly dashed at the young desperado despe-rado and wrested the knife out of his hands Do you wish to murder somebody cried the house master shaking him Yes said Billiam stoutly if Low ther tirows my white mice out of the window Xo further proceedings were taken because upon examination Billiam proved to be scored black and blue with the wickets of his adversaries He was however from this time forth given a bedroom upon the ground floor with a little court in front which looked upon the laundry And here Billiam still unrepentant was allowed to tend his menagerie in i peace provided pro-vided always that it dlcSnot entirely destroy the sanitation of the school But when the governing committee r came to Inspect the premises the headmaster head-master carefully piloted them past the entrance of the court wherein dwelt Bllliam keeping well to windward of S It ItAnybody c Anybody else would have been promptly expelled but Bllliams father was a very important person indeed and the head master had known him intimately at college Besides no one could possibly have expelled Bllliam The very ruffians who whacked him with cricket bats would straightway have risen In mutiny Byandby Billiams father tried him at Oxford but though Billiam staid his terms he would have none of It So when the rectory fell vacant it seemed an that could be done to make arrangements arrange-ments by which BIIHam would succeed his uncle The Right Honorable Reginald Regi-nald Setoun Ormithwaite Billiams pater saw no difficulty in the matter mat-ter He had been at Eton and Christchurch Christ-church with the Bishop of Lakeland and the matter lent itself naturally to this arrangement Everyone felt this to be the final solution of a most difficult diffi-cult problem Everybody even remotely re-motely connected with the family was consulted and all expressed themselves delighted with relief and alacrity But In the meantime nothing was said to Billiam who had a setter with a broken bro-ken leg upon his mind and so lived mostly about the kennels and smelled of liniment But when his father told the proximate proxi-mate rector that he must begin to prepare pre-pare for the Bishops examination and go Into residence for some months at St Abbs famous theological college called in clerical circles The Back Door Bllliam most unexpectedly re fused point blank to have anything to do with the plan He would be no parson be was not good enough he asserted as-serted Harry could have it The Right Honorable Reginald Setoun Ormith waite excabinet minister and P C broke into a rsge almost as violent as when his party leader proclaimed anew a-new policy without consulting him He informed Bllliam under the designation designa-tion of William Reginald Setoun how I many different kinds of fool he was and told him as an ultimatum that if ne rtfused this last chance to estab lish himself In life he need expect no further help or consideration from him Billiam listened uneasily and with a deepseated regret obvious upon his downcast face It was pitiful he thought privately to see so dignified and respectable man as his father thus j losing control of him elf So Billiam fidgeted hoping that the painful scene I A 0 I would soon be over so that he might get back again to the lame setter at I the kennels When Billiams father had at once concisely and completely expressed his opinions at to Billiams sanity Bil Hams ingratitude Billiams disgraceful disgrace-ful present conduct and unparalleled future career and when he had concluded con-cluded with a vivid picture of Billiam s ultimate fate which was obviously not to be drowned he paused partly in order to recover his breath and partly to invite suggestions from the culprit Not that he expected Bliliam to answer Indeed he held it almost an insult for one of his children to attempt to answer an-swer one of the questions at such a moment What have you to say to that sir What excuse have you to make Answer An-swer me that sir Silence sir I will not listen to a single word You may well stand abashed and silent Have I brought a son into the world for this kept you given you an expensive education only for this So Billiam kept silence and thought hard of the setter down at the kennel Those bandages ought to be wet again It was an hour past the time j He kept changing from one foot to the other upon the gravel walk Dont Insult me by jumping about like a hen on a hot griddle cried his father tell me what you think of doing do-ing with yourself for I will no longer support you in idleness and debauchery debauch-ery I should like to be a veterinary surgeon sir said Bllliam scraping with his toe Let that gravel alone will youa veterinary devilan Orthwaite a damned cow doctor Get out of my sight sir before I strike you with my oame And accordingly Billiam wentdown I to the kennels to visit the setter wondering won-dering all the way whether as the I skin was not broken he ought to use an embrocation or stick to the cold I water bandages I And this is briefly t why Billiam found himselL in Edinburgh and established In a nest of unfurnished garret rooms which he had discovered by chance at I the end of Montgomery street in the Latin quarter of the city Billiam had 130a hundred of which had been I given him by his father with the information in-formation that it must bear him through a year and 30 which his elder brother Herbert captain of the 110th Hussars had sent him Young fool Billiam always was I said Captain Herbert guess hes pretty pret-ty tightly of And with that he stuffed stuf-fed into the envelop the 30 which he had set apart for a sedative for his I tailor i The young blackguard will need the money more than old Moses said the Hussar Billiam had to save appearances compromised on the question of the veterinary surgeon He was to study hard in order t become an ordinary I surgeon and physician of humans He was only to be allowed to come home I onI once a year He had agreed not to i pester his father with requests for more J i money In every way Billiam was made to feel that he was the prodigal son and a disgrace t the stock of the I Onmithwaites of Ormithwaite One of the families sir said his father which have comstituted for 300 years I the governing classes of these islands So i was in this manner that Billiam took the modest of very modet portion goods I which pertained to him and departed I to the far country of Montgomery street south side just where that I notable thoroughfare gives upon the greasy gloom of the Pleasance How I Billiam spent his living and upon whom this history Is intended to tell Day by day the student of medicine scorned delights Day and night were I to him alike laborious For Billiam all unknown to his father was also i taking classes at the veterinary ool j lege upon a most ingenious system of alternative truantry He attended his I medical professors upon such days as it was likely that cards would be called for And in addition to this he procured cured a certain interim continually In his studies by getting a look at another an-other fellows notes Billiams piggery In Montgomery street as it was called by the few of his comrades who had ever see its secrets was something to wonder at Instead of taking a conrTortable sitting I room and bedroom in a well frequented and sanitary neighborhood Billiam entered I en-tered into the tenancy of an entire suite of rooms upon the garret floor of I one of the high lands which are a I distinctive feature of the old quarter of St Leonards Within this tumbledown dwelling Billiam found himself in possession of five large rooms with wide windows and in instances with some skylights instanc wih Slylghts also He was to pay at the modest rate of eight pounds in the half year for the lot Billiam counted down his first quarters rent and went out to order a brass plate This cost him 30 shillings and he had to pay separately for the lettering which said somewhat some-what vaguely CONSULTATION FREE Every Morning Before Nine and Eve Evening After Six This Billiam burnishediup daily with the tail of his dress coat which he had torn off for the purpose I dont think I shall need i any more he said so I may as well use it I So he used it I did very well being I ver wel bing I lined with sik Then Billiam double bolted the plate I to the door for he understood the ways of Montgomery street and sat down to study the monograph of Herr Doctor I Doc-tor Pumpenstock of Vienna upon headaches head-aches Bllliam ha three chairs t start wIthtwo stiffbacked chairs for clients ents and one easy chair which in time of need could be leaned up against the wall I was a deckchair and cost 2 lld at a cheap sale of furniture I furni-ture In Nicholson street Biiliam felt that he might go that length In luxury Rilliam had once possessed more furniture than this He had a wooden bcd which he had bought in the Oow gate for 4s and carried up the Pleasance Pleas-ance himself post by post and plank by plank He only slept upon it one night The next day he began to cut i up for firewood It was a good bed though he said but not for sleeping on After the first five minute it began be-gan to bite you all over S Billiam burned the 4s bed and it turned out all right that al way I crackled like green wood as i burned Presently the fame of Billiams brass plate waxed great In the land Dr Mac Farlane a short winded and tempered man came upon the announcement quite unexpectedly as he was puffing his way up the weary grimy stone stairs to visit the sister of the seamstress seam-stress who lived upon the other side of the landing from Billiam To say simply that Dr MacFarlane Q1 was astonished does considerable Injus j tim to his state of mind He stood regarding i garding the brightly polished clearly j lettered announcement for fully ten minutes Then he rang the bell and an j answering peal came from just the other side of the panel But no one j I arrived to open for it was the middle of the day and Billiam was at his j I classes Dr MacFarlane could learn lit I her sister I tie from the seamstress or beyond the general suspicion that their neighbor upon the other side of the t landing was maybe no verra richt in his mindt I I was not the seamstress but the I volunteered this I seamstress sister who volUteared thi I information j But he sent u in these added the spamstiPBi who was a pale and exceedingly exceed-ingly pretty girl pointing to some nobly plumed purple grapes which lay on a plate on the little cracked table i I by the bedside I t Hell be a kind o young doctor I j seekin a job nae doubt said the i seamstress sister sinking back upon her pillows For gratitude was not her strong point I The suggestion excited the doctor For he was a man who had worked hard I at his most uncertain and unremunera I tive practice Besides which he had a young family growing UD about him I therefore he was t have a young I interloper settling In the center of hiss his-s here of influence it was ais well to know with whom he had to contend So he called unon Billiam I I was 6 oclock in the evening when Dr Macfarlane Bil lacarlne came stumbling up Bi Hams stairs The door stood slightly I ajar and there came from the other t side a confused murmur of voices a yelping of dogs with sundry other sounds which even the doctors trained ear could not distinguish But above all there rose fitfully the shrill cry of an infant Upon hearing this last the I doctor pushed the door with the brass plate ooen and entered unceremoniously unceremonious-ly He found himself in a large un furnished room which when he stepped within seemed at first nearly I full of people I was brightly enough lighted for the broad flame of a No6 j eras burner hissed with excess of pressure I pres-sure above the bare mantlepece Afire A-fire burned in the grate which shone cheerfully enough being heaped high with small lumos of coal Most of the peonle were ranged along the walls of the room sitting with their backs against the wall naper upon which their shoulders had made a glossy brown striDe all roundyoung I lads with docs between their knees girls holding cats in baskets mddle aged women nursing birds in cages Thev talked to each other in subdued tones or to their nets in reproving i whispers Sometimes a dog would become be-come excited bv the voice of a cat complaining com-plaining of bonds and imnrisonments near him but he would be promptly cuffed Into submission bv his master or a canary would suddenly flutter against the bars warned by instinct of the proximity of so many enemies Mostly however there was a re snectful silence The doctor stood awhile rooted in amazement and did not even take any notice when several of his former uatiercls nodded affably across to him Presently from nn inner room there came forth a bardfeatured man carrying carry-ing a large book under his arm Bil Ham followed him his shock of hair tossed and rumpled He was stooping forward and eagerly explaining something some-thing to the man So intent was he upon the matter in hand that he passed the doctor without so much as noticing him himAnd Ill look In and see how tem te-m of you have got on tomorrow Billiam said shaking the hardfeatured door man warmly bv the hand at the Billiam turned and for the first Mme I looked the doctor fair In the face Mv name is Dr Maofiartine I have i I a practice In this neighborhood sad i the phvsician and I should like the favor of a few words wth you Certainly by all means with pleasure I pleas-ure WPV replied Billiam Come this I And theywent together Into the second sec-ond of the Montgomery street garrets I I was nearlv as bare of furniture a the first There was no more than a table some bottles an instrument I case while round the room arranged i so as to make the most of themselves stood Billiiams three chairs I Take one said the student polite Iv but Dr Macfairlane oreferred to I stand till he knew exactly where he wast wastI have the honor of addressing he PI id and naused William Reginald Setoun Ormith waite said Billiam quietly You are a doctor queried his ViS ifnr BY no means I am only a student dent said Billiam quickly but I give these people a hand with anything any-thing they bring along Do you possess any Qualifications persisted Dr Macfarlane I Qualification said Billiam a little perplexed Well Ive been pattihing up dogs legs and things all my life I But sir cried the doctor indignantly indig-nantly this is no better than an equivocation I heard you with my own ears prescribing for the man who I went out just nowan old patient of my aw i I mistake not and I saw you with these eyes baking a fee from I him a he passed through the door + iH All Ho Said as Soon as He Had Mounted Himself on the Area Railing Are you aware sir that the latter is an indctable offense Billiam smiled with his usual quietly infinite tolerance Dr Macfarlane he said it may sound strange to YOU but the fact is that man came to consult me about a senanaitlon from his wife And he brought his family Bible out of the pawnshop to show me the dates of hg marriage and birth of his children I gave him something when he went away so that he would not need to take the Bible back into pawn ait least not immediately Do von think I need 1 any Qualification fo that And these peonle outside said the I doctor not yet entirely convinced Will you go round the wards with me said Billiam smiling brightly I and irresistibly I Without another word he led the way to the door of the next room I seemed to the doctor fuller tan ever I Lame dogs this wav said Bllliam n a matteroffact manner and half a dozen men slouched after Him Very I deftly Bllliam laid out a row of small shI < ninr Instruments l ucon the table with save linen and bandages a ranged behind him Then he took animal after ammal into his hand set it upon the table passed his fingers lightly to and fro over its head and ears a time c I twot t listened to the owners voluble explanations explan-ations without appearing to notice them and forthwith proceeded to deliver de-liver a little clinical lecture His deft fingers snpped away itlhe matted hair from a neglected and festering sore He cleaned the wound tenderly the dog often instinctively turning t snap Yet all the time Billiam never once flinched but talked steadily impartially impar-tially and sympathetically t the animal ani-mal and his master till the sore was dressed and the patient redelivered with all due directions his owner Before long Dr Macfarlane became so interested that he waited whle cnse after case was disposed of with the un errng accuracy of a hospital expert Sometimes he would instinctively have asm seems as if it were seasoned with anchovy or some French sauce quite Parisian in fact Yes Billiam answered simply that is the red herrings I had i1 the pn lat week With us coming in so quick properly I hadnAt time t clean it out ine outer room was filling up all this time and the yelping whistling aId mewing grew louder than ever the cawing of the rocks in the old trees above Ormithwaite I Tarantara Tanantara cried the Hussar cheerfully Trrn out for kennel parade And for two hours he was kept busy enough with his lint i I and bandages But where doss the money come in he said when it was all finished He was smoking < a cigarette and Bill I iam was polishing up his instruments i Do i for nothing dont they even pay for all that vaseline and plaster P9Y blamed fool Billiam You are a young Biiam and will die in the workhouse I Then the captain yawned a little I Mq if7i f1ffi I I j11j 1I t i 4jY if 1 j t THEN HE TOOK ANIMAL AFTER AX13IAJL TSTO HIS IDS the lint or the bandage ready in his band iust as if he had still been dresser dress-er at the old Infirmary and waiting for Liter to work off his batch At the end of half an hour he had no 0 more remembrance of Billiams want of Qualifications He asked him to come round for supper and smoke a pipe but Billiam only smiled and said Thank YOU a hundred times doctor but I have some private cases in the back room to attend to yet and then I must read up my stuff for tomorrow tomor-row After awhile there came to visit Bil liam a minister or two famllar with the district the young resident missionary mis-sionary from the Students hal astray a-stray lawyers clerk or two and the superintendent of police They alI came to cavil but one and all they I remained to hold bandages and be handy with the vaseline Vaselne On one occasion the minister of St Margarets offered B lliam the use of a pew in his church But Billiam said Sunday is my day for outpatients or I should be glad for Billiam was a gentleman and always answered I even a dissenting clergyman politely You should think of your immortal i soul said the minister Who knoweth said Bllliam the te spirit of the beast that goeth downward down-ward into the earth And Billiam could never find out why the minister went away so suddenly or why he shook his head ever afterwards when they met in the street I never crossed his mind that Mr Gregson of St Margarets had taken him for an infidel and a dangerous subverter of I the system of religion a by law established es-tablished Yet so it was I In due time Billiams nest of garrets became known as the Lame Dogs Home and grew famous throughout the entire city that is the southern city of the high lands steep streets winding stairs and odorous closets dogsYou with their Arab population of boys and I You let that long lankey chap alone cried one brawney burglar to another or Ill smash your dirty face like a rotten turnip Now mind me Dont you know the dog missionary Every policeman befriended Billiam and the greater number of the police mans ordinary clients He could often be seen walking along the Pleasance or past the breweries in the Laigh Gal ton attended by a dozen dogs which had followed Billiam far from their wonted haunts on the chance of a word from him and which departed obediently i unwillingly when he bade them return to their own places in peace Year by year Bllliam studied and practiced never a penny the richer but more and more loving and beloved His garret however grew somewhat better furnished Through the medlatlon of his soldier brother his father oecame so far reconciled to him that he increased In-creased his allowance But Billiam lived in no greater comfort than before be-fore He bought a cheap bedstead it Is true and for a monlh or two dwelt in luxury sleeping upon a real mattress mat-tress with a clean sheet and folding his overcoat for apillow but even that came to an end The circumstances were these Billiam had been down to Ormlfh waite seeing his father and his brother of the 110th Hussars insisted upon returning re-turning to Edinburgh with him Youll have to rough i mind you said Billiam warning him I Im a soldier said his brother I stoutly and I guess your hole cant in be worse than some places Ive put up All right said Billiam mind Ive warned you Dont grumble when you get there So at their journeys end Bllliam opened the door of the garret and invited in-vited his brother to step in A curious damp smell met them on the threshold thres-hold holdThats Thats all right said Billiam reassuringly reas-suringly I washed but the whole I blooming shop with chlorate of lime the night before I came away Its healthy no end if i does stink a bit Maybe said his brother the captain cap-tain but i certainly does smell like stables tabhsel Ill have the fire lighted and well have some before the wel supper people peo-ple begin to come said Billiam calmly youll be picking these old r g for lint and laying out the bandages band-ages The captain and Bllliam dined upon a rasher of bacon and eggs which Bil liam fried in the pan along with sliced potatoes and butter The Hussar being be-ing exceedingly hungry thought he had never tasted anything more delicious I de-licious They dont do anything like this at I the club I is such a jolly flavor too quite unique1 he sail with enthusi Its to late for the theater he said I even if you knew where one was which I dont believe Im deuced tired I let us go to bed Bilham looked around him doubtfully doubtful-ly and then suddenly threw up his hands with a gesture of despair hI forgot old chap on my life and honor I quite forgot I lent my bed to Peter Wilkins the water color man He had pawned his to pay his rent but I he thought he could get i out again before I came back I You bet he couldnt said the Hussar Hus-sar twirling his handsome mustache Iveseen that kind of man there are several in my regiment Lets go and look Peter up anyway any-way said Bllliam perhaps we can get the bed after all So the Hussar accompanied Billiam through the dimly lighted streets under un-der gloomy archways past great black chasms yawning between lofty houses till they arrived at the dwelling of I Wilkins the water color man aa Bilham said I was a room upon the ground floor with a sunk area in front I does not look promising said I Billiam the beast isnt lighted up I guess old Wilkins is either drunk or has gone to the country Perhaps he has pawned your bed too said the Hussar bitterly Billiam was hurt at the suggestion Wilkins is a gentleman he said and it was only last week he sent me his skye terrier for me to doctor up and have all right for him when he came back Peter isnt the chap to sell my bed and then bilk They tried Wilkins door in vain and rang the bell repeatedly without producing pro-ducing the least effect Apparently others had done the same for at the first tug the bell pull slid out about six inches in a silent uncanny unattached unat-tached manner Thats no use said Billiam lets climb up on the railings Ah he cried as soon as he had mounted himself upon the area railings rail-ings whence he could look into the room of Wilkins there is my bed standing against the wall and the mattress beside it You see good old Wilkins is all right I is a firstrate bed better take a look at it for it is all you will see of i this night Come doon oot o that commanded a tern voice what for are ye loitering loiter-ing wi intent there for Ill hae to ink ye up A portly policeman was standing behind be-hind them with much suspicion on his face Bllliam turned himself about quietly John he said I wish you could get me my bed I lent It to Peter Wilkins kins and his door Is locked Guid save us cried the policeman its the dog missionary Is that your bEd he added climbing up beside Billiam and looking critically at the object The rays of a ga lamp upon the pavement shone upon i so that i lowed with a kind o radiance not it < vwn vwnIt looks a guld bed eneuch the policeman said as he climbed down polceman not get it for us John repeated Billiam Dod sir I canna do that wichoot been thirty ho05ebr akin an Ive years in the force answered John but theres nae doot that the beds a gud hen J1 And with that he walked iheavlly ftvair The Hussar nood on the pavement with his legs very wide and whistled frecf nil V Well he said what do you propose pro-pose to do abort it Billiam Say lets both go to anotel and get supper Then we can stop the night there Ten Billiam looked at him with a kind of sad reproach in his eyes You forget he answered that the new coll es bandages must be changed and the little Yorkshire will need lookIng look-Ing to twice or thrice during the night but you can go and Ill call round for you in the morning on my way to conef1 colpGot out you raving young idiot On my word Ive heard of a 1 sorts of lunatics lu-natics but Im hanged If I ever heard of anybody before gone dotty on beastly beast-ly stray does And theres the bull with the bad tear his law I must that on his see the stitdhes are keepng and give him some water ly continued Billiam meditative Of all the fools cried the cairSaln Well come on Billiam Ill be your keeper tonight and see that tonilht you get a neat thing in straightjackets right awianr And the Hussar strode on with the air of a man who determines to see a desperate venture through to the bitter enfl enflTfoev Tfoev came in time to the corner of Montgomery street and again mounted up the crazy stairs The fire had died down and when Cautadn Ormithwaite i went to the coalbox it was empty Hello Billiam he said how do I you propose to keeo us warm all night Has somebody taken out your coals on i i loan as well a your bed I I Billiam threw uo his hands again I with of despair the same pathetic little gesture I dont know what youll think of me Herbert he said but when I went away I gave all I had to the seamstress next door I Well said the captain go and see I it she can give you any back But at the suggestion BillSanVs pale cheek I flushed I oant quite do that he sad but I I think I can get some You wait a I minute and Ill run down and see I I 1nen Billiam nroceeded to array him I I i I self in an old ulster remarkably wide j and baggy about the skirts He opened I i and showed the Hussar how ingeniously ingen-iously he had sewn two large pockets of strong canvas to each side I bring home the coals in these he said isnt i a prime idea Where do you buy them asked the can tam I dont usually buy them answered an-swered Billiam simply I pick tem Pick them and steal them said Captain Ormithwaite You young beggar what would the governor say i he knew Billiam looked UP a little wearily as if the subject had suddenly grown too large for discussion I shant be very long he said and went on buttoning his ulster about his still young body In for pennv in for pound said the soldier Ill come and help you steal coals if Im cashiered for i Billiam pointed to an old overcoat which buns upon a nail behind the donrThats Thats got pockets for coals and things too if you really want to come along he said not very hopefully but I think you had better look to the collie till I come back Im in for It said the Hussair Its my night out Come on he cried pulling at the coat which threatened I to turn out too small across the shoulders should-ers for him What a rum smell it has I though he added lifting up one of 1 the lapels and sniffing at it I COh said Billiam thats only the I dogs Sometimes I wrap the worst cases up in it bw its l right old chno he added hastily I always disinfect it carefully They went down the dimly lighted I grposv stairs without meeting a soul When thev airrved at the foot Bllliam I turned sharp to the left and the Hus i 1 ear found himself In a darkish wide VIe in which were no gas lamps At the end of the lane was a great cool station full of wagons and stacks o coal black and shining dimly seen b ° tw en two tall gate posts The latest delivery wagons of the dav were just IfTving the yard on the way to the city coal stores there to he ready for the morning demand Thev rumbled out in a long procession manned by men as rough and grim and black as I tr con they worked amongst i < The coal carters kept UP a brisk interchange in-terchange of compliments with one another j I an-other varying this bv an occasional < lump of coal Great wed es and nuts i of it were also being jolted continually off the carts as they jostled and i 1 i luThfrJ through the dark and deeply rutted lanp Come on said Billiam well soon get enouerh And he ran off among the grinding wheels nipping up every pIece of coal which lay on the road and pushing it into his ulster porkets with trained alacrity His brother endeavored to imitate him but he was unaccustomed and clumsy and got but few pieces sri thre small I was interesting work however for the wagons surged and roared like a maelstrom between the hh walls and Che tall houses The Hussar found that i needed much quickness to seize the prey and bag i evading meanwhile the succeeding carts which oame on at n pace which WP c almrct a brisk trot Presently a huge coal carter standing stand-ing up on his wagon caught sight of the C3irtain lifting a niece of coal from the sIde of the road He sent a ready mssile after him which took effect i just between his shoulder blades 1 Get oot 0 that ye skulker ye i he shouted Captain Ormithwalte o the 110th Hussars sprang towards liis assailant i ito i-to take him bv the throat but the i watchful Billiam had his brother by the arm Mind what you are about he said See stand there and well soon get enough to last us three or four days The brothers took shelter in a cellar doorway both of them grimed to the eyes Billiam produced a hideous mask out of his inside pocket and put It on Then he slid off the doorstep and took up his position on a little mound of hard trodden earth and engine ah Ho Ha he cried Ye are a set of I dirty Lazy Gilmerton cairters Every coachman on the wagons leaped leap-ed up at the word as if he had been stung and the rain of coal cobs which fell about Billiam was astonishing and i deadly by long praotfioe he evaded every one of them letting some slip past him and catching the straight ones as cleverly as ever he had done the ball when he kept wicket on the green playing fields Presently the captain found Billiam now a very swollen and bulky Billiam once more beside him You go and fill up at the back of the mound where I was guying em he said theres quite half a ton there therend And very obediently the HU jar went with a gum deiignt in hs l art to tnnk of the fit his C 0 voald have if foe could only have seen t yi preg ently he had filled up anti leaving theI rear of the coal avenue for the quiet of the house Billiam and fcs brother slunk laboriously up stairs to ther garret Lord shall I ever be clean again groaned the captain looking at his hands To think what you have led am officer of the queen Into you blessed bless-ed young gallows bird Bllliam I Empty the coals here commanded Bllliam and his brother poured out his hoard into a large compartment t J4t beside the window How Biiliam COL t have carried 5 great a loaJ was a pcz ala but certainly there coai not haY been less than a hundred wei m r 1 coal 1 his canvas pockets alone I e I hastened to fill a pot with v ater and In a little while he had a shan w oath full of warm water This he set out in the corner behind a screen made of a gray sheet which hung upon n cord Go in there he sail aol get yourself clean you horrible Sybarnte Ill go round the wards I > ogs dot object to a little grime When he cam to take hsa tx r at ths bath a fresh pot full of water was ready and the room vas bnpht and warm The Hussar haa < atterdd to the fire and had swept the for The brothers were in the iner rcnt in which Billiam usually camped Thre was a sofa in I now and < an easy chair of wicker work l toss jou for the sofa you gun g-un said the captain Right said Billvam promptly Tails Heads It i cried the Hussar with some relief Glad of that qtioth cheerful P lam I prefer the floor anyway YVJ can make quite a decent thing > out of rugs and overcoats An besides sleeping on the floor ma1S wi so jolly glad to net UD in th rrnti So they turned In and left the sleep of the just Bllliam was tio by daylight day-light and had a cheerful fr hurr when his brother awoke TT bro t him a cup of tea and told hr to 1 over again But the cantain was T v wide awake and eager for taTc Why do you keep on at ths v i of thing he said and Thy 1 t you buy your coals lke ar ord beins beinsWell said BWiam tis is t sort of thing I take to you see i s interesting all the tim I sti i oceans of Naming all iiav tiP i tight and thn T pnrti al a evening And rs for col T > = OM times I do b1 them nl i a doesnt sprea 1 far in rnt h 1 victuals not tr speak o dr = 1r > i lint And picking ur rl tho t i down there is mst about as ei itn 13 soldiering I gusss Or th = > f r T pro her > f I could gel ore te go t < n your allowance Ive 11 TTPty lion li-on him lately ind he trin < i I little min I I do will yon len ple < r Up h < r < f n pniinm sei p1 Tni i < hand he i5 You are a good chap sur Try it on th dad HeV T ol t r proper cubM0 for the inst then < T operating taM and fps I mgt e11 afford trt hire d yard The captain leaped for his = and b ean to pace up and cown In l Js pyjamas 0f all the fools God pve mi r Ham you are the most rrfou P Why in creation dflrt vi = Ur f nand n-and be n rrors r pardon i Ito Wh l i-to do 1 this kind of thing I mi13 < ick me ik Billiam looked at him a vhilO aq if for once he would try to laii r t the hopeicssness of the te t nart 1 i turn away sally Noboflv ser f > 1 understand He must just ETD on Ion I-on till they put him in a linati d lum lumSee here he said hot + It put on I your clothes Herbpt 11 < h cr > e to catCh cold prancins abou thO n your night things Ard you dont 1 c pretty he added looking at h n critically But whv wouldnt von h > a pir Billiam That bents m ° r1i Ynlq jUt the sort of soft chap fo a pardon 1 tuff said Billiam vho rvr heard of a parson lust for pnlicinsr uo i I dogs and cats and tVnfg Thcrog 1 I enough of the other km3 to go ronri j arelv r n 1 the > < TC > Bl Ham for this sort of paro1 r > g Well Plham arid CiTfi n Ormth waite a little later Im of un to t < v This is all very well for n night bu 3 little more of it would kill me I qa clare I shall smell doggy and chlo1 ° r I I for a month Heres snm ° sinews i i you Billiam Its all T can spar 1 Thank you said Billiam poktg I the notes without demif 1 riy > l the prodigal chap in the parable h tIm t-Im blowed if you are the old kind elder brother the fellow who T r < Vl not go in Thats all right sad the cT > t > Let us hear that you kepT rinftM I guess youll slip into heavn ahea of some of the parsons yet B IMam Itll be when Peters not looking then said Billiam shaking his hnI but i they do nick me at the Iat > why I guess therell alwy be p fv for a fellow like me to turn his ha ito i-to in the other place I This is not however the end o ° B Ham For there was a seams rsg across the landing who seriously 1nt I fered with his plans |