XXII 



THE WOOING OF BILLY FISHTAIL 



THERE was a bond of sympathy between Billy 

 and myself, for I had looked upon him as a perma 

 nent bachelor, and he was always such a reliable 

 fellow. If I set him to whittling a bit of wood or 

 to sawing a board, he was sure soon to apply for a 

 bandage to stop the flow of blood from a wound. 

 On trying to bore a hole through a board with a 

 sharpened knitting-needle, only the bone of his 

 second finger prevented the instrument from pass 

 ing through that also. Even with the axe he was 

 an expert; lifting it high to take a vigorous blow he 

 would bring the back down on his own head, and 

 rush for aid. 



He was very faithful, however, and nothing 

 seemed to make him so happy as to be doing what 

 he thought would give me pleasure. Some one 

 had informed Billy that far away in the States, the 

 singing on Sundays was accompanied by an organ, 

 so on the following Sunday Billy brought his small 

 accordion to church and tried to accompany the 

 singers. He had not practiced the tunes, and there 

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