1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



321 



"Nonsense, belay all that stuff," 

 I said cheerily. "If Nora is on 

 board, which is not probable, theie 

 are other Irish girls in the world, 

 and it does not follow that the 

 Scotchman is engaged to her." 



He shooii his head, and as he 

 •walked away I felt just as surely as 

 if I had heard the story that his 

 Nora was the lord's fiancee, and 

 that she had used him to bring her 

 laggard to the proposing point. 



Bescoby lost no time in confirming 

 his suspicions. I met him on the 

 bund ashore a few hours afterward, 

 and he told me that he had seen on 

 of the yachtsmen and got the whole 

 story from him. 



The false Nora was soon to become 

 Lady Gilmour, and she had thrown 

 her midshipman lover completely 

 overboard. 



"I met her, Paddy," the poor fel- 

 low said, "and she smiled at me and 

 shook hands, but it was as if I was 

 a pleasant acquaintance and nothing 

 more. Lord Gilmour was quite 

 friendl}' and spoke of the shooting 

 and invited me on board. I had only 

 one chance to si)eak to her, and I 

 whispered, 'Nora, have yoti forgot- 

 ten?' and she laughed and said, with 

 an air of a woman of the world. 

 'You silly boy, I want you to forget 

 all that nousense. ' But it's all over 

 now. I will never see her again. 

 Never, never!" 



"Bosh," said I, slapping him on 

 the back. "You'll get over all this. 

 Why, that girl who saved my life in 

 Limerick and who swore I was the 

 only man she ever loved was mar- 

 ried a week afterward to a wealthv 

 tanner and had the impudence t 

 send me one of her wedding cards." 



But all this well meant consola- 

 tion had no effect upon my friend, 

 and I was glad when we got under 

 way and pointed for the strait of 

 Sunda. Bescoby went about his duty 

 in a dull, mechanical sort of wav, 

 and even the fellows who used to 



porscoatJ ,.iaj uust bad re.-ipecii lor 

 his desp ide/jcy, altlioucjh thej' 

 knew uoc i je cause. He never men- 

 tioned the name of his falsa sweet- 

 heart again, and I avoided all refer- 

 ence to the subject. 



I was in the second hour of a de- 

 licious sleep a few nights afterward 

 when somebody grasped me violent- 

 ly by the arm and shook me. 



"Rouse up, sir! Eouse up!' cried 

 Gog Thompson hurriedly. "I think 

 there is something wrong with Mr. 

 Bescoby. He is aloft on the mizzen 

 royal, and I sent one of the boys 

 after him, and the boy came back 

 and said that he was talking to him- 

 self and muttering something about 

 St. Elmo's light, and I'm afraid, six, 

 that he is out of his mind." 



While I was hurriedly pulling on 

 my trousen the marine told me that 

 that singular phenomenon had been 

 seen first on the main truck, and 

 that another ball of fire had rested 

 for a mom. it on the end of the miz- 

 zen royal yardarm. The minute 

 Mr. Bescoby saw this he had rushed 

 aloft and laid out on the yard. Filled 

 with apprehension, I came on deck 

 and started quickly up the weather 

 rigging. There was a heavy swell 

 on, and the ship was rolling consid- 

 erably. I stopped at the mizzen top- 

 mast crosstrees and sung out softly : 



"Hello, Bescoby! Lie down here 

 for a moment. I've got something 

 to tell you." 



He did not reply, but kept talking 

 to himself, so I began the ascent of 

 the topgallant rigging. As the ship 

 rolled heavily to leeward I saw his 

 figure outlined against the dusky 

 sky, and I heard him say in a pecul- 

 iarly dull, but distinct monotone: 



"I have found the light at last, 

 Nora. I have kept my part of the 

 promise. Is your spirit near me 

 now?" 



Again the big ship rolled to lee- 

 ward, and the end of the royal yard 

 was lifted up to the clear patch of 



