crowd at the post-office window, had openly accused the postmaster of
withholding letters to him from his only surviving brother, "the Dook of
Doncherknow." "The ole dooky never onct missed the mail to let me
know wot's goin' on in me childhood's home," remarked the humorist
plaintively; "and yer's this dod-blasted gov'ment mule of a postmaster
keepin' me letters back!" Letters with pretentious and gilded coats of
arms, taken from the decorated inner lining of cigar-boxes, were posted
to prominent citizens. The neighboring and unregenerated settlement of
Red Dog was more outrageous in its contribution. The Red Dog "Sentinel,"
in commenting on the death of "Haulbowline Tom," a drunken English
man-o'-war's man, said: "It may not be generally known that our
regretted fellow citizen, while serving on H. M. S. Boxer, was secretly
married to Queen Kikalu of the Friendly Group; but, unlike some of
our prosperous neighbors, he never boasted of his royal alliance, and
resisted with steady British pluck any invitation to share the throne.
Indeed, any allusion to the subject affected him deeply. There are those
among us who will remember the beautiful portrait of his royal bride
tattooed upon his left arm with the royal crest and the crossed flags of
the two nations." Only Peter Atherly and his sister understood the sting
inflicted either by accident or design in the latter sentence. Both
he and his sister had some singular hieroglyphic branded on their
arms,--probably a reminiscence of their life on the plains in their
infant Indian captivity. But there was no mistaking the general
sentiment. The criticisms of a small town may become inevasible. Atherly
determined to take the first opportunity to leave Rough and Ready. He
was rich; his property was secure; there was no reason why he should
stay where his family pretensions were a drawback. And a further
circumstance determined his resolution.

He was awaiting his sister in his new house on a little crest above