The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-01-30
HOW LOST THE COUNTY.
From Belgravia

| From Belgrsvis.
"Lucky fellow, you |" said my frient
Saxdonyx, as e left the house together
after the division that presaged the dis
solution which was imminent, a" to havt
county in your pocket. Well, therei
the confounded business to begin again
and after the facer got at Newmarket
it's maddening, Walwyn, upon my
word"
J. looked down upon him with the
easy compassion of man with O secure
seat. Upon my word" said, "]
don't care two pins about it. The
county will have me, or I'd just as soor
not be bothered with it. But then il
costs me next to nothing"
"There you CO. said Sardonyx, saw
agely. "Costs next to nothing o you
lucky devil Why, 1 dare say you won't
spend a couple of hundred for your
election p
"About seventy five is the usual fig.
ure,' L replied; "and upon my word ]
think I get the worth of it in butter and
eggs, and fish, and saddles of mutton
that the people send me in honor of the
event."
"Ugh r' cried. Sardonyx, groaning
again. "WelI, you ought to put down
couple of thousand, at least, at the
Carleton as a thank-offering or, per-
haps, you'd better hand it over to me.
I'm in for six at least. You won't ?
Hard-hearted old brute, farewell p
Next morning had letter from our
"whip:"
"Dear Walwyn-I may tell in ex-
treme confidence that the chief is deter
mined for diss." CA thing everybody
had known about a week. "You're all
right at Cadnant, I suppose; but keep
your eye on Gimball. To your tents, o
Israel p
I'd particular reason for not wishing
to leave town just now, and it was with
great reluctance that ordered my man
to pack my things, and meet me at
Euston for the five o'clock express.
There was no fear of anybody coming
forward against me but I felt that I
ought to go down to make ARRANGEMENTS.
AS for Gimball, that was absurd. He'd
never dare to do such thing. Why,
my father had been the making of Gim-
ball, and to think of his coming forward
against us Pooh! he would be laughed
out of the county.
Hitherto, as Sardonyx had told me,
I had been lucky fellow. L had been
left an orphan early, and came into the
estate at my majority, with fine accu-
mutation to start with. I had found a
seat in parliament waiting for me, with
out trouble or expense. Certainly |
speedily got rid of the accumulation,
and had dipped the estate little since
but enjoyed myself considerably in
the interim, and had accumulated fine
fund of experience.
Penwalyn, my place in Wales, is not
a favorite residence of mine. It is a
dark and gloomy house, surrounded by
ancestral trees that seem to distil green
mold, and is a dozen miles from any
where. It is very little changed since
my great grandfather's time; the furni-
ture is of his date, I think, and the
rooms are of that period-dark and
dull. The hall is the only decent place
in the house, and is hung with the por-
traits of my ancestors. I haven't much
resp ct for my ancestors-I believe they
were coarse, raffish lot, and ate and
drank good deal more than was good
for them or their descendants. But
there are some good portraits. Sir
Whipple Walwyn, by Vandyke, a man
with peaked beard, and hair hanging
down over his shoulders; the courtly
painter has subdued the glowing tint in
his nose, but there it is, nevertheless
the family badge. The next is a Lely;
Lady Gwendolen Walwyn, a court
beauty of..Charles II. s time; a decolete,
simpering beauty, who first introduced
good looks into our family. Then there
is Sir Peregrine, by Hudson, in a tie
wig, blue velvet coat and white satin
waiscoat, and the glowing red nose,
characteristic of the family, that makes
one think that Lady Gwendolen, his
mother, was, perhaps, good deal be-
lied. A sweet girls face, by Sir Joshua,
is the charm of the collection, and she
it was who kicked over the traces so
confoundedly, whose husband was
killed in a duel about her, and who
bolted afterward with the survivor.
On the whole, had Just about as soon
spend a week in the family vault at
Penwalyn. I've the greatest possible
objection to place that seems to reek
of deceased ancestors; and sympathize
most earnestly with those Persian fell
lows who, they tell me, rather than in
habit house in which their parents
have died, pull it down and build an
other.
I got to Penwalyn next morning at
eleven or so, and sent for my steward.
Rowland Evans, who lives Just on the
outskirts of the park the queerest
looking fellow you ever saw. He wears
tall fluffy hat stuck on the back of his
head; his eyes are long and narrow, and
he generally Y keeps them half closed; he
has hooked nose, and mouth that is
always buttoned up tight into an ex-
preston of care and anxiety. He is
dressed in gray Welsh tweed, and car
ries in one hand a voluminous UNI
brella, in the other a square basket,
opening with a couple of flaps on the
top.
/ was waiting for him in the business
room, little room looking out on the
park, the only pleasant one in the house,
MS think, which / generally use when
am at Penwalyn. AS soon as he came
he deposited the basket on the floor, put
his hat on top of that. and balanced
had done this he came and accosted me
very warmly. Rowland has known me
ever since was the size of your thumb,
and is, 1 believe, sincerely attached to
me.
now uO you uO, mdSGoF hIcndfu
How do they get on in London, sir, and
at the parliament-house? Indeed, I am
glad to see you, sir. I have brought
you few eggs, sir, and a little fresh
butter, all made at home, sir"
"Thank you, Evans, Yes, I'm all
right. AS for the parliament, they're
going to Dissolve it"
"Dear me, Sir Richard and what a
pity-such fine parliament as it was
Well, indeed, and what shall we do
next ?"
"The next thing is a general election,
I suppose" said I carelessly; "but
we're all right down here"
"Oh, dear, Sir Richard we'll now,
I don't know there is no bounds to the
presumption of some people"
"But nobody would oppose me in my
own county; the things impossible,
Evans !"
"'Tis that distressful Gimball, sir,
that we have to Efear none other for
sure. There is no bound to his folly
and assurance. He would have no
chance against you, Sir Richard but.
indeed, fear he means to try. So
have heard, at least but / wouldn't
| 100 ,,,-ab I