The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-03-28
AMAN THAT SUCCEEDED.

TINY only daughter. sir" said Col.
" 'nteagle and as | venture to
nope, accomplished in her way. We
are not much in the way of schools or
academies here, but | have been her
instructor myself, and she is a thor
sugh mathematician, an excellent
musician and linguist of no mean
.:apacity. We are studying Hebrew
now every day, she and |, and she
s%evotes her evenings To comprehen-
sive reviews of her Latin and Greek.
She viii! be a scholar, sir, if | live to
complete her education
Mr.. Croft0n looked cnriouslv at
me oddly assorted pair-the silver
haired, shabbily-attired old gentleman,
with his broad forehead, eagle eve
and delicately-white hands; and the
,aaFk-browed, sullen-looking girl, with
gypsy skin, untidy frock and
aatched boots.
Pretty, Yes, she might be pretty
Under some circumstances. The dia-
1pond itself is not an attractive
-,,ne before the lapidary's art has
ppiished its rude angles into glittering
facets of white fire. But she GER
9ainIy possessed no sweet. feminine
,g,sces now.
How old are you, Miss Mont
+sgle,' he asked, finding it impera-
lively necessary to say something.
And Mary Monteagle answered in
serbs, Seventeen" while her looks
-eplied. plainly, None of your bust
Dess~
''Go, my child, and gather some
covers TO deck our humble board"
raid the old gentleman magniloquent-
~. while he conducted the son Of his
Oldest friend into the tumble down old
mouse. where the carpets were moth
eaten, the furniture widowed and
every trace of decayed gentility told
the sad story of better days.
Mrs. Monteagle, who had been a
beauty once, and had her portrait en-
graved in a Gallery of American
Rosebuds." was sitting up in state in
battered boudOir, in q black silk
dress that must have been quite a
quarter Of century old, with flower
n her silversprinkled hair. and still
preserving the girlish attitude in
which the engraver's pencil had i'm
mortalized her, oddly contrasting with
the sharpened outlines and haggard
sbruptness of her sixty odd years.
And this was the way in which the
lid couple lived in the dead past as it
we're. Colonel MonteagIe starving
oontentedly on the recollection of his
past grandeur, and his wife fondIy
taucying that time had stood still since
Abe days in which she was counted
worthy to be one Of the american
Rosebuds."
"Mrs. Monteagle sweetly welcomed
her guest and touched the little hand
dell at her side.
I'VE will dine, Sarepta," she said
p her maid.
please, ma'am," breathlessly ut
sered the young person. "there amt
oothin' for dinner. We eat the last
of the cold beef yesterday, and the dog
he tipped over the pan Of oysters,
and"
That will do, Sarepta," said Mrs. !
Monteagle, with red spot mounting |
20 each of her cheek-bones. Il said |
we will dine Z"
And Sarepta withdrew with jerk. !
The dinner was served presently
IN instance of the magnetic power of |
wiIl--but there was no cold beef,
neither were there oysters. Fruit, a
chin. watery soup of herbs and parsley.
ias.efully garnished salads of lettuce
and mayonnaise, and dish of peaches
and cream. formed the meal.
Quite Arcadian!" said Ms. Mont
eagle, with a gigsle.
And very bidiy served" secretly !
commented Mr.. Crofton to himself.
But the salad was nice"
Where is Mary?" the colonel
asked
Drinking in the beauties Of the
.srnset, Ipresume. the lady answered,
airily. "The dear child has an artists
soul and we do not tie her down to |
snv hours or rules"
The colonel fell asleep in his chair
after dinner, Mrs. Monteagle and her
painted fan withdrew themselves into |
the boudoir-ani Mr.. Crofton. inward |
~ bewailing him self that he had prom
,sed to staya week at MDnteagle
Manor, sauntered out upon the heights
which overlooked the valley below.
As he stood there, rustling sounded
an the bushes. AMI the dark proved
gypsy spraagup the hillside.