The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-03-09

house in which she now lived was fit only
for the occupation of the very poor. Lor-
rimer went to the lawyers, begging to be
enlightened, They, inquiring courteously
into his right to claim enlightment ana
finding 1t TO be nonresident respectfully
declined to satisfy him. He retreated, and
had new conferences with the poet, who
was fundamentally gloomy, and let fall
deadly hints about villainy, and betrayal,
and the wild justice Of revenge, perplexiny
Lorrimer still more At last, spurrod by
his lofty hopes Of the actresses possible FIJI
ture and his own. and moved at least n
part by the promptings of good nature,
and bound to a solution of the mystery
by very cable of curiosity, he leaped i'm
patiently into a hackney carriage, and set
out in search Of Mrs. Tregarthen. He had
her address from the poet
Sun-blistered paint, years old, upon the
door; thick wells of dust upon the windows;
mere well Of an area, with rusted ratings
round it; doorsteps cracked and srnken at
the center"
"She might have a house in Park Lane
by this time" thought Lorrimer, as he
scanned the place, land yet she lives here.
What was her private fortune, wonder
the last curse of dying mother-in-lawl
1t looks like it,"
When he tugged at the bell-pull long
piece Of rusted iron came out from the
door-post with a reluctant creak. He
pushed it back again, and tapped the bis
tered door with his gloved knucEles. A
slatternly woman came into the well of an
area, wiping her hands upon a dirty
apron, and having inspected him,
went lesurely into the house
again, and after a pause, which seemed
long to his impatience, opened the front
door an inch or two, and regarded him
sfresh in unpromising silence.
Good morning. said Lorrimer, with
smooth polteness. you have a lady
staying here, ma'am, l believe, and |
should be extremely obliged if might be
allowed to see her We are old friends,
and | have been informed that she is in
some Distress Lorrimer was gorgeous as
to his attire, and his manner YVES almo5
monarchical As he spoke he drew
half-crown from his waistcoat
pocket and holding it delicate
ly between his finger and thumb,
like duke performing playful conjuring
trick, dropped it into the womans palm,
which came automatically to receive it.
The woman opened the door little wider.
"Do you mean Mrs. Tregarthen, sir!"
she asked.
That said Mr., Lorrimer, I" is the Ia.
dy's name"
The woman opened the door still wider,
and permitted him to enter. A ragged oil
cloth chung somehow to the floor, but the
unwashed stairs were carpetless.
"What name shall | say, sir!" asked the
landlady.
Say Mr.. Lorrimer,' returned the man.
ager; but he followed closely on her heels
as she mounted the stairs, and was resolved
to present himself before he could be re-
fused an audience. He could not have
told then or afterward whether pity, curl
osity or managerial enterprise drew him
on more strongly. Either the first or last
would have been in itself enough, and the
three together were irresistible.
The woman paused ON a dark landing,
and knocked at door invisible to Lori
mer
"Come ill.," said a voice in reply, and the
knocker entered.
"a gentleman to see you. ma am" she
said in a voice for which LorriRer could
have thrown her down stairs He knew
one side Of the world and of human nature
pretty well, and he read the hypocrisy and
Precipitation of the carneying tone. He
could have sworn the woman hobitually
bullied her lodger.
''Tell him. said Mrs. Tregartben, in a
frightened voice, that | cannot see him.
II
LOrrimer was in the room already, and
had taken in half its sordid details at
glance A bed in corner, with a little
bundle lying on it; chair, table, few
dresses hanging on a wall from which the
paper dripped in moist festoons; a rusty
CRATE, empty,
Madam said the manager advancing,
you must not decline to see me. | come
as frend.n
Pity had the better Of managerial enter
prise for moment at least, and the room
vent dim to Lorrimer's eyes. Mrs. Ire
Earthen, in shabby black dress which
made her pale face look paler than it was,
stood lin the attitude in which she had
arisen from her seat on the side of the beG)
with both hands on the table, her whole
figure shrinking like that of any weak,
wild creature when suddenly alarmed. I
"Oblige me by leaving US, if you please"
said Lorrimer, to the landlady. The wo-
man reluctantly withdrew, and Lorrimer
held the door open to watch her down the
stairs He could not help being STACEY,
for use is second nature, but he was thor
oughly in earnest when he turned: My
poor, dear northumberland me talking
to you in this way-I'm old enough to be
your father-my poor, dear creature, what
on earth do you mean by living in place
like thisin She had only moved to breathe
since his first entrance to the room, and
her eyes said, "Leave me, for PHYS sakel"
If ever eyes said anything But, as he.
paused. the bundle on the bed began
to move, and a feeble cry came from it.
She darted to it, peeled from it, swiftly and
delicately, the shawl. which infolded it,
and took it to her arms. A baby "Oh,
Lordln groaned the manager, with the
tears in his eyes again Glow can you
have the heart to throw away such pros
poets as you have, when you've got such
claims upon you'"
She looked at him almost wildly, and
walked up and down the room rocking the
crying child in her arms He thought the
look defiant, and broke out anew
"Any grown-up creature has right to
starve and be wretched, but, by God!
ma'am, nobody has a right to ill-treat a
v,