Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-05-14
BOOK TWO.
LADY SISTERS.
I.
THE

which might be supposed to be beyond the
earshot of al ordinary friend. He smiled in
a very peculiar way, and | saw a faint streak
Of red coming out upon his cheek. Then,
with a sigh, he answered that | might be
satisfied that his story was a truthful one.
How he came to know it so fully | need not
inquire. The sadness with which this was
said set me thinking; but for that time |
understood no more.
Little Mr.. Brent returned home that day
heartily and thoroughly ashamed of himself.
His bltterest enemy could NOT have wished
him a more humbling fall Being a great
man fog letter-writing, and firmly impressed
with the fatal belief that the large number Of
human complications can be adjusted by cor
re%spondence, he sat down after his dinner to
write an explanation and apology to Mrs.
Temple. The number of sheets he tore up,
the enormou variety of openings which be
adopted and cast aside at the fifth line, the
sheets beginning "DeaS Madam" then my
Dear Madam" then Dear Mrs. Temple
then my Dear Mrs. Temple" falling subse-
quently into "Mr. Brent ventures to present
his respectful compliments y and besides these
the IL am overwhelmed with confusion; - at
is, l assure you, with the most poignant SEN
satiors of SORROW "What can l say!' "What
can | urge in e~xtenuation of my behaviour
so many OF these were begun, cast aside, and
torn up very small, lest any one should find
out what he had been doing, that as the
night wore on the rector gradually began to
look ike a man who is being showed up.
When, at twenty-five minutes past four a. NJ,
after nearly nine hours of underwriting
head work, the apology was finished, there
was not left enough clean stationery in the
house for a washing bill; but in place of it
there were fragments Of paper lying on the
floor sufficient for the manufacture of six
f~ull-sized paper pillows. With aching head,
yet a little consoled withal, the rector stun
bled up stairs to his weary pillow.
If he used a thousand sheets for his letter it
may be safely computed that one thousand
and one was all that was required for the en-
tire correspondence. Small was the paper
and few the lines of Mrs. Barbara Temples
answer.
"Dear Mr.. Brent"-thus it ran-"I have
received your letter of apology, and l cannot
say that it is at all more than the occasion re-
quired. At the same time, as you are sensible
of the improperly of your behavior, l hope
you will o forget it, as | shall. One stipu-
lation only make. The subject Of marriage
or, indeed, any %allusion to what passed be-
tween us yesterday-must never be made.
On these terms you are free to resume your
intercourse with my daughters and myself.
Truly yours, BARBARA TEMPLE"
"a very handsome letter" Mr.. Brent said.
IL shall take her at her word" and after
lunch he drove over to the house with a
splendid present of fruit and flowers, and be
ing received in the usual friendly way by
mother and daughters, and his character be-
ing a slight one, not permanently impressi-
BILE, he half forgot the misery of his exit from
the place yesterday. Only when he first
spoke to Mrs. Temple there was a t%repidation
in his voice and manner; but she was so OBJ
viously determined to keep her promise that
he gradually grew composed. Once only his
courage quite failed him. Caroline, the
student, was reading history, and with that
slight affectation of intellectual pursuits, from
which not even her mothers lectures could
guard her, she tried to call the rector's atten-
ton to her lofty employment. The question
she asked him was an unfortunate one. She
was an ardent Liberal, and inquired, in a
pause in the conversation, if he did not think
OLdV kICdb SOOu huu al z Hull bu6 IIbuCu
revolution. The rector was so COMPOUNDED by
this inapposite interrogation that he nearly
tumbled off his chair.
The next day his thoughts were driven into
another channel At breakfast he got a letter
from his son announcing his arrival in Lon
don, and saying that he would be in Kettle
well at half past four that afternoon. Amidst
the vexatiOn Of the last two days, this was a
prospect full of relief, and the young fellow
was received with more than a paternal well
come. Before dinner was over, between the
influence of meat and wine and the society of
his son, all acting on a trivial nature, easily
moved, the rector was quite comforted. Now
he could have faced Mrs. Barbara Temple
with a jest and a look Of pleasantly. At least,
so he fancied.
Brent junior was a good-looking young fell
low of three and twenty, with frank, sim
pie ann well suited to his years. Men
tally he was much superior to his father, and
every sentence showed it; but he behaved
with a filial difference which was pleasant to
see. ALI through the dinner there was a
touch of -preoccupation and even sadness
about him, and upon this his father remarked
as soon as they We're alone.
81 hope you have not left any one behindg'
the father asked humorously.
"No,n the son answered, with a blush and a
laugh. "You don't think me quite a simple
ton in this matter, do your
swell, Percy, you are young the sage
father replied. "At ing time of life if a man
fell in love with a picture, 1 think he would
be a bit of an ass. But then l am forty-nine.
l have age and experience, and knowledge of
the world"
"You are very kind to take it in that vay,n
the son answered. Il really don't want to be
laughed at"
rs this wonderful picture in your posses
sionl" Brent senior inquired next.
"Yes, the young fellow answered eagerly;
and he was darting up stairs to fetch it.
Pausing on his way, he said: Il had better
tell you the story Of it first"
He made no bad picture himself, leaning
carelessly against the sideboard, his face and
eyes kindling as he spoke with the delight of
the subject. Little Mr.. Brent regarded him
with no small pride; and the young fellow.
with a light bashfulness which made the
little narrative the more interesting. told his
story.
II met an artist out there, and he and l be-
came great friends. He fell i'll, and | nursec