Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-06-02

Betty's husoand!- cred the aunt. "Neveri Our
Betty marry into mere carpentry. Don't talk 70
me! I'm glad he hasn't any capital Why, your
Uncle James would rise out OF his grave
"Aunsie, what I, complete hO6soOln you DO
''Rhodar cried the HORNED little woman, her
blue eyes and rosebud OF q mouth all aglow. 81
wonder you are not afraid the earth viii open
where you stand! Your Uncle Jamesv
ION, auntie, dear, now don't take it 80 to heart!
know he's kind OF denigod to you. but
There, Rhoda, that's enough. Don't go oni
you'll say something blasphemOus presently. And
as for this affair OF BettyS you can't expect me to
be profoundly interested In her marriage with q
young man whose oftiest ambition Is TO make buck
cts. Where did you lay down that book you were
reading 10 me? What was IL? the Heavenly Life. ,
There 1s1d much OF II here" And the poor little
do what she could TO bring the heavenly life nearer
"welI," said Betty, that night, when Rob came
again, and sitting on the terrace stairs together In
tine soft moonlight, they were now wrapped in
bliss and now bemoaning their fate-"we might
be worse OF. couldn't exist without my RhOda,
anyway, and Rhoda couldn't, or course, without
me. snes my baiance wheel, my make-weight
the carrier OF my common sense, all the common
"The uncommon sense Is good enough for me-"
said Rob.
"And it's summer and evening and moonlight,
and were young and well and alive, and that's q
l,n't II, Rob?"
Il ionr KNOW" said Rob lapsing into gloom.
man who sees the whole world go by him, and
YOUTH his only capital. slipping out OF his posses
sion like beads on broken tn cad doesn't feel IL
so gay tning to be alive"
but capitaI-money- everything said
Betty.
"Its enough, or the want of It is enough to make
an everlasting barrier between us TO keep US apart
mot really-not really and altogether apart,
you Know. Here We are side by side In this de-
nclous moonlight, with all the sweetness OF the
roses round US, and-harkl i do beieve-there's
oeated thrush or something. ON, isn't 1t
heavenly? Now what II 1 made moan because
nightingale
your true loves arms. don't know II want any,
thing better TO night, al any rate, Ifeel content
Aren't you ccntented, Roh?"
mo-" said Rob- frankly. "This is the present
moment; there are a great many other moments
future moments-when shall long TO nave you be-
SIDE me, and you won't be there. should be very
selfish 10 overlook the forlorn fellow OF those
future moments just because the fellow Of these
present moments was happy"
ION, you're getting in too deep for mev
"And IL doesn't reconcile me TO my fate" con-
tlnued Rob, ito think that II l could only raise
10000 could go into an assured business that
would let us marry Tomorrow"
Isn't there any way We can steal 1t Rob?"
dren, and presently Betty ran into the house TO
play him little mad Tarantella, he following TO
say goodnight.
"What In the world is 1t you see In that picture?"
asked Rhoda, as Rob, while Betty was playing,
stood staring into that one OF the dark little
paintinss which IN the morning had attracted his
attention; for the aunt, summer night or not,
always had the lamps lighted-for the better en-
Joyment OF the June bugs, IL may be.
line utSl vi ages, answered Betty over ner
shoulder Tor him as she played. "The dust OF
generations OF Hydekers sifted over IL. The idea
OF a houseful OF such things that wouldn't bring
$40 In an auction shop. But they seem TO belong
here. Can you make out anything else, Rob?n
"A light" said Rob- maybe a light; some
broad backs; a chair rail; perhaps riagon, per-
hapS face-tne face OF the hostesS-I don't know.
But certain something's harmony, balance,
color, that has a charm-I don't know"
you've really discovered something, then. said
Betty, winding up her TarantelIa with a little
thrill OF laughter mo one else ever did, although
knoda says Uncle James used to sit before 1t and
try. The discoverer can always claim the discov-
cry, can't he? u
"In the name OF his sovereign" said Rob,
gayly.
"Tnen you shall have the little black daub. II
1t isn't yours by right divine as discoverer, I'll
MAKE you present Of your soveTeign's right"
betty! What! DiSmantle the hOuse." cried
ner aunt, the withered rose on her cheek flaming
into bright red.
"Ill put something great deal prettier there,
aunue, dear, chrome, you know, or some or my
water colors, or some OF your works on velvet Rob
Is going To carry that home as a keepsake never
had anything to give him by way or a keepsake.
Shall not man do as he will with his own? or q
woman ether"
But Roo quite refused to appropriate his dis
coyery that L. ght; and something To his surprise
and something TO his annoyance, when he went
into his Office next morning, there 1t Was propped
up by couple OF Revised Statutes; and Adolph
Nrelmann, with his elbows on the desk and his
head between his hands, was studying IL to point
that made him oolivious OF the rest OF the world.
where did you come across this?, he said
abruptly, as Rob came In like gust or the June
breeze, slamining the door behind him.
Come across what!" asked Rob. and then in a
'.tn a mouse full OF them,
Full OF treasures, then" said Adoph Full OF
Dutch paintings worth many times their weight
In goId Dutch paintings, SIR and OF value, II I'm
not mistaken. II know anything at all, this is a
Gerard Douw, and the mate TO II sold In Europe
ten years ago for $45 Co.,"
Nothing but a whistle could express Rob's feel
lngs, nrst OF surprise and then OF disbelief This
square foot OF dark nothingness7" he cried.
an ms 81 IL ESaAx.
II IL werent-ll IL were only the whim's value and
not the pictures, what are you keeping fortunes
Ior locked up In things like this? Where did It
come from? How did you come by IT? Let me see
the others! house full OF t0em? You are IKE a
new Aladdin, then, with garden full of Jewels to
gather when you Will Take me to them, now,
.Its wicked! It's outrageous. It's abominable.,
cried the aunt, an hour or so arterward, wringfng
her hands In nervous alarm "The moment your
uncle Is out OF II tearing down his house about his
ears, stripping his walls OF what he saw on them
his Lie long, robbng the whole house OF its CHAR
acter! We may as well let IL all 20 then and live
again In our frame box in the village Ii they're
good for anything, she cried with vigor "they're
an angel OF the Lord he'd return and visit YOU
well, he Is an angel OF the Lord and can't"
said Rhoda.
Betty. "If he had known there was a fortune In
these bits OF Squalor, he'd have had the fortune
long ago, and left IL 10 the art museum. But he
lett them all 10 me, not having anything else he
could do with them but make a bonfire And
they're mine, and they're not going to stay mine
an hour longer than can help. Do you think we
can Afford 10 Keep gallery or Dutch masters
In the house when we can't afford to Keep a
dog? They're going over the seas soon as Adoiph
Vriefnan can take them. And when / Can give
you check book, and carriage and a pair OF
your own. you dear, little, absurd woman YOU
Will be perfectly satisfied, and we won't have 10
have the chronos On the walls:D and she gave her
aunt an impetuous hug that set the cherished cap
awry and made the good lady cry out that too
much love was as bad as none at all, and she did
wish Betty had some moral sense and looked be-
fore sue leaped, and all the rest.
'Oh, auntle" cried RhOda, when that check
book Is really yours, just think how you Will en-
JOY taking Mrs. belong TO drive and what can't
you do In your missionary clasS?"
Yes, auntle, dear, you can send a parasol to
you their photographs In return you Will never
miss the Dutch pictures On the wall-in six mont his
the photographs Will look as II they grew there
just as the paintings do now. Oh, they shall go!n
And go they did, In the next steamer With
AdOph.
THAT'S the last OF them!" said the little aunt
"Ioul never see paintings nor price OF the paint
fngs again, and your Uncle James VIII have been
outraged for nothing at all but girls indelicacy
and rdpacity. That fellow mas simply made on
with the whole lot OF them-thoss pictures that
have hung on the Heydeker walls for
loo years? It's six weeks and over now
and not word OF them yet. II you were
bound 10 sell Them why you couldn't have EN-.
ployed a reputable person passes my comprehen-
sion You are paying no more attention 10 me
than II didt speak. What Is that you are read
Ing In such an absorbed way, BeIty-it is exceed