The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1888-02-23

| ago; his WliC, also, was dead, and thGir lit
| tie girl, the baby hcircSs of Calcdon. Had
| not heard often enough tho story Of her
death from the servants at the Heights!
| Surely her thoughts had been wandering.
for wrongs to the dead can hardly be right,
| / said.
| CHAPTER NJ.
| went up to my room and sat down by tho
| fire, in drcnry, unhappy mood Miss
| Armunu was dead, and she had died with
| out revealing the secret of my birth, which
| felt sure She possessed. She had only bab-
| bled mCaninElCsSiy of people who were
nothing to nc. What mattcrcd itt | said
her talk Of Philip CalcdOn; he was naught to
| me, surely.
| I was awakened in tho afternoon from n
| light sleep, into which had fallen. by some
one announcing that Miss Clayton and her
| daughter had arrived. Mrs. Kent came up
| to my room in some excitement.
| ,'Hou had better go down, DOrcas, and
| greet thCm," she said; ''NlrS. Iceberg cvi-
| dontly thinks You arc acquainted with thcm
and has sent up word for You TO meet thcm"
| hardly knew what to do. | dreaded to
| go down and encounter their naughty, i'll
sulting manners which 1 felt sure they
would exhibit, and dare not stay away lest
| it look suspicious.
| Accordingly, urged by Mrs. Kent, de-
scendcd to tie parlor, where | found assem-
| blcd the lcibcrgs, Oliver Dudley, Mrs.
| Clayton and her daughter, beside the plvSi-
| clan and one or two others.
| 1t is not to be wondered at that I felt
some trcpidation on entering. But, rcso-
| lutely swallowing my fears. / crossed to
where Mrs. Clayton was standing with her
| daughter, proud, beautiful Irma Barrett at
| her side. ] bowed and extended my hand
| to them in token Of friendly greeting. But
| what was my amaHCmCnt and chagTin when
they only returned my salutation with a
| naughty, nquirng stare, as if we were the
| most distant strangers. l felt ready TO sink
| with shame and modification, for saw all
| eyes Wcrc fixed upon me, and my first i'm
| pulse was TO rush from the room and hide
| myself, drown myself, any thing only that |
might be spared the insults this family had
| hcapcd upon nc. But the next moment my
| proud spirit asserted itself. would not be
| quclcd or beaten without a struggle.
| stepped back cody.
| u"You may or you may not recognize me,
| Mrs. Clayton" l said, "but we are not
strangers, you and l, however much you
may wish to impress these people to that
| effect"
Mrs. Clayton colorcd and bit her lip. Irma
| endcavorcd to annihilatc mo with glance,
| but did not faltcr. just at this critical
| moment, when all were viewing me with
| amaZcmcnt, Mr.. Dudley stepped forward,
| smiling and bowed in that courteous way of
| HIS saying lightly, as if it were the most
| natural mistake in the world though un-
dcrstood it all:
"Is it possible, Mrs. Clayton, that you
| have forgotten our mutual friend, Miss
Lynne"
/ felt rather than yaw the meaning glance
no threw at her from his brown eyes But
Mrs. Clayton understood at once, evidently,
toT she greeted me, in q rather constrained
manner, however, and Irmh followed her
mothers example. l accepted it, for could
not DO otherwise with those mquiring eyes
upon me; but my anger was reused and nv
checks burned hOtly while my heart beat
fast and hard with u passion of rage and
grief
Sllc)ltIy VIC visited the room whore Miss
Armund was lying, slumbcrng so quietly
Mrs. Clayton expressed sincere giicf at her
friend 8 death, but saw that it was ONLY
assumed for there was an undCrcurrcnt Of
Joy running through tho whole Of hcr af
tcctcd grief, and L saw she gave tho orders
Tor tho necessary arrangements attending
the lntcrrmcnt OF her friend with evident
satisfaction.
Mrs. Clayton had changed somewhat in
the past ten years. She was still handsome
but thcro Wcrc dark lines about tho proud
mouth, and heavy rings, that told OF sleep
loss nights, under tho largo LIQUID eyes
lrma, too, looked worn and haggard; but
no wonder, thought, when her twin broth
er is imprisoned on tho awful charge of mur-
der.
Tho funeral of Miss Armund was over;
the still, WthcrCd form had been consigned
TO mother earth, and we wcrc all again as
scmbled in tho dull, fire c-lightCd parlor
at Mrs. Lcibcrg's. A strange hush fell