San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-10-17
The Gypsie's Curse;
BY THE AUTHOR OF GUILTY WITHOUT
CRIME" THE "WRECKERS OF
ERNER Doom" ETC.
Fir t Chapter began October 18TH


she said. "Now sit down to breakfast"
81 won't do it again till next time"
said lima, in an undertone, as she took her
seat.
Sir Philip sat opposite to her; and from
time to time she scanned him covertly,
watching him while he talked to her aunt.
and marking every change of feature,
and every infection Of singularly sweet
voice.
Sir Philip was as dark as southern
italian; his rich curly locks were of the
blue-black hue not often seen in Italy, and
the delicate and statuesque chiselling of
his features was Italian rather than Eng
lish. Every line of his striking counten-
ance indicated strong passions and intense
pride; but pride seemed not inappropriate
to q man who bore so strongly the marks
of gentle blood. But deep in the dark
eyes lay the shadow of the vague unrest
that overcast life which nature and for
tune ought to have combined to make
bright and glorious.
lima thought that this man looked as if
he had stepped out of some frame at the
Pitt Palace; He seemed to belong more
properly to an age in which swords right
ed wrongs. 1t was no wonder that the
people considered him almost an alien; no
one, could be more unlike the usual repre-
sentatives of great county families. Sir
Philip Darrell was pale, slender, supple,
with the hues of an Italian, clean-shayed
save for the soft mouStache that shaded
the resOlute lips, u man Of courts and
cities, all but a stranger in his native
country, his very speech giving, neither in
tone nor accent, the faintest indication of
his birthplace. He neither hunted nor
shot, or took any part in county doings,
being indeed an absentee. 1t was no won
der that some of the most superstitious
shook their heads and said that some
strange influence had presided at the hour
of his birth.
"And do you intend" asked Miss Durn-
ford, after short pause in the converse
tion, 'to give us your company for little
longer time, this time, than you did last,
Sir Philip"
He shrugged his shoulders and answer
ed
81 can hardly tell, Miss Durnford; L
have no settled plans. | am a rolling
stone, you know, and shall be as long as l
live"
81 hope not"
"DO your DO you cherish the idea that
shall settle down and become country
gentleman at agricultural shows? Miss
Costello, you see is laughing at the bare
notion"
"I cannot help it," said lima. "Why,
Sir Philip, look As much country gen.
tleman as you do"
Miss Durnford glanced hastily at her
niece; her Transatlantic freedom Of man.
ner some what disturbed the good lady's
equanimity; but it was so free from
Transatlantic forwardness, so child-like
and charming, that no one could misinter-
pref it.; and Sir Philip Darrell WAS the
last man to be anything but pleased W 1t.
He laughed and said
"No, no, Miss Durnford, rather for me
"'Flfty years of Europe, then a cycle of
Oathay,"
$50 Cumberland is Cathay, and your
splendid ancestral home PRISON."
"Ah," said Darrell, carelessly, though
again with the tone of bitterness lima had
noticed before-''a short life and a merry
one"
s'I should say q long life and a good
one" replied Miss Durnford.
sLong lifep Defend me from itp' As
he said the words he caught fleeting look
from Ilma's brown eyes, look so full of
pain and unconscious pleading that 4
quick flush crossed his cheeks, and he bit
his lip; but, recovering himself, and with
a total change of manner, as If to dismiss
an Improbable subject. he asked lima if
she would like to 20 over the Court.
"Oh, so muchp' she said eagerly. "My
cousins say it has such lovely pictures,
and all sorts of beautiful things"
"YOu must honor me then, and your
aunt and cousins will, | hope, favor my
poor house also. You will hear some dis
maj stories of the cavaliers and ladies you
will see in the picture-gallery. We have
always been turbulent set, and"
He stopped abruptly, and added, turning
to Miss Durnford, ''Perhaps you would
kindly let me know in day or two, what
day would suit you-all days are alike to
me-"
"But indeed, Sir Philip, you must not
make me fix day" was the reply.
"You will, | am sure; it would be so
kind of you"-and he spoke in his most
winning manner. "Thanks. One of the
gardeners has been raying over some rare
eXotics. | forgot what he called them
You must please choose as many of them
as you like. l remember your old weak
ness for out-of-the-way flowers"
"YOu left orders with your head-gar-
dener for my fancy to be gratified," said
the old lady. "No, no, Sir Philip; can
not encrOach any more on your kindness.
Why have whole range of flowers that
are admired by all which came from your
hot-housesP'
"Haye you? L am so glad. 1 wish you
had dollhouse full. l must see to 1.-THE
more the merrier. Why should the flow
ers waste their sweetness on the desert
nj