Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-06-27

"Thauk you ma'amn-'i says he is of noble
birth and can trace his lineage back to Lord
Fairfax; that he is y gentleman of leisure;
but, from u feeling of duty, has accepted .
very high position in some department Of
Government"
MAY God forgive me for that ~whopperf"
muttered the penitential Dick to himself.
"But," he added, apologetically, "he GER
tainly is not of i3neble birth, and l DO be-
leve he is u descendant of the old Falrfaxes.
He is a gentleman of leisure-at present, at
least, until schoolteaehing begins. And I'm
sure it was d feeling of duty ito himself, to
save himself from emigrating to the poor
house, that led him to accept high position
In the department of Government-ahemi
OF a set of spoiled youngsters. So that lies
not SO bad after ALL - added he, with a feel
ing of comfort.
but, at any rate" continued Lydia,
"whateyer his position, or from whom de-
seconded, he has interested me as few men
have"
The imaginative Dick thought he could
perceive q shade Of jealousy creep up the
Princess back hair n spread itself over
her hat. But he could not see her face, for
she bent more lowly over her work and
vouchsafed not q word i'll reply.
'sNow just look at thatin meditated Dick.
tssHere am l dying to fall in love with that
detestable Lydia and to have her fall in
love with me, been trying these hundreds
Of years-more, or iess"-he added, half
explanatorily-''and it don't work worth q
fig. Along comes this penniless Yankee
confound the dog! l amt help admiring
him-and scoops in, not only Lydia, but that
frigid German iceberg, without the slightest
effort, or apparent intention, even. Hang
it ALL Ican't see how he does it; still he
| did look deucedly well last night"
Here Natalie began humming a strain
from the "Addio." Lydia interrupted her
with:
GLOW he started when you struck into
| that song, last night And l thought I
heard him say: 1T points my fatep"
Natalie laid down her palette and brush,
| and leaning back in her chair, turned her
| face curiously toward Lydia, saying:
"Do you know that is very stranger TIL
| moment l saw his face, that song, which had
| been haunting me more or less during the
| entire evening, as associated with my lost
| knife, flashed across me with redoubled
| energy. 1t seemed to tell his history and
| fate. Now you say those were his OVID
| words. Curious, is it moth"
CHAPTER VII.
AND IF SHE DOES, HOW ABOUT THE oTHERf
Dick was not a clever fellow, but he, GER
tainly, was not a fool. He essayed to make
q mental estimate of both girls, and sue
ceeded wonderfully well.
The Princess, he acknowledged, was o
woman Of singularly fine, pure and lovely
character, deep and strong in her affections,
supplemented and guileless, yet not devoid
of what is commonly known as strong COM
mon sense.
.Deep and loving where she loves; but that
she does not love, I an positive. ! could
swear to it,"
With all her soft womanly traits, she was
too susceptible to the sin of pride. It had
unconsciously become a matter of pride with
her to show no interest in mankind. With
no other woman, except Lydia, would she
have spoken SO freely; and, even with that
friend, she could scarcely depart from her
pretty, proud, little reserve, without a visi-
BILE effort at ~unbending. Her bushes were
clearly not because of her interest in tho
man, but proceeded from q sort of shame at
acknowledging, and even at entertaining,
that interest.
"But," said Dick to himself, "ma char.
mdnte, your interest is at present contem-
plative. What that interest might develop
into, under the proper circumstances, I can't
say. Bull do say that Mistress Lydia is
most decidedly interested in this yoang
man, and that it would require but slight
effort on his part to deepen that interest.
And, If she loves, she loves oreyer. Her
natures strong. but raves something upon
which to expend hat strength; can't exist
without it. Natalie lives in the realm Of her
imagination and does not ask for sympathy,
delghting in her arts. Lydia is strong, but
looks for sympathy and love, and something
upon which to expend sympathy and love, in
return. She couldn't find what she wanted
among those frivolous tops of society, and
now Fairfax has appeared, and unconscious
~ touched the deep chord that never before
vibrated. Well! they'd make q splendid
pair, and he'd be a fool not to try for her.
She's worth four Of the other in my opinion,
although acknowledge that's saying a great
deal"
With this sage and ~indisputable conclu
sion Richard was about to retire, by push.
ing himself backward, until he deemed il
safe to stand upright, as he saw a move
ment in the camp below that indicated prep
aration for flight. However, his attention
was arrested by a sentence, half suggest
i've, half-timid, and altogether remarkable,
ventured by Lydia: 81 had thought Of ask
ing Mr.. Fairfax to call with me ct Chateau
D'Or.n
81 amt here with the intention Of receiv
Ing no visits but those of my oldest friends,'
said Natalie, frigidly; land I see no reason
why I should alter my intention. Besides
my dear Lydia, I leave Chateau Dor in {
few days,at the latest, for Lake Maggiore.r
Lydia said no MORE, and the two girls
evidently both feeling a little uncomforta
bic, and yet both striving to conceal thsil
emotion, prepared to depart.
Dick, now executing his retrograde move
ment, arose and oundF~ airfax-who by thil
time had recovered his equaniuity, ant
shaken OF the bliss aroused by the fail
Natalie's words-in the midst Of some calcu
lation or other, using his knee as q tabl
and o leaf Of his diary as note-paper.
.Have they started, Dicki" asked he, sud
denly.
"No, but they are on the point Of start
Ing"
Fairfax turned to the left in the mail
road, and whipped up his horse to create,
speed.
"Are you not going back to the villagea'
queried Richard.
"Wait," laconically answered the imper
turbable Fairfex.
A Short distance from the brook b
rained up and drove the chaise among tn
trees. He then led the way to the road
The noise OF Gathering hoofs coming nearer
caused the pair to retreat behind the bushe
that had sheltered Fairfax the afternoon
previously. The were ensconced none to
soon.
The two girls appeared directly, and rod
TO the pool, where they allowed their horse
to drink. Natalie leeped to the ground an
stood by Medji, holding the reins in he
hands. Fairafx took note Of this, and ais
Of the fact that the servants again delaye
their appearance.
at is to be hoped" sadly remarked MAJ
allie, 'that those servants will not forge
any thing to-day. Catharine has just cor
fessed that Dimitri and she had alread
nasrad tho hronk and unun into ona Of tn