The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1889-08-10

~. II shall not always be poor, ana u WI
only be for brief season, trust, thai
you will be obliged to feel the incon.
veniences of a sojourn in the mining re
gions. God help me! how I wish were
the child of wealth for your sake, Miriam
'Hush! Arthur, am not dissatisfied witt
your fortune, and am only too glad to be
| with you and to get away from Heather
Leigh
And they both looked back instinctively
: to the great frowning gables beyond the
simmer of the ripping artificial lake, he
with rising of wrathful feeling, she with
! shudder. Then with fond ''good-bye' he
| was gone, and the iron wicket Shut with q
spiteful click, and Miriam retraced her
steps, bordering this romantic days doings
| with a sense of utter loneliness creeping
+! over her.
II am not in the wrong,' she said, softly,
! to the mild-eyed deer in the adjoining
chase as they browsed and looked wonder
| ingly at her through the barbed inclosure.
cur my fathers hatred" she nodded to the
great swans at play on the bosom of the
sheeny water, sand 7 shall not try
But the deer did not understand, and the
white, graceful birds sailed across to the
opposite shore unmindful Of her presence.
They had no share in the wrath, the sor-
rows or the shadoW-life of the Hall; theirs
was the sunny side Of existence within its
environs, and all the cares and heart-aches
fell to the lot Of it's more intelligent
jewellers.
Back into the silent gloom crept the
worse than orphaned girl, and eluding Sir
Rupert size giiued to her apartments, leay>
in IN he.r
the park with The son Of poverty he had or
dered froL, his luoneyod doors.
Miriam had come toto possession of the
legend; a little here and d little there had
been revealed to her until she knew the
traditional curse by heart.
There was q time rvhen she had laughed
its import to scorn, but of late years she
began to believe in the truth Of it's asser-
ton.
fortnight after parting fron Arthur
note was handed her by a servant. It was
from her lover, and stated that he had per-
fected his plans for leaving for the mines,
and that he would be at the entrance to the
park from the highway with q carriage for
her on the morrow. TN the afternoon.
dearest he had written, II will come;
there is no need of me asking you to be
punctual IN meeting me at the iron wicket
near the chase at three o'clock, as know
you will not fail"
Fail No, not for worlds, yet strange
yearning for the dark old Hall, a longing to
be reconciled to the gray haired father,
took possession Of her But more bitter
than she waters Of Mara came the prompt
ings OF pride and wounded iiial affection.
1t is utterly useless to grow morbid over
impossibilities. She must bow to the ROD Of
a heartless destiny, and go unpardoned and
uuloved
The morning dawned at last that closed
the long, nervous sennight of waiting.
Miriam woke from a terrible dream Of
death, and in an agony of doubt and terror
she sprang from her couch. ut was but q
dream,'' she said, smiling f;lintiy to her
scared reflection in the mirror, ''but d
Dream Yet she could not help but think
that even dreams were significant solne-
times. She dared not mention it to Peggy;
for that credulOus creature would, with
her Irish propensities for the mysterious,
interpret a terrible revelation, no doubt.
And the yawning mines, the black pits, and
the black~covered hearse of her night
vision would be all but dire realities by
the time Clarkson would be done with
them. She must not dwell on this; she
must prepare for her fight. Her face
assumed an ashen hue and her eyes
dilated as she thought of this the last day
for her within the hall as its heiress.
Disinheritance would be her doom. That
was what had fallen to the others; those
that had gone before her, and whose
portraits she mad so often seen in the
gallery.
Oh yes. She must needs pay visit to
her kindred of the silent room, doubly her
Kindred now, for the day had arrived at
last that another child of the Percivsls was
ready to depart from the frowning shadows
of Heat1lerZeigh. How many sad hearts
had gone from beneath its roof, with the
day of wrath treasured up against them.
IF it must be, it must" she said, bitterly,
as she walked the shadowy, silent length Of
the low gallery alone an hour before her
departure, taking last view Of the re-
versed faces, hung in line "lilze SO many
gibbetted souls,' she murrnured II can
not help being that eldest child neither
am to blame for the curse of an ancestor
falling to hapless posterity. All! you dear,
proud one," she exclaimed, with tremor
of anguish in her tones, as she turned the
last portrait Of the doomed to the light.
lyon We're a youngest child, poor Allen!
and where are you To-Day! An my lair,
noble-browed relative, I fancy some one
Will stand here some Gay and ask that
same question concerning me; perhaps not
so very far hence, either.
s@Alasl alas that am one of you' she
exclaimed wildly, What thing love is;
to win us all away from our ancestral halls
into so-called mesalliances. bringing down
IA EN- { Eli | ne|:j;