Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1890-02-14


comes thatl"
"Thfs is the party to which we must grow
accustomed, replied.
He looked at me with sudden sharpness
What is all thisi" said he
"You and l and your friend, Mr. Dass, are
now all the company" | replied. "My lord,
my lady and tho children are gone upon a
voyage"
Upon my word - seid be. "Can this be
possiblel have indeed futtered your Vols
clans in Coriolil But this is no reason why our
breakfast should go cold. Sit down, Mr.
Mackellar, if you please"- taking, as he spoke,
the head Of the table, which had designed
to occupy myself-"and as we eat, you can
give mo the details Of this evasion"
could SEQ he more affected than his
language carried, and determined to equal
him in GOODNESS. IL was about to ask you to
take the head of the table, said /; 'for
though | am now thrust into the position of
your host, l could mover forget that you
were, after all, a member Of the family"
For awhile he played tho part of enter
talner, giving directions to Macconocnie,
who received them with an evil grace, and
attending specially upon Secundra. "And
where has my good family Withdrawn TOT"
he asked, carelessly.
"Ah, Mr.. Bally, that is another pointp'
said l. 81 have no orders to communicate
their destination"
ITO me" he corrected.
"To any one," said l.
"It is the less pointed said the master;
"c'est de bon ton; my brother improves as
he continues. And l, dear Mr. Mackellart'
you will have bed and board, Mr. Bally,n
said l. VI am permitted to give you the run
Of the cellar, which is pretty reasonably
ctH iya1
me, which is no very difficult matter, and
you shah want neither for wine nor saddle
horsen
He made an excuse to send Macconochie
from the room.
And for money!" he inquired. "Have 1
to keep well with my good friend Mackellar
for my pocket money alsoi This is & pleas
ing return to the principles of boyhood.n
There was no allowance made,n said /;
but | will take it on myself to see you are
supplied in moderation"
In moderationr' he repeated. "And you
will take it on yourseff' He drew himself
up and looked about the hall at the dark
rows Of portraits I'm the name of nv an
cestors | thank you" says he; and then, with
return to irony; But there must certainly
be an allowance for Secundra Dass" he said.
ut is not possible they have omitted that"
II will make a note Of it and ask instruc-
tons when | write" said l.
And he, with sudden change of manner,
and leaning forward with an elbow ON the
table: "Do you think this entirely wisep
81 execute my orders, Mr. Bally,n said l.
Profoundly modest said the master
perhaps not equally ingenious You told
me yesterday my power was fallen with my
fathers death How comes it, then, that
! . . i. 4
out Of house in which his fathers have stood
several siegesi that he conceals his address,
which must be e matter of concern to mis-
gracious majesty and to the whole repubhcl
and that he should leave me in possession, and
under the paternal charge of his invaluable
Msckellari This Smacks to me of a very con-
siderable and genuine apprehension"
| sought to interrupt him with some not
very truthful denegaton; but he waved me
down and pursued his speech.
II say it smacks of it, he said, but will
go beyond that, for l think the apprehension
grounded. / came TO this house with some
reluctancy. In view of the manner Of my
last departure, nothing but necessity could
have induced me to return. Money how
ever, is that which l must have. You will
not give with good grace; well, have the
power to force it from you. Inside OF @
week, without leaving Durrisdcer, win find
out where these fools are fed to. will fol-
low; and, when l have run my quarry down,
| | will drive a wedge into that family that
shall once more burst it into shivers shall
see then whether my Lord Durrisdeern said
with INDISPENSABLE scorn and rage. twill
choose to buy my absence; and you will all
sec whether by that time, / decide for profit
| or revenge"
was amazed to hear the man so open. The
truth is, he was consumed with anger at my
lords successful fight, felt himself to figure
as a dupe, and was in no humor to weigh
language.
DO you consider this entirely wiser said 1,
copying his words.
"These twenty years l have lived by my
poor wisdom, be answered, with smile that
seemed almost foolish in its vanity.
And come out beggar in the end, said I,
'if bcggar be Il strong enough word for itn
II would have you to observe. Mr.. Mackel-
lar" cried he, with sudden, imperious heat
in which l could not but admire him. 'that |
am serupulously civil; copy me in that, and
we shall be the better friends
Throughout this dialogue l had been incom-
NODDED by the observation of Seoundra Dass
| Not one Of us, since the first word, had made
feint Of eating; our ewes were in each other's
faces-you might say, in each others bosoms
and those Of the Indian troubled me with a
certain changing brightness, as of eompre-
hension. But brushed the fancy aside; tell
ing myself once more he understood no Eng
fish; only, from the gravity of both voices
and the occasional scorn and anger in the
masters, snelled out there was something OF
import in the wind.
For the matter Of three weeks we continued
TO live together in the house Of Durrisdeer
the beginning of that most singular chapter
Of my life-what must call my intimacy
with the master At first he was somewhat
changeable in his behavior, now civil, now
returning to his old manner of fouting me to
my face; and in both met him half wav.
Thanks be TO Providence l had now no meas
ure to keep with the man; and was never
afraid OF black brows, only of naked swords
So that found certain entertainment in
these bouts of incivlity, and was not always
i'll inspired in my rejoinders. At last lit was
at supper l had drol expression that en-
tirely vauquished him. He laughed again
and again; and "Who would have guessed, 81
he cried, shat this old wife had any wit
under his pettooatsf'
st is no wit, Mr.. Bally," said /; "a dry
-