Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1890-04-26
THE RED FLAG.
M. E. BRADDON.
Author or lady Audiey's Secret"
etc. etc. etc

- DRANS "a A1AA
poor lodgings and seanty fare. Fruit was
cheap, and flowers were abundant every.
where, and there was no stint of bread and
butter, and milk and eggs. The children
wanted nothing better. But II was a dis
mai change for them when their father car
RED them back to Belgium, and established
them In a stony street In Bruges, where the
peaked roofs Of the opposite houses seemed
TO shut out the sun, and where, instead of
the sweet odors Of sea and seaweed, there
was an everlasting stencil Of dried fish and
sewage,
1t was winter by this time, and II seemed
TO be the winter of their lives. Kathleen
cried for the sea and the flowers Of sunny
Jersey. She could hardly be made TO un.
uerstand that summer was only a happy In
teryal In the year, and that flowers do not
grow In the stony streets Of a city. The days
IN Bruges were cold and dismal, the even
lngs long and gloomy. III II had not been
Tor Biddy Ryan the poor children might
nave pined To death in their solitude. Cap
tain OHara was never at home in the even
Ing, rarely at home in the afternoon, and he
never left his bed TIL the carlton at the
cathedral had played that lovely melody OF
Beethoyen's, Hope told a Factoring tale
which the bells rang out every day at noon
tide. The Captain found the cafe indis-
p%ensable TO his comfort, the petit erre dab
stnthe suisse a necessity Of his being, a
game at dominoes or draughts the only dis
traction for the canker at his heart. thus
the children, whom he loved f0ndly enough
after bis manner, were dependent on Blddy
Ryan for happiness; and the faithful soul
did her utmost to cheer and amuse them I'm
their loneliness. She told them her fairy
stories, the legends Of her native Kerry; she
described the green hills and purple noun
tains, the lakes, the glens and gorges, the
Islands and groves and abbeys, Of that ro-
mantle country; until Rose, who had seen
but little Of the grandeur and glory Of earth,
longed with a passionate longing for that
land Of lake and mountain, which was in
soinewise her own land, inasmuch as her
father had been born and bred within a few
miles Of Killarney.
And yen both go there some day, my
darlints," said tender-hearted Blddy, ''and
It's ladies' yen be, and nevera poor day ye'll
know In outd Ireland; for by the Lords
grace the Captains rich cousins may all die
OF like ratten sheep, and his honor may
come In for the estate? There's quarer
things have happened than that in my
knowledge, and sure it's great hunters the
gentleman are, and may ride home with
broken necks any day"
Rose said she hoped her cousins would
not die; but she wished they would ask her
father and all Of them 20 go and live at the
great white house near the lakes, which
Biddy described as q grander palace than
the kings chateau at Lacken, which she
and Rose had been taken to see one day
with the Captain and his young wife, before
Kathleen's birth.
The children were never tired Of hearing
Biddy talk of the lakes and mountains, the
Druids' Circle, MscGillycuddy's Reeks, and
the great house I'm which their father was
born. IL was their idealo of paradise, a home
where sorrow or care could never enter,
gardens always full OF flowers, a land OF
everlasting summer, woods and glens peo-
pied with fairies, skies without a cloud,
gladness without alloy.
One gray hopeless afternoon, when there
had not been a rift In the slate-colored sky
since daybreak, Kathleen suddenly turned
from the window, against which she bad
been flattening her pretty little nose, in the
hopeless attempt to find amusement in look.
Ing into the empty street, and asked.
Does IL ever rain in Ireland, Biddy?'
"Yes, love, 1t does rain sometimes; and
,ure, darlint, that's why the hills and the
valleys are so soft and green. You wouldn't
have 1t always dhry; the flowers wouldn't
grow without any rain"
Must there be rain?' inquired Kathleen
simply. Papa says | mustn't cry. Why
should the sky cry? The sky is good, isu't
it?"
Eyes, dear; it is Gods sky"
"But papa says It's naughty to cry"
The time came only too soon when very
real tears, tears OF passionate grief and
Wild despair, were shed In that dingy Bel
gian lodging; and when the two children
and their faithful servant found themselves
alone In the bleak strange world, face 10
face with starvation.
The Captain caught cold one bitter Feb
mary Right, coming home, In the teeth of
the east wind, from his favorite cafe; and
although devotedIy nursed by Biddy and
Rose, who was sensible and womaniy be-
yond her years, the cold developed into
acute bronchitis, under which james OHara
succumbed, a few days after his thirty
seventh birthday, leaving his children pen
niless and alone in the world. There were
only a few francs In the Captains purse at
the time of his death; for the short sharp
illness had been expensive, albeit the En-
xlish doctor, q retired navy surgeon, had
been most modest In his charges. The Cap
tain's watch and slgnetrIng were pledged
- q. a.. tha funarnI. ant xuhiIa thu not ~ n
was being carried to the cemetery, a letter,
nl-spelt and M-written, bat Fall of tender
womanly feeling, was on its way 10 the
wealthy Miss Fitzpatrick of Bath, pleading
for her orphaned great-niece Kathleen, and
Kathleen's pennlless step-sister.
Miss Fitzpatrick Of Bath was a staunch
roman Catholic, ana q CONSCIENTIOUS wo-
man; but she was not q w~arm-hearted wo'
man, and she was not deeply moved by the
thought of the Captains untimely death, OF
Of his desolate children. She had been very
angry with him for running away with her
niece, who was also her companion and
slave; and she had never left off being an
cry; yet she had given him money from
time 10 time, considering 1t her duty, as a
rich woman, to help her poor relations,
And now she was not inclined to ignore that
duty, or deny the orphans claim.
She went over 10 Bruges, saw the children,
and In Kathleen beheld the image Of her
own dead sisters little girl as she had first
seen her twenty years ago, when the orphan
was sent to her rich aunt, as the legacy Of
dying sister, the sole issue OF a foolish mar
riage. And behold, here wa another gold
en-haired child. sole Issue OF another fool
ish-marriage, looking up at Theresa Fitz'
patrick with just the same h~eayen-blue eyes
and the same scared shrinking look, al
doubling whether 10 find a friend or a foe
In the richly-ciad stately dame.
III Miss Fitzpatrick had been of the melt
Ing mood, she would assuredly have takeI
the child to her heart and her home, and
the child's dark-eyed. frank-browed. lovabls
stepsister with her. There was ample room
for both girls, I'm the big handsome house al
Bath-empty ROOMS which no one ever visit
ca save the housemala with ner Drooms ano
brushes; uxurioGsly-furnished rooms, swept
and garnished, and kept In sp0tless order
for nobody.
Although there was ample room in Miss
Fitzpatrick's house, there was no room In
Miss Fitzpatrick's heart for two orphans.
Il shall do my duty to you, my dears,"
she said, land ! shall make no distinctions,
although you, Rose, are no relation of mine,
and have no claim upon me-"
'sYou won't take Rose away?' cried Kath.
leen, pale with terror. the blue eyes filling
with tears.
mo, my dear, l shall not separate you
while you are SO young" answered Miss
Fitzpatrick, compiacentIy settling herself