Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-09
A DISGRACE TO Her FAMILY.

~ ~ - 49, - $1,000 - - 1900
SSs~ of gold.
Il believe. Arthur" say, turning to her
great great great step-grandson. THAT the old
maids of your family have been jealous of her
for generations and couspired to run her down.
She is SO very pretty and 30 youngp
have been curiosity hunting in the lumber
| room at Hawkesworth castle, which domicile /
am shortly to enter as bride. My future hus-
band has just announced his intention of hav-
ing the ladies' bower which l consider the
prettiest room in the house, renovated for my
especial benefit. We have triumphantly I'M
earthed a spinning wheel to replace IN it,
gravely considered the propriety of setting IL
spinnet, with most of its notes dumb. on its
spindle legs once more, and are now discussing
picture, which has been for years banished
| from civilized society
Il like that the best of all our discoveries;
let us have it hung in the bower in the most
| favorable light III the ROOM
That is quite out of The question, Eva" re-
| marks Miss Sarah Hawkesworth. Arthur's
'dest sister. in a tone which clearly implies.
| from my decision there IS no appeal"
'Out of the question? Why?" l inquire
boldly enjoying the strong moral support of
Arthur presence. though l should have been
afraid to demur at a fiat of Sarah's without it,
Since you are so very anxious for inlorma-
was disgrace to her family
The portrait IN question represents a girl of
about seventeen or eighteen. with small
rather childish face, of very beautiful type.
she has large. soft gray eyes and most deli
cateiy cut mouth; her dark hair IL tightly
drawn back from her good. candid brow, after
the trying fashion of her day. and almost con-
cealed by pearled lace head DRESS Il pretty,
unobtrusive arrangement, that can scarcely be
called cap-a loose robe OF dark silk. turned
back at the open neck. with some wond rfuliy
well painted Venetian point, completes the
picture.
After a prolonged look at the portrait
mutnled, as | have already recorded, against
Sarah's verdict
"Of what crime is she supposed to have been
guilty? Who was she?"
'She WAS my great great great grandfather's
first WIfe-and-''
lis supposed to have bolted," put III Arthur
concIsely. AS a matter of fact Dot. nobody
really knows what became of her, and believe
lover was invented as the most convenient
way of accounting for her disappearance. All
we are sure of Is that she mysterously vanished
within n few months of her marriaGe-and
those were not the days of SagaclouS policemen
and private inquiry officers Dent you follow
her example, or you will figure i'll paragraph
III the papers,,
Al which speech Sarah looks as solemn as if
Arthur were talking ia grim earnest
1t ID most unfortunate that she is so fond of
lingering Ill our society. AZ she never under
stands when we happen to be talking nonsense.
II lie runaway Is very pretty and | really
think a little i'll your stvlc, child he contiil-
ues, focusing me through his closed hand. as
II were merely canvas. Then turning TO
Sarah-"l will send the picture to be cleaned;
and you shall have 1t hung up over the writing
table before our return. Sarah: if you think it
lnadnlsSible to the bower on any other grounds
1t mag serve as an awful example to Dot. |
expect my venerated grandmammas sent II up
STAIRS out OF pure jealousy, which has come
down to you by the laws of heredIty, SALLY
"Oh. Arthur, you tease! Why do you call her
such IA frlghtful name as Sally"
1T may not be pretty. but at least it is more
sensible than some OF his diminutives." retorts
sarah. as If she rather liked the name than
Otherwise.
Again | am conscious that have Numbered
For the last four Years Arthur has been in the
habit OF smoking pipes with old Mr.. Muckle-
worth. father of an eligible young lady, when
ever evenings AT home seemed to want curtail-
ing little, and his sisters and all the old ladies
III the neIghbOrhOOd made up their minds that
he was sitting and smoking himself into an al
n"nce with the daughter. Quite a settled
thing" they considered it. NV poor dear bowl
What a victim lie would have been if had not
provldcntlally ridden into bog one day. out
stag hunting IN consequence of an ambitious
attempt 10 get the lead OF my Uncle Dick
Arthur pulled me out and scolded me as
thoroughly as if he had known me all my life.
The next week he rode over to see that i had
not caught cold from the black peat water
and told Uncle Dick that, as l evidently had
not an idea of taking care Of myself he wished
TO be allowed to take care OF me for life.
And so-the promise of all those pipes at
the Muckleworths was bighted in the bud
Now Miss Muckleworth. though a very pretty
piece of self-opinloned simplicity had habit
OF referring to Sarah superior judgment upon
most occasions. This pleased Arthur in the
ma Is Qia
have great weight with him, and from his own
good, affectlonate nature, he was likely to
have become mildly attached even to an ami
| mated Dutch doll, il he was constantly in the
habit OF meeting her.
Oh. propinquityi-thi of men. NV bless
ing on every hound in the hunt that delivered
Arthur from your clutches,
shall never forget my first lunch at Hawkes.
worth. The whole family evidently regarded
me with suspicion. as an unknown quantity
and. finding them as cold as iclcles to begin
with put on Arthurs cap when we went into
the grounds, and talked all the slang | could
muster for the amusement of seeing them
freeze harder and harder. At last Sarah. who
always plques herself upon her candor re-
marked: MIR. Blank (ny Uncle Dick, good in
nOccnt manD is very fond of throwing people
together; but Arthur never firts,-and we ap-
prove of May Muckleworth." At which an
nOuncement, from sheer nervousness began
to laugh. and SAID felt sure that Mr. Hawkes.
worm must De very much Obliged to them!
was really trying, in bewildered wav to saw
the most polite thing | could think Of but it
was an unlucky speech, as, ten minutes later
Arthur told her We were engaged. | must
confess that. unlike Miss Muckleworth, had
thought very little about his sisters
except as his appendages. Mily the youngest
rather resembles him and loved her as soon
as l discovered the likeness. but she is timid
and gentle, quite over-ridden by Sarah who
resents my existence as an in Jury to Miss
Muckleworth though she has really endeavored
to like me and has succeeded in being
merely passiyely hostile since the announce,
ment of engagement. l fear / must still
be thorn in her side-for Miss Muckleworth
besides being her friend and near neghbor
is, she explained, "a power in the land" by
reason OF her riches and am only poor Off
GERS daughter. though my family is quite az
old the Hawkesworths.
Il will carry the spinning Wheel you girls
can take the picture down to the bower at
| once, and we will settle where they are to
stand when the room Is done" This from
Arthur, whom l have left all this time in the
attic
wait till have them busted" from Sarah
in a tone of horror.
Arthur quietly dusts them with his pocket
handkerchief, and then requests her to take it
away and fetch him a clean one as he did not
| want any servants bothering up there. And
| by this means We get rid of her for three
] whole minutes! At the end of that time abe
| returns and, laden with the jetsam and fiotsam
| of centuries, we make our way to the bower
which Is to be my own especial sanctum in
years to come.
We enter long. narrow room with a very