San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-02-23

| as directed by herself, has been of the e.
ratio order, and has embraced many topics
unknown to Monica. From the political
economy of Farce Isles, it has reached even
to the hidden mysteries of Hindostan.
| 81 must have struck you then as being in
my liveliest MOOD" says Monica, still laugh
ing. Terry told us yesterday he was as
gay as old boots. AS l looked like one, l
suppose l was at least half as gay as he
was After all, there is nothing like leather,
| no matter how ancient"
| There's an h in my bhoot," says Kit,
with some disgust. REALLY, the ignorance
of some people-even the nicest-iS surpris-
| ing" *
Then why don't you take it out?" says
! Monica, frivolously. Not that know in
| the very least what harm poor innocent
| letter could do there"
"You don't understand" says Kit pitt
| fully.
81 don't, indeed" says Monica, unabashed.
"a bhOOt is an Indian ghost" .s..
"And so you thought l looked like an In
dian ghost with turban! and an Afghan
| and scimiter! Oh, Kit! Did really look
| like the mahogany table beneath the silver
| moOnbeams? and did my eyes glitter?'
what goose you arer' says Kit, roar
ing with laughter. mo, you looked lovely;
but was reading an Indian story yesterday,
| and it came into my head" .l .t~..
You read too much, +" says Monica. Much
| learning will make you mad if you don't
| take care. Remember what Lord Bacon
says, Reading maketh full man. How
would you like to be a full wOman,-like
Madame O'Connor, for example?'
Francis Bacon never meant it in that
sense" says Kit, Indignantly. II really
lDOnder at you, Monica" And, having so
| scolded her idol, she relapsed into silence
| for considerable time. ..... ... ..
''Oh! what lovely dog-rosesp' says Mon
ica presently, pointing to hanging spray
of pink blossoms, satisfying as a happy
dream. 81 must get them"
She springs up amossy bank as she speaks,
regardless of the blackberry branches that
| cross her path, barring her way, and catch
ing viciously at her skirts, as though to
hinder her progress.
"Oh, take care p cries Kit, forgetting all
about Lord Bacon in her terror lest her pref
ty sister shall not show to the best advant-
age in her lovers eyes. Your gown will
be torn. Wait-wait, until set you free
| from these dreadful thorns." ..a .'..
ALAS how full of briers is this working
day world" quotes Monica, gayly. There,
now l am all right, and have got my pref
ty roses into the bargain. Are they not
sweet?-S,Ucetp holding them right under
Kits nose.
They are, indeed. And, by the bye,
here we are like the clown" says Kit,
pointing to low farmhouse in the dis
lance. 81.
Reaching it, and finding the door as usual
open, they enter what might be the hall in
another house, but is here the kitchen.
There is no leading up to it. From the mo-
moment you cross the threshold the kitchen
lies before you.
1t is a large room, if it may so be called,
with huge fireplace in which dozen fires
might be slowed away and forgotten. Just
now there is fame somewhere in its back
most depths that cannot possibly annoy
these June visitors, as one has to search for
it to find it.
An old woman, infirm and toothless, yet
with all the remains of great beauty, sits
covering over this hidden turf fire, num-
bling to herself, it may be of golden days
now past and gone, when she had been the
fairest colleen at mass or pattern, and had
counted her lovers by the score. Yes, those
we're good old times, when the sky was ever
blue and all the world was young.
Two younger women, sitting near her, but
further from the chimney nook, are gossip
ing idly, but persistently, in the soft, mel
| lifuous brogue that distinguishes the county
Cork.
As the Beresford girls enter, these two
| latter women rise simultaneously and court
esy with deep respect. The youngest of
them, who is so like the handsome old wo-
man in the corner of the fireplace as to be
| Enthusiastically of kin to her, comes quickly
| forward to greet her visitors with the kindly
grace and the absence of consciousness that
| distinguish the Irish peasantry when doing
| the honOrS of their own homes. This lack
of mduUdiSe hOnte arises perhaps from the
| fact that they are so honestly glad to wei
come a guest beneath their roof that they
| forget to be shy or backward
She makes slight effort to pull down her
| tucked-up sleeves, and then desists for which
any one with a mind artistic should be de-
yOutly grateful, as her arms, brown as they
| are from exposure to the sun, are at least
| shaped to perfection. She is dressed III
marOon-colored skirt and body the skirt SO
| turned I'D in fishwife fashion las zoe wore it
some seasons ago. that dark blue petit
| coat beneath, of some coarse description,
| can be distinctly seen.
Her throat is a little bare, her arms, as
have said, quite so, far up above the elbows.
She is stout and comedy, with a beautiful
laughing mouth, and eyes of deepest gray,
merry as her lips. Outside, lying about half
naked in the warm sunshine, are three or
| four boys with the same eyes and mouth,
undeniably her children.
''Whisha tits myselfs glad to see We" she
says, with beaming smile. Good luck to
yer purity faces. 'Fis leng time now, Miss
| RereSford since We came or Miss Kit there"
Continued on Sixth Page.