Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-01-29

endure much more OF The noise ana Ous-
tie of this hotel.
''Have little patience, child: we may
hear from them any day."
''Oh! mamma, if you could only know
how tired l am of being necessarily fol-
lowed and Swallowed by suitors of all
sorts and conditions and OF being made
love to by old men and smooth-face
youths, you would say 60 at once,
and let Mr.. Wilcox follow u.s."
NO, my child. 1t would never do to
go until we hear from them. There is
no alternative but to wait"
Very we'll, just as you say, mamma;
but am very anxious for change"
The last speaker was Armida Delaro.
Eleven years had elapsed since she left
the vineyards and blue skies of the Pa
cific slope and now she was grown into
one Of the most perfect of Gods Great
ures-a beautiful woman. The rich
Southern blood which she had inherited
from her parents tinged her cheeks
with a subdued flush of perfect health
She was a tall, graceful girl. and a per-
feet type of Southern beauty; though a
decided brunette she was not so dark as
to y distinguished for it. With her
beauty she seemed to have inherited
also the sweet disposition of her mother,
together with the frank open-hearted-
ness of her father.
Mother and daughter were sitting in
a private parlor forming one of their
suite of rooms at the West End Hotel,
Long Branch, where they had been
spending the summer. 1t was only dur
ing the last two years that Mrs. Delaro
had enjoyed much of her daughters So
ciety, for they had necessarily been
thrown very much apart owing to the
mothers set determination to personal
ly assist in the search for her husbands
murderer.
This employment, which had kept
her travelling all the time, combined
with the fact that Armida had been at
tending school at convent near to
Paris gave them very little opportunity
of being together.
Mrs. Delaro really showed very little
sign of the struggles she had undergone
in her features, though a close observer
might have noticed a settled and de-
termined expression which told with
out the aid of words that she was a
woman living with a purpose.
And indeed her purpose was stern as
ever, for as she sat on this bright Sep
TENDER morning talking to her daugh-
ter, her thoughts were far away with
her two staunch friends, Joel Wilcox
and Percy Lowell, who had left her two
weeks before to follow up a clew at New
Orleans. They had only written twice
since their departure, and even then
had given no particulars, so that she
was anxious and longed to know
whether or not they were meeting with
success.
Often and often had she waited like
this before, but her interest had never
tagged, nor her desire for vengeance
become less keen. When in conversa-
ton with her two loyal friends she al
ways spoke hopefully of the ultimate
success of her life work and had fire.
quently intimated that she fully ex-
pected to see Leon Velasquez face tc
face before death should call her to meet
her husband.
Of one thing she had been scrupu-
lousy careful, and that was to have nc
word regarding her husbands cruel
death uttered in the hearing of her
daughter Still, Armida knew of the
manner in which her father had come to
his sad end.
But to the girl the tragic affair had
never been so real and terrible as to he1
mother, and in recent years, as the mat
ter was never referred to in her pres.
ence, the whole story, which SO much
affected her entire life, was buried in
the oblivion of shadowy youthful mem
cries.
The conversation at the opening OF
this chapter might lead one to imagine
that Armida was of rather peevish
temperament, but such was not the case.
She had just cause to complain, and was
literally bored to death. She had been
sought after by every unmarried wearer
of pantaloons and suspenders during
her stay at the Branch. Races one day,
a garden party the next, then ball,
followed by yachting excursions and q