The Forrest City times., 1891-11-27
CHAPTER VI.

The Court was u magnificent pile of buildings standing about two miles from the river, on tue opposite bank to the Weir Mill, in the midst Of an extensive park, beautiful pleasnre-gronnds immediately surrounding the mansion.
 The Sabines almost knew the place by heart; they had carte blanche to go to the Court when they chose, only the library. music-rooin, and one or two other apart ments being locked up. The building it. self, they told lima, would take a fortnight to explore, to say nothing of the picture gallery, state apartments, chapel, and works of art innumerable. collected dur ing several hundred years.
 The Sabincs' carriage rolled under . deep arched gateway into vast court. yard, and lima looked up with profound yeneration Rt casteiIated walls that had drowned on crusaders and had been de. fended against Cromwel's soldiers. How could Sir Philip care SD little to remain in such g-and old home as this, brea thing traditions Of glory and greatness? Her heart swelled within her, her eyes filled with tears, and her breath came quickly. But the carriage stopped at the noble en- trance, and Sir Philip came down to re- ceive his guests.
 He gave, as in duty bound, his best at tention to Miss Durnford, but Ilma's rapt face was the only one he really cared to see. They passed through the great hall, where lima would have given the world to finger and where it seemed proper to converse in subdued tones, to a noble apartment all furnished in oak and ebony, with stained-glas windows and painted domed ceiling, and with stately pictures by Velasquez and Vandyek on the walls.
 "Ilms is quite overawed," remarked Rose, laughing; and the girl winced and colored, but smiled when Sir Philip turn cd to her.
 "Your organ of veneratlon is large,' he said; and just for second wild vision flashed through his mind which made his heart almost cease to beat, as he saw her standing there in her young beauty, with the warm light on her golden hair and deeper light in her wondrous eyes.
 Would she ever know why he was silent for a moment and summed her cloudless, fearless gaze?
 sI suppose" he said, after that pause, "that, though lima is the youngest here, she must be commander of the expedition, as she is the stranger. You all know the Court as we'll as-perhaps better than-I do. Miss Durnford tells me she would prefer to remain here for little, and then intends to steer for the couservatories, where Wilki-s will be superior guide to myself, for l am the worst of foricultur- ists. So, lima, where is it to be first for you?'
 lima hesitated; and then she said
 'I am sure to like it all''-thinking that perhaps Sir Philip would not like to go to the galleries, which she would visit when he was away again.
 "Would you like to see the picture-gal. leries?" asked Darrell, divining what was in her mind. "Yes, This way then"
 As they paused before an old Scvres vase in a a corridor, he said
 alt was very kind of you to think of me but I have no objection at all to the pie ture-galleries. Perhaps we had better commence with the one containing the fam fly portrats," he added, as Roland and Rose approached, Jamie having gone off somewhere else.
 It took some time to reach the galleries, there being so many things to admire and hear about on the way. But for llma's company, Roland would far rather have been in the stables. He had not much taste for curious carvings, statues, and things of kindred nature. He could not have told the difference between the Re- naissanee and any other period, any more than he could have assigned a painting to any given school. Sir Philip however had it all al his finger sends, and lima seemed in her glory; but in her heart she felt more and more, IS she went on, that this grand place was not home. shadow seemed to hang over 1t. Sir Philip was proud of the Court, he loved it passion- ately in way, but not word passed his lips such as would have been natural for it's master, in the flower of his manhood, indicating that he regarded 1t as an abd- ing-plaee. Nor had it all air of home.- Everything was redolent of the past. H. ma felt as if she were back in the middle ages. A laugh sounded odd and harsh, q commonplace speech seemed out of char acter. If Sir Philip had called her "fair maiden" and "thee'do and ssthou'd," she would hardly have been surprised. He in- deed was suitably framed; but Roland and Rose looked painfully out of place amid such surroundings. Yet lima wished she could see one room that looked us if it had been lived in within the last hundred years, as if children had ever played there or young girls dreamed there. What grand, bright, happy home this might be, but for the heavy curse that lay on It like . black palli
 The picture-galleries, Sir Philip told his youngest guest, occupied the whole of what was called Sir Dsmian's wing. hay.