San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-11-23

| Finally, the evening before she and Mr.
Craig left Contrexeyille, Lord Fitzlllan, in
the absence Of his valet and his cousin, got
| hold of a bottle of brandy, and was guilty
of some wild antics, which cOnvinced-but
by no means consoled-Uncle Sandy.
CHAPTER XvI.-THE sERPENT'S TOOTH.
On the whole, Alexander Crag's retreat
| from Contrexeville was sudden, and barely
| in good order. He was not little crest
| fallen by the complete collapse of the bril-
| liant hopes which had dawned upon him
| for a moment The excellent effect of the
treatment and waters, however, had re-
! stored his elasticity, SO that his Sullenness
| and irritable depression did not last very
| long.
BY the time they reached Strasbourg and
were comfortably settled in a good hotel.
| he began TO talk of making plans; maps
| and guide-books were brought out, and
the old man frightened up when he found
Mona was highly pleased at the idea of
| seeing Switzerland.
She was a very efficient assistant, look
| ing up the railway fares, counting the cost,
and calculating the difference between for
eign and English money.
And so uncle and niece set out on a pill
grimage, visiting by very slow degrees the
most interesting places i'll Switzerland and
| on the Rhine.
In this tour we will not attempt to fol-
! low; are not these places, their histories
| and attractions, written in the books of
Murray and of Baedeker?
For the winter they rested at Dresden,
where Uncle Sandy was both comfortable
and happy in the society of Presbyterian
minister OF sound views, who taught Mr..
Craig chess. great resource, If sometimes
little irksome to Mona.
So autumn, winter, and spring passed by
and midsummer was close at hand.
To Nine. Debrisay the loss of her dear
companion was real bereavement
Mona's letters were her greatest comfort,
and, need it be said with what welcome
joy she received a letter from Mona au-
nouncing that she and her uncle would be
in London on the twenty-secOnd.
1t was a fine, glowing evening when, in
her prettiest cap, she awaited the arrival
| of the travellers, having assisted to lay the
table and make the place look neat and
pretty. OF course those watched for were
late, or seemed to be; but at last cab.
laden with luggage. drew up to the gate,
and the next moment Mona was in her
friends arms.
"Me darlin' child! Ihave been that lone
ly without youl And you are looking right
well, but terribly sunburned."
A hearty kiss, and then she went to
greet Mr.. Craig. who descended from the
cab with more alertness than she had ever
seen him show before.
Delighted to see you looking quite a
new man, my dear Mr. Craign she cried,
genuine look of pleasure dancing in her.
bright, dark eyes, AS she shook hands with
him heartily. welcome back, after all
these long mOnthSr'
Thank We. thank ye!' he returned,
pleased with the warmth of her greeting.
Ppm not sorry to be back again. l hope
you are weel?"
Eyes, quite WE'LL / am an evergreen.
Mr.. Macalister las been good enough to
come to cheer me up occasionally. Very
kind of him to trouble about an old wO-
man. Glad to see you. Go inside, Mr..
Craig. your nephew and will settle with
the cabman."
Ma, ma! I'll just pay him myself"
This done, Nine. Debrisay and Mona had
a few precious moments to themselves,
and then the party sat down to high tea,
with the sense of enjoyment arising from
the mixture Of familiarity aud complete
change.
Glow delicious the tea isl" cried Mona.
''That is one thing you rarely get abroad"
"Ehl but it is good to get bit of dry
toast again" said Uncle Sandy. And
Kenneth, my mon, am right glad to see
youn'
THANK you sir. I'm sure have missed
you and-and Miss Mona here, sOrely. 1t
was pleasure to have bit talk with mad
anne while you were away"
But, unclel Kenneth is not looking at
all well. He is pale and thin. Have you
been i'll, Kenneth"
"Oh, nothing to speak of Just cold,
and heaviness in my limbs"
Ell, mOn!' said Uncle Sandy, with a
knowing smile, 'it's grand to have Draw
young lassie speerin' after your health"
''She was always ferry good to me-" said
Kenneth, uneasily.
Then as appetite was allayed, talk flowed
full and free.
81 think. uncle" said Mona, after a good
deal of description of the people and places
they had seen, 81 think you ought to take
Kenneth with you to Craig larrOch. 1t
would do him world of good. And he
knows all about land and animals. He
would be a better companion than could
be-"
"Ah, but Gamma want you'll If / had my
own way, I'd have you bath always by !
me-"
"Well, am sure that is not impossible"
said Mona, thOughtlesSly.
She had forgotten her uncle's schemes;
it was so long since she had heard anything .
about them.
"Ahem! am glad to hear it," he re-
I,-,-1y,