The Irish standard., 1892-12-10

reports of him IN the wind.
.He5felt his strength quite broken as
he sat there with his dark head in his
hands, and the tears began slowly to
trickle through his brown fingers. The
impress Of the mothers hard, unjust
words seemed all washed away by those
drops wrung from the soul Of stalwart
man, to whom an outward show of emo
ton was a kind Of agony. George Bligh
had shed no tears when his mother died
or when he buried his last sister and
was left alone. But now he was crying
like child. These were the drops Of
awe and pity that are said to purge and
purify the heart.
He never knew how long he thus sat.
The sunlight faded out of the room and
travelled westward. His Maltese cat
jumped upon the table, stepping softly
among the neglected dishes. The par
rot, in weak, cracked voice, kept scold-
ing and fussing about on his perch.
s:Hullo. GEORGE he would cry, "don't
be a fool" He had lived a long time on
shipboard, and the sailors had taught
times he varied his advice to George by
the introduction Of a swear word.
But the captain did not hear him. He
was reviewing all his past He seemed
to be standing outside himself, where
he could see his life in all it's deformity-
the warping and perversion of his better
nature, layers Of hardness and selfish
ness that had gathered in moody, un-
sympathetic years, the appetite for greed
and gain that had grown upon him
stealthily like a creeping mold. He had
struggled for advantage like other men,
and some weaker brothers had neces-
sari]y gone to the wall. A strong,
masterful, self willed man, he had made
his purposes tell ia the world OF affairs,
while be shut himself away from his
neighbors and lived in narrow groove.
A good lover, % good Halter, a valiant
fighter, half way measures were not
possible to George Bligh. But now his
purposes all looked poor and mean and
sordid. He had lost his only love long
years ago. Had hercely denounced her
because he believed she had swallowed
the evil reports of his enemies, and the
good that was possible to him had turned
to bitterness, the wound in his nature
had gathered gangrene and proud flesh.
But these hours had brought Vinle
back to him She seemed to have come
from the pale shades of the other world,
after their iong separation, and to be
standing there in the room with her
gentle, beseeching face. He could think
of nothing bat Villie, and her presence
and nearness seemed to wrap him around
in soft atmosphere Of forgiveness and
reconciliation. He remembered her as
she was when girl, among the morn
ing glories and tall hollyhocks Of the
old Mayhem garden. with the tender
rose and.snow Of her pure skin. and the
sun shining on her dark c11rls. He re-
membered Ill her little movements, her
smallest words, the chances, half playful,
half loving, she had given him, the
blush that came SO readily to her cheek
when he appeared. 81
How was he ever to approach Vinie
across that inApassable gulf Of years that
had been dug between them? He had
promised Mrs. Whitc17mb never to re-
veal the secret Of her perfidy, and al
though the woman was a viper he must
keep his word. Should he stride boldly
into the cid Mayhem homestead and find
Vinie there hy the window where he
had known she was sitting all these
years, although he had never looked her
way. and clasp her and kiss her and
claim her for his own? And would she
understand without speech and come to
him with the confidence Of child?
The MAN was shut out from all sights
and sounds by the little world Of emo
ton in which he lived. He was away
back in his youth, wandering again with
Vinie in the Pelham woods on q spring
morning when the laurel was in bloom,
and all the intervening, fruitless, with
cred time had dropped away. The day
had sloped to twilight. then melted into
darkness when he raised his head, for a
strange sound had pierced the quiet street
through and through. It was the sound
of many feet, the running Of men and
boysclose pressed, breathing hard, down
the roadway. Suddenly church bell
changed out, then another and another.
He stepped to the window, opened it and
thrust forth his head into the still even
ing air. A significant smell of burning,
came to his nostrils, the sound of stealthy
cracking and swapping flames greeted
his ear just as woman's shrill voice be-
gan to shrek, ''Fire! Fret
A snaky red tongue shot up among
the apple trees close to the bounds OF
Captain Bligh's garden. He looked
about bewildered for moment trying
to get his bearings. Suddenly it came
over him like blow that the fire was
making Roadway in the L part of the
old Mayhem house. He heard the en-
gines and hose carts rafting down the
street, but he never knew how he got
out Of his house or scaled the interven-
ing fences and walls between his garden
and Wines home. He saw at once the
fire was confined to the kitchen and
shed and had not yet attacked the main
building. The night was MINDLESS. and
the flames went straight up against the
sky with dense volumes Of smoke and