Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-03-10
y = S,,x,
~ E BERNARDDlCS ~
copyright. 1891. by A. N. Kellogg Newspaper Cal
CHAPTER VL-CoNTINuEp.

| CHAPTER VL-CONTINUED.
But, if the primitive architecture
| SHOCKS your educated eye, you cannot
! but be charmed with the gardens, or
yards" as the natives call them. and
| the orchards which surround them.
In one of the more ambitious of these
edifices, George Arundel and his faith
| full friend and servitor, William Bladon,
have taken lodgings.
1t is the latter, who in the early
dawn of morning comes forth in his
shirt sleeves to the sidewalk and peers
| anxfously down the road. He is a
short, thick-set man, probably about
| sixty years of age, with clean-shaven
face and hair as white as snow. Evil
IDENTIFY something has discomposed him.
for his countenance, which usually
wears a kindly expression, is clouded.
and even the short wooden pipe in his
mouth from which he puffs huge vol
umes of smoke into the crisp morning
air fails to give him the accustomed
solace. There is as yet no sign of life
in the street. His gaze is fixed intently
on a small house a couple of blocks
away, before which big sign affixed
to Il post announces that it is the habi-
tatiOn of Mrs. Evesham, milliner and
dreSsmaker."
At last the watcher is rewarded by the
sound of wheels and the creaking of I'M
creased aXleS. and he sees Mr.. James
Dolman of Havana make his appear
ance behind his two shaggy ponies and
drive straight to the garden-gate of the
widows cottage.
Tho Sc I-ort
long waiting. There is u hum of femi-
nine voices, the door opens, and Wanda
Arlington comes forth, looking in her
white muslin dress and broad straw hat
SO fresh and pretty that even old Bla-
don's eyes soften with honest admira-
ton. She is accompanied by Mrs. Eve
sham and Kate, the former not looking
much older than when we saw her fif
teen years ago; the latter developed
into handsome young woman of four
and-twenty-indced, hers is beauty
you do not meet with every day.
Though in all respects she is contrast
to the girl around whose waist her arm
is encircled, you cannot but confess that
she has as great reason to be con-
sdered a perfect type of her peculiar
style as Wanda Arlington herself The
one, the violet; the other, the rose.
The one, soft, sweet, modest, radiant,
like Il delicate flower with CLEAN of
sunshine on it; the other, dark, vigor-
GUS, JunO-lille, as the rainbow-hued
plant nurtured by the passion bre athing
sun of the tropics.
Wanda kisses the dear ones good-by
and steps lightly into the seat beside
Farmer Dolman, who, like most coun-
try yollels, is subdued into silence in
the presence of ladies. He can scarce
find words to refuse Mrs. Evesham's
offer of refreshment. Then, amid
much waving of handkerchiefs and
many last expressions of affection on
the part of the women folk, the
charioteer rasps the horses mouths
with a vicious jerk of the rein, utters
long-drawn-out "Git a-u-p" and the
equipage moves away.
Not until it is quite out of sight, and
the widows door has been closed, does
William Bladon stir-then taking one
last look up the silent street, he knocks
the ashes from his pipe and turns his
steps towards a rustic seat under an
apple tree in the orchard, muttering
with intense satisfaction: THANK our
lucky stars, that little baggage be off at
last"
In this pleasant retirement, with
nothing to disturb him but the wild
note of the blackbird or the merry
chirp of the sparrow, he sits for long
time lost in silent meditation.
Then, a sudden thought seems to
strike him. He deliberately takes off
his waistcoat and sets to work with his
knife to pick out some stitches, which
had bound an inner pocket of the gar
ment. This accomplished, he draws
forth large leather wallet from which
he extracts number of papers careful
ly folded, some of them in scaled en-
velopes. At last he finds what he is
looking for, photograph. On this he
VIZ