Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-03-02

made principally with her nephew's
widow. to whom she was kind in fitful
way. and spasmodically attached.
She preferred her old home and her
old rooms and familiar surroundings,
she said; but the truth was that in other
houses she was forced to exercise a self
restraint that was irksome to her. She
went about among her kindred and
made long visits, during which Mary
and her boys enjoyed themselves and
their immunity from blaIne: but always
sooner or later she returned to them
This lady (as has already been more
than hinted) Ned Anthony had disliked
from his earliest boyhood. Once she
had accused him upjustly of trampling
down the tulips in the garden, and had
taken the word of little negro boy,
who was really the guilty party, in pref
erence to his own The race prejudice
between the poor whites and negroes of
the south is a thing of wonderful
strength, their mutual contempt i'm
mense; and to have negro believed be-
fore him, and that, too, when he was
speaking the truth and the negro was
lying. was an insult that was likely to
live and rankle.
The grudge was added to by little
scene which occurred about two weeks
after Anthony's Introduction to Mrs.
Beverley. He had called several times
and had established quite an intimacy
with the boys, having some fondness for
children and a decided Partially for
those of his own sex Miss Cornelia had
been absent or otherwise engaged at the
time of his visits; SO that the pair had
never met since the tulip episode, so
fresh in the memory of the one, so COM
pletely obliterated from that of the
other.
They had all come ont for a walk
Mary, the boys and Miss Cornelia. a
splendid dam of sticks and stones and
mud had been constructed across the
creek in the ravine which separated the
two portions of the estate, and the little
engineers, wild over their first success,
had scampered to the house to entreat
their mother to come out and inspect it.
In the hall they We're Joined by Miss
Cornelia, whom the children in their
glee invited to accompany them. 1t was
Hector that proffered the invitation,
and as he was the old ladys favorite she
readily consented.
The party proceeded on their way
pleasantly, little Hector helping his
aunt over all the rough places, as his
mother had taught him. At the pond
made by the damned up stream they
We're Joined by Anthony, who had seen
them from his window as they left the
yard.
Mary introduced him to her aunt, who
had heard of his wealth and was prepos-
sessed by his appearance and therefore
disposed to be gracious to him. She
even gave him her delicate old hand
to shake, although the nod and the slight
motion of the hand toward the hat with
which he had acknowledged the intro
ductiOn was not the mode of salutation
TO which she had been accustomed. She
talked to him also and made herself
pleasant, in sp-re of his careless replies
and the fact chat he addressed most of
his remarks to Mary and the boys.
The old girls broken all to pieces"
was Anthony's inward comment. "She
used to be a good looking woman, re-
member, but III be damned if she's good
looking now; her nose is a regular par
rot's beak. | wonder if she thinks I'm
fool enough to bother myself doing the
civil to an old squaw like her when there
Is metal more attractive at my elbow. /
don't pan sorry grit when can get pay
ing rock"
He made himself agreeable to the chill
dren, however, showed them how to
strengthen their structure, promised to
bring a Ratchet and some bits of plank
the next day, and help them to secure it
against all possibility of the waters
washing it away, and finally suggested
getting bucket of carp for them to
stock the little pond.
They assembled the side of the ravine
by path a good deal higher up the
creek than the one they had used in
coming down, Mrs. Beverley walking
first, with Anthony close beside her, and
feeling tritie annoyed because of his
neglect of the proper observances and
the knowledge she had that Miss Cor
nelia was being sighted and most prob
ably growing resentful Had she been
sure of the man beside her she would
help her aunt; but she was not sure of
him.
As likely as not he would have de-
clared that the old lady was as well able
to mount the slope unassisted as any of
them-which would have been the
truth, since Miss Cornelia was a hale
and singularly healthy woman for her
age, in spite of the complaints she con-
tinually made of untold suffering from
mysterious maladies. and her assump-
ton, upon occasion, of the airs of in
validism. Or, if he should do her be-
hest, it might be in a fashion that would
complicate matters further Mary was
afraid to take the risk, and walked on
gravely, scarcely answering him by
more than monosyllables. which, how
ever, proved in no way disconcerting, for
Anthony was full of the new house he
was about to build, and quite willing to