Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-02-27

She was a kindly woman by nature, and
lenient to outsiders, although strict
enough in regard to her own people,
which term of course included all the
inhabitants of her native state When
she spoke of Anthony's origin as ''west-
ern," she established at once in her own
mind a reason for his roughness and also
an excuse.
The judge poked the fire meditatively.
HE uses western idioms," he remarked,
''but it is along with those of other Sec
tons. He used one or two today that |
never heard except from people who
have lived among negroes. They had
the true cotton and tobacco ring. And
in the next sentence came Maine logging
terms. His language is cosmopolitan,
but the timbre of his voice is southern,
and his intonations sounded mighty ia
miliar in my ear"
| Dear me- said the old lady. to whom
an unconventional westerner was thing
of interest but an unconventional south
erner an denominations; perhaps | had
better not have him here until we find
out more about him. | have asked the
Harveys and the Carringtons and Mary
Beverley to take tea with us on Thurs
day. I'm very fond of Mary, and | want
to show her some attention, now that so
much of the land is gone and their cir
cumstances so altered. l thought of
asking Mr.. Anthony also, because l
know Mary has no feeling about his
having bought the place, and as they
Will be such near neighbors it seemed a
pleasant thing for them to meet at once
and be quite friendly. But if he's a
southern man, and common, perhaps
she wouldn't like to meet him. Indeed,
don't know that l shall myself"
The judge, who could not appreciate
the distinctions of locality in common
ness, and whose hospitality was pro-
verbal, laughed outright. There is
nothing the matter with the man, my
dear he explained. You've flown off
at a tangent. He's quite presentable.
and if his grain is a little coarse he won't
hurt Us any. Invite him by all means.
and let's be friendly with him. If we
turn our backs on settlers with good
money in their pockets how will the
country ever improve materially? Have
all the people; and let Anthony come,
too, by all means; we have no marriage
able daughters"
The same familiarity of tone and in
tonatiOn which had struck the Judge
commended itself to the attention of
Mrs. Hector Beverley when the new
conner was introduced to her on the
Thursday evening in question, for the
original programme was carried out in
| Of
the hostess. He was a presentable man.
she was fam to acknowledge, well made
and well dressed, and if he lacked a GER
tain fine bouquet of gentility she did
not, and having accepted him as her
guest she did the very best she could
for him, Introducing him to her other
guests with marked and gracious cour-
tesy and bringing him finally to Mrs.
Beverley, to whose special care she COM
mended him.
Such near neighbors should know
each other and be friendly" she said,
with a smile. Won may make it pleas
ant for each other
Mrs. Beverley smiled also as she gave
Anthony her firm white hand and init
mated by a slight gesture that he was at
liberty to take the seat beside her on the
sofa.
Il think that in coming to be nv
neighbor at Repton, Mr. Anthony, you
are in some sense coming home," she re-
marked pleasantly. Your voice is very
southern. Perhaps we can claim you
by birth as well as adoption
Anthony regarded the clear cut, in
tellectual, but scarcely pretty face
turned toward him a trifie resentfully
She was Mary Beverley, but not the one
whose memory had lived solitary violet
amid the barrenness of his ambitious.
practical existence. He owed her
grudge for being here in the real Mary's
place-for having deluded him, although
unconsciously, into the belief that the
real Mary lived and had grown from
fair, loyal childhood into a womanhood
as noble. And she was not even pretty
according to his standard. Her face
was colorless, except a dash of crimson
in the lips. of which the under one was
a triie full. Her dark hair crowned her
head in coils that had shadows but no
lights; it waved slightly at the temples,
where there We're already lines of gray,
and it was parted graciously over the
broad brow. Her eyes were handsome,
dark, and straightforward in their out
look, with no tricks of lid or lash, no
droopings and upraisings, no pretty CO.
quetries of glance. a woman past her
first youth, woman who even in that
youth had never been beautiful, and yet a
woman to be trusted, admired and
loved.
This the man beside her vaguely felt
and it increased his unreasonable resent
ment. She was such woman as the
child he had loved with unconscious
chivalry might have developed into, and
she was only-Hector's widow.
Not being versed in social amenities
he let his resentment get uppermost and
replied to her courteous remark
brusquely:
TIN not Yankee, if that's what YOU
mean, and l wasn't born out west. I've