The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-17
THE AMERICAN CLAIMANT.
Nv MARK TWAIN.
Copyrrht. 1901. by s. l.. Clemens.l

a ,o, AZ "iyyocrxrs AsRoAp" "rortAwYrR' "nuchtf'
stsRr vss,"
ropynsh. 1901. by s. T.. Cl.mensi
CHAPTER
VI answer to that telegrar, no arriving
daughter. Yet nobody showed any uneasiness
nr seemed surprised: that Is. nobody put
washington After three days OF waiting ne
oetod Lady Rossmore what she supposed tho
,rouble was. She answered. TRANQUILITY:
"ob it's some notion Of hers, You never can
tcIl she's a Sellers all through-at least IN
s,,no Of her ways-and n Sellers can't tell YOU
hotorehand what he's going to do. because no
Jnn,t know himself till he's done 1t. She's all
.i,bt. no occasion to worry about her When
va reedy she'll como or she'll write. and
van can't tell which till It's happened
n ,urned out to be letter. 1t was handed
4, ~ thot moment. and was received by the
mother without trembling hands or feverish
.,gerness, or any other OF the manifestations
san,mon In the case Of long-delayed answers
" imneratiye kilograms. She polished her
c,,sses with tranquility and thorouRhness.
nleasantly cossiping along awhile. then
epened the letter and began to read aloud:
K,n,woRru Krrp R.p GAuSrIsr HALL.
Rowfya IvASBoE CoLLtGr, THURSDAY.
Dr,, PRECIOUS MAMA Rosssonx; Oh the JOY OF II -
ant
.,s. A. our rretentions You Know; and had fought
s..t =, we'll a. could by turhiug up at theirs They
srsys said It might be something great and hne To be
...,,fn shadow OF an eardon but to merely be shad
nv NJ n shadow. and two or three times removed at
,h.t-poo,.pooh And awaysretortcd that not to be
ali, to show four generations OF AmericAnColonia!'
pu,ch salt Cod McAuis'er nobility might DO
.rdpr,tle hut to have confess such an orignpfew
fswi Well tho telegram. 1t was just cyclone' The
messenger came right into tina great Rob Roy Hall OF
Ardienc. a, excited AZ he eould be- singing outs pes
,.,ch for Lady Gwendoen selersf" and you ought TO
have seen that smpering. chatdering assemblage of
nchbeck arstocrats turned to stone WAS of In the
sorner Of course. BY myselfits where Cinderella be.
longs I took the telegram and read It, and tried to
s,int-sud could have dono It II had had any prep
sraton but 1t was all so sudden. you know-but no
matter did the next hest thing: I put my handker.
chief to my eyes and fed sobbing to room dropping
the telegram as started Irelessed ono corner Of my
eve a monent-just enough tosee the herd swarm for
Nh. te,egram-and then continued my broken hearted
flight, just as happy asa bird
Then tho visits of coincidence began and had to
accept the loan OF Miss Augusta reuplstou-Ashmore
Bamtons quarters tho press was great and
there isn't room FOR three and cat In mine And I've
been holding lodge OF since and defend.
ing myself against peoples attempts to claim kin. And
do you know the very first TO fetch her tears and SYM
psthy to my market that foolish Skmperton girl
who las always snubbed sham fdlly and claimed
iordshp and precedence of tho whole college because
some ancestor OF hers. some time or other was Nc.
AIlster Why it was like tho bottom bird in tho
nasere putting airs because it's head ancestor was
apterodactyL
Put the ger-eatest triumph OF all was-Suess. But
you'll never This ist That little fool and two others
have always been fussins and frettins which
entitled to precedenee-by rank. you know. They've
nearly starved ensetves At it, for each claimed the
right take precedence OF all tho college In eavng
table, and neither OF them ever nnahsd her dinner
but broke of the middle and tried to get out ahead
the others. Well. after my INST days grief and
elusion-I was fixing up mournins dress You ses-r
appeared the public table again. and theu-what do
you think: Those three nuny goslings sat there con-
tentedy and squared up the lsng famine-lapped and
Tapped. munched and mucheA. alto and ate, till tho
gravy appeared in their syes-humbs waiting for the
Lady wendolsn take precedence and now out nrst
you see
Oh yes I've been having darling food time. And
d. you know not OF these colleGans has had the
cruelty to AK me how came BY my new name. With
this is duo to charity. but with the oths 1t isn't
They refrain not from native kindness. but from edu-
Gated discretion. educated them.
Well as soon as shall have settled up whatS left Of
the old and snued up few moro Of those pleas
snty interchangeable OF incense. shall pack and
depart homeward. Tell papa am - fond Of him a.
Of my now name couldn't put 1t stronger than
that. What inspiration itwasi But inspirations
come easy to him These from your loving daughter.
GwrNpoLEx.
Hawkins reached for the letter and glanced
over it.
Good hand" he said. "aud full Of conf
dence and animation. and goes racing right
along. She's bright-thsts plain"
"Oh. they're all bright. tho sellerses. Any
way. they would be there were any. Even
those poor Latherses would have been bright
II they had been sellerses: mean full blood.
OF course. they had Sellers strain in them-a
big strain Of 1t. too. but-being Bland dollar
don't make 1t dollar. Just the same"
The seventh day after the date Of the tele-
gram Washington came dreaming down to
breakfast and was set wide awake by an cleo
trfcal spasm Of pleasure. Here was the most
beautiful young creature he had ever seen in
his life. 1t was Sally Sellers. Lady Gwendolen
she had come in the night. And it seem ed to
him that her clothes were the prettiest and
the daintiest he had ever locke upon, and tho
most exquisitely contrived and fashioned and
combined. as to decorative trimmings and fix
ings and melting harmonies OF color. It was
only morning dress. and inexpensive but
he confessed to himself. in the English COM
mon to Cherokee Strip. that 1t was "corker"
And now. as he perceived. the reason why the
Sellers household poverties and steriities had
been made to blossom like the rose. and charm
the eye and satisfy the spirit. stood explained:
y
her works. and furnishing In her own person
the proper accent and climaxing finish Of the
whole.
my daughter. Major Hawkins-come home
to mourn: flown home at the call OF afiictlon
to help the authors OF her being to bear the
burden OF bereavement. She was very fond
OF the late earl-idolized him. sir. idolized
him"
Why. father I've never seen him."
True-she's right. was thinking Of an.
other-er-of her mother"
lidolized that smoked haddock-that SEN
umental. spiritless-"
was thinking OF myself! Poor noble fol.
low. we were inseparable com"
Hear the mani Mulberry Sel-Mul-Ross-
more!-hang the troublesome name. I can
neVer-if I've heard you say once I've heard
you say thousand times that II that poor
sheep"
was thinking of-ot-I don't know who
Twas thinking Of. and It doesn't make any
Inference. anyway: somebody idolized him.
'ecoilert 1t as il it were yesterday: and"
=, rather. am going to shake hands with
MAJOR Hawkins. and let the introduction work
sone and catch up at its leisure. remember
you very we'll indeed Major Hawkins. although
was little child when saw you last. and
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