The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1893-09-06

anu ILl6Y 4SGB- N1EA0dl- SEEING MIN.
He was sitting under willow at Bill
labong, reading over and over to
himself the address to be delivered
before the governor IN the evening
And as he read his face had wintry
and inhospitable look
The night came. Old Roses en-
tered the dining room quietly with
the crowd. far in the governors.
wake. According to his request, he
was given a seat in distant corner
where he was quite inconspicuous
Most of the men present were in
evening dress He wore a plain
tweed suit, but carried handsome
rose in his buttonhole. 1t was Inn
possible to put him at disadvan-
tage. He looked distinguished as he
was. He appeared to be much in
terested in Lord Malice The early
proceedings were cordial, for the
governor and his suite made them
selves most agreeable, and talk
flowed amiabIy. After a time there
was q rattle Of knives and forks, and
the chairman rose. Then after a
chorus of hear, hear, there was a
general silence. The doorways of
the room were filled by the woman
servants of the hotel. Chief among
them was Vic, who kept her eyes
mostly on Old Roses. She knew
that he was to read the address and
speak, and she was more interested
in him and his success than in Lord
Malice and suite. Her admiration
of him was great. He had always
treated her as a lady and had done
her good. He had looked earnestly
and kindly into her brown eyes,
and
"And 1 call upon Mr.. Adam Sher-
wood to speak to the health of his
excellency, Lord Malice"
In his modest corner Old Roses
stretched to his feet. The governor
glanced over carelessly. He only
saw figure in gray with rose at
buttonhole The chairman whispered
that it was the owner of the house
and garden which had interested his
excellency that afternoon. His ex-
cellency looked a little closer, but
saw only a rim of iron gray hair
above the paper held before Old
Roses face.
Then a voice came from behind
the paper, Your excellency, Mr..
Chairman and gentlemen"-
At the first word the governor
started, and his eyes flashed search
ingly, curiously at the paper that
walled the face and at the iron gray
hair The voice rose distinct and
clear, with modulated emphasis. 1t
had a peculiarly penetrating quality.
A few in the room-and particularly
Vic-were struck by something in
the voice-t that it resembled another.
She soon found the trail. Her eyes
also fastened on the paper. Then
she moved and went to another door.
Here she could see behind the paper
at an angle. Her eyes ran from the
screened face to that of the govern
or. His excellency had dropped the
lower part of his face in his hand,
and he was listening intently. Vic
noticed that his eyes Were painfully
grave and concerned. She also no
ticed other things.
The address was strange. 1t had
been submitted to the committee,
and though it struck them as out of
the way it had been approved.
1t seemed different when read as Old
Roses was reading it. The words
sounded so inclement as they were
chiseled out by the speakers voice
Dicky Merritt afterward declared
that many phrases were interpolated
by Old Roses at the moment.
The speaker referred intimately
and with peculiar knowledge to the
family history of Lord Malice, to
certain more or less private matters
which did not concern the public, to
the antiquity of the name and the
high duty devolving upon one who
bore the earldom of Malice. He
dwelt upon the personal character of
his excellency's antecedents and
praised their honorable services to
the country. He referred to the
death of Lord Malice's eldest brother
in Burmah, but he did it strangely.
Then, with acute incisiveness, he
drew a picture of what a person in
SO exalted position as governor
SnOuIO De ana SnOuId not De. HIS
voice assuredly had at this point a
fine edge of scorn. The aids-de-
camp were nervous, the chairman
apprehensive, the committee i'll at
ease. But the governor now was
perfectly still, though, as Vic Dowl-
ing thought, rather pinched and old
looking His fingers toyed with a
wineglass, but his eyes never wa
yered from that paper nor the gray
hair.
Presently the voice of the speaker
changed.
But" said he, 'in Lord Malice we
have the perfect governor, man
of blameless and enviable life and
possessed abundantly of discreetness,
judgment. administrative ability and
power the absolute type of English
nobility and British characteri"
Then he dropped the paper from
before his face, and his eyes met
those of the governor and staid.
Lord Malice let go long, choking
breath, which sounded very like i'm
measurable relief. During the rest
of the speech delivered in fine
tempered voiee-he sat as in