The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-21

Don't expect me this month. Awful
catastrophe at Gunt0n's. All of us i'm
plicated. Must hide. VIII write par
uculars. Sell Daphne and send the pro
ceeds. Old address. Mark -"
Telegram must have cost him two
shillings,' observed Clara. Just like
Marks carelessness. He gets all the
money and we have to pinch"
You hold your tongue, miss, and don't
speak against your only brother, " snapped
the doctor, sharply
But, Alfred, what does he mean about
awful catastrophe at the Gunton's?"
asked Mrs. Boyd, timidly. And can
Mark in any way be implicated"
do not be an utter fool Sarah. You
don't expect me to see all the way to
Gunton's any more than you do There
IS his telegram; you can read as much as
| cam
"But-he-he-can -be-be harmed
can he! O, Alfred, say something COM
forting: He speaks about-hiding-O, it
is dreadful"
Hiding, indeed! That's the result OF
your training. / wish my time had to
come over again, l would have married a
woman who could have reared her only
son properly. BAH you Maypole, YOU
He ficked his finger and thumb CON
temptuously and left the room.
In the one word "Maypolc" he betrayed
the root of the vituporatiOns of his wife.
She had the gift that he missed and so
ardently lOnged fortnight. Shcwas a tail.
slim woman. He would have willingly
sacrificed ten years of his existence to
have robbed her of those extra inches
inches which, could he have possessed,
would, he thought, have made a man of
him at any rate outwardly. He had not
the magnanimity to understand that true
nObiljtV lice 1ppDpls than that
"Never mind him, ma" exclaimed
Clara, kneeling sympathetically by the
sofa and taking the pocket handkerchief
out of the sobbing invalid's clutch. He
is always horrid, and worse so when he is
put out. Mark is shabby thing He is
for ever falling us, and getting you into
trouble with father"
But Clara. don't you sce-O, Bessie,
dear, you too, that Mark is not to blame.
He-hc-"
"How can you tell that Mark is not at
the very bottom of the CATASTROPHE" de-
manded Bessie, shortly and uncompro-
miSingly. 1T won't surprise me if he
proves to be the real culprit.'
Bessie, of all the family, resented
Marks superior treatment and his con
tinually vaunted right to be put the first
among them. Perhaps, as the eldest, she
had the most cause to mind.
Bessie fOr shame" reproved Mrs
Boyd, with a sudden spark Of spirit.
II am not ashamed, . declared the eldest
Miss Boyd, doggedly. II repeat that
Marks guilt on any subject will never
surprise me. He has been INDUCED and
pandered TO death. 1t has been simply
shocking"
Ma has not spoiled him." asserted
Clara.
Il did not say she had. Pa has been in
fault, | dareSay. But what matter who
has done it so long as he falls and is our
brother. l wonder what the awful catas.
trOphe is-murder, darcsay, All you
may both shrek as much as you like, but
believe it is murder. Mark is not one
given to cXaggeration; a crime that one oil
us would look blue over he'd laugh away
Awful catastrophe with him implies
murder. You'll see. Besides, what need
has he to hide from anything else. Heed
my prophecy, Mark will some day be a
felon under the hangman's moose"
well, ! neverl' exclaimed Clara, turn
ing up her little celestial nose, more even
than nature had done it for her, which
was unnecessary, as it had already been
unwontedly attentive in that respect
you do not seem to have an atom of affec-
ton for your own brother. To speak SO
unkiudly of him, too You ought to be
ashamed of yourself, Bessie.'
Il am proud instead that | am the only
member in the whole house who does not
set Mark up as an immaculate angel,
when he is-ahem when he is very faulty
indeed. OF course, l don't say that he
has murdered anybody yet, people don't
get outrageOusIy bad all at once. But he
is implicated this timc-'Ce nest que lie
premier pas qui coute. On tho next oc-
casion he may be the murderer"
81 I
jured boy. o why did you not come
home to your mother" walled that poor
creature. 'How much you need a friend
when even your own sister can calmly in
jure your character to such length"
Let US ring for tea suggested Bessie,
unmovedly stolid Il daresay il is spoil
ing whilst waiting for the tardy wanderer.
Dry your eyes, mother, there is one com
fort in Mark altered arrangements, he
and Nelly won't meet now"
His coming would not have endan-
gered him ON that score. Nellie went to
Ellington to-day" said Clara. Il said
good-by to her at the Lundies.'
why could you not have said so be-
fore!H snapped Bessie, unamiably. Clara
was whispering words of comfort into
Mrs Boyd's ears, doing her utmost to
cheer. Not that it must be supposed that
she was kinder or more mselfsh than the
reSt-She was not. Ihey were none OF
them model family Clara had her own
ends to serve. She wanted to slip out
that evening for an hour to meet Langley
Bruce, whom she ardently worshiped
To get her mother into an amiable mood
was the surest way TO effect that purpose
If DR., Boyd had been prosperous far be
yOnd either his deserts or expectation in
his medical career-and he had-the same
prosperity did not extend itself to a pro
portionate measure Of happiness in his
family circle. Five of his daughters Ger.
tainly had married fairly well. Each had
been contented to start in q moderate
style. Bessie even had been engaged
once 1t was whilst she was away on q
visit, but when her intended came over to
Slackaby he preferred her sister Lucy
and Robert Hilton was ANONYMOUSLY ex-
PEELED from the house at Bessie's angry
and indignant insistancc. Dog in the
manger like, none of her sisters should
win him if she could not
Report had it that when Mr. Hilton
saw the squabbling going on at the Boyds
that he was glad enough to avail himself
of any chance of release. Certain 10 was
that he did not continue his suit to Lucy.
who afterward eloped with a foreigner
from sisters house. If the Boyd girls
were not a success, what could be said for
the hope and pride of the house-the only
son. From the moment of his birth he
was regarded, especially by his father, as
a being Of a very superior mold. The
girls ware common clay.
Datf no xsrue Roaa Af1 f4atusi and fhfc nv