The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1893-03-10

really dlu mol see now ~ was III Her poWel
TO do me any harm; but OF course 1t was
open TO her to in6ict vicarlous trouble
upon me, while at the same time serving
Lady Mildred whom she hated, an III
turn, and the stone which she ultimately
picked up, wherewith to slay this brace Of
birds, was one which lay, so to speak, At
her feet. II would have been very unlike
her to overlook 1t; nor was at all sur
prised when Jim sought me one day, and
informed me, with a very long face, that
his Vaccinations had been denounced 70
Lord Staines.
'.lt was Lady Bracknell's doing" ne
said. 'Tt seems that she went to the old
man and told him that she could not bear
to see him hoodwinked, that she felt 1t
her duty to open his eyes-and all that
and she opened his, eyes. But ! don't
think, /" adlled Jim lpensively, looking
down at che ground 'and them glahcing
quickly up at me for moment-"l don't
think that her sense Of duty had much to
say to the matter"
II will venture" remarked, ito go
along with you as far as that; don't
think her sense of duty had much to say
to it. But perhaps this is Of no great con-
sequence What has been the result of
this timely Intervention of herss"
"Oh,n answered Jim, with slight
shrug of his shoulders, ''the result has
been that have been turned out Of the
house. couldn't expect anything else,
could II What annoys me is to think
that ! have deserved it. Lord Staines
really behaved uncommonly well. He
sent for me at once and told me that l
had been accused by Lady Bracknell Of
Systematically deceiyingl both him and
Beauchamp. He said be thought / ought
to know what she asserted, though he
himself didn't believe her, and was sure
that neither Mildred nor would take ad-
vantage of Beauehamp's absence in the
way she described. We'll, of course, she
hadn't got it quite right; still, when ne
put 1t in that way, thad to tell him the
truth. never felt So small in my life,
and / couldn't get him to understand why
Beauchamp should have assumed false
character. The end Of IL was that he sent
for Mildred. 1t was very hard upon her,
poor dear; but she came out Of 1t splen-
didly. must say that Mildred isl
"oh, yes; / know-an angel" l inter
rupted, rather rudely. II don't doubt IL;
only, If | were in your place, think I
should prefer her being woman. Filial
affection is all very fine, but it seems to
me that, having made up her mind to
marry you, she ought to say So"
''But, my dear fellow, that's exactly
what she did, returned Jim. "There
was no persuading poor old Staines that
Beauchamp wasn't in earnest, and he
wanted her to promise that she would give
me up. That she refused to do, so then
he said he was very sorry, but that, under
the circumstances, he must forbid me his
house. ] couldn't complain of that. l
said was very sorry, too, which was true
enough. | shouldn't have minded SO much
If he had flown into rage; but he was
quite quiet all the time, and I'm afraid he
was good deal hurt, poor old chapl Mil:
dred says, be is getting fidgety about
Bracknell, too. They haven't D word from
him, and Che lawyers wrote the other day
to say that he had put his affairs into their
han Is, aud that he spoke Of leaving Eng
land. woR'ler where he is and what he
Is going to dosn ~ Z
Hardly were the words out Of his mouth
when tne door Of my study where we
were Sitting, was flung open, and in
walked Bracknell himself. He marched
straight up TO Jim, laid a hand on each Of
his shoulders, and said: swell, you dear,
solemn old jim, SO you're going to have
your own way at last, are youS About
time, too / saw Beauchamp in town,
yesterday, and he told me that it was all
right between you and Mildred. Pm
heartily glad Of it," "
1t was the voice Of the Bracknell of our
school days that spoke, and indeed when
looked at him ii seemed TO me that his
eyes, too, had recovered something Of
their old boyish Light. t'Give me cigar,
Maynard, said he, seating himself astride
upon chair, and we'll have q Jolly hour
together, we three; it's qulte'on the cards
that we may never spend another hour to-
gether; for I'm Off TO the Soudan TO fight
those black beggars, who seem able to
give pretty good account Of themselves
We haven't always been quite as good
friends as we once were, but that has been
my fault, and as Pm going away now,
perhaps you'll forgive and forget, eh,
iJimfn
Jim silently stretched out his big brown
hand, which the other took; and Chen !
produced my best cigars and rang for
brandy and soda. But Bracknell declined
that refreshment.
"No drink, thanks,'' said he, with q
laugh. 'I'ye given up drink and cards
and everything else that ought to be CIV
en- up, and I'm going TO be a good boy for
thefuture," 1.t
lie was in wonderfully high spirits, He
told US how he had discharged all hisdebts
of honor (which may have had something
toldo with his inability to discharge the
others; how, by working his interest In
high quarters, he had managed to get ap-
pointed to some queer corps--whether It
was the mounted infantry or the dis
mounted cavalry or the camel marines.I
can't recollect--and how he was looking
forward TO noble fight; (which, after
all, when you come to think Of it, Is the
very best use that a hulking brute like me
can put himself TO-" But about his wife
he said never word; nor did either jim