Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1893-12-07

The doctor had his compensations to
make up for his loss. The great scales
of fate had been held on level for him,
for where in all great London could one
find two sweeter girls, more loving. more
intelligent and more sympathetic than
Clara and Ida Walker? So bright were
they, so quick, so interested in all which
interested him, that if it were possible
for man to be compensated for the loss
of a good wife then Balthazar Walker
might claim to be so.
Clara was tall and thin and supple.
with graceful, womanly figure. There
was something stately and distinguished
in her carriage-''queenly" her friends
called her, while her critics described
her as reserved and distant. Such as it
was, however, it was part and parcel of
herself, for she was and had always from
her childhood been different from any one
around her. There was nothing gregari-
Gus in her nature. She thought with her
own mind, saw with her own eyes, acted
from her own impulse. Her face was
pale-striking rather than pretty-but
with two great dark eyes, so earnestly
questioning, SO quick in their transitions
from joy to pathos, so swift in their com.
ment upon every word and deed arouns
her-those eyes alone were to many
more attractive than all the beauty of
her younger sister. Hers was strong,
quiet soul, and it was her firm hand
which had taken over the duties of her
mother, had ordered the house, restrained
the servants, comforted her father and
upheld her weaker sister from the day of
that great misfortune.
Ida Walker was hands breadth small
er than Clara, but was little fuller In
the face and plumper in the figure. She
had light yellow hair, mischievous blue
eyes, with the light of humor ever twin
king in their depths, and large, per-
fectly formed mouth, with that slight up
ward curve of the corners which goes
with keen appreciation Of fun, suggest
ing even in repose that latent smile is
ever lurking at the edges of the lips. Sl.'
was modern to the soles of her dainty
little high heeled shoes, frankly fond of
dress and of pleasure, devoted to tennis
and to comic opera, delighted with a
dance-which came in her way only too
seldom-longing ever for some new ex-
citement, and yet behind all this lighter
side of her character thoroughly good,
healthy minded English girl. the life and
soul Of the house and the idol of her sis
ter and her father. Such was the family
atNo. 2. Apeep into the remaining villa,
and or introductions are complete.
Admiral Hay Denver did not belong to
the horid, white haired, hearty school of
sea dogs which is more common in works
of fiction than in the navy list. On the
contrary, he was the representative Of
much more common type which is the
antithesis of the conventional sailor. He
was thin, hard featured man, with an
ascetic, aquiline cast of face, grizzled and
hollow checked, clean shaven, with the
exception of the tiniest curved promon-
tory of ash colored whisker. An observer
accustomed to classify men might have;
put him down as a canon Of the church
with taste for lay costume and coun-
try life, or as the master of a large pub
lie school, who joined his scholars in their
outdoor sports. His lips were firm, his
chin prominent, he had hard, dry eye,
and his manner was precise and formal.
Forty years of stern discipline had
made him reserved and silent Yet when
at his ease with an equal he could read
lily assume less quarter deck style, and
he had fund of little dry stories of the
world and its ways which were of inter-
est from one who had seen so many
phases Of life. Dry and spare, as lean as
q jockey and as tough as whipcord, he
might be seen any day swinging his sill
yer headed Malacca cane and pacing
along the suburban roads with the same
measured gait with which he had been
wont to tread the poop of his flagship.
He wore good service stripe upon his
cheek, for on one side it was pitted and
SCARED where squirt of gravel knocked
up by round shot had struck him 80
years before when he served in the Ian
caster gun battery. Yet he was hale and
sound, and though he was Is years senior
to his friend, the doctor, he might have
passed as the younger man.
Mrs. Hay Denver's life had been very
broken one, and her record upon land
represented greater amount of endur-
ance and self sacrifice than his upon the
sea. They had been together for four
months after their marriage, and then
had come hiatus of four years, during
which he was fitting about between st.
Helena and the Oil rivers in gunboat.
Then came blessed year of peace and
domesticity, to be followed by nine years,
with only a three months break-fve
upon the Pacific station and four ON the
East Indian. After that was respite in
the shape Of five years in the Channel
squadron, with periodical runs home,
and then again he was off to the Medi-
terranean for three years and to Halifax
for four. Now at last, however, this old
married couple, who were still almost
strangers to one another, had come to-
gether in Norwood, where, if their short
day had been checkered and broken, the
evening at least promised to be sweet
and mellow. In person Mrs. Hay Denver
was tall and stout, with bright, round.
ruddy checked face still pretty, with
gracious, matronly comeliness. Her
whole life was round of devotion and
of love, which was divided between her
husband and her only son, Harold.
This son it was who kept them in the
neighborhood of London, for the admi-
raj was as fond of ships and of salt wa
ter as ever and was as happy in the
sheets of 2-ton yacht as on the bridge
Of his 16-knot monitor. Had he been
united the Devonshire or Hampshire
coast would certainly have been his
choice. There was Harold, however, and
Harold's interests were their chief care.
Harold was "a now. Three years before
he had been taken in hand by an ac-
quaintance Of his fathers. the head-ssff g q
considerable firm Of stockholders, and
fairly launched upon change. His 300
guinea entrance fee paid, his three sure
ties of e5OO pounds each found. his name
approved by the committee and all other
formalities complied with. he found him