The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-10-18

rangements after his fathc"s death.
which, he being under age, had been
managed entirely by hi, mothe'' she
had tod him that E%lacGhaii, the an
| ce5tral property. II queer tumbic-down
place which nobody would care Tor
was 20 be inhabited, 50 long as she
liked. by Miss Jardine, a second cous-
in. This must be she who had now
died.
Il wonder, ought ! t, go TO her iu-
neral:' Howevec.c con ,ulting the lctte >.
which had travelled to Cambridge and
back, he found this wa, impossible.
! She must have slept with hcr fathers
for sCme days already. Poor Cousin
Silence. WHAT Il queer name, by the
by. wonder what>hc was like or if
J ever saw herr"
And then, by a sudden flash OF mem
Dry. he recalled u circumstance which
in the confusion and anguish o the
time had entirely slipped away h w,
not many hour, before his father had
died. there had crept into the sick-
room "A lady-an old lady. nearly as Old
as Mr.. Jardine, and curiously ike hlm.
! At sight of her wonderful brightne $
had cone into the dying fac. Cousin
Silence:" YES, Horny, wa all they
said. but she knott beside him: and
they kissed one another, and he lay
looking at her till tAe last CLEAN of
CONSCIOUSNESS IS faded away. After that
for he did not actually die for some
hours-she sat beside Mrs. .lardinc,
watching him till the end. And after
the end. ROdcrick remembered she
had taken his mother out of the room
and comforted her, staying a little
while longer. and then leaving. no one
thinking or saying much about her,
either at the t me OF a'terward.
Now. r~ecollccting his fathers look,
and hers too. the whole story. n pos
sible story. presented itself 10 the I'M
aginativc young man in colorS vivid as
life. AMI tender as death alonc can
make them. And when. carelc,sly
opening smother letter. he found it was
from the lawyer Of this same Miss
Jardinc, stating that she had left him
frederick Henry .Iardine. her see
Ond cousin once rcmovc the whole
OF her sinai property. a. also a d'a
mond ring. which his father gave m
many years ago. he was deeply
toIchcd.
Il wish | had knowA her. wish |
had had a chance of being good to her
poor Cousin Silence" thought he.
And as he sat watching t e lightof
the dying day watch died 50 peace.
fully. SO gloriously over the western
hills he, with his life u,t b.gun. pom.
de ed g the two lives nov eaded,
the mystery Of which hc que ,sed at.
but never could know. exccp, that thcv
were safely ended.
When the su | set, going down like a
ball Of fire which dy1d the river all
crimson, and the sud rn gray chill Of
an October twilight came. Rodcrick
started up. a little ashamed of himself,
and still more ashamed when he found
he had entirely neglected to ask the
time OF the return train to lsichcrden.
lust like me mother will say and.
half laughing. but vcXcd. 70, il always
veXcd him TO veX his mother. he tore
along "a fast a, his long legs could
carry him. to the railway station. The
train was .ust gong AMI il was at the
risk OF his llle-1o sa, nothing of IL
penalty of forty snilliug,-tnat thi,
foolish young fellow contrived to leap
into it; breathlc,s. exhausted. having
nearly killed himself in his endeavor
to do his duty"
SO he represented to himself, at
least, and felt 4 most tremendous mar
tyr al the way to Eichcrden. 1t did
mot occur to him that simply looking
a hi watch and the timetable would
have savcd all. liut at his age We are
apt to overlook the little things on
which, like the coral islands Of the
south Sea ocean,. II lives are built.
How far We build them ourselves. or
Fate builds for us. Gcd only knows.
Tearing up in Il ,s,b TO his own door
or rather his mOthcr,-he already be-
gan slightly to feel the difference
ringing as if he thought the hou-e wa
on lire ,and.Leing met by the imperturb-
abe butler with the information.
y cs. sir, dinner is scrvei: Mrs. lar
dine wal ed half an hour. an then
asked Mr.. Thomson to take the foot Of
the table all this did o contribute
t. itoderick's placiiiiy of spirit. When
he At last walked into tnat blaze of
gaS-llght-that dazzle IF crystal and
platc-that strong aroma Of dainty
dishes ard excellent wines, and ~clatter
of conversation. which makes up a
Richerden d%innar-party, he was not in
the best frame Of mind to enjoy the
ainc.
His mother was so busy talking. and
the sllvcr-gilt epergne was such an cf-
fectual barrier between the upper and
lower ends of the table. that She never
noticed that her son-in-aw.elect
quilted his place and her son slipped
into it, till the deed vas done. Then
ltodcrick might have received a good
healty scolding, not undcserved had
not something in him-was il his
fathers look:-rcpressed the ebulli-
ton. She merely said: "Oh. my son
Is there, | see. Better late than
ncyer." And the dinner went on.
When, the ladies having retired. he
still had to keep his place and pass
the hOttlc"-which he loathcdIto
elderly gentlemen, ay, and young ones.
too, who evidently did not loathe it