The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1894-06-15

| ..''iol VI ule IooIl anu OF Une persons
IN 1t, His bright and ample presence
eStinguished the gaudy, gorgeor furni-
ture, and his voice, instinct with hui
| NOR ana -Sef-conSciousness, filed
the VOID Which usually reigned in that
| room
"Ah,' he said to me, 80 yo've come
TO try and clighten our Hottcntots
abolt a thing or two in this world and
the next. Well, you can only do your
best, You know; We'll try to make you
comfortable and back you up. Como
all the way from London to-day, I sup
pose-have you got yourself fixed up
yet in tn village what some author
chap-MattheW or Mark Summat or
ofher-call' a Lancashire He'll hole ;
Wen, were not quite so bad as that
! yet here, but were getting to it. But
it can't be helped. you know; we ha'
gone forrard and we mum COR for
rarder, as the rabbit said when he let
tn weasel get him into hole Yes.
1Iell-hole;' but it would be useful
change for you; it may give you an
idea when you want to describe to
your congregation the real"
Jim, lad" interrupted his sister,
you're forgetting yourself"
"Eh! Oh-ah, well I can remember.
you know, when all round about here
was as sweet and pretty place-I was
born back o tn White Moss" tndi-
eating that locality over his shoulder),
! 'Ioppleton way
/ Thus the full. quaint and careless
stream Of his talk flowed on, meander-
ing about one person and another, TINS
subject and that He seemed a we'll OF
curious and fearsome Lancashire lore
lore Of the days when spinning and
weaving We're done in the cottage
homes Of remote hamlets and home
steads when Lancashire energy ap-
| piled itself to useful work and not to
useless toll, when it's fabrics We're
made to be worn and not merely to be
sold-the days when the steam engine
was not yet with it's all-deyouring, all
| enslaving machinery.
We had talked thus for about an
| hour-or rather, listened to Mr.. Birley
| talk-when he paused and looked round
| Che had been fidgeting in his chair for
some time.)
Whats got 'Manuel?" he said, ad-
| dressing his sister. is he stuck till
midnight in his laboratory again? Does
not seem as if that smoke was to come
off tonight. In Pauls house now it
used to be Smoke where you please
drawing room or anywhere. Poor
Paul"
l was astonished and alarmed to see
Miss Lacroix rise hurriedly and glide
without word from the room. Mrs.
Steinhardt made as if she would fol-
low her, but she did not, She sank
back in her chair with sigh
Jim. JIM" she exclaimed reproach.
fully "Why will you say things when
you know the poor girl cannot bear
illusions to it?'
..Ah,' said Birley, humbly. Poor
lass! Her father" he explained. turn,
ing to me, has never come back from
| London Poor Paul" He was visibly
affected
"He had to 80 to the law courts
there" said Mrs. Steinhardt, more
than a year ago, about some dreadful
business Of the chemical Works-he was
my husbands partner"
.sHildershemer vs.. Lacroix and Stein
hardt"-(Frank turned on the music
stool to correct his uncles Dronuncia-
tion) We'll" said he, 'that's all
right, any way that was the case.
May be'-turning again to me-'you
TnIIleUlDcI IL Ill l1lC pdPIAS- - NNse.a
about the infringe Of chemical patent
Manuel had put them Up to in his
eternal laboratory"
NAY, uncle" interrupted Frank flush
ing UP. 1T wasn't fathers fault more
than anybody else's."
"Ay, lad," said Birley, "of course you
know all about it. But you're right to
stand up for your father. However,
Paul, as the chief of the firm, went
up to London to fight the case; he
fought and los. to the tune Of 100000
damages which, / suppose, drove him
mad, poor fellow, for he's never come
back-made away with himself, very
likely, or somehow, got made away
with.
but, surely" interrupted Frank
again, 1T could hardly be the damages
did it. uncle? You remember he went
to Paris after the trial about some
pattern business for the print works,
and then got back to London again"
"Ay, lad-but 100000 damages can
make man feel very queer all the
way to Paris and back. At any rate,
poor Panls gone-losl in the great
London wilderness"
1T is a very extraordinary affair.""
said l. But l don't remember seeing
anything Of it in the papers"
1T got into the papers, though" said
Birley, Ito some extent-not much. We
| didn't want noise about a private.
painful thing like that"
But" said l, wondering, II suppose
inquiries were made?
.They made inquiries high and low"
said Birley; they laid detectives on,
and everything. but nothing came of
| it. Did there, Frank
NO" said Frank; nothing at ALL"
Did you try to trace him out Of
London?" / asked.
Il suppose they did," said Birley.