The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-02-10


Toward five O'Clock on an early October
afternoon, Lady Glumglass sat in the draw
ing-room at Beech Court, whose windows,
opening on the lawn, commanded fine
sweep of park, bounded by deep woods, the
horizon being formed by a range of gentle
hills, soft and blue in the distance. She
sat in low easy chair, book in her lap,
the tea equipage on low table near at
hand Though now somewhat advanced
in life, she still showed traces of the beauty
for which Nora O. Brien had been remark
able. But more fortunate than many
beauties who only show traces of past
comeliness, she had kept pace, so to say,
with her age, and had never depended on
some anachronisms of beauty which sur
vived general deterioration. Those who
could not have gathered an idea of her
youthful fascinations would have been
struck with the dignifed and refined charm
of her later years. A sorrow which had
failed to embitter had left its traces only
in sweet expression of benignant resig-
nation and as she sat reading in the old
fashioned room, she looked thoroughly in
keeping with the soft, sad beauty of the
autumn afternoon.
A sudden pattering of feet and scrap
ing of gravel caused her to look up and to
catch the bright, brown eye of Fop, a
plump spaniel of great intelligence and
beauty, who, having produced his effect,
sneezed, darted at the ground as though
about to initiate the feat of Curtius, and
careered off through the wire fence into
the park. Her eyes, following the dog,
rested soon on little group advancing
leisurely toward the house-three girls and
young man, the girls with baskets and
hooked sticks, the man with gun over
his shoulder Her eyes frightened as they
rested on the young people, and they were
fair enough to justify pleasure from an ar
tistic point alone.
Her two daughters, Alice and Minna
were slim, graceful girls of fifteen and six
teen; Doris Holt, the daughter of her
heart, was now sweet, tall nymph of
nineteen and the young man, her nephew,
Jack Wentworth, was distinguished by all
the beauty of the o Briens, with whom he
was related by the mothers side, and was
moreover, as clever, manly, modest, and
domesticated as any sisters idol in the
three Kingdoms.
welcome, dears YVES thinking of
making tea without you" said Lady Glum-
glass, as they stopped to come in under the
open window.
1t was my fault, aunt. Stay there,
Fopl May bring my gun in? 1t isn't
loaded"
Yes, dear. Have you had good day."
1.-TWO brace; and then the children
managed to cross my path, and wanted to
stay and see the fun, so l turned my gun
into a blackberry-stick and went with
them
"And that's the result" said Doris,
showing a large basket with about hand
full of red blackberries in it.
;'Yes that was unfortunate. put the
gun down on the edge of the basket, and
the blackberries escaped into ditch but
Minna and Alice have done well-or have
you eaten them on the way"
Alice and Minna had baskets well stored
with ripe berries, and though some traces
of red more than natures about their lips
showed that they had not scrupled to take
toll by the way, still their full baskets
were tokens of conscientious work
"Now we shall be able to have black
berry pie, blackberry jam, and all manner
of blackberry messes
you won't, Jacko, unless we send you
hamper in your old age
"Do, by all means I wouldn't lose the
fruit of our last walk together for Il good
deal"
i'Things don't seem to alter bit here.
This walk might have been any time the
last ten years.
"Only we shouldn't have got black
berries eight and half years ago, say
"Why not?"
''Not in April, Minna, not in April"
That's mathematics, you know said
Alice to the company generally.
Any pedantry on Jacks part in their
conversation was always ascribed to mathe-
matics, a science in which he had once
essayed to instruct them.
Jack relapsed into silence, stirred his
tea, and gazed over the landscape
Doris, dear" said her ladyship. 'I
fud that the Rooteens expect more work
from their goyerness than | thought, so /
have written to say that it will not do for
you"
"Thank you, dear,' said Doris "but I
think you are too particular about me.
As | must go, had better take what |
can, like Others, and get it over
''Tut-tutf' said Lady Glumglass. IF
Mrs. Holt is determined, so am |. She
has put the matter in my hands, and if |
wait year till l find satisfactory home,
she cannot complain.
This was subject which always excited
the little circle very much, and Jacks vio-
lence when it cropped up was for him
phenomenal
''Look at Jack" said Alice; poetry