The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-09-21

foreigners
"ihe forelghens--in tne boat'" l said
dryly.
Eyes, Of course-in the boat" he an
swered He was obliged to say that, but
he glared ut me across her as he spoke.
We had turned and were walking back to
the house, tho poplars casting long shad-
ows across our path.
"They were rude" l observed careless
ly, my chin very high. But there Is no
particular harm done that can see Mas.
ter Van Tree"
Perhaps not, as far rs you can see, he
retorted in great excitement, But per
haps also You are not very farsighted.
You may not see 1t now, yet harm will
follow.
Possibly" said, and was going to
follow up this seemingly candid admis-
sion by something very boorish when
Mistress Dymphna struck In nervously.
My father is anxious" she explained,
speaking to me- that should have as
little to do with our Spanish governors as
possible, Master Carey. 1t always vexes
him to hear that l have fallen in their
way, and that Is why my friend feels an
noyed 1t was not, of course, your fault,
since you did not know of this 1t was
L, snb COnllnutu WIN bnouih
not have ventured to the elm tree without
seeing that the coast was clear"
knew that she was timidly trying her
color coming and going, to catch my eye
to appease me as the greater stranger and
to keep the peace between her Ill matched
companions, who indeed stalked along
eying one another much as wolf hound
and badger dog might regard each other
across a choice bone. But the young
Dutchman's sudden appearance had put
me out. was not In love with her, yet /
liked to talk to her, and grudged her to
him-he seemed SO mean follow. And
so-churl that l was--in answer to her
speech, l let drop some sneer about the
great fear Of the Spaniards which seemed
to prevail in these parts.
"You are not afraid Of them, them"
Van Tree said, with a smile.
mo; l am not" answered, my lip
curling also.
"Ah," with much meaning, perhaps
you do not know them very wellr'
perhaps not" l replied still, my
grandmother was Spaniard.
$50 should have thought, he retorted
swiftly, so swiftly that felt the words as
l should have felt blow.
"What do you means" blurted out,
halting before him, with my cheek Grim
son. In vain were all Dymphna's appeal
ing chances, all her signs of distress. Il
will have you explain, Master Van Tree,
what you mean by thatP' I repeated
fiercely.
II mean what I said," he answered,
confronting me stubbornly and shaking of
Dymphna's hand His blue eyes twinkled
with rage his thin beard bristled; he was
the color Of a turkey cocks comb. AT
home we should have thought him com
ical little figure, but he did not seem SC
absurd here. For one thing, he looked
spiteful enough for anything, and for an
other though topped him by head and
shoulders, 1 could not flatter myself that
he was afraid of me. On the contrary,
felt that in tho presence of his mistress,
small and shortsighted as he was, he
would have faced q lion without wink
ing
His courage was not to be put to the
proof l was still glazing at him, seeking
some retort which should provoke hin
beyond endurance, when a hand was lait
on my shoulder, and turned to find that
Master Berthe and the duchess had Joined
US
$50 hero are the truants, the former
said pleasan tly, speaking in English ant
showing no consciousness whatever of thu
crisis in the middle of which he had come
up, though he must have discerned in oul
defiant attitudes and in Dymphna's trou
bled face that something was wrong
You know who this is, Master Francis, u
he continued heartily, 'or have you not
been introduced to Master Van Tree, the
betrothed of our hosts daughterf
Mistress Dymphna has done me tina
honor, l said stiffly, recovering myself II
appearance while at heart sore and angry
with everybody. but l fear the Dutcl
gentleman has not thanked her for the in
PRODUCTION since he learned that my
grandmother was Spanish.
cried the duchess, much astonished.
Eyes, madam"
| "Well to be sure, she exclaimed, lift
ing up her hands and appealing whimsi
cally to the Others, this boy is full Of
starts and surprises. You never know
what he will produce next. The other day
1t was warrant Today 1t is grand
mother and temperl"
could not be angry with her, and per
haps was not sorry now that my quarrel
with the young Dutohman had stopped
| where II had. l affected as well as
could to join in the laugh at my expense
and took advantage of the arrival of oul
| host who at this moment came up the
slope from the landing place, his hand.
outstretched and smile Of greeting Oh
his kindly face, to slip away unnoticet
and make amends to my humor by switch
ing off the heads Of the withes by Tx
river.
But naturally the scene left a degree Of
Ill feeling behind 1t, and for the first tim,
during the two months we had spent un
der Master Lindstrom's roof the party
who sat down to supper were under somt
constraint. felt that the young Dutch
man had had the best of the bout in tn,
garden, and talked loudly and foolishly
In the boyish attempt to assert myself ant
to set myself right at least in my own es
timation Master Van Tree meanwhil,
sat SILENT eying me from time to time II
no friendly fashion. Dymphna seemed
nervous and frightened and the duchess
and her husband exchanged troubled
glances. Only our host and Mistress
Anne, who was In particularly good spir
its, were unaffected by the prevailing
chill.
Mistress Ammo indeed in her Ignorance
made matters worse. She had begun t,
pick up some Dutch and was fond Of air
ing her knowledge and practicing fresl
sentences at mealtimes. By some i'll lucl
she contrived this neutrality-suspicious.
after, finding no one to contradict me,
had fallen into comparative silenoe--t
frame her sentences so as to cause as mucl
embarrassment as possible to all of us
Where did you walk with Dymphna thi
morning'" was the question put to me
you are fond of the water-Englishme
are fond of the water, +" she said to Dymph
ma, "Dymphna is tall; Master Francis
tall. sit by you tonight; the Dutch lad
sat by you last night" and SO on, and 8
on, with prattle which seemed to anus
our host exceedingly-he was never tire
of correcting her mistakes-but which pu
the rest of US out Of countenance, bringin
the tears to poor Dymphna's eyes--she di
not know where to look--and making he
lover glover at me as though he woul
eat me.
1t was in vain that the duchess mad
spasmodic PUSHES into conversation an
In the intervals nodded and frowned {
the delinquent Mistress Anne in her n
nocence, saw nothing She went on unit
Van Tree could stand II no longer, an,
with half smothered threat, which wa
perfectly Ineligible to me, rose roughl
from the table and went to the door as II T.
look out at the night.
, What is the matterf" Mistress Ann
} said wonderingly in English. Her eye
seemed at length to BIO opened to the fac
that something was amiss with us.
Before could answer the duchess, VIII
had risen, came behind her. "You littl
fooll' she whispered flercely, "if fool yol
arc, you deserve to be whipped"
why, what have done'" murmure,
the girl, really frightened now and appeal
Ing to me.
'Donel" whispered the duchess, and
think she pinched her, for my nelghbo
| WINGED "MOre harm thnn Won nness Vol