Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-07-04
FOURTH COUSINS.
BY CHARLES ID. VILLAIN.

BY CHARLES ID. WILLARD.
Something had happened!
There was such a rosy flush on hel
cheek, SO bright a CLEAN in her eye
and on his face such an utter abandon
OF JOY, that anyone-even a man
could have guessed the truth
Fortunately they had chosen the hill
road, the least travelled of all the way.
that lead down from the Monticello
valley into Santa Barbara, and for the
first haIf-hour after the event they me,
no one.
It was what the inhabitants of the
Channel City call a genuine Santa
Barbara day." The sun shone warm
and bright, and soft perfumed breeze
came out Of the west. There was June
in the air, although the calendar was
set for midwinter. The birds sang in
the trees above them, the squirrels
chirped from the hillside, and their
horses, wandering at times from the
road. sank to the knee in a waving sea
of flowers.
First of ALL she said, breaking the
silence of whole minute, you must
tell my father"
y
"Who's afraid?''
You have never seen papa do the
role of the cruel parent" said the girl:
che can be quite a dragon. Asyou are
kinsman, however,"
"a fifth cousin" cried the young
man. with laugh.
We'll, fifth cousins are better than
nothing, aren't they?"
IL ho1 boz
to-day?" Then the young man added
with peculiar and significant emphasis:
81 am inclined to pride myself on that
little scheme"
The girl brought her horse to sud
den stop and turned her clear brown
eyes, half opened under their long
lashes, upon her companion.
THAT little scheme" she repeated,
slowly. Il don't understand"
The young man laughed uneasily.
"Nhy, Catherine" said he, you don't
mean that you have believed in the en-
PERTAINING fiction about our great
great-et-cetera-grand
''Old Ebenezer Strong!" exclaimed
the girl How dare you call him fic
titious, when saw his portrait at my
own Rrandfather's-"
las your ancestor, my dear one, he
is an undoubted reality-but as mine,
/ regret to say, he is merely fgment
of your worthy fathers imagination.
In short-I would fain break it to you
as gently as possible-we are not fifth
cousins at all, but just plain ordi-
nary"
Not fifth cousins.''
"No, darling; and if You are going
to faint, please fall on this side, with
your head right here on my shoulder"
81 won't! Wretched bov, how could
you deceive poor papa so?"
II didn't deceive him. He deceived
himself From the very beginning of
our acquaintance he seemed deter
mined to locate me somewhere on the
Weston family tree, and you aided and
abetted him in the attempt"
Richard Strong, how can you"
II have a sweet and gentle DISPOSE
ton. and when he asked me if l was
not descended from Ebenezer Strong,
of West Brighton Ceuter. and you
looked at me so appealingly-"
81 didn't any such thing!'
"Why shouldn't assent? 1 have
doubtless had several hundred ances-
chances that some one of them rejoiced
in the prenomen of Ebenezer. 1t is
Just the sort of name that my for
bears were given to putting upon them
selves. as an effective and continuous
modification of the flesh. A horsehair
SKIRT, now, would be nothing to it."
..You may laugh, if it pleases you,
said the girl, severely, "but il papa
had known you were not a relative we
should not be riding alone together
He generally disapproves OF the east
ern people who spend the winter at
the hotel"
IF you really feel that have been
guilty of false pretenses," said the
young man, drawing his horse little
nearer. suppose we begin all over
again"
keep your distance, sir!" exclaimed
the girl, steering to the opposite side
of the road. eff we are to start asresh,
let it be from the very beginning,
three weeks ago"
Nov, as to your father" resumed
the young man, II think understand
him pretty well. because my one and
only parent, the governor himself. is
constructed on much the same plan.
Wherever he goes he is continually In
search of the lost tribes of the Strong
oenealogy. The last letter had from
him in Colorado, where he is spending
the winter, contained the announce
ment that he had unearthed four or
five new cousins-choice specimens 1
doubt not, that he will expect me to
meet and embrace on my way home.
perhaps it was wrong" he contin-
ned, sitter a moment of reflection, TO
play upon that little popularity OF
your fathers, to get into his good
graces. but you must consider the ex-
traordinary provocation, dear. 1t
seemed like my only chance-are you
sorry took it,"
She looked her answer, but did not
speak it, and then, avoiding the hand
extended to seize her own, she struck
her horse q light blow and dashed
down the road ahead.
A long, even canter in silence fol-
lowed, and they were again well into
town before the conversation began
again. Then, fearful of observation,
they spoke in commonplace