The record-union., 1896-07-12

I sit here with pussy" said Rose.
Then I can watch people go by in the
street. And the bank is just opposite.
If / look very hard-so.'' she pressed
her small face close to the glass, Il
can now and then see the top of Arch
les head over the wire blind in the
window"
rs that the way you keep house.
lazy person?" said the Colonel, patting
the hand that lay in his own. Il
thought I would find my Rosebud buzz
zing up and down like a little bee,
trotting to the shops and making won
derful experiments in the kitchen.
was certain you would appear in a big
white apron, clattering your keys"
Il would like that said Rose. Her
tone was woful. But Mrs. Kennedy
manages. There-there is nothing for
me to do"
She sighed, and then, jumping up, be-
gan to talk fast and nervously. There
was step on the stair, and along the
landing. Somebody looked in.
My dear Rose, do think
The voice was unpleasant. 1t was,
however, altered as soon as the Colonel
was observed. Mrs. Kennedy came in
smiling and shook hands.
The Colonel would stay to lunch, of
course? and to dinner? She must go
down and speak to the cook.
You ought to do that, Rosebud" said
the Colonel, pulling at his mustache
Il shall speak to Archie" But Rose
gave little nervous laugh.
Don't, papa; oh, don't! 1t would
make such mischief; and she would hate
r rrI,f 80
cook"
''Poor little creature. 1 am so sorry
for herl''
Il know old Mrs Kennedy makes her
life burden
Should not somebody speak to Archie
Kennedy?'
1T wouldn't do any good. 1t isn't
as if the old wretch had money. She
has got to live with them, and l suppose
that is why Mrs. Archie puts up with
her so sweetly. 1t can't be helped"
Poor Mrs. Archie! The old lady's
constant nagging must be enough to
drive her mad. Did you see how i'll She
looked?"
The Colonel heard bits of that con-
versation, for he was sitting behind the
takers parasols. 1t sank into his
mind along with his own conviction
and Roses anxious little face.
Promise that you won't be putting
things into Archie's head she had once
said, when the Colonel had come in and
found her crumpled in a little heap on
the sofa, sobbing. Il was feeling
little low that's all, and
would never forgive you. Promise,
promise!" and she would not let him go
until he gave in.
Rose was a plucky little soul, as she
should be, being soldiers daughter.
She would not complain or tell tales,
and if she did not show fight, it was for
Archie's sake. But the Colonel grew to
recognize a little patient droop of her
mouth-a droop that she curved up into
a smile if Archie came in. This was the
Rosebud whose life should have been
all summer, who ought to have been
the happiest little wife in the country
side.
The Colonel pulled at his gray mus
tache, and his eyes were troubled. Peo-
pie talked of it, did they? What did
they say?
IF only the horrid thing would go
and get married, and leave those two in
peace!'
Married! Old Mrs. Kennedy"
my dear, she would be only too de-
lighted You can see it in the twinkle
Of her eye. And it would be a mercy"
Hum, The Colonel
was thinking hard. There was one way
out of it. The lines grew deeper across
his brow. Those parasols were f1utter
ing with many other parasols, and the
talk was Of other matters. The Colonel
was driving home, and thinking. Light
words lightly spoken are not always
lightly heard.
The sun went down. A faint mist
rose over the soft place in the moors,
and the daisies were all asleep. AS to
the horse, he was going as he liked,
and he stopped at the stable gate. The
Colonel walked up to the house he had
lived in for many years. The flowers
the gardener sowed grew in the borders
stiff1y; but a rose tree that had been
planted long ago had grown all over
the wide front wall unclipped, unit
died-it had been planted by Rosebud's
mother.
There was a dog in the lobby. It
ter, in it's own line, and had probably
had great deal to do with the getting
of the many trophies that hung on the
walls "Grinning dead thingsi' as
Rose had called them; but she had been
early familiar with them, and did not
scream at wolves heads and tigers
jaws.
The look of the house was shabby.
The rugs We're worn and the papers
faded. 1t had the air of a mans house,
very comfortable to man, but a blot in
the eyes of woman.
Hum" said the Colonel, stopping at
the stair-foot and looking around. The
dog shifted at his heels, and followed.
There was one room up stairs that
was unlike all the others. The Colonel
turned the door handle softly, as If he
were on the threshold of some holy
place, as if the faint, faded
scent of roses was not to be lightly
breathed. There was strange silence
in there-a silence that did not seem
like the mere quiet of an empty room
Marguerite" said the Colonel.
He was speaking to somebody who
could give no answer, but his voice was
anxious.
Marguerite, you will not be angry?
1t is for our little one, our only girl
For her sake alone, my dearest,'
Then he turned and came out again.
His face was darkened with resolution,
and q decision that had been hard.
Mrs. Kennedy and her daughter-in-
law sat at the window. Rosebud was
gazing across to the bank, with her
hands ciaSned idla IN, he, 10, rbo