Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-02-08

Anu NOu Will tdhc tildt pODF kIl
with you, Of course, mother" he added
eagerly. Iwant you ID be nice to her"
And he looked lovingly at the tall wom
an, whose elegance was enormously
supposed to be in excess of her heart.
AFTER all, what harm DO you know Of
her: Merely that she is not as fond Of
the men as the men are of her. Give her
good time, and then let her marry her
own Bob Heatherley. or some one else's
Bob, and be happy"
"As if she wuGld have a fIock fit 10
go i'm said his mother, looking shock
| ed. "You forget, my dear, that ally enc
| under my wing is certain 10 be observed,
| and really don't know how TO explain
it. An Arpuldurcomhe, kilmurray
! and Il Malincourt, all closely related.
Really it hardly sounds respectable"'
| Ronny's eyes twinkled. His mother
| knew what was coming, smiled and beat
| a retreat, her marriage, not his. being
| standing joke between them. When she
had gone, he Thought how few people
would have honcred the blank check
Mal!ncnurt ha,! drawn on their kindness
as she had done. but indeed, though a
woman Of society, Lady Appuldurcombe
| was an absurd person, who could not
get rid Of heart, and if you re born so,
with laundering to do kind things, you
may get raped over your knuckles 80
times a day, but You will 60 on doing
them simply because you cannot help it.
Looking at the shifting stream that,
to him, was not even picturesque, but
simply monotonous, Major Kilmurray's
face fell into the stern lines of one in
whom sight and thought are suddenly
arrested, and action, keen, swift and
decisive, takes their place. With head
thrown back, and in his nostrils the
wild flicker and SAVIOR of fight, he lived
once more those supreme moments that,
when rightly seized, prove the hero and
pass as national heritage into the his
tory of man S country.
| The reality of life, not the mockery
of it, had always claimed Ronald Kill
murray for its own, and if birth and
circumstance had thrust him into the
dallying ways of society he had struck
out with all the fierceness of a drowning
swimmer against them and not i'll vain.
A man must belong to himself (and,
l am afraid, Ronny added his horse),
but he need not caper round i'll self i'm
posed toll of pleasure and spend his life
in trying to convince people he loved it..
He was glad to be home. He loved
his mother as it is given to but few
happy mothers to be loved when boy s
earliest school days are over. He had
men friends by the score and horses
that were almost more TO him than his
friends, hut one disagreeable fact just
then stuck in his recollection, and that
| fact was woman.
He would meet her tonight, of course
and-and he turned suddenly, with
. angry brows, to see Charville retreatine
, in the distance and at his elbow the
, scapegrace Lesley.
/ O youth. youth! The sap in thu
, tree, the blossom on the bough, to which
! unconsciously we yearn as to spring
t and yet it was youth, shy and PROUD
and ashamed. that stood looking Il
| Ronald with eyes that asked him visit
. fully: "Do look such a desperate char
3 | actcr: What have rdone to be thrus
, | upon your unwilling hospitality Gk
= | this:''
He laughed as he took her hand ant
: shook it heartily. You are awful.
, | welcome. Cousin Lesley" he said, bu
, he saw how. with that keenness of tn
D senses which goes only with the morn
9 ing of life. she was still examining him
hoping, but not quite sure, that she ha
: found friend.
: Poor little soul" he said to himsel
e as he took dainty bag containing purs
d and handkerchief from her, observin
z thankfully as he did so that there wa
not the faintest perfume Of any kin
d about if. Perhaps Cynthia de Sails
o greatest fault, i'll his eyes, bar one, wa
|, the faint perfume OF violets by whic
II her approach was always made known
e Mother will be here directly" h
e said. and meanwhile you must let IN
II give YOU some tea.
But Lesley declined tea, though sh
l. looked AS if she really wanted 1t. II
1 thought how awkward it would be
I she starved herself, and after moment
d hesitation told her so.
And how would You like it, st
= flashed out, eff YOU We're packed off liz
ia q parcel labeled This side up to peop
ID you had never seen or scarcely heard o
and who didn't want to see you IN ii
~ very ieast:''
ID I'VE really ought TO know somethir
es of each other, because we are cousin
cd you know said Ronny, rather take
aback TO find that, VIXEN she was anGr.
es she stood nearly as tall as he did.
re Only half she said, still with TIL
insultiDgly tall air. Her shame SCENE
or quite gone now.
e To he sure" said Ronny cheerfull
in Bot the fact is, we've got rather WI
lie Of marrying twice in our family, u
ub know That's why I'm a Kilmurra
"a But mother draws the line at third ma
if riases. She thinks matrimony might b
G. come bad habit if too long persistt
in in.
Are yen married." inquired Leslie
y, No one would ever undertake me,
he said Ronny cheerfully: ''too maj
N vices, you know, and too little money.
x, Lesley smiled and walked ont CD