Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-02-22
probable or even % ssibie.

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meinbering that he was the Adonis OF
Blankhampton, that his family were one
and all persons OF the most absolutely nm.
bleinished character. that his father was
a tower OF strength among the unco'
guid, Of the kind who invariably make q
special point Of calling themselves good
church people" of whom there WAS q
large faction IN Blankhampton. that his
Hio'her was a woman OF good family--I
mean OF very superior birth TO the original
DE Isles, who could only boast of a two
generations remove from the trading
class-that his sisters were n jndicious
combination OF unco' Ruidism and tenn
pered worldiiness aud cogtriyed TO have
an uhcommonly good time between their
adherence to both parties, that he had one
or two brothers each remarkable in some
special line, one for cricket, one for mu-
sic, one for following his religion with the
neip OF the highest and most complicated
form Of Ritualism. Added to all this,
Gerard De Lisle was undeniably the hand
soonest man In Blaukhampton.
do not think. seeing him In London,
In the Park or "A theatre, that you would
have picked him out as being "a mau
out OF the common looks. He was tall.
he was fairly broad, but like his father ne
had a certain air Of carrying n very sho ri
rubbish kind Of body on particularly long
snd loose jointed spindle-like legs, which
somehow always made me wonder that
the pretty Blankhampton girls were so
utterly gone" upon him, as thew one and
oil undoubtedly were. For the rest ne
was rather light 10 coloring without be-
ing what you would describe rs a fair
man, had a straight nose, a pair Of blueish
bah tempered eyes n a tightly COM
pressed mouth which precluded the idea
OF MS disposition being a genial one.
ADJ TO all this In e~xtra-superfine man
ner. a manner which took the middle OF
the pavement and paused for au instant
al the street corners while the quick hard
eyes glanced around as IL 10 see what new
worlds there were for Adonis TO conquer,
a name which was always squaring its
shoulders and fiourishing its walking
stick and made a little more display o.: its
very white and shining linen thau was
exactly pretty, and there you have Mr..
Gerard DE Lisle, whom everybody in
Blankbampton called "Adonis,' except
the pretty girls. who had such a variety
Va ZuSuluk ~ iOI ilA lDul L Will
spare their feelings by not repeating
them.
am afraid that this description gives
you but a poor idea of my "Adonis."
Well. l will be a little more explicit. 1t
is true that he was handsome and as vain
as a peacock, yes, | admit il; but he was
not a bad sort Of fellow By any means.
On the contrary, he wa scrupulously
honorable and know that he could be
kind-and IL I have seen him pay up his
shilling for "A rattle he did not wish to go
IN for. and say with an air OF unutterable
surprise when his tormentor asked for his
name, Mr.. De Lisle, - in an accent which
conveyed clearly that she must either be
a knave or n fool, | have also seen him
speak very kindly and without any man
ner'' at all TO u little woman whom / knew
TO be in dire trouble, have seen him take
hold OF her arm for a moment in a mans
protecting way. and then pat her shoulder
with q kindly, There. there-ves, / I'M
derstand, III let you know directly I find
out about IT," Oh, yes, with oil his little
v~anities Adonis was a good fellow down
at the bottom, and in spite Of their ssncti-
monionsness, most people in ~Blankhamp-
ton would take the word OF O De Lisle
sooner than of most OF the townsfolk.
Besides Adouis there was-well, really,
Il was wonderful how very few young
men there werel There was the Reverend
Evelyn Gabrielle, the youngest OF the
m-inor-canons at the Parish. He was
rich Tor at least certainly well off, he was
Young, he was a good size and fairly good
looking, and for little yanities Adonis
was not In 1t with him. He had three
valuable rings for every finger and thumb
of his two hands, aud with regard TO his
rings he did not hide his light under a
\ slr-A-
But Evelyn Gabrielli was, as Mrs. Traf
ford knew from past experience, no good
in a matrimonial sense. Indeed be entire
ly believed In the celibacy Of the clergy
the Priesthood / believe he called it-and
was particularly careful TO keep at a safe
distance from the meshes of the matri
monial net. Perhaps it was for this rea.
son that he especially attached himself tc
Mrs. COLONEL Browne aud, as a set-off
against his VOW OF celibacy. very soon be-
came the scandal Of the town.
Then there was Mr.. Hooper, another
minor-canon. also in comfortable circum.
stances and one Of those intensely aggra.
waiting men who always are wanting TO get
married and never do. He was no good
either.
Then-well, really, there We're the OFF,
GERS chartered ia the garrison and that
was all. Somehow. although Mrs. Traf-
ford did not mean 70 neglect the red
coats, she had not much faith in any OF
them being attracted by Julia; so by the
time she had thoroughly thought out the
situation, she mad come to the conclusion
that II she ever saw Julia settled in a
home Of her own at Blankhampton II
would most likely be In the large and
commodious old house so difficult for a
stranger TO find, because 1t was tucked
away down a narrow archway just wide
enough 10 allow a carriage to pass under
1t into the wider space Of the u with
In.
OF course 1t would not be q brilliant
marriage, the little widow told herself,
but II would be a nice comfortable posi-
ton for Julia, who would naturally be
made very much OF by the De Isle fami-
ly, who in spite of their undeniable weight
In the town, were, Of course, at best
but professional people and as such not
by any means the equal OF the Traf-
fords, more especially since they had be-
come allied to the houses Of Ceespring
and Staunton.
But not one word did Mrs. Trafford say
on the subject TO her Julia, she was, in
fact. far too skillful a tactician to do that.
However, one morning at breakfast she
suggested In q casual sort Of way TO her
daughter that Southampton seemed
very dull since Laura and Madge had
gone.
"Oh! awfully dull" answered Julia,
who had. as | think / have already said, .
very high pitched voice.
Really. / think we had better give .
little dinner party" suggested Mrs. Traf-
ford, as II the idea had but that instant
occurred to her-"What do you ssyF
"Yes-or q dance" said Julia, who liked
having dances in her W house because
she was sur OF having a good number OF
partners.
oh! ! think not q dance. dear" OBJ
jeeted the little widow. who did not see
spending q lot of money just to entertain
a crowd Of people to whom she was en-
tirely Indifferent and who would probably
rather retard than in any way further her
schemes.