Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-06-11

shouldn't have minded. But mine were
the best. Everybody on the ground
who knew u COW from custard cup
snid so. 1t was unfair, absolutely I'M
fair"
And Sir Alexander, whose short
horns were to him as the breath of his
nostrils, and who pridGd himself on
being the most successful breeder in
the kingdom, got up from his chair
and began to pace up and down the
stone-ilagged floor.
"Short-horns!" calculated Jock, with
IN odd infections; and then after Il
pause he said again, in "A Eliminating
tone: "Short-horns! Oh-aye!"
whats the matter with you?" asked
Sir Alexander, irritnbly, noticing pc
culinrity in the old mans tone.
"Naething, nacthng, sir" answered
T the old fellow, dryly. Il was thinking
yer trouble was maybe about a differ
cnt sort q cattle. that's a, sir"
And before his master could ask him
another question Jock had disappeared
through the back door of the hut on
his way TO the cottage.
Sir Alexander was half inclined to 90
after him aud insist upon an eXplana-
ton of his mysterious words and man
ncr. But. rejecting that it was only
some whim of Jocks, he changed his
mind and gave himself up again to tho
wrathful meditations which had occu-
pied him ever since the judges decision
Mt the show.
He had been wounded in the most
perhaps the only--vunerable part.
For his short-horns he neglected So
cictv, his duties as u landlord, his
duties as a husband. Three years be.
fore he had married a young beauty
temporarily fascinated by freshness
and charm which did not, in the long
run, outweigh the solid attractions of
his prize cattle.
Sir Alexander now left Lady Auch-
lean chiefly to her own devices, and
never doubted that, in providing her
with n house in Dover street and man
sion in the highlands, as we'll as Il hand
some allowance Of pocket money, he
had done as much for her as woman
had n right TO expect.
And it was safe 10 say that no one in
the whole world was further from his
thoughts than his wife was when jock
came to tell him that the cottage was
ready. and the baronet, beginning to
feel rather tired and stiff after the
Journey and the excitement of the day,
entered the long, narrow room which
had been made by throwing the living
rooms of the two cottages into one,
and threw himself on the chntz-cov-
cred couch II little way from the fire.
You came straight into this room
from the open air, without any sort of
passage or anteroom; so a screen had
been placed round the door to keep the
draught out. The sof. or which Sir
Alexander lay was between this screen
and the fire, right under the latticed
window, the curtains of which were
not drawn.
Don't light up yet, my eyes ache"
cried he, as Jock was preparing to light
couple of candies.
''Nara wecl, sir"
Jock was less cantanllerous, but
more taciturn than usual that evening,
his master thought, MS he watched him
out and then overcome by the druwsi-
ness induced by fatigue and comfort
and warmth, he closed his eyes and fell
into a sort of dczc.
lie was presently aroused by the
sharp click of the latch as il was hur-
ricdly raised, and, opening his eyes with
II start, he jumped up just as a woman's
ri bi : : l,nr do Of = la
screen, this one word:
Harry"
And he recognized the voice as that
of his wife.
Startling, absolutely unexpected as
this incident was. Sir Alexander real
lied in moment what it meant, and
even knew, who the person was she be-
lieved herself to be addressing.
y certain handsome, but inlpccunious
young soldier, Capt. Tenterdcn, to
whom she had scarcely been allowed
to speak in her maiden days, had be-
come since her marriage, the tame cat
Of the household, despised by the hus-
band as mere trifler, and apparently
looked upon by the wife only as run
uer of errands, and tiller-up Of gaps at
the dinncr-table.
In an instant the truth flashed upon
Sir Alexander, and at the same mo-
ment, or only a little later, the signi-
ficance of jocks enigmatic looks and
words burst upon him.
Capt. Tcnterden was his wife's lover,
this was the guilty meeting place.
Even in the first moment of the I'M
spealsable horror, perhaps petrified by
the awful discovery, the baronet had
the presence of mind to remain quite
still, quite silent. Then, as Lady
Auchican pushed forward one leaf of
the screen, and came slowly, timidly
forward in the darkness, he stepped
round the head of the couch, and
slipped behind the screen at one end,
as she came round it 40 the other.
And as she had left the door open,
he was able to get out without noise
into the open air.
Dusk was come, and the mist was
thicker than ever. Sir Alexander shiv-
cred, and staggered against the cottage
wall.
Why had he skunk outP Why had
he not confronted her? Accused, con-
founded her? He did not himself
know, he did not understand why he
shrank from coming face to face with
this woman, his wife, whom he had
well, yes, trusted, and who had dis
honored him in secret in spite of his
trust. He Gully knew that an insur-
mo IN. ln