Evening star., 1896-02-22

the other small, dark, piquant. shone like
ruby in juxtaposition to pearl.
by Jove! Who's that?' demanded Lord
| his hat.
.Thatl Which soner' asked Mrs. Wing.
| indifferently.
"The light one.,I mean. She is the pret-
tiest I've seen,rby far. How is It we never
set eyes On hgr 'before?'
That Is Miss Cassandra Meigs of Chica-
co., said the lady, as If dismissing the sub
''The rame's j mouthful, but she's stun
! came here?"
Shes a stunner-that light one.' OBJ
| served MS lordship, in whom did not lie the
git OF original expression. Mrs. Wing be-
| slowed on him transient inscrutable
Many people prefer her sister, 8. looks
! tne dark girl. you know-Miss Olive Meigs,"
she said They are orphans, and have
S Seen spending the summer here in the Van
ScnOonhoven villa"
"What-alone?" asked his lordship, with
a stare.
| NO; duly chaperoned by a lady who has
| Deeh presented at three courts Theirs is a
pecuIlaf case. and the neWspapers. will
never have done speculating as to which
| one IS to get tie plum"
| hat plump
| "A fortune. of-for the sake of local color
|
lheIr lather, who died few years since
was so AFRAID they would be married for
lneir i money, he left the most eccentric of
Wits. For all their present and possible
needs. married or unmarried and until
| tney snail be thirty years old, ample pro-
., vlsloh was made by Il trust which gives
.nem an income, but keeps the estate until
,i'dt Ime undivided Put it's generally be-
heved there is in existence a later WILL
| which IS not to be produced until they are
| both married.
| On / say" remarked his lordship-
ana that later will" went on Mrs. Wing
seeing. without looking sidewise, "disposes
| Oh nearly the whole estate to one daughter
IeaVihS the other with but pittance. The
| puzzle Is that no one knows which of them
| IS 10 De made rich by that later will"
say. repeated the earl, incredulously.
inns Is everywhere believed. People are
W Wpte..y equally divided as to the Miss Meigs'
stlIactiolS; but the uncertainty as to their
fortunes Keeps their admirers agreeably on
eage. Portals caskets. and the rest of it.
| OUT r. isn't 1t rather rough" exclaimed
i iao.a Ieviot, who did not understand the
ias. ailuslon In the least, upon the girl
VINO s to be left out in the cold?"
ohe >" ont suffer frcm privation. in any
case ana the mysterious document is sup
posed to recommend her to the considera-
ton of her sister After all, it's no worse
Iran your fashion in England, of bestow-
Iiis ficn least upon one child and cheese
pslihgs upon the others But. as the mat
Ter seems to interest you, suppose we look
| In at their house on cur return. I dare
say they wouldn't mind giving us a cup Of
Tea. You will have better opportunity
theh ol contrasting Cassandra's fair beauty
with Olives brunette coloring And your
call would be such qualification to the
courts
| lordsh!p 1
but ne made objection when a half
hour later. the horses heads were turned in
| at the gates of the Van Schoonhoven villa
PART Ill
A tail cathedral clcck, standing sentinel
at the foot of the stairs. doomed five, as
the little earl followed his leader into the
| hall of the Newport dwelling temporarily
! IN the possession of the two Miss Megs
Inc servants had just lighted the lamps,
revealing the medley of eastern draperies
| foliage plants. tiger skins, Moorish pot
| teres, Indian brass and Sevres vases, that
with chairs and tables. and gold-workeJ
screens, formthe customary incum berment
| of the modern hail sitting room.
There, kneeling before fire of logs Olive.
In her riding habit, was in the act OF feed
| ing the blaze with bits of drift wood that
| sent up swirls. of blue and violet fame Be
| hind tray jest deposited by the footman,
a lady in black crepon and jet was trans
| ferring little scoops of tea from a Queen
| Anne caddy to well-scalded pot. Occu-
| pying, as if BY right. the very center of
| the rug and commanding the first atten-
| ton of newcomers, the beautiful Cassandra
! stood warming her hands, chilled by a
| long ride in the autumn air. -.
I Tev'ot. when after due introduction he
| stood beside her, did not reach more than to
| Miss Meiss' shoulder. Olive, who, as they
came in, had sprung up in a pretty and un-
| affected fashion, and was now seated with
| Mrs Wing on a small couch with many pill
| lows. was i'll size a better match for his
| !ordshp.
| AS Teviot now looked into the fair i'm
| mobility Of Cassandra's face the charm Of
| her beauty seemed in some way to eluda
| him. He found his attention wandering to
| the staccato sentences, the birtl,like chirp-
| irss, the trills of girlsh laughter that is
! sued from the nest of cushions shared be-
| tween Mrs. Wing and Olive. In that portion