The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-10

''In two years time the lad will he
home, all being well. And then, of
course. we shall see"
"Of what rank is he?"
AT present a second lieutenant. His
age is but twenty-three. The Van der
Knoopes have all followed the sea, as
the portraits in this house will tell you.
Ay. and we have fought against Eng
land in our time. AS late as 1872, Ad-
ran van der Knoope commanded ship
under De Ruyter when he outgeneraled
the English in Southwold bay. But
since 1858 our swords have been at the
service of our adopted country; and
she has used them. sir
l am afraid | was not listening. My
chair faced the window. and as |
glanced at the letter in my hands
enough light filtered through its trans
parent foreign" paper to throw up the
watermark, and it bore the name Of a
firm of papermakers in Abertown.
This small discovery, quite unwiii-
ingly made, gave me a sudden sense of
shame. as though | had been playing
some dishonorable trick. | was hastily
folding up the paper. to return it, when
the door opened and Wilhelmina came
in. with her Uncle Melchoir
She seemed to divine i'm an instant
what had happened; threw a swift
glance at the blind admiral. and almost
as swiftly took the letter from my hand
and restored it to the packet. The next
moment with perfect GOODNESS she was
in. with her Uncle Melchoir
MclChior van der Enoope was per-
haps ten years younger than his broth
er, and carried his tall figure buttoned
up tightly in an old-fashioned frock-
coat u mummy of u man, with a fixed
| air of mild bewilderment, and a trick of
running his left hand through his white
hair-due. no doubt. to everlasting diff
iiculty with the family accounts. He
shook hands as tremendously as his
brother.
I'VE have been talking of Fritz" said
| old Peter.
oh. yes of Fritz To be sure
Melchior answered him vaguely, and
looked at me with a puzzled smile.
There was silence in the room till his
brother spoke again. II have been
showing Nr.--- Fritz's last letter.
Fritz writes entertainingly," mur-
INJURED Melchior, anG seemed to cast
about for another word. but repeated
"-entertainingly. If the state of your
ankle permits. sir. you will perhaps
take an interest in our pictures. I shall
be happy to show them to you
And SO. with the occasional support
of Melchior's arm, began tour of the
house. The pictures indeed We're Suf-
ticient reward-seascapes by Wiliem
van der Nelde, flower portraits by Will
lem van Aslet. tavern-scenes by Adrian
van Ostade; a notable Cuyp; small
Gerard Dow of peculiar richness; por-
traits-BolrgOmaSter Albert van der
Knoope. 10y Thomas de Keyser-Admir-
al Nicholas, by Kneller-Admiral Peter
grand uncle of the blind admiraD. by
Romney-and so forth. NV guide
seemed as honestly proud of them as
| insensiblc of their condition, which was
| in almost every case deplorable. by
and by, in the library we came upon Il
| modern portrait of rosy-taccd boy IN
a blue suit, who held tstrange com
| binationD Il large ribstone pippin in one
| hand and a cricket bat in the other--a
| picture altogether of such glaring de-
! merit that / wondered for a moment
why it hung so conspicuously over the
fireplace while worthier paintings were
| thrust into obscure corners. Then with
a sudden inkling | glanced at Uncle
Melchior He nodded Gravely.
That is Fritz
! I pulled out my watch. Il believe"
I said, lit must be time for me to bid
| your brother gOod-by.
you need be in no hurry" said Miss
Wilhelmina's voice behind me. Ihe
| last train to Aber has gone at least ten
minutes since. You must dine and
sleep with us tonight
awoke next morning between sheets
of sweet smelling linen in q carved four
post bed, across the head-board or
which ran the motto "stemmata ovid
facivnt'' in faded letters of gilt. If the
| appearance of the room. with Its tat
| tered hangings and rickety furniture,
had counted for anything, my dreams
should certainly have been haunted.
But as a matter of fact | never slept