The Irish standard., 1897-03-27

Rs her peace of mind to keep to herself
Tho adventurea oef that afternoon.
+ With all tbs of 4hnnd good-fe llowship
which existed between them, there was
really very little in common between
Dorothy ;Meredith and her father. As
child, when by her mother she had
been taken to live in the old family
) homo at Brooklyn, her father had been
to her. as a fairy prince whose occa-
sional visits had meant lavish gifts and
unlimited indulgence. She had been
fond Of him, in frank, childish selfish
ness, for what he did rather than what
he was to her--after the canny method
of children. who see so much Of that
TO which they are supposed to be blind.
half guessing at the incompatibility
which led her parents to dwell so much
apart, and instinctively diyining some-
what of the Jealous regard Of each for
her, by means of which she might, as
1T were, pit. one against the other. to
attain her own small ends. As sho
grew older the colonel, always hand
some and debonair, gradually assumed
a good-humored elder-brother attitude,
which perhaps the girl appreciated the
moro for the peeyish fretfulness which
had grown upon the invalid mother
with passing. years. Her father. al
though, as she well knew, naturally Of
choleric temper, was 10 her generally
amiable and always carelessly indul.
gent. He sometimes ventured upon adj
vice or criticism, occasionally even car
rying interference so far as to tease her
to the verge Of tears by his rather merci-
less gift of satire; but he never seemed
to dream of demanding any actual
obedience to his wishes. He appeared
to regard her, indeed, as somewhat
interesting young woman, whose ao-
quaintance, on the whole, he quite en-
1oyed, but whose conduct he considered
rather outside the limit of his 1egiti-
mate jurisdiction.
j. This easy-going attitude the girl had
found very pleasant in the time they
had been together since her mothers
death. He made it clear that he liked
to have her with him; but he was also
at pains to have her understand that her
own Wishes were to have full weight in
determining all her movements. When
their plan Of going abroad in the early
summer had been broken up, the colonel
had been at some trouble to mitigate
her disappointment by proposing the
pleasantest possible alternatives. She
might have gone to any Of the fsshiona.
BILE resorts of the east, under the
chaperonage of a convenient relative;
but she knew that he was pleased when
she elected to go with him to Colorado
instead, and even more pleased to hear
her speak Of it as going home. Under
his cool, nonchalant reserve she knew
that he was really fond Of her, really
anxious to make her happy; but, though
iii turn she was intensely loyal in her
devotion to him, she could not disguise
from herself the fact that in q way they
still were almost strangers.
He looked UP and saw her after a mo-
ment, but beyond a brief nod, convey
ing some surprise as we'll as certain
shade Of disapproval, he gave her no
further attention for the time, going
on with his talk with McCready, the
superintendent, who also looked out
to greet the girl with a smiling familiar
ity which she secretly resented. He
was tall, muscular fellow OF some 80
years, his face presenting certain type
of coarse, bucolic good looks, of which
he seemed oyerweeningly conscious,
carrying. himself with an air of COM
placent egotism which to Dorothy made
him almost insufferable.
swell, you make q. paying trip of it
this afternoon, sure," he was saying,
when presently he accompanied the
colonel down the steps. ''If you've got
brigham solid, it's about all we want"
"We1l, I guess we've got him." the
colonel rejoined, stopping on the last
step to button his gloves. He was q.
fne-looking man of the sandy-haired,
ruddy blond type, carrying his thin,
wiry form with an alert, military
grace which cheated time Of no less than
ten good years in the visible record Of
his age. There was conscious strength
In the glance of his cold gray eyes;
stubborn will-power in the thin-lipped
month, half covered by dropping
blond mustache just lightly touched
with gray; boundless pluck and en-
ergy in the whole poise Of the man.
$50 you had to come out and get your
self wet?' he called out to his daughter,
regarding her with frank irritation.
- eyes; bad to come" she nonchalantr
~ returned, in no whit disturbed by his
TIL r ,n%
keep you waiting" -
: GAS it never entered my, mind that
you would be. here at oil, in view of the
rain, can assure you that you certainly
did not" he answered, his tone still
seaustic,. but his face softening some
what as he looked up at her youthful
loneliness, glowing from her ride. He
turned away get his horse, whichwas
fastened to post at one side, while the
superintendent came on to speak to
Miss Meredith.
you're your: fathers own daughter,
Miss Meredith" he observed, bold adj
n1iration in his small, shifty eyes. ut
takes mure'n cloudburst to stop you
when you set out to do thing. And
the colonel-I'f like to see the cyclone
that would feaze him"
The girl smiled vaguely, in recogni-
ton Of the intended compliment, her
eyes following. her fathers movements.
ut was quite q Storm" she remarked,
feeling that the pause demanded speech
of some sort.
"You bet; it was corker," Mr.. Nc
Cready cordially agreed, whereat the