Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1897-03-04

"What's the laugh abOut?' he asked
of the man next him. That person hard
ly turned the head. His eyes were glued
to the big road and the moving cloud Of
fresh dust that proclaimed new arriv-
al. One minute Jack looked too Then
he started and swore under his breath,
for out Of the dust cloud came first Mr..
Topmark's high trotting bay horse; next
his new buggy, shining still with gloss
of the shop; last of all Mr.. Topmark
himself, with Rob McGregor beside
him.
CHAPTER TX.
Jack scarcely heard the long guHaw
that went up from the gazing crowd.
Somehow he reached tho vehicle just as
Mr. Topnark mbered heavily down
from it. Rob was making to follow him,
her little foot lightly poised, both hands
held out after childlike fashion she
had. Jack shouldered himself between
her and her proper escort took her al.
most in his arms and set her upon the
ground. The audacity Of it half par
alyzed Mr.. Topmark. He began to scowl
darkly, then broke into wry grin, say.
ing:
NOW, see here, Jack, that amt jest
egzactly the fa-ar thing, but l caln't
quarrel with you. You're SO much er
older man n me Tn bound ter treat
you respectful ef you do git in my way"
"Thank you. I feel very much IN
place just now," Jack said, keeping fast
hold of Rob's hand. 1t was small and
Rloveless, neither white nor soft, but
thrilling to the finger tips with the SUBJ
tlest vital essence. Something in the
touch Of it set him all a-tremble. He
was taken aback when it was drawn
steadfastly from his clasp and dropped
at its owners side.
"Where is Mr.. McGregor?' Jack
went on, standing obstinately close.
"Oh, daddy s comm in the carriage"
Mr.. Topmark returned, with leering
wink that made Jack ache to throttle
him and sent q hot, painful red into
Rob's check. She had been very pale
az pale almost as her old white frock
that, in spite Of its shabbiness, could
not mask her youthful grace. But she
had not tried to make herself in any de-
gree fine, though she might reasonably
have known herself the focus Of all eyes.
She wore the narrow brimmed black
straw hat that had been her best for
three years. There was black ribbon,
too, about her little waist and fall OF
old thread lace at the neck of her gown.
1t left the round throat bare, though
every other woman there had swathed
herself to the chin.
For part Of Rob's eccentricity was
that she preferred to be out Of the fash
ion rather than to spend her time max
ing over her few soant frocks. Mrs.
Winfold said it did seem to her the
greatest piece of laziness-the way Rob
McGreeor was always three years be-
hind the style. But Rob never looked at
anything from the Winfold standpoint.
Besides her abundant leisure, which
that model woman bemoaned as snare
of satan, was not, after all, 80 very
abundant.
Rob read to her father for hours each
day, or upon fine ones led him abroad
to refresh himself with sunshine and
sweet air. Nor was the burden Of their
scant affairs by any means SO light as 1t
looked from the outside. She kept up
faithfully to the blind man her fiction
of prosperity, and success in it meant
standing always between him and the
outer world. The decadence OF their for
tunes touched her nearly. For all her
bravery, her own ragged horse furnish
iugs and the shabby old carriage in
which sometimes she rode abroad we're
engines Of torture. Yet every year or so,
when her father insisted that the vehi-
Gle be refu1bished, she acquiesced dutl-
fully, made pretense of sending 1t
away, and six weeks later had it driven
to the door, smelling OF the fresh var
nish she herself had brushed over it,
with cushions beaten to puffy liehtness
and straps and tassels set in new places.
Then the blind man said, with little
laugh:
"Next time, darling, you must have
brand new equipase, for, after all,
equipage is truly the test of gentlllty.
If shabby, it stamps you either mig
gard or prctender. Clothes hardly
matter, so they be clean and suitable
and not vulgarly fine. y
Memory of such speech gave an edge
he did not dream Of to Mr.. Topmark's
leering, significant laugh. But she
stood very upright and walked toward
the church door between the two men.
When she reached the step, each put out
hand to help her. She ignored both.
sprang lightly upon the big stone, step
ped inside and walked almost the length
of the aisle, with Mr.. Topmark making