The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-05-02

to make him go away; but when he had
wrung my hand and bolted, 1 sobbed
till my head aehed. Argument is very
exhausting
Next day Captain Despard called
again. He had a smiling countenance,
wore flower, and had by no means the
air of rejected sutton. He took the
cup of tea l handed to him. and sat
down.
Miss Dayrell," he began at once, II
have been thinking all carefully over,
and I've got an idea
Have your I responded coldly. Il
am exceedingly glad to hear it; ideas
are rare nowadays
Yes, he continued unabashed, land
what is more, it is capital idea"
He drank some tea, and then took a
calm survey of our drawing-room,
holding his cup in his hand, and cram
ing his neck to examine, apparently
the stucco work on our Adams ceiling.
Did you ever have this room thor
oughly cleaned?" he asked suddenly.
why, of course we do" l cried,
alarmed. What makes you ask? Cob
webs?"
who sees to it?" he demanded stern
ly.
Sees to it" I repeated.
who gives the orders and overlooks
the work, and supervises, so that it is
properly done?"
Il do!' l exclaimed still hunting the
ceiling to discover the cobweb.
Just So
There was change in his voice that
arrested my attention; and when I
glanced at him to discover it's meaning
L noted a triumph on his face that
should have warned me, but that only
puzzled me-
Your mother died when you were a
baby?'' he asked me gently
! Yes" L said, still more puzzled to
discover the analogy.
And your sister married and went
out to India when you had just left
school, 1 think?"
Yes"
You must have found it difficult at
first to manage this large house all by
yourself?"
"Oh, no! I enjoyed it. And father is
very good and patient; he never inter
feres"
He leaves it all to your
"Oh, entirely
! Where is your father at this mo-
Iment?"
In the library. You must forgive his
not appear1ng-he very rarely comes up
to tea, because
L paused. IT would be rather rude to
tell MN that father hated afternoon
callers.
Are you going abroad this syringe"
| L began to wonder If trouble had not
unhlnged the poor young man, his con-
Versation was so disjointed; and I told
him gently, as you would tell a ckild
that we might go abroad later on: but
that at present we had no plans, except
that father was meditating a weeks
yachting.
while the spring cleaning takes
place."
Yes" I owned at once. amazed that
he should guess this deep-seated do
mestlc reason so accurately; and then
met his eye and saw the whole plot
| 1t seems to me that, as you are al
ready suffering the torments of Hades
daily for your fathers sake,' he said,
| you might consent to suffer a little of
them for mine,''
Il don't see that at alli'' I exclain-
ed, cross at having stepped into his
| net.
| Have you had a classical educa-
| tion?" he asked me.
IF you are going to tell m the whole
story of Alcestis over again, I"
ooh. not at ALL" he said in an alarmed
voice. II thuoght you seemed excel
lently we'll up in it. I was merely going
to innIIirP if ha s
ceteris paribus."
l signified that I did.
well, then, ceteris paribus, it resolves
itself into the question of whether you
prefer your fathers society to mine
with Hades."
"Ye-es,' L responded doubtfully
L have been thinking it over, you see.
[ have great many unmarried lady
friends"
Indeed" said coldly.
Yes. 1t is plain to any observer
though they themselves would deny the
accusation indignantly-that they re-
peatedly suffer the torments of-er-
Hades, for their fathers and brothers
and cousins and uncles"
Il do not see how"
well, take the case of a country vicar
with a son and a daughter. The family
resources are meager, but they are taxed
| to the uttermost in order to provide
Tom with the education suitable to a
| gentleman, and that will equip him to
claim his rank in the world. Mary re-
mains at home in the dull vicarage sur
rounded by gooseberry bushes. When
Tom returns from Elton or Harrow or
Rugby, Mary darns his stockings and
WOrShips him. When Tom goes to Ok
ford, Mary economies in the family
commissariat, and denies herself in every
way in order that the thing may be. She
is greatly impressed by her privileges
when she is once taken for a four days
visit to Oxford during the Fights week,
| and has tea on her brothers college
barge. When Tom gets a curacy, Mary
goes and keeps house for him, in order,
by thrift and management, to make his
little income suffice. When Tom gets a
living he marrieS; and Mary, now grown
pitifully shabby and timid returns to
the parental vicarage and the goose
berry bushes. In this case, then, the
sister has clearly and undeniably en-
dured-er-Hades for his sake, and sac
rificed her life for his, as much as your
Alcestis friend ever did. Nor will it oc-
cur to Tom, throughout his life, that he
has fed the pride and strength of his
manhood on the sap of his sster's happi-
ness and youth; and when he has risen to
the head of his profession, and counts
himself a prosperous and successful
man, he will not feel that he owes all
this to the gentle maiden lady whose
colorless existence he now kindly helps
|