Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-04-24
Chapter II-Continued From Last Sat-
urday.

9 8
Chapter I-Continued From Last Snt-
urday.
When Barker regained his room he found
that Mrs. Barker had dismissed Stacy
from her mind except so far as to invoke
Norahs in the laying out her sInartest
gown for dinner. But why take all this
trouble dear?'' said her supplemented
husband; I'VE are going to dine in a pri-
waite room so that we can talk over Old
times all by ourselves. and any dress
would suit him. And. Lord, dear, he add
ed, with smile of quick Frightening at
the fancy, IF you could only just rig your
self up in that pretty lilac gown you USED
TO wear at Boomville-it would be too Kill
ing-and Just like old times. i put 1t away
myself in one of our trunks-I couldnt
bear to leave it behind-I know just where
il is I'll" But Mrs. Barker's restrain
ing sccrn withheld him.
George Barker if you think / am going
to let you throw away and utterly waste
Mr.. Stacy US, alone, in a private room
with closed doors-and 1 daresay you'd like
to sit in your dressing gown and slippers
you are entirely mistaken. / know what
is due. not to your old partner. but to
the great Mr. Stacy the financier, and
We cine in the great dining room, pub
hcly ard. If possible, at the very next
table TO those stuck-up Peterburys and
their eastern friends. including that hor-
rid woman, which, I'm sure, ought to sal
isfy You. Then you can talk as much as
you ike and as loud as you like about
old times-and the louder and the more
the better-but l don't think he'll like it,.
But the baby" expostulated Barker.
StaCys just wild to see him-and We can't
bring him down 10 the table-though we
might, he added. momentarily brighten
ms
After dinner said Mrs Barker Sc
verely, we will walk through the big
drawing rooms. and then Mr. Stacy may
come upstairs and see him in his crib.
But not before. And now, George, l do
wish that tonight for once you would not
wear a turn-down collar and that you
would go TO the BARRIERS and have him cut
your hair and smooth out the curlS. Ana
for heavens sake, let him put some wax
or gum or something on your muStache
and twist it up on your cheek like Capt
Heath's, fer il positively droops over your
mouth like girls ringiet. It's quite
enough for me to hear people talk of your
inexpeTience, but really | don't want You
TO look as il | had run away with pretty
school boy And, considering the of
that chile. it's positively disgraceful. And.
one thiIg more, George When IN talking
to any body please don't sit opposite TO me.
DcstiI44HS with utHSHl anu your
open And don't roar if by chance l say
something funny And-whatever you do
don't make eyes at ME in company when
ever l happen 10 allude to you as l did be-
fore Capt Heath. 1t is positively too ri
dicTlCuS.'
Nothing could exceed the laughing good
Eunor with which her husband received
these cautions, ror the evident sincerity
With " hi h he Ironis d am>rdm mt. Equal
ly sincere was he, though Z little more
thoughtful in his severe standardization
OF MS deficiencies, when, later, ne seated
himself at the window with one hand soft
ly euUCmDassing mis- child's chubby fist IN
TIE crib beside him and-in the instructive
fashion of all loneliness-looked out of the
window The southern trades were whip
ping the waves of the distant bay and the
barbor into yeasty crests. Sheets of rain
swept the sidewalks with the regularity of
q fusi!lade, against which a few pedestri-
ans struggled with fiaPping waterproors
and SlaHIing umbrellas. He could look
along the deserted length of Montgomery
street 10 the heights OF Telegraph Hill and
its long-discussed semaphore. 1t seemed
Ionelier TO him than the mile-long sweep
of Heavy Tree Hill. writhing against the
mountain wind and its aeolian song He
had never felt So lonely there. In his rigid
self-examination he thought Kitty right in
protesting against the effect of his youth
1uinesS and optimism. Yet he was also
right in Icing himself There is an egoism
In the highest simplicity. and Barker, while
willing 10 believe in others methods, never
atdLuO.eu MS own aims He was right in
loving Kitty he did: he knew that she
Was better and more lovabIe than she could
believe herself TO be. but he was willing to
believe 1t PANIED and discomposed her il he
showed II before company. He would not
have her change even this peculiarity--it
was part OF herSelf-nO more than he would
have charged himself. And behind what lie
had conceived was her clear. practical COM
mon sense-all this time had been her be-
lief that she had deceived her father Poor
Gear, dear Kitty. And she had suffered be-
cause stupid people had conceived that her
father had led him away in selfish specU-
lAtiOns. As If he-BarkeI-would not have
first discovered 1t. and as If anybody-even
dear Kitty herself-was respon sible for his
convictions and actions but himself New
ertheleSs, this gentle egotist was unusually
serious, and when the child awoke at last
and with a fretful start and vacant eyes
pushed his caressing hard away, he felt
lonelier than before. 1t was with slight
sense Of humiliation, too. that he saw It
stretch its hands 10 the nfere hireIing
Norah, who had never given it the love
that he had seen even in the frivolous Mrs
HorncaStic's eyes.
Later. when his wife came in, looking
very pretty in her elaborate dinner toilet
he had the same conflicting emotions. He
knew that they had already passed that
phase Of their married life when she no
longer dressed to please him, and that the
dictates Of fashion or the rivalry of an
other woman she held superior to his
tastes; yet he did not blame her But he
was little surprised TO see that her dress
was copied from one OF Mrs. Horncastles