The Irish standard., 1898-02-12

iment and conveniently stationed at
West Point, he had been called into
requisition with others Of his cloth,
and very pretty wedding they had
had. And then. us luck would have it,
Grafton himself was offered detail at
the academy. and rather ,han take his
bride to the far frontier so soon after
their marriage he accepted it, and there
they spent the summer; und there, in
July, Miss Frances Hayward Joined
them at Mrs. Grnfton's urgent request,
and there did Randolph Merriam fall
deeply and devotedly in love with her,
and no one wondered. BY fur and away
she was the prettiest girl ut the Point
that summer. and Merriam wns con-
coded to be n mighty lucky fellow when.
very soon after the announcement OF
Charlotte Hayward's forthcoming mar
riuge to Edward Parry, he allowed him
self to be congratulated upon his en-.
gagement to her younger sister.
And he had every right TO consider
himself engaged. She had accepted his
attentions, his devotons, eventually his
ring and also his presents. He had
called upon Aunt and Uncle Mellen in
New York, the guardians of The girls,
and startled them ont of all equanimity
by the announcement that Miss Hay
ward had accepted the offer of his heart
and hand conditioned only on their
consent, which he bcsought them to
give.
II own never thought of her marry
ing in the army" said Aunt Charlotte,
as do other aunts and mothers after
their girls have been campaigning ut
the Point.
what income, if any, have you out
side your pay?" was Uncle Mellen's
morc-to-the-point Interrogation.
Nothing. sir"
swell, neither has she. That is, what
she has is so small it wouldn't keep that
extravagant child in gloves. You two
had better be sensible and think it
over"
Randy Merriam did think 1T over, but
all to no purpose. The more he thought,
the more he declared himself hopclcssly
and irrevocably in love, and as Miss
Fan took kindly to his protestations,
and Parry and Charlotte took kindly
to him and sympathized with the SOL
dierly fellow, who was evidently much
of gentleman and so much in love,
1T resulted in his being made welcome
at Parry's club, received quite as Parry
was at the Mellens-sncc not oftencr
than once a week could he get away
from his duties at the Point, and when
Ned and Charlotte were married, as
they were in state and style early in
the winter, Merriam had many good
reason for believing that, despite his
poverty, the matchmaking reception
held at the Mellcn's beautiful home
would be one in ,Yhjch he would be
vitality interested.
Well, he was; but. rot in the way or
manner expected. I'm fact, he did not
indeed, he was no. Ndaen. A very dis.
agreeable thing hnppfbped to him with
in month after ,f1Ac Porry-Hayward
wedding, one that, overwhelmed him
with modification and distress, and
caused no little indfig4ation among his
comrades.
Everybody knew Randy Merriam was
in debt. He made-uo secret of it, lie
was extravagnnt IN HIS tnstes. had in
Cured obligations before going on duty
at the Point, and found it impossible
to "catch up" there. There were three
or four accounts he had been asked to
settle, as they had been running some
time, but he put them off from month
to month, hoping that he might soon
be able to obtnin possession of a small
sum Of money left him by the will Of
relative two years before. 1t was only
a few thousand dollars, yet even that
had been contested, together with q
number Of similar requests, and the
legal complications had been as ex-
asperating as the laws delay could
make them. One day. soon after Char
lotte's wedding, Merriam was sum-
moned to the presence of the super
intendcnt and was regretfully told that
four OF his creditors had united in IN
appeal to the war department, and the
matter had been referred to him as
post commander. Merriam was con-
founded. He had seen and talked with
one OF them only few weeks before,
and no such action had even been limited
at. Nor did he know that any one Of
their number was aware of his indebt-
edness to the others. Frankly he had
told Miss Fan of these matters before
ne told her OF his love. but ii made, mp
parently, no impression on her. Let
them watt" she said. You'll soon be
able to pay them ten times over"
Frankly he had talked of it to one or
two of his intimntes, and later to Parry,
who had grown TO like him. and who,
as lawyer, thought his little Inherit
nnce could not be much longer with
held. 1t would free him; it would very
prettily furnish their quarters and still
leave few hundreds to the fore. lie
remembered, too, that Uncle Mcllcn had
made some Inquiries Of him. and that
in perfect frankncss he had replied.
And now. just at the moment when he
was full Of hope and happiness, came
this cruel modification. Such notion
on the pnrt of his creditors was unac-
conntable. but. as the superintendent
sntd, dt was solemn fact. Deeply cha
grincd. he told the colonel the whole
story, and the colonel WINS full of SYM
pnthy. but as full Of sense.
I'm sorry, Merriam" said he, "bnt
there's only one thing for you to do.
There's no telling wher you'll ever get
that inheritance. when lawyers once
get hold Of an estntc It's dollars to
dimes nobody else ever does, md by tho
time judgment Is awarded in your IA