The Ravalli Republican., 1898-08-10
HAR'I'iIOOD'S GAME.

Lord HARDWOOD plided himself
lpon his strength Of character Itis
daughters said that he was as ObSti-
nate Us a mule. His neiohbors pli-
vately opined that & more piGh2ad-
ed elderly gentleman had not been
seen on earth III recent times Those
were all different ways of saying the
same thing-thut when the noble
earl had once made up his mind to 4
certain course he was more difficult
to turn than a rusty wind]ass.
Of this trait no one should have
been better aware than his eldest
son, Lord FaWntOn, who had had
excellent opportunities Of studying
the parental character for 4 quarter
Of a century on SO. Not the least Gu
rious part Of the whole story, ho"
ever, was that it all came as Il sur
prise to him. When hc first Slipped
off the narrow liue Of conduct which
his father had marked out for him,
by implication + not by actual pre-
cept, it had never occurred to him
that this tlerailment would be more
than a temporary episode. It Wog1l.;
be easy enough, he thought. to r@.
turn at any time to the iron route Of
tilial obedience and to conGuna the
omissions Of the past by lavish con
formance in the future 4 halatlt.
would thereby icstluck and the iif"
journey continue without prejudice,
as the lawyers say, on c;1c3! side
IN which conclusion he forgot two
important first, that it i
one thing to return from Il musk
gathering excursion alone, h'1t quite
another 70 propose to bring With
you fellow passenger, and second
]y, his father $ most salient churAG-
teristc.
Now, Lord Fawnton's proposal 70
marry Mrs. >5ainton interlDraN dis
astlously with his parent S pet plan
This Was to unite the Ian Is Of Gr0"I,
Castle to those OF HARDWOOD, with
which they marched for miles, BIZ
the marriage Of his hoir to tho only
child and ilcress Of old George jar
gontostc, who had made Il fabulous.
fortune out Of patent floor cloth and
had sunk a portion Of it in tile pltr-
chase Of Crock from the HernDy4,
who had owned it for centuries
When, therefore, Lord Enwntol3,
after sowing 4 fam crop OF wild oats,
announced his intention Of marry
ing a Mrs. f5;tinton, the widow Of an
Indian officer, who was 4 few years
older than himself and possessed a.
small peusio1l which would die with
her, Lord HARDWOOD, cX=diplomatist
though he WAS, flew into Il violcnt
rage.
Understand thisW he shouted,
almost foanlng at the mouth. Il
will not hear it. l will be no party
to it III any way. If you marry this
woman, not one of the family shall
be present at the wedding. | Will
never receive her You shall not
have one penny while | live, and,
though | can interfere with the en-
tail-worso luck ii will leave every
other penny that I possess to the
girls. Now you know, and you had
better let her know, too, and see if
she will take you on these terms. .
Mrs Salnton was the typical
femme d trente ans. She knew life
and was q past mistress III theart OF
managing men. India is an excel
lent school in which to pursue these
studies, and when one is badly
"left' proficiency in them comes in
useful. She was undoubtedly hand
some
When Fawnton explained to her,
using a certain discretion in style,
the scene which had taken place be
tween his father and himself, she
saw at once that the position was
extremely serious 1t demanded the
exercise OF far more tact and Il great
er command Of strategy than TaWn-
ton was capable Of, 1t was part OF
her creed that She could get round
any man if she coul, only get at
him. Therefore she was bent OF
winning Lord HARDWOOD over. O..
course it this programme absolutely
failed there would be nothing for it
but to marry in defiance of him, and
if the horrio old man persisted in
his threat OF cutting off supplics--
well, FaWnton could easily raise
money on his prospects. This would
be horribly expensive especially if
the father lived long, and it was not
by any means the plan she would
have preferred, but it was not likely
tha, she was going to givo up such
a chance simply to please a bad ten
pered elderly gentleman, or that,
once married, she would be content
to re1naln III poverty when she
ought to be living in ailllueice
SHE did not speak SO plainly tc
Fnwntnn. She affected to be quite
overcome by his news and he,noan
ed the unhappy fate which made he1
nause of strife between father an(
Uon.
IT does not l.inkc lit Of differ
ence to me, - protested Fawnto7