The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-05-19

Mary. They think that I know moth
ing about what goes on; but l do.
Mary is i'll. She has been Ill long
time. You ought to come. Come!
Come! Come! she has fretted a great
deal about you. 1t is serious now
very serious. Come"
He at once sent a telegram TO his
grandmother:
Expect me at half-past ten on
Thursday night"
The moon was shining with almost
the brightness of day when he stood
at the door of his grandmother's house.
The last person whom he had seen
when he left II was Mary's old nurse,
Allonby, a hard, Vindictive woman.
whom he had never liked, but who pas
sionateiy loved Mary, and for her sake
had schooled herself into being a kind
nurse to Mrs Maskelyne, and for her
sake, too, had doubtless pursued him
with that look of hatred which even to
this day he could not forget. Strange
to say, Allonby's face was the first that
he saw on his return. 1t looked white
and rigid when she opened the door
You, Allonby?" he said, 81 did not
expect to see you!"
"All the rest are abed, or you would
not" she said, without looking in his
face or taking any notice of the hand
which, for Marys sake, he held out
TO her.
How is Miss Nary" he inquired
anxiously.
Miss Mary is well--very WELL" she
answered sternly, as if she thought
that he had no right to ask the ques-
tion.
And my grandmother"
MY mistress is well, sir. Supper is
laid for you in the dining room, and
! you are to sleep in the room you used
| to occupy before, when you came
| here" and having thus got rid of all
! that she thought it necessary to say
to him in one breath. she turned to go.
| II shall see my aunt / hope; it Is
| barely half-past TO-" He was deter
| mined not to seem to observe the
! woman's tone of animosity.
| Miss Maskelyne is not here. She
| took Miss Mary to Dublin a month ago
| for better advice"
| "Then Miss Mary is in Dublin. too,
| l am afraid. They have neither of
them come back you mean" he eX-
| claimed, and his spirits fell to zero,
! for during some hours at least he
| would, perhaps. be left to the tender
mercies OF the forbidding woman, tenn
| pered only by such kindness as could
be shown by nonogenarian.
"They have neither Of them come
| back" she said.
But Miss Mary is better? You said
that she was better"
Yes. / said she was better, and she
is"
"And she will soon come back here?'
| AS if weary of being forced to reply
to the questions of the man she hated
Allonby suddenly turned her back OF
him and began to go. but he would not
let her have the triumph of departing
without giving him an answer
"Allonby, / asked a question and
must have an answer. viii Miss Mary
soon be back?"
Yes. she will soon be hack" she
said, without so much as turning round
while she spoke; and then she lef
him.
He went into the dining room, which
under feminine management, was more
of sitting room than a dinng-room
He had always liked its old-world as
pect, and when he saw it again a bliss
|
and at rest came over him; here indeed
was rest, and here soon would be love
| and happiness. He took up a candle L
look at Sir Joshuas portraits of hi
| at-grandfather and grandmothe
and Linnelrs of his aunt when young
and the inlaid cabinets and preclou
china bowls which had never seen to,
inside of any London shop, rur ha,
been brought from China or Japan b!
sailor-uncles of their fathers. All az st
Brdget's was dignified and tranquiliz
ing, and he had left it for London 9rC
it's clamOr and strife He drank sons
| wine and went out by a window into
the garden. BY this time the past haC
him wholly in its power He was Mary:
and he was happy. He lit his pipe anC
strolled about The air was full o
! fragrance, the heavy-headed rose
dropped scented dew on his face II h
drew them down to smell them; migno
nette and heliotrope laVished their per
; fumes unasked: the quietrtss was in
finitely soothing. Presently he eve
walked past the garden seat by whiCl
he had stood when. as he told himself
he had been such a brute; the rest o
, his life should be spent in trying y
atone for it. The gar'l2n was simpl
delicious---the house looked dungeon
to which he had no wish to !etire unit
; overpowered by actual fatigue. Tn
only light in ii that Was visible cam
from the dining room, and uDstairs Il
Mrs Maskelyne's room was the du
gleam of a night-light. which shone a
! feebly as the light of ,i'e snone in her
There was q pleasure in thus stealth:
an hour or two from a night whicl
! was not likely TO be blessed by sleep
Dublin was only 80 miles of, and il wa
} his intention to return there next Ia,
as soon as he had seen the poor Ol,
lady upstairs, and To stay near Mar.
; for at least a week. Work might talk
care of itself--he had sacrificed NOR
than enough to work and worldly al
NanCement.
! After he had been IN bed some hour
"A dream came TO hIm To him, how
, ever. it seemed a terrible reality H.
1 thought that the door OF his roOr
slowly opened, and Allonby camc in
r She paused for while on the thTes
hold. and then she thrust the doc
{ wide open and stood as if waiting 20
= someone 10 follow her. Ere long II
Y heard footsteps, and two men appear
= ed, carry a large and heavy black cot
= fin on their shoulders.
l SET It down there al the bed foot
0 If you please said Allonby sternly
and having been Obeyed, she cam
straight to the bedside and looked a
, him
You can put him in at once" sh
said. "He is asleep, and win not wax
, up. There is no fear Of his doing that.
Iint nelthnr of the mon mONel.