The Irish standard., 1900-05-12

drawing straWS and the man upon
whom the task had fallen had prom
Used that he would drown the child, that
its death might be an easy one. This
was the only crumb of comfort the
poor lady got; think of that, gentle
men, she could only hope that her sons
Death had been quick and painless. The
dying man refused to tell who had I'M
dertaken the crime" The colonel
paused, stroking his gray Van Dyke
beard. 'Is it any wonder that her face
is sad and her hair white?"
at is reported in Charleston that
she has had many advantageous Of
fers of marriage" put in Mr.. Hardy,
as he emptied his wine glass.
Hundreds of Them" enthused the
colonel. "Why, Gen. Bcauclare fol-
lowed her about like slave and so did
Senator Waugh; l couldn't count the
men who were in love with her, but
she turned 'em all down."
The promenaders had quilted the
vcranda, and there was a light touch
on the piano in the drawing-room and
Il swccs voice singing an old song.
"Tllat is her!' cried the colonel,
whose enthusiasm was not often gov
erncd by rules of grammar.
This WAS the signal for leaving the
table, and the men went into the big,
ancicnt-looking parlor where the
lights burned low and the breeze from
The distant mountains famed the lace
curtains into the room. Evelyn sat IN
L rocking-chair, her eyes OH the sing
cr's face. Caroline was noisclessly
placing a whist table and playing
cards Fear the center of the room.
Shc, lie, father, Mr.. Hardy and Capt.
Wrinkle were the only ones who were
fond of the game.
But we shall interrupt the sing
ing" protested the colonel, when he
noticed the preparations.
81 shall stop if you don't go on with
the game" declared the gentle old
lady, Il smile crossing her sweet, sad
face; land furthermore l shall not
sing unless you all talk over your
game"
To this the jovial host agreed I'M
der protest, and the whist-players took
their places. Evelyn sat at the end
of the piano near enough to touch the
elbow of the singer. There was in
finite ratlos in Mrs. Lancastcr's voice
as she sang:
"Dey amt no use fer to fret an pine,
Steady on dc way, believers.
It's de same ole worl' Wen de sun don't
shine,
Steady on dc way, believers"
The colonel was dealing the cards,
but he made a mistake in the count,
and with low laugh he threw the
cards down. 81 must wait till that one
is over, anyway" he whispered. "rhat
blamed thing always gets the best of
me-"
Same on de hilltop an same on de plain.
So keep up yo' shoutin' an keep on yo'
prayin'-
Steady on de way, believers.
"Dey's a great big blossom on de water
melon vine,
Steady on de way, believers;
Fur peace come long wen you done wild
pain,
30 keep up 20 SnOutln an keep on 70
prayin',
Steady on de way, believers"
There was just the faintest culver in
Mrs. Lancastcr's voice, which Evelyn
alone noticed, and hint of moisture
in her eyes as the melody died in the
still room. She turned towards the
card players, who, with the exception
of the dapper captain, seemed deep
ly moved by her song.
II knew 1 would stop your game"
she laughed, "you are too polite to
enjoy life. Come, Evelyn, let's take
another STROLL
The view from the veranda was
beautiful, and as the two walked back
and forth across the wide floor arm in
arm they enjoyed it silently. The moon
had risen and hung like great globe
of yellow light just beneath a float
ing canopy of tilmy clouds. Two
rows of wind-moved elms stretched
out past the great iron-wrought gates
and between CLEANED the white ebert
drive. On a sloping lawn to the left
lay luxuriant parterres of flowers di-
versified by well-kept walks, and
smooth plots of grass. Near the cen.
ter stood a fountain, its sprays gleam-
ing like rain in an April shower
against the dark background of mag
nolia trees. The air which famed
their faces was laden with the per.
fume Of hyacinth and roses. When
they had walked several minutes in
silence they paused at the window
from which they had reached the YER
anda, and looked in on the players
Mr.. Hardy was dealing the cards and
Capt. Wrinkle was relating some sort
ef experience of his own which
seemed to have reused the interest Of
his host.
"Of course" the captain was saying
"the fellows challenge was greatsur
prise to me. confess that did drive
against him out of pure devilment, fol
l had heard what an cgotistical, pre-
sumptivc ass he was, an wanted tt
pay him back for throwing my til
IN the river as if he were the prime.
of Wales, but heaven knows, I didn'
think I'd get bloody duel on my
hands. AS you know, colonel, Their,
was nothing for me to do but TO-
to make him see the absurdity of tn
thing"
II suppose not" returned the colonel
in a noncommittal tone. Whateve
may have been his secret opinion o
Wrinkles valor he knew his duty a
host too we'll to impugn it, or to rende
bis guest uncomfortable by sharp crit