The Red Cloud chief., 1900-05-11
CHAPTER l..

Mrs. SaVllle OF the court is not a
pleasant woman People are general
ly rather afraid Of her, and, like many
unpleasant people, she usually gets her
own way. Her present idea Is to mar
ry her only son Sebastian, to her
niece, Barbara Saville, an arrangement
perfectly agreeable to every one ex-
cept Barbara herself-Barbara. with
her rare, witching Irish beauty, the
beauty of a fair skin and blue eyes,
with very dark lashes and dark hair,
a face at once charming and provok-
ing.
But Barbara's sweet-cut mouth is a
little bit too firm for her aunt, and Sc
bastian has felt his cold blood grow
warm beneath the disdainful smile of
his cousin.
Sebastian is not a pleasant looking
man-tall and dark, with a heavy,
cynical face and eyes that look cruel.
In the whole of Leinster there is not
such a pretty girl as Barbara Saville
She lives at the Court with her aunt,
and has done so for several years. Lat
terly Mrs. Saville has put on the screw
a little, for Barbara is twenty. and it
is time Sebastian married and settled
down; but Barbara sip-tilts her pretty
chin and losses her dusky head. and
says that to live at the Court all her
life would kill her.
1t is, indeed, a gloomy spot. falling
into decay. surrounded by dark, neg
lected woods, and a dark, sullen river
running through the park.
Mrs Saville's husband has lived hard
in his day. driven a coach with eight
horses, and generally made havoc of
his patrimony. Card playing ended
what his eight horses had begun, and
his only son, Sebastian, is a poor man.
Barbara Is an only child, too. Her
father has an appointment in Tasma-
mia, and Barbara is supposed to have
a fortune. Mr.. Saville had sent her
home to be educated in England, and
then to live at the Court, where the
charming family arrangement of a
marriage between the cousins was an
open secret.
The time Is November. when all day
long the trees drip moisture, and the
fields are soaking and sodden, while
the long struggling street of Portraven
is one sea Of mud.
1t is worse than usual today. for a
cattle fair Is going on. and the fair
takes place in the street. The foot
paths are crowded with cattle. and
droves Of painting. terrified sheep are
huddled into groups. Young horses led
by halters are being paraded up and
down, and the footpaths being un-
available, pedestrians are forced to
fight their way in the middle of the
street, ankle deep in mud, amidst the
confusion of carts and horses, and
animals of all sorts and kinds.
Walking briskly through the crowd
with an air of being thoroughly used
to it, comes Barbara Sayille. dressed
in a short skirt Of Donegal tweed, with
a Norfolk jacket and a tweed cap on
her dark hair. She carries a walking
stick. and her bright face wears a half
amused, half-contemptuous expression
as she looks at the hurrying crowd.
She has reached the market square,
and here the fair is at its height, and
bargains are going on briskly. Bar
bara looks pityingly at the scared, tim
Id cattle driven to and fro with such
%roughness. And strange contrast, just
beside the drove of cattle, needless OF
the turmoil around, stand a little
group, a preacher, with uncovered
head, preaching the Gospel of Christ
to the needless multitude. 1t Is a
strange scene. and Barbara's face
grows thoughtful. The rough faces of
toll hardened men and women, the pa
Sent cattle standing by. and those
most humble creatures the subdued
donkeys, more used to blows than
kindness.
Then through the crowd m a
young man, and he Is head and shoul-
ders over every one. His hair is gold
real gold-and waves in short, crisp
waves. His fair moustache covers a
sweet, firm mouth, and the eyes that
look at Barbara's are purple as pan
sizes, and full of light 10Y as they meet
the sudden, glad recognition in hers.
Barbara" says the young giant,
WA diS you uoihS ~ Inns ''o"N'
Barbara's face is a study OF pleased
surprise.
IL only walked in from the Court
to post my letter to father" she re-
plies. And her dark eyes smile bright
ly as she holds out her hand to hin.
"Ill take care OF you" returns
George Bouverie; these fellows are
so rough you might get hurt
And Barbara has no objection.
Her eyes dance. What does 1t mat
ter that the November sky Is heavy
and gray? There is sunshine In the
two glad young hearts, and they laugh
and they talk together. and make run
owe their little adventures In the fair'
like the pair of children they are.
They leave the town and walk TO-
gether along the country road. Sod
den leaves, brown and decaying, lie IN
little heaps. 1t is a day calculated tc