Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1900-10-04
CHAPTER I.

IL is HOT ike SOluS nome at all,
said Mollie L'Estrange disconsolately,
looking round at the open trunks, the
wearing apparel spread upon every
available chair or bed in the school
dormitory And / had no idea that
] possessed so many things"
you hef been these four years
here" said the German ~overness
kindly, land you spend much money,
bad child! But they will be pleased
to see you home-o-h. yes!"
Il don't know who will be pleased
/ am sure,' returned Mollie, with
sigh, "for there is only my half-sister
Kate"
''Ach himmel, Well, she is no doubt
looking forward to your return. She
is older than you-wiser?'
"She is ten years old" interrupted
the girl, sitting down on the edge OF
the bed, and regarding the well mean
ing Fraulein gloomily. When | last
saw her she was about six, and my
stepfather spoilt her shamefully."
What? With whom will you lif
then, mine Mollie? With the step
father"
ooh, no; he died twelve months ago.
/ shall live at Chalfont House, the
property of my half-sister, Kate, with
her. and her aunt, Madame Debois"
"Ach, French LADY,"
mo, but she married a Frenchman.
She is now widow with one son,
and after my mothers death she went
to keep house for her brother, Mr..
Barlowe.'
Thy stepfather?"
Il never called him that" And a
strange look of scorn and bitterness
swept over the girls pretty, glowing
face. 1T is wrong to hate any one
but I hated him living, and l find it
hard not to hate him dead"
80, so, the Bible tells us to hate
no man." reproved the governess, with
a placid shake of her head, as she be-
gan to fold up some of her favorite
pupils clothes.
"And try not to do so; l pray ev-
cry night to forgive him." burst forth
Mollie in a shaking voice, but he
separated me from my mother; he did
not make her happy"
She paused abruptly, conscious how
impossible it was to make the solid
Fraulein understand that the wrongs
that were ranking in her mind had
grown with her growth, and become
part of her life; and, as rosy-cheeked
German maid entered at the same mo-
ment and announced that she had
been sent to assist Fraulein LES
TRANCE to pack, nothing more was
said.
For four years Mollie L'Estrange
had been left at Frau Seckendorf's
school in Hanover, without once re-
turning to England, without any one
coming to see her. But she had been
very happy, for she had naturally a
merry, buoyant disposition, and was
the pet and favorite of the school es-
adjustment, from the grave, kindly
Frau herself downwards.
Then she was literally supplied with
pocket money by her fathers trustees,
generously paid for in every way,
while Frau Seckendorf had carte
blanche to do everything for her
amusement in the holidays, and the
time had gone so fast that Mollie
could hardly believe she was nearly
nineteen, and that few days would
see her once more in her native land.
All. that dear native land, How often
In her dreams had she seen it as 1t
would be looking now, with the first
faint breath of spring rustling through
the bare, brown branches, the leaves
sprouting in the heugerows, the vio-
lets peeping forth from some sheltered
nook! Yes, though there was no one
now in the house where she was born
to welcome her home with affection,
it would be something to be in Eng
land in the sweet spring time, to gath
er violets and primroses in the well
remembered woods and fields around
Reverton.
The packing was accomplished at
last, more by the Fraulein's and Liza
exertions than her own, for the girl
was restless and excited, torn by con-
fiicting feelings, sorry to bid farewell
to quaint old Hanover, and all those
who had been so kind to her since
she came there,-a pale motherless
child of fourteen-yet anxious to rush
into the future, to see what it held in
store for her.
So when the trunks were shut and
Liza had departed with her arms full
of the gifts she had bestowed upon
her, Mollie made her way with I'M
usual sedateness to Frau Seckendorfs
private apartments. Since the girls
of her own age had left one by one.
and she had outgrown the class rooms,
she had been promoted to the use of
these salons, and taken out to con-
certs, theaters, and coffee parties by
the good Frau, who was secretly i'm
mensely proud of the pretty, we'll
dressed English heiress confided to
her care, and watched over her with
vigilant eye; and Mollie looked
round them with friendly glance,
and sigh at the thought that after
tomorrow she should see them no
more.
The dusk was falling fast; 1t was
difficult to see the houses across
the wide street, and as she stood by
the porcelain stove, warming her cold
little fingers, her thoughts went back
to her childhood days as they had not
done for a long time, and scene after
scene seemed to rise before her.
Mollie could not remember her ia
Their at ALL for he had died when she
was but few months old, but her
pretty young mother had been her
playfellow, and until her sixth year,
her constant companion. Then came
the DAYS when a tall dark man was