The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1902-04-04

W DC ulIGItCu w MY iOuSluBbs
/ had some tea and then ] prepared to
60 to dinner at the house Of Mr.. Eau
manuel Steinhardt, one of the creators
and lords Of the Tophet into which /
had entered. He was rector's church
warden, and had corresponded with
him concerning the curacy, and had
made this dinner arrangement week
ago. / asked my landlady where |
should find Timperley Hall.
"Oh," said she, looking at me with
a comical eye of respect, you'll be 60
ing to Muster Steenheart's2" leo she
pronounced the magnate's name).
''He's at tn other end O. tn village on
Shale Brow" (she called 1t "Brew').
"Stop bit, mon." She went to the
door Of the room and called, "Dick,
lad, you nun TAX the parson up to
Muster Steenheart's. Then turning
to me, she said, "He'll tab tina, mon,"
and withdrew.
l was amused; and when a minute
or two later she called from the bottom
of the stairs,
"Art ready, parson? TIL lads wait
ing
positively laughed to myself. My
amusement increased when saw my
guide, a young Hercules in clogs, who
might easily have taken" me to Tim
perley Hall and farther under his arm,
Timperley Hall l discovered over
looked the valley from the side oppo-
site to that from which l had first
viewed it. Soon l was in its drawing
room, shaking hands with Mr.. (or
HERR Emmanuel Steinhardt; for / saw
at once that he was Of pure Teutonic
breed, and heard, when he had spoken
a few words, that he must have spent
all his youth and part of his manhood
in the Fatherland: he spoke perfect
English, but with an indescribable,
tell-tale accent. / had just time to
notice his burly figure, his somewhat
rounded shoulders, and his massive
bald head, when I was introduced to
his wife, tall, handsome, Lancashire
woman cher speech betrayed herr, with
grey hair, evidently good deal older
than he; then to Miss Louise Lacroix,
of whom l will only say at present that
she looked refined and foreign-a rare
exotic in this region OF surprises; and,
lastly, to "my son, Frank" a young
man of one or two-and-twenty, who
looked in every way and spoke like an
Englishman. These introductions over,
we sat down to wait for the announce
ment of dinner. There was very little
said: they seemed constrained, and I
was, perhaps. shy. No one seemed to
think Of trying to set me at my ease.
Mr.. Steinhardt sat watching the clock,
and at intervals throwing questions
over his shoulder TO his wife. Zone
question noted was, ''Is Jim coming
at all2"--to which she answered, "Jim
said he might look in after dinner and
smoke a pipe"--and wondered who
Jim was. was wishing l had not &C.
cepted this invitation for my FIRST even
ing in Timperley, when the young lady
edged her chair little nearer to me,
and said, with the sweetest Of smiles
and the most musical of tones:
"You come from the south-from
London; yes?"
Her accent was that most delightful
Of all foreign accents-the accent Of an
educated Frenchwoman. answered
that | had come from London, though
I was not native there.
81, also" said she, "come from the
south; from London last, but from
Paris before"
Here was common ground for pleas
ant reminiscence, and We became
friends at once.
While we were talking 1 happened
to glance across in Mr.. Steinhardt's d.
rection: he was looking straight at me
for the first time. He rose and angrily
rang the bell. Presently we went in to
dinner. l, of course, sat next to him
on his right, and noticed with some Gu
riosity, as he carved, that his hands
seemed encased in very fine lemon
colored gloves a second look assured
me that they were merely stained.
His sons hands were similar, but of a
deeper hue. For the first time it oc-
Cured to me that my host was the lord
of the Chemical Dye Works.
"They we're your works, suppose,
NJ. Steinhardt," 1 said, "that passed
after entering the village?"
l was alone on my side Of the table,
and had to speak TO him, or be silent.
Yes" said he, rather abruptly.
Then after pause, "You came by that
road then.2"
So related how / had lost my way,
and how had been struck Il did not
say, "disagreeably'D with the impress
sion of ierocious energy my first view
Of the valley gave me.
'Ferocious energy he repeated,
with a smile, looking at me as if he
liked the phrase, and thought the bet
ter Of me for having uttered it, "It is
a great place for industry, and it will
De greater Yet.
asked him how it happened that
large mill was unused and falling in
ruins.
THAT is mine," he answered. "It
is unlucky. 1t was a spinning mill
once one Of the floors fell through, kill
ing many people, and twice it was
burned, all in 10 years-yes, all in 10
years"
"And today il seems to have added
to its work of killing" He looked at
me. "YOu have not heard, perhaps"
/ said
"Wbat?"
/ related what l had seen and heard. |
Have you heard of this7" he asked,
glsncing from one to another.
No; None of them had heard.
"I must see TO it," he said, and /
stirred as il he would set out al once;
but he added, latter dinner"
And after dinner he set out; and I |
thought better Of him than l had at
first been disposed to do because Of his
kindly feeling, though it were only for
pigs.
In the drawing room, however, I was
struck with tie altered manners Of the
family in the temporary absence Of its
head. Mrs. Steinhardt was gossipy
and kind-sven mothsrly; Frank threw