The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-04-06

WRITTEN q " SUNDAY
The old weather-siated house at the cor
nor of kilcullen High street. where It end
cd at the churchysrd. was the most impor-
taht residence IN the town. and Miss Hofr-
mann and her niece. Miss Bertha, were
looked up to by their neighbors, the shop
Keepers. as very considerable people in
deed' .Ihey dressed well, kept n housemaid,
and cook. attended the Presbyterian Church
mad so a year in their Joint right and
showed many other signs and tokens of
Sentlnty. Among the latter was the fact of
'heir descent from the Palatines, a colony
that more than "A century ago came over
from Germany and settled In the interior of
me county. The colonists long preserved
me "ayE and habits of the home country.
and even now on the clear winter evening.
"hen Miss Bertha stood looking dreamily
out at the st set there was q fragrance
through the house that was not grateful TO
the sentimental mood which she was in
dulging.
Coed Eracious!" she cried. impatientIy
sauerkraut againl II is abominable that
"unt VIII persist in having that wretched
stun. / never touch it and stiIl. year after
year she will have those horrid cabbayes
'ut up and barreled and cooked The odor
was, in truth, overpowering. and only to
nc compared In disagree ibleness to that OF
hS Nhh ger tuteSS winch also, 10 Ber-
ina $ mimi, made a too frequent appearance
IN the Hoffman, table. But these yiends
and the pancakes, and potato-and-herring
salads, were part of the old times to which
Miss chung with the same af-
lection that she did to the old German fam
iIy Bible. the double feather beds. and the
other ancestral housekeeping items.
But Bertha's Irritation was only momen-
taiy; there was Il moro anxious matter
NflEhlnt on hRr Mrs nttf-ln sh. -
wife. had called that afternoon. and among
>other bits of gossip had told them ,.at the
hearney was going off TO Italy with the
regiment of Papal Zouaves that he had
'liNed in the county.
\ man OF fifty, my dear. think of that
'sN!ng lie and limb IN n hopeless cause
~ was worse than hopeless I'm Miss Rar-
mas Presbyterian eyes. but all the same.
'.nce II was ne who Was dong il. some
."ihg gallant and generous seemed mingled
Hith tho rash "Papistr.'' Of It.
They had known the O'Kearney sInce the
time. six wears ago, when Bertha,s father
and aunt had fallen into a little fortune bv
the death Of a relative in America. and
had given up their farm and settled in
the town. Some of the money had been IN
vested In a small freehold estate. the only
remaining property of the O'Kearney whose
People had once owned half the county.
Tho negotiations consequent on the trans-
Ter 81 the l.ecs OF ground had brought the
county gentleman into acquaintance with
the Palatine household. and something in
the homely life there-the order and peace
and calm OF it-had been attractive to him.
Tue women of the family were wonderfully
German In their looks: he was actually as
tohlsheu, 81 first speech with them. to hear.
ihs'eai OF the cultural Fatherland accents.
the soft Kerry tongue. He had stormy times
at home. a Guerulous old mother, sisters who
sat In desoiation because hunting and
naleoirs were no longer possible to them,
anu "ho were wearing into grim. hopeless. |
Old maidcnhood, after the fiightiest, gay |
est youth. The isolation from old friends, ,
Tor he and his were too proud to forco
themselves on those whose warmth had
wnred with the O'Kearney fortunes, the
snUen gloom Of the sour sisters broken By
scenes OF recrimination between themselves
and the peevish mother-all gentle feeling
seemed TO have been annihilated IN them by |
their troubies-the poverty. tho ili-ordered
aone In the lodgings over the chandlery !
SHOP. where no servant could be kept, md
where nobody was willing or able TO do a
servants work-all the sordid daily expert