Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1902-12-04
The Yellow Domino.



When the scl1esne was mooted 20
me, my frst thonght Was that. un-
seen myself, l should see Eleanora.
so | was eager for it.
The others thought on the mad
cap prank IL was, and that their emp
ty paunches should soon be filed
with the Kings meat and drink.
And for this last / do not blame
them. seeing that the gentlemen OF
the Irish regiment more often than
not went supperless to. bed, since
glory was more plentiful in the
French Kings service shan louis
dor; and arrears Of pay seem ike
ly to grow greater.
Terrence d Esterre held hat for
the money. and we each cast in what
we could, he who had been lucky at
the gaming table more, he who had
lost less. We kept no count of the
sums, but, in the end, we had enough
to pay for one ticket of admission to
the great Mask, and for a yellow
domino.
The thing that gave US our oppor-
tunity was that that night the gen.
tlemen of the Irish regiment were
on guard at the palace. The Mask
was given for charity by the Queen s
wishes hence it was called the
Queens Mask, and ell the fashion,
of beauty, and wealth in the capital
would pay for its admittance, and
so swell the Golfers of st. Vincent de
Paul.
While my comrades laughed and
joked about me, thought upon the
last time ! had seen Eleanora, when
she and / had litten down from our
horses in the Vale of Arlo, and,
while the beasts cropped the sward
near us, | had taken her in my
arms and her golden head had lain
upon my heart. / remember how
the blackbird sang, and the smell of
the whitehorn all in bloom close by
that il seemed TO intoxicate me with
ecstasy.
At that time there was nothing
strange in Sir Maurice Desmond
lifting his eyes to Lord Lahinch s
daughter. Why we had been brought
up in neighboring houses. and our
families had always been friends
and allies. If the money dwindled
at Bunclody while Lahinch fattened,
that was but the fault of the trou-
blous times, for / gave with both
hands, as my father gave before me,
to the cause of King James and his
son. Whereas Lord Lahinch waited
to see who should win before he
flung up his cap for the Dutchman
or the Stuart. have marveied Of
ten upon how Eleanora came to be
his daughter.
When we brought our tale to Lord
Lahinch, the first shadow of trouble
fell upon our love.
What, Sir Maurice" he said,
take wife when Sarsfield has need
of soldiers / am an old man, not
fighter, and can protect my girl.
When the blood and fire of war burns
the country up, only an old man
like myself, who am out of the fight
and have q stout castle to boot, can
protect women. When King James
is on the throne again, it will be
time to talk OF marriage"
The old fox proved better than his
word, for though he conveyed his
daughter and his money bags privi-
ly from the country before the war
broke out and deposited them at the
French court, where he had kins-
woman high in favor with the Queen,
yet hereturned and held Lahinch cas-
tie fos King James against King
William, and had his head blown of
by a cannon ball, for which for
gave him many things, believing
that he was an honest man at last.
As for me, when il was over was
the poorest man between the four
seas OF Ireland, for my house was in
ashes, my land seized and seques-
trated, and / had lost Eleanora. Ru-
NOR had il that she was great heir
ess and betrothed to the son of the
Due de Picard. But she could not
be further from me though she were
welded, and so I said of her myself,
yet could not keep from being light
headed with JOY when we came home
from the Low Countries 10 Paris, and
all because | might by chance hap
pen TO see the Lady Eleanora.
We gentlemen of the Palace Guard
were chosen for our height and size.
/, Maurice Desmond, am six-foot-
four, and lean as q hound. Hard
ships had hold on me as well as love.
But / was not the greatest of the
troop. There was Andrew McMa-
rus twOinches greater and Laurence
Mcguire an inch. That night the
Yellow Domino was higher than any
gentleman at the Mask, and ii was