The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-09-23

/ vi NO MOIo vi AlN1NhOIh hNS WV
crossed her lips, to me at least" again
replied O'Neill. "She would not even
wait"
"Oh, but she did" interrupted Gov
entry jcalously-"a ~year-siX months
she tried to postpone her wedding for
six months more. 1 begin to under
stand"
"pcacc, Edward!' said Elizabeth,
trembling violently. "rhc Marquis de
Rlchemont Isis nothing to me-can
never be anything to me, that Is. The
wedding shall proceed ut the appoint
cd date. 1 gave you my word. 1t
was the wish of my mother, the wish
of the admiral, your wish
"And yours also, dearest Elizabeth,
is 1t not?" said Coventry, taking her
hand entreatingly. She hesltated aud
stood silent.
"IIavc me executed at once, sir, In
mercy and pity" said O'Neill to the
admiral. "Let 1t be now-the sooner
the better. This 1 cannot stand. Ills
too much"
mot So" replied the admiral grave
ly. 81 will consider the matter fur-
Their and consult with you again.
Meanwhile If you will give me your
parole 1 will allow you the freedom of
the castle"
"Parolel 'Tis given, sir. Faith, 1
hardly think you could drive me
away"
That's WELL" returned the admiral.
Sergeant, call my steward and have
him assign chambers to the Marquis
dc Richemont. Coventry, 1 presume
Cnu will nlor0 I-nIlr WI lrllOhn Dt his
disposal in case he needs anything.
Now the marquis will doubtless wish
to retire. We will sec him in the
morning. Come, Elizabeth. Good
night, sir. The sergeant will attend
YOU"
Lord Westbrooke, 1 thank you. Ma
jor Coventry, your servant. Lady
Elizabeth, L wish you JOY on your we'd
ding. Good night" replied the young
man, bowling to them all in succession.
AS the admiral and the others left
the ROOM, the young lieutenant sank
down on his chair and put his head
upon his hands upon the table. The
old sergeant, who had seen 1t all,
watched him a moment in silence.
Walking up to him finally and lay
ing his hands on his shoulder with
the familiarity Of q privileged charac-
ter he said:
"Come now, sir, be n soldier"
"You can give no worse advice than
that to n sailor, my friend" replied
O'Neill, rising and smiling in spite
Of his misery. LEAD on; 1 will fol-
low" he added.
AS they passed down the great hall
the eyes Of the wretched lieutenant fell
upon n large picture hanging rather
low on the wall In a far corner above
n dais near the doorway. 1t was tho
portrait Of n beautiful woman in the
fashion Of some fifty years back. She
was seated In q great carved oak chair,
the counterpart of and evidently paint
ed from one sitting beneath it. In
face and feature the portrait was Il
striking likeness Of Lady Elizabeth
Howard. The skill Of the painter had
been SO great, the colors had been so
nicely chosen, so delicately laid on,
that In the Pickering, uncertain candle
light, which left this part of the room
In n rather deep shadow, the picture
actually seemed to breathe. O'Ncill
stopped as If petrifed.
Come along, Sir" said the sergeant
grufly.
"a moment, If you please, my friend
"a moment. What sort of n man are
you to pass by such as this without
notice? 1t should be Lady Elizabeth,
but the fashion Of the Dress
ITS her mother, sir, n cousin Of the
admiral. L pass it every day, sir,
an I've got SO 1 don't take no notice
on 1t, no more. She was a young thing
scarce older than her young ~lcddyship
when She set for that paintin', an they
had no children for years, leastaways
they all died till this baby was born,
nm then she died too. I've been at
tachcd to the ndmiral's service I'm one
way or another scncc / was q boy, am
handled her many n time on my knee.
Yes, and her young leddyship, Lady
Elizabeth that is, too, wen she was q
little girl"
"My regard for you goes up a thou
%sandfold, my friend said O'Neiil,
smiling. :" could almost envy you
your opportunities. Would 1 had been
your
"'Tain't no use wishin' that" said
the old sergeant, shaking his head.
There never was no Frenchman could
ever take my place"
"Quite right" replied O'Ncill, smiling.
""Twould be clearly impossible"
Come along then, yer honor."
stay n moment" returned tho en-
raptured Irishman. "a year at gaze
would not safe me with the beauty Of
this picture. How like is the fair i'm
age!' murmured he cntranccd young
man, approaching nearer and fairly
holding his breath under the influence
of the moment. He stretched out his
hand toward the painting with n little
revcrential gesture.
Look out, sir" said the sergeant
warningly. "The picture hangs very
loose an the Frame
What evil fate was it that deter
mined its fall Mt hat moment? There
was a tremendous crash, something
gave way and the great frame dropped
from Its place OH the wall md foil
across the heavy oaken chair which
stood beneath 1t, and the picture was
tmpaled upon Its Gothic points. The
two men sprang to seize 1t ana lift 1t
up. Alas, 1t had been literally torn to
pieces! The canvas had evidently been
originally a defective one for 1t had
split in every direction. Restoration
was clearly IMPOSSIBLE.