Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-09
she turned to the bishop. and holding out

SH0 SufIlCo " tIo D.SnOD. ana nOtQIHS Out
her hand she said softly:
MY GEAR, dear bishop. you are the best
hearted. the saintlisst man on earth. Be.
cause you are SO 6kadtifuily clean-souied
| ashamed to say it, but I shall have no
rest till Go. When saw you in the car
rage down town. with that poor. dem ted
YOU foreRe shows what
| evil mind have. BIT you. who know so
well what Edward is, what my life has
been with him. win See how much reason I
I shook. l laughed so hard. What a
| corker her Edward must be. See, Tom.
| poor old Mrs. Dowagcr UP in the square
| having the same devils luck with her man
| as Molly Elliott down in the alley has
| with hers. l wonder IL you're all alike.
! No. for there's the bishop He had taken her
hand sympathzingiy. forgvingly. but his 81
renee mace me curious. l knew he wouldn't
| let the CID lady believe for e. moment l was
| iuny. If once he could be sure himself that 1
| wasn't. GU lie. Tom Dorgan. he wouldn't!
Well But the poor baby, how could
ne expect to see through game that had
| caught the dowager herself? STILL / could
! hear him walking softly toward me. and l
felt him looking keenly down at me long
| before l opened my eyes
When did, you should have seen him
| jump. Guilty he felt. 1 could see the blood
| rush up under his clear. thin old skim soft
| as baby's to find himself caught trying
| to spy out my secret
JoSt ioohSo DlS-eyeO up dt IlIIi Ou
| know; the way Molly's kid does when he
wakes. l looked a long, long time, as
| though I was puzzled
Daddy 1 said slowly. sitting up. You
you are my daddy. amt you?"
'Yes-yeS. of course" 1t was the dow
ager who got between him and me. limiting
| heavily at him with mods and frowns. But
| the dear old fellow only got pinker in the
| effort to look lie and not say 1t. Still,
| he looked relieved. Evidently he thought
| l was luny all right but that 1 had lucid
| intervals. l heard him whisper something
| like this to the dowager just before the
| maid came in with tea for me.
| Yes. Tom Dorgan, tea for Nancy Olden
| off a silver salver out of a cup like paint
| ed eggshell. My but that almost fioored
| me! l was afraid I'd give myself dead
| away with all those little jars and jugs.
SO l said l wasn't hungry though. Lord
| knows l hadn't had anything to eat since
| early morning. But the dowager sent the
| maid away and took the tray herself, OPP
Grating all the jugs and pots for me- and
| then tried to feed me the tea. She was
| about as handy as Mollys little sister is
| with the baby; but | allowed myself to be
coaxed and drank it down.
Tea. Tom Dorgan. Ever taste tea? If
you knew how to behave yourself in polite
| society Id give you card to my friend,
| the doWager, up in the square.
How to get away, That was the thing
| that worried me I'd just made up my
| mind to have lucid interval when cr-creak,
Tom. you're mighty cute-so cute you II
| land US both behind bars some day; but
you can guess who came in on our little
| family party Yes-oh yes, you've met him.
Well, the old duffer whose watch was
| ticking inside my waist that very minute,
| Yes, sir. the same red-faCed. ig-necked
| fellow we'd spied getting full at the little
| station in the country. Only he was bit
mellower than when you grabbed his chain.
Well he Edward.
/ almost dropped the cup when I saw him.
| The dowager took it from me, saying:
There, dear, don't be nervous. It's only
only
| She got lost II couldn't be my daddy
| the bishop was that. But it was her hus-
! band, who could 1t be?'
'E,vening. Bishop. Hello. Henrietta, back
| SO soon from the opera?" roared Edward, in
| a big, husky voice. Held had more since We
saw him. but he walked straight the
bishop himself, and he's a dear little ram
rod. "Ah'-his eyes lit up al sight of me
''ah. Miss-Miss-of course, I've met the
young lady, Henrietta, but hang me if
haven't forgotten her name
"Miss-Miss Murieson." lied the old lady
glibly IA rela tive"
why. mummy" I said reproachfully.
"There-there It's only joke. Isn't it a
joke, Edward?" she demanded, laughing
asily.
"Joke?" he repeated with hearty below
| of laughter. Pest kind of a joke. 1 call
it, to find so pretty girl right in your
own house, eh. bishop"
Why does he call my father bishop
| mummy
I couldn't help it, The fun of hearing the
dowager lie and knowing the bishop beside
himself with the pain Of deception was too
much for ne. / could see she didn't dare
trust her Edward with my sad story.
"Ho. no. The bishop-that,s good. No
my dear Miss Murieson. if this lady's your
mother. why, / must beat least. | ought
to be- your father. AS such, I'm going to
have all the privileges of a parent-bIess
me. if I'm not"
l don't suppose he'd have done it if he'd
been sober. but there's no telling. when you
remember the reputation the dowager had
given him. But he d got no further than
to put his arm around me when both the
bishop and the dowager flew to the rescue.
My but they were shocked | couldn't
help wondering what they'd have done If
Edward had happened to see the bishop in
the same sort OF tabieau earlier IN the az
ternoon.
But I got lucid interval just then. and
distracted their attention. 1 stood for
moment. my head bent as though l was
thinking deeply.
length. II don't understand exactly
how 1 got here" I went on. looking
from the bishop to the dowager and
my father. I'm ever-so much obliged to
you. and if you will give my hat I'll
take the next train back to college"
You'll do nothing of the sort" said
the UOWdSeF pTOHlpNIy- MY ttdI, Spu lie Il
sweet girl that's been studying too hard.
You must go to my room and rest"
And stay for dinner. Don't you care?
Sometimes I don't know how | get here
myself" Edward wnked jovially.
Well, I did. While the dowager's back
was turned | gave him the lttlest one. in
return for his. 1t made him drunken than
ever.
Il think" said the bishop grimy. with a
significant glance at the dowager, he
turned just then and the old cock
ogling me- "the young lady is wiser than
We I'll take her to the station"
The station, Ugh. Not Nance Olden,
with the red coat still on
impossible, my dear bishop" interrupted
the dowa ger. She can't be permitted to
go back on the train alone"
why, Miss-Mss Murieson. I'll see you
back all the way TO the college door. Not
at ALL not at all. Charmed. First We'll
have dinner-Or. first, I'll telephone out
there and tell 'em you're with us. so that
If there's any rule or anything of that
sort
The telephone, This wretched Edward,
with half his wits. gave me more trouble
than the bishop and the dowager put to-
gether. She jumped at the idea and left
the room. only to come back again to whis-
per to me:
What name my dear?"