The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-10-05
By MISS ANNIE EDWARDS.
CHAPTER V.
Continued.


It has been remarked that human
nature is best judged of, as the house
wives Judge Of linen or long cloth. in
email samples"
One might add, still in housewife
language, that human nature, like
most mixed fabrics, requires to be a
bit unrayeled before we can rightly
judge Of it at all.
No unraveler like home life; the
meeting q man ct breakfast and din
ner, and at breakfast next morning,
In every vicissitude of temper, with his
mutton overcast and underroast, IN
his domestic affections, in his slippers!
"Old heads, my dear Hosie, do not
grow on shoulders Of six-and-twenty.
That a young fellow Of Mr.. Cnester's
age should love pleasure is but nat
ural. A nan Of the world, and a mill
tary man, too, must not be criticised
by the standard Of Fief-de-la-Rein
ethics" All these e1culpatory SEN
timents had Miss Theodore been wont
to urge in the days when Aunt Hosie
first expressed her doubts as to the
character Of Daphne's lover. An
autumn and winter spent under the
same roof, suspicious, little by little
dawning to certainties, regarding the
nature Of his friendship with county
families, had suflced to turn the milk
of Miss Theodora's kindness to gall.
Barry Chester was a spendthrift, a
man devoid of principle, an imposter.
Barry Chester, unless pretty stringent
measures were taken by the opposi-
ton, would infallibly entangle every
body who had the misfortune to be
connected with him in his own ruin.
Accordingly, one Saturday night,
when, by reason Of next mornings as
~sociations the prodigal might be e1-
pected to return from his haunts at an
earlier hour than usual, it was
planned that the three Miss Vansit-
tarts should sit up in solemn, inquisi-
torial state for his reception.
Not a word have I, here or else
where, to urge for Mr.. Chester; not a
plea to advance in extenuation of his
guilt. Yet I confess, when I think Of
that terrible Council Of Three, of the
first moment in which his fate pre-
scented itself to his eyes, I feel that this
young man owned a common humanity
with myself. I pity him.
It was q rude March midnight; the
easterly blasts blowing up sheer from
the Cherbourg Straits, and bearing
icy destruction to the early bloom in
orchards and fruit gardens around
Quernec Bay. AS Mr.. Barry Chester,
with head bent low, made his way
along the narrow garden path toward
the house, his eyes, never very keen
at this hour of the twenty-four, were
too blind to note that shafts Of IN
wonted light pierced through the
hinged shutter chinks of the parlor
windows. His blissful ignorance, how
ever, was of short duration. While,
with unsteady fingers, he was still
Tainly ~endeavoring to fit the latchkey
Into the lock yes, Barry Chester had
nCludAS C0lo Ul1SACu q NolSAASy az
Fief-de-la-Reinel the door started
open, and m apparition stood before
him-an apparition whose import, stu
pefied though his senses might be, he
grasped on the moment! Miss Theo-
dora, dressed in her second best silk,
her head be-ribboned and awe-inspir-
ing, a candle-supported by one Of the
seldom-used parlor candlestcks in
Dur-our-" -
Barry Chester staggered into the
house place, loosened his scarf, took
off his greatcoat, then turned sudden
ly round upon Miss Theodore, who by
this time had locked and barred the
front door and stood coldly confront
Ing him.
You have not taken to any Of
Daphne's-tricks of sitting up for me,
] hope. ma'am"
II have waited up for you once, Mr..
Chester" replied Theodore, in a STAG
cato, arctic tone. II have waited up
for you-once! On one Sunday morn
ing-with a purpose! You may be quite
sure l shall not lose my rest on your
account a second time"
And upon that she turned back into
the parlor, with all the majesty that
conscious virtue lends. Chester, half
defiant, half coward-well he knew the
kind Of scene that must await him.
followed.
He walked up to the hearth rug. held
his chilled hands out for a moment be-
fore such scanty remains of vraic ash
are still smoldered in the crate. then
turned around and looked from n to
the other Of the three old sisters. Miss
Isabella. deaf, memorable, in her easy
chair and spectacles; Theodore, alert,
upright. prepared for action; Aunt
Hosie, her good face a couple of shades
paler than usual, her eyes turned
away from him.
81 am in for judgment, I see," he re-
marked. LET US get it over without
delay. Daphne-where the - is
Daphne" glaring savagely around the
room for his wife. Better have a full
court, had we not, before the trial be-
gins?"
Daphne went to her bed three hours
agow cried Aunt Hosie, looking up
quickly. Daphne knows nothing about
our-our-"
The words died on her lips. Never
were lips less fitted for enunciating
judicial sentences than Aunt Hosie's.
But Miss Theodore took up the cue
promptly.
about our feeling it q duty, MI.
Chester. to expostulate with you as to
your conduct. Yes. We have waited