The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1905-10-18
CHApTER III.-fContinued.)

house, after watching the carriage down
the drive, his head and heart were on
fire with the memory of her last linger-
ing look, and the blood danced In his fin
gers as he recalled the warm, clinging
pressure of her hand at parting.
II think / must be mad when she is
near me, for somehow ! always manage
10 believe ip the possibility of her love
for me VIXEN in her presence he NUT
tered, remorsefully. And, If she did
love, what then? Could l throw Ethel
over? My sweet, pure little Ethel, it
would break her heart! ] must get rid
of this folly. I'll finish EthePs letter at
once, and send 1t off by the morning post.
I'll write a long, loving letter to the poor
little girl; il will do me as much good TO
write it as it will her to receive IT,"
This time he commenced with my
dear Ethel" and then, before proceeding
further, he made n close examination of
the beautifully executed address and
crest on the paper.
The crest of ''M~allyngs"-as the name
was originally Spelled tigers head and
front paws in repose, with the motto,
LET the sleeping lie," particularly in
ferested him. He had stood for many a
minute during the past week in front
of one of these emblems Of the family
c~ircle-6erce, ungovernable--and ponder
ed the probable events that had caused
AZ to be bestowed on them as their
badge.
II wonder why she never married 2
he unused. II wonder IL mine Is the true
reason, and there really is some poor
beggar in the background awaiting her
twenty-ifth birthday? l shall have a
chance Of finding out if | accept her in
vitation for the partridge shooting in
September, for Lord Summers told me
she would be twenty-five in that month.
Ought i, in justice to Ethel, TO place my
self in the way of such temptation :.
Bosh! must be a weak fool indeed If !
cannot live in the society Of a beautiful
woman without making an idiot of my
self! Besides If | come and see for my
self that she is really gone on some
lucky fellow, it will be the most complete
cure / could find for my own folly"
But Jack knew this to be false rea.
soning; nevertheless he would not listen
to conscience, and, with a gloomy brow
and tightly compressed lips. sat glaring
moodHy at the blank sheet Of paper be-
fore him.
VIII you take your luncheon in here,
sir? II will seem less lonely than in the
dining room, I think"
h~ousekeeper.
II must have been sitting here nearly
three hours. I don't mind where | lunch,
Mrs. Perkins" +
Then I'll put 1t in here, sir; it's
brighter and more cheerful than the din
Ing ROOM"
Mrs. Perkins walked to a sideboard
and ficked away an imaginary speck of
dust.
Were you here in Sir Paul's timey'
he asked, more because the old lady
wanted to talk than from any interest he
took in the matter.
BLESS you, sir. I've been a servant in
this house for turned City years!
began as under housemaid at sixteen.
and here I've been ever since; so I'm
what you may call an old servant"
"Of course you remember. Miss Mall
ing's mother? She must have been a
beautiful woman"
Sometimes she was and sometimes
she wasn't. She was handsome enough
naturally; but she had such an awful
temper that 1t quite disfigured her at
times. I've known her to sulk about
the house for a month at a time because
her brother, the late Sir Paul, had re-
fused her some trihing thing. We were
quite relieved when she got married,
and went away on the Continent with
her husband. You see she was many
years younger than her brothers, Sir
Paul and the present baronet. Sir Geof-
frey, and was a bit spoiled in conse-
uuence-though there is an old saying
In the family that a Malling's daughter
IL always a fend, asking your pardon
for the word, sir; so it's lucky Miss
Pauline is only a Mailing by adoption"
Then you think she has escaped the
failing usual to the ladies of the fam
fy"
II should not like to give an opinion
of my mistress disposition. 1t would he
very bad taste on my part. sir. Miss
Mailing, during the six years she has
been mistress here, has been everything
one could desire"
II beg your pardon" he said, politely.
81 did not wish to hetray you into dis
respect for Miss Mailing. My question
was the natural outcome Of your remark
as to Miss Malling's being only a Mali
ing by adoption"
ITO be sure, sir; and that takes me
back to what | was saying. Miss Paul
mes mother was away ON the Continent
with her husband directly after they
were married, and roamed about for
years from one country to another with
him; she never came home again, poor
deart She died when Miss Pauline was
fifteen years old; and then Sir Paul was
anxious to have the child with him in
England, as he had made her his heiress,
ID consequence Of the other brother,