Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-27

travagant weeks a pang of misgiving had
crossed her soul. but 1t had only been Z
pang of the moment
The phantom of tradesmen's bills Is on
so easily dismissed from the Irish MINI
that. unless 1t materializes very forcibly. j.
may almost be considered non-existent
On July l she was to receive her half
yearly allowance and toward July 1 she
looked with almost superstitious conf
dence. thousand pounds! 1t was sum
Client to settle planetful OF debts; and Al
any remained as satellites to the planet
well. there was January 1.
But now her confidence had been rudety
shaken. In a sudden moment OF pride-o.
bravado-she had signed away almost the
whole OF the anticipated half-yearly in
come. She stood possessed of fifty pounds
with which to dress. to eat, to exist FROM
July to January: and in her hands was the
sheaf of unpaid bills.
There Is no race Of people that undertakes
| liabilities so lightly, and that Is so ov1-
whelmed when retribution falls upon II. ~
| the Irish race. AS Clodagh gradually faced
I her position panic seized upon her. 70.
| weeks she had lived upon the credit that
the London tradesman gives to customers
i who come provided with good references
4 and now suddenly she had realized-first b
the arrival Of certain bills. couched IN {
| new and imperative strain, later by Lad
i Frances Hopes unexpected demand for he
money-that English credit Is not the lax
| indefinite credit of such places Mus
keere and Carrignore; that It is a credit
Notwithstanding upon-timely pay
ment-
| And where was she to turn-where Look
| for the necessary funds?
| In a dazed way she thought of DayL
| Barnard, who had returned month pre-
/ viously rom a Holiday in Spain; but hei
1 pride made her shrink sensitvey from the
| thought of the suave indulgence with which
| he would listen to her confession OF folly
| Once the thought Of recalling Lady Frances
| Hope and explaining the position to her
| sped through her mind; but she dismissed II
| as swiftly as 1t came. In a restless per
| turbation she turned and walked across
| the room. pausing once more beside the
| bureau, which stood in recess between
| the windows.
Where could she turn-where look-for the
1 money that would tide over her difhcu
| ties? In her mental distraction she latc
| aside the bills she was still holding, and
/ simlessly picked up a half-dozen opened
letters that lay awaiting answers. A COUP,
4 Of invitations to lunch: an invitation to
| play bridge; the offer OF a box at the opera i
| Laurence Asshlin's monthly report from
| Orristown; Nances last letter from Amer-
lea.
| With a vague preoccupaton she raised
| the last of these and looked at It.
| How free and unhampered Nance seemed
| in her inexperience of life! She looked uu
| seeingly at the closely written lines, hei
| mind in a harassed way contrasting her
| own and her sisters fate. Then quite SUD
| denly she dropped the letter and lifted he'
| head.
| thought had struck her. As a flash OF
| lightning might rend a night sky, an In
| spiration had Illuminated the darkness o.
| her mind. The thousand pounds which was
| to be Nance's property when she came
age, upon her engagement, still lay 10
| her own credit-in her own name-in tho
bank with which Milbanke had done busi
ness.
1t is extraordinary how rapidly a though
| can mature In a receptive mind. In on
moment, as Clodagh stood beside the BIT
| reau, all the possibilities comprised In tina
| 21.OO0 broke upon her understanding,
Il I@xvv a. ~ r. .A. Ianr, w NM
not even Nance herself-need know; and
| she could refund 1t within six months-o 1
| within q year-long before the thought O.
| marriage could enter the childs mind.
| Then suddenly she paused In her mental
calculations and q new expression passed.
| over her face. Was 1t right was II honor.
able. to make use Of this money left In her
| Uneasy and distressed, she turned to tho
| open window as though q study OF the lif
beyond her own might help her In he,
| Interesting and even beautiful. The gras
| Of the park still retained something Of Il
! first greenness; In the distance the cluster
ing bower Of cheetnuts and copper bseche
suggested something far removed from tn
! traffic and toll OF the great town; Will
below the window, under a canopy O.
leaves. the morning procession Of horse
and carriages passed incessantly to and FRI
What q curious world 1t was! How con-
ventional and obvious. and yet In realit
how inscrutable! What would 1t say q
comfort-what aid-would 1t offer? Invol.
unfairly. almost curiously, she laid he
finger tips upon the window sill and ben.
slightly forward. Then, very suddenly, shs
drew back into the room. her face flushing
Lord Deerehurst, mounted upon a higfs
black horse. had passed the window at tht
moment that she looked out. and, raising
his head had seen and bowed to her.
The incident was slight but at certai
moments the Celtic nature Is extraors
dnarily, even mysteriously. open to sug
gestion. Clodagh could not have define
her thought, but the thought was there, I:
vague half-fearful. wholly instinctiva
thought that suddenly prompted her e
shield herself. to ward or the nearer APP
proach of this world that she had leaneT
from her window to study impersonall
and from which she had received 80 pee
cularly personal an impression.
She continued to stand for a momens
longer in an attitude of doubt: then swiftly
almost abruptly. she turned round to tn
bureau and. kneeling down before 1t. rev
opened her check book with tremuiouj
hands and wrote out a check for f1.0og
payable to herself.
.CTo be continued tomorrow ~