Oxford Democrat., 1906-02-20
By BOOTH HARRINGTON.
Author Of "The Gentleman From Indiana" and .r1oni
Copyright. 1909. by S. S. Mcclure Co.

. ~
Of his perception that a man who does
not speak to you has no right to have
daughter like the lady In the cur
riage, and. the moment Of this realiza-
ton occurring as he sat making poor
pretense to eat his evening meal at the
Rouen House, he dropped his fork rat
Ting upon his plate and leaned back.
staring at nothing, a proceeding Of
which his table mate. Mr.. William Cum
mings. the editor of the Rouen Jour-
nal. was too busy over his river bass
to take note.
Have you heard what's new in
town. asked Cummings presently.
boxing up.
NO" said Tom truthfully. for he had
seen what was new, but not heard 1t.
"Old Carewe's brought his daughter
home. Fanchon Bareaud was with
her at st. Mary's until last year, and
Fanchon says she's not only great
beauty. hut great DEAR"
"Ahw rejoined the other with master
\ ly Indifference. Dare say-dare say"
mo wonder you're not Interested" !"
said Cummings cheerfully, returning
to the discussion of his bass. "The old
villain will take precious good care
you don't come near her"
Mr.. Vanrevel already possessed q
profound conviction to the same effect.
Robert Meilhac Carewe was known
not only as the wealthiest citizen Of
Rouen, but also as its heartiest and
most steadfast hater; and, although
there were only 5000 or 5000 inhabit-
ants, neither was a small distinction,
for Rouen was ranked in those easy
days as wealthy town, even as 1t was
called an old town, proud Of its age
and its riches and bitter In its politics,
Of course. The French had built fort
there soon after La Sales last voyage
and, as Crailey Gray said, had settled
the place, and had then been settled
themselves by the pioneer militia. Aft
er the Revolution, Caroiinians and Vir-
glnians had come by way Of Tennes-
see and Kentucky, while the adventur-
Gus countrymen from Connecticut,
travelling thither to sell, remained to
buy-and then sell-when the country
was in its teens. In course of time the
little trading post Of the northwest ter
ritory had grown to be the leading CEN
ter Of elegance and culture in the Ohio
valley-at least they said so in ROuen.
Robert Carewe was Rouen's magnate,
commercially and socially and, until
an upstart young lawyer named Van
revel struck into his power with
broadax, politically. The wharfs were
Carewe's; the warehouses that stood by
the river and the line of packets which
piled upon 1t We're his. Half the town
was his, and In Rouen this meant that
he was possessed Of the middle justice,
the high and the low. His mother was
Frenchwoman, and in those days,
when to 60 abroad was pOnderous
and venturesome undertaking, the fact
that he had spent most of his youth In
the French capital wrought a certain
glamour about him, for to the Ameri-
can Paris was Europe, and it lay shim-
mering on the far horizon Of every
Imagination. a golden city.
Mr.. Carewe lived in an old fashioned
house OH the broad, quiet, shady street
which bore his name. There was a
wide lawn in front, shadowy under
elm and locust trees and bounded by
thick strawberries. A long garden, fair
with roses and hollyhocks, lay outside
the library windows-an old time gar
den. with fine gravel paths and green
arbors, drowsed over in summer time
by the bees, while overhead the locust
rasped his rusty cadences the livelong
day. and faraway sounding love note
from the high branches brought to
mind the line like an old refrain:
The voice of the turtle was heard in the
land.
Between the garden and the carriage
gates there was fountain where
bronze boy with the dropsy (but not
minding it, lived in a perpetual bath
from u green goblet held over his head.
Near by stone sundial cleaned
against clump of lilac bushes, and 1t
was upon this spot that the white kit
ten introduced Thomas Vanrevel to
Miss Carewe.
Upon the morning after her arrival,
having finished her pianoforte practice,
touched her harp twice and arpeggioed
the Spanish Fandango" on her guitar,
Miss Betty read two paragraphs Of
Gilbert" (for she was profoundly de-
termined to pursue her tasks with dill
lgence), but, the open windows dis
closing a world all sunshine and green
leaves, she threw the book aside with
good conscience and danced out to
the garden. There, coming upon a
fuzzy white ball rolling into itself
spirally ON lazy pathway, she pounc-
ed at 1t, whereupon the thing uncurled
with lightning swiftness and fed,
more like streak than kitten, down
the drive, through the open gates and
into the street, Miss Betty in full cry.
Across the way there CHANGED to be
strolling a young lady in blue, ac-
companied by gentleman whose lei
surely gait gave no indication Of the
maneuvering he had done to hasten
their walk into Its present direction.
He was apparently thirty or thlrty-one,
tall, very straight, dark, smooth shaved,
his eyes keen, deep set and thoughtful,
and his high white hat, white satin
cravat and careful collar were evidence
Of an elaboration Of toilet somewhat
unusual In Rouen for the morning.
Also he was carrying pair of white
gloves In his hand and dangled slen-
der ebony cane from his wrist. The
flying kitten headed toward the couple
when, with a celerity only to be ac-
counted for on the theory that bis eye
had been fixed on the Carewe gateway
for some time previous to this sudden
opne rj<ioa tho Oonf1oman leaned IN