Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-07-10
CHAPTER I,

CHAPTER 1.
$50 nice to find ourselves all here to-
gether once again y says Mrs. Clarence
with a satisfied sigh, throwing her pretty
head q little backwards and sideways
her charming insincere face smiling out
OF Its aureole of f1axen hair. In town
this delicate yellow hair of hers has ere
ated a small sensation for more years
than she now cares to be reminded of,
though In reality she is only thirty. For
the rest she has little to complain of In
her life; her means being ample, her
charms beyond reproach, and her very
u~ncongenial husband at this moment at
the Antipodes.
In this small country place--an in
significant spot In the south Of Ireland
she ID regarded by the villagers In the
little town below with feelings that sway
between awe and delight.
"aTis q vision she is" said Mr.. Twoo-
mey the opulent owner of the small hotel
In Carrigmahon, when Mrs. Clarence
had swept through the town In her cous-
in's-old Sir Lucien Adare's--carriage.
Sir Lucien, who as a rule detests this
Irish home Of his, took a freak into his
head the last month, and after eight
years absence from 1t, decided on gather
ing together such Of his kinsfolk as ac-
companied him on his last visit, and
spending a month or two in the pleasant
wilds Of Carrigmahon.
Carrig Castle-The Castle, as it is call
ed ''for short" by the peasantry-is suf-
ficiently charming a home to tempt most
people, had they been its possessors. to
visit it at least once a year. But not its
delights have brought Sir Lucien to 1t
In this sunny mid August. odd a~ssocia-
tons have given him a distaste for Car
rig that amounts to positive aversion, and
but for several important reasons it is
quite certain that he would not nave
come here at oil. A defaulting agent for
one. A battery of letters from his country
that Bryan Deane was home again and
staying at the old mill, for a third, and
strongest Of all. He had always believed
that fellow knew something Of the miss
Ing Jewels
"YsA. Isn't itT' says a very pretty
GIRL, answering Mrs. Clarence's languid
remark. There II very little languor
about Mary Adare. or May, As she is gen.
orally called. Hillary and I were de-
lighted to come, weren't we, Hilary?"
She leans towards her brother, q tall
young man sitting In a lounging chair
near q Of the open windows, through
which the moonlight is streaming 30 Wv
Idly as to almost put the many shaded
lamps out Of cou~ntennnce.
Intensely" returns Captain Adare
politely. 1t is possible that Hilary,
Mary's brother and Sir Lucien's heir,
scarcely heard his sisters question, his
mind being at the moment many
miles away-in a conservatory at
that last dance he went to, before
leaving town, before being dragged down
here" rs he termed it. Amongst the
flowers on that memorable evening he had
told himself that the girl whose fan he
was then caressing was the prettiest crea-
ture In the world, A week after he still
thought SO six weeks later he is sitting
here trying to think SO still, and failing
. little. Six weeks Is a long tlme-when
n il only twenty-eight.
"How many years since last we were
hereT" 3 X someone from the back
ground, someone dangling gracefully over
the sill Of the window, and twanging
eAily, with a remorseless disregard for
time and tune, on q banjo.
what q horrid question !" says Mrs.
Clarence, with a delicate rufling Of her
fair brOws. 1T must be Owens I"
M 0A0 RSGIS AOuLup NOAIAy pdKSlu& Will
her fan the two men next to her to make
them stand aside until she can see the
place where her brother, the Hon. Owen
AcGrath, sits revealed.
"Ohl do stop that dreadful noise -
uies May, covering her little shell-pink
oars with her hands.
.You know you love it." says MI. Nc
0rath, unmoved. He turns his head 90
tAr inwards that one can see that he is
fAt, fair and twenty-four or 30. His face
= innocent Of hair, n 30, very nearly,
= his head. His sister and his father,
Lord Kllfern, make much Of him now
and then, and so do a good many far
bsktsr people. Come here, n III sing
to youi You won't? /. You shall !"
He has seized her frock and pulled her
down beside him. There is a cousinship
between them, as indeed there is between
everyone now staying in Sir Lucien's
house
"Owen, don't be stupid !" May gives
him q vigorous little push, but Mr.. Nc
Grath, with his arm so far thrust through
hers as to enable him to get a purchase
on the banjo, is already nnlifting his ter
rible voice to the moonlit skies.
A young man had come rather quickly
up to the window when Miss Adare had
bsen brought so swiftly to q seat beside
the Interpreter Of the banjo.
sOh, Ii that you, Gilbert" exciaims
ohe. Eyes, help me up. l must say,
Owen" turning wrathfully to her late
companion, IF you think that rausic
! Won't you wait for the next verse
Do" says Mr.. McGrath. Its teenins
With interest. It's proposal-from you
. e. me--you WON'T waltz How blind PEG.
he nre 20 their own interests nowada-s
sssshaNo one Is listening to him. no one cvr.
doee ruielwhich says r.ssssAss for The
ws5e5em { lis ac~auaintanccs and friends
hut fssSrhe present COMPANY think X
Aiscoaccst hira by tals disregard u III