The Washington herald., 1908-08-06
CHAPTER XIII.

OF making Joy the object Of their partic-
ular care. driving her distracted with
welI-meaning words and actions. Joy.
miserable from grief and with nerves on
/ edge through want OF sleep, made a val
F liant effort not to hurt theirt feelings: an
effort not crowned with any comDensating
sense OF success. There had been the DIFF
hcuIty Of persuading ner 10 leave her
dead father. who lay upstairs On his bed.
with a wonderful smile upon his thin face.
She was convinced that this smile held
special meaning for her. being eloquent
Of encouragement. Of resignation. and OF
rest II expressed subtly a benedicton;
/ from it emanated a peace beyond under
standing To the aunts and Sir Giles.
however. Joys unwiIIingness 10 leave the
death chamber (their word Indicated
1 sensfbiIitIes that IN a stranger. might
/ have been stigmatized as morbid. Each,
/ IN turn and alone. had spent five minutes
with the dead. go interminable seconds.
during which the conviction that their
own DAYS were numbered thrilled them 20
/ the inmost core. Each. on leaving the
! room, allowed a faint sigh Of relief to
escape from his or her lips. and each
although not one would have admitted IL
/ for the vorld-was sensible OF a diffusive
/ satisfaction that poor George had been
taken first And this seemed eminently
/ fitting, because the dear man had never
really been part and parcel Of his par
I ish. Always they. had regarded him as
an alien. almost an tnterIoper. for every
body knew that for four successive gen
erations Hernshaw rectory had been filed
T Aff-4asa
1t had been different But after her de-
mise George had certainly neglected his
duty in allowing a mere chit OF a girl 70
become the absolute mistress Of his house
and within a few months the autOcrat
Of the parish. Miss Priscilla venrured 10
remind her brother that II might be we'll
when best0wing the living upon the next
Incumbent, 20 stipu!ate expressly that
girls hockey clubs should be discouraged.
and that good. wholesome doctrine should
be preached from the pulpit The aunts
hinted vaguely at one especial doctrine
markedly ignored by George Vennable.
that Of everlasting punishment. which IN
AIottisfontian mouths had indeed been a
rod wherewith 10 scourEe the sinful and
thoughJless-
OF course. Joy OWNED what eagrossed
the thoughts OF the ladies' she knew that
the past five and twenty years were re
garded by them as an interreenum. she
felt. with a sEudde- of revuiSion. that be
fore her father was OUT oC the house they
were busy fitting a different sort OF nan
into It. one Of the sound. "cocksure" type.
like the very superior person who had mar
rled Arabella 0IOttisfont. TIE Rev Archi-
bald Starkey. he who was destined 20 be-
come a colonial bishop.
II goes without saying that IN their
niece's presence the aGnts were careful
TO speak no word that might be construed
as a slight upon the dead. Al NIottlsfouts
speak well OF the dead. or. IN exceptional
cases. say nothing. The aunts made a
lamentable mistake iu saying too much
Well-Eea1ins but not quite sincere praise
was as nauseatl1g for JOY 20 swallow as
the Grcg0ry's powder which her mother
had administered 20 her when a child
Much against he- wish. although she had
uttered but the faintest Of protests the
aunts were sleeP-2g at the reCJ0rys aud
very properly. they insisted upon thei1
niece taking due u0urishmeuJ at regular
hours Their appetite for plain food never
! failed on these unhappy occasions. a.
though each lady made II a point Of hon
or 70 eat what was set before ber-and
this applied more particularly 20 second
helpings-Tith an air o. mournful detach-
ment and IN silence Joy wanted 20 taIB
and eat nothing
But. my child" Miss Priscilla would
observe. you must take something
This sole is excellent and so easily di.
gested."
No. thank you. Aunt Priscilla"
Miss Lavinia bleateG feebly: II youi
poor father were here,
OF course. he IS here" said JOY. frnly
Miss Lavinta- quite uncoasc5ously. al
lowed a pair Of frightened pale blue eyes
/ TO wander in and out OF corners Miss
Priscilla said with authority Really
Joy. you 80 too far"
I'm quite sure he's IN this room now
He IoYed this room When We were alone
We always sat here. and had our be.
yondy talks"
&c 'Beyondy' talks7 never heard Of
such an adjective"
Talks beyond the veil. Il you ike
Father didn't believe that death whirIec
Us asunder. He held Jhat the spirit lin
gered for a time at least with those If
! loved. Why. only a fortnight ago. hs
told me to look after his collections. be
cause he should be so uneasy If the mott
got into them"
Good gracious me- calculated pool
Miss Lavinia-
At once Joy closed her lips. consciou.
that she had been an idiot 70 let herself
80 in this intimate strain to person.
whose ideas and associations were as Pc
mote as the fixed stars from her own
Miss Priscilla closed the discussion for
ever by saying En- a glacial tone --Thes,
things have not been revealed unto US
The day before the funeral the alI-im
pOrtant subject Of Joys future was in
trOduCed by Miss Priscilla In justice {,
the aunJs II must be understood that theJ
were anxious TO do the real right thing
Nor must II be forgotten, looking at tn,
matter from joys point Of view, tha
the aunts, by virtue Of years and expert
ence- claimed the doubtful privilege O
determining what the real right thinl
was Joy. Of course, must live with them
This. let Us admit frankly. involved sac
ri1ices, the d!slocatiOn OF habits sacro
I sanct IN the eyes Of elderly spinsters
: Joy would bring her dogs 10 the lodge
! and the dogs-terrifying thOught-woul,
/ certainly harass and perhaps sIay tn
, cats One could hardly expect so irpetu
. Gus a creature to remember 70 wipe he
feet carefully before entering the smal
= hail with its immaculate carpet More
L over, Joys particular friends were no
+, held IN the highest esteem BY the NTisse
= AIOttisfont-
? However. they tackled valiantly tn
I certainty Of discomfort and the Sroba
bility of wha- joy vulgarly called rue
tons" Mss Priscilla opened the pro
= ceedings
e Ny dear" she said kindly. your Aun
I Lavinia and I viii do our best to max
, up TO you for what you have lost"
= A faint smile hickered about joys lip
2 and vanished. Not being inspired 10 sa,
81