The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-05-08
CHAPTER 1x-contlnued.

ueF SOiOF coming ana gong, 10 ch.cH
my eye. to appease me as the greater
stranger and to keep the peace between
ner Ill matched companions. who IN
deed stalked along cycling one another
much as a wolf hound and a badger
dog might regard each other across
mans sudden appearance had put me
OUT. was not in love with her.
YET 1 liked to ak to her. and
grudged her to him-he seemed SO
mean O fellow. And so-churi that /
was-in answer to her speech. l let
drop some sneer about the great fear
OF the Spaniards which seemed to pre-
val! In these parts.
You are not afraid Of them. then?"
Van Tree said. with a smile.
NO: 1 am not" 1 answered. my lip
curling also.
"Ah." with nue. meaning. perhaps
you do no know them very well!"
Perhaps not" / replied. still. my
grandmother was a Spaniard."
SO should have Thought" he re-
words as l should have felt a blow.
What do you mean?" l blurted out.
Mating before him. with my cheek
crimson. In vain were all Dymphna'.s
appealing glances: all her signs OF dis
tress. II will have you explain, Master
Van Tree. what you mean by that"
I repeated fercely.
II mean what l said" he answered,
confronting ma %stubbornly and shaking
on Dymphna's. hand. His blue eyes
twinkled with rage: his thin beard
brist!ed: he was the color Of a turlse,.
cocks comb. At home we should have
Thought him a comical little figure, but
Ale did not seem absurd here. For one
thing. he ooked spiteful enough for
anything. and for another. though I
.opped him by a head and shoulders. I
could not f!atter myself that he was
afraid or me. On the contrary. I felt
that in the presence Of his mistress.
small and shortsighted as he was. he
would nave faced u lion without wink
snE.
His courage was not to be put to the
proof. 1t was still glazing at him. SEEK
ing some retort which should provoke
MIN beyond endurance, when a hand
was laid on my shoulder. and turned
70 hnd that Master Berthe and the
sduchess had Joined us.
S o here are the truants." the former
said pleasantly. speaking In English
and showing 40 consciousness whatever
OF the crisis in the middle of which he
haa come up. though he must have dis
cerfaed in our defiant attitudes and IN
1lymphna's troubled face that some
sh1iag was wrong. You know who this
90, Master Frances" he continued
heartily, or have You not been intro
duced to Master Van Tree, the be-
trothed OF our hosts daughter?"
MISTRESS DyInphna has done me that
honor" i said stitliy. recovering myself
IN appearance, while at heart sore and
ISL with everybody. But L fear
the Dutch gentleman has not thanked
her for the Introduction since he
!. learned that nay grandmother was
Your grandmother. do you mean? -
cried the duchess. much astonisi.ed.
Yes. madam
well, to be sure she exclaimed
lifting up her hands and appearing
whin1sically to the others. this boy is
1Gis o. starts and surprises. You never.
know what he will produce next. The
other dav it was u warrant. Today
At is a grandmother and Il temper.!"
Y could not be angry with her, and
peThaps l was not sorry now that my
quarrel with the young Dutchman ha,3
stopped where it had. l affected as
well as l could to join in the laugh al
my expense and took OF he
arrival of u host. who at this mo-
ment came up the slope from the land
ing Place. his hands outstretched and
essfriie OF greeting on his kindly face.
to slip away unnoticed and make
amends to my humor by switching Off
the heads Of the withes by the river.
But naturally the scene left a degree
OF Ill feeling behind 1t. and for the first
time during he two months we had
e under Master Lindstromis roof
the: party who sat Town to supper were
under constraint. 1t felt that the Young
Dutchinan had n the best OF the bout
IN the garden, and I talked loudly and
fooltshiy IN the boyish attempt to as
cert myself to set myself right at
least In my own estimation. Master
Van Tree meanwhile sat silent. eve
ing me from time to time in no friendly
fashion. Dymphna seemed nervous and
Enlightened. and the duchess and her
'1usnana exchanged troubled glances.
was In particularly good spirits, were
0narected by the prevailing chill.
MistresS Anne indeed in her ignorance
made matters worse. She had begun to
pick up some Dutch and was fond OF
airing her knowledge and practfcinp
fresh sentences at meal times. By some
I'll luck she contrived this evening
particularly after, finding no one to
contradict me. I had fallen into COM
parative stlence-to frame her sentences
90 as to cause az much embarrassment
as possible to all OF us.
Where did you walk with Dyn,nhna
this morning" was the question put
to me. -
You are fond OF Observation-Disclosures
Are f9nd Of water" she said 10
'Dymphna is tall: Master
Francis 10 tall. I sit by you tonight:
the Dutch lady sat by you last night"
&nd SO on. and 80 on. with prattie
which seemed to muse our host ex-
G~eedtnS!y-he was never tired of cor
fecting her tnistakes-but which put
the rest OF us out of countenance.
bringing the tears to poor Dymphna.s
eyes-she did not know where to look
and making her lover glover at me as
though he would eat me.
It was In vain that the duchess
made spasmodic rushes into con-
versatlon and in the intervals
nodded and frowned at the deiin-
sQuent. Mistress Anne. In he In
nocence. saw nothing. She went on un
Ell Van Tree could stand 1t no longer.
and with a half smothered threat.
which was perfectly Ineligible to me.
rose roughly from the table and went
20 the door az II to look o. at the
night.
what Ia the natter" Mistress Anne
said wonderingly in English. Her eyes
seemed at length to be opened to the
taot hat something was amiss with us.
Before I could answer the duchess.
who a risen. anne behind her. You
little fool!" b whispered fercely. IF
fool you are. you deserve to be
whipped"
why. what haye.I done p murmured
the girl. really frightened now and ap-
peallng to me.