The Irish standard., 1908-12-12

fellows play! But his dreary thoughts
persisted. Rupert was a colonel in
the regular army Of the United States.
He had been brevetted q brigadier
general after the Spanish war, and
had commanded, not only a brigade,
but a division at one critical time in
the Philippines; but for reasons prob.
ably known to the little knot Of poll
ticians who chung it up" although in
comprehensive to most Americans,
congress had failed to pass the bill
giving the wearers Of brevet titles the
right to keep their hard-worn and
empty honors; wherefore Gen. Winter
had declined to Col. Winter.
He had more substantial troubles.
iacluding a wound which would prob.
ably make him limp through life and
possibly retire him from service at 50.
It had given him a six months sick
leave (Which he had not wanted),
AID after spending a month on the
Atlantic coast. he was going for the
spring to the Pacific. Haley, whose
own term of Office had expired, had not
re-enlisted, but had followed him, Mrs.
Haley and the baby uncomplainingly
bringing up the rear. It was not fair
to Haley nor to Mrs. Haley, the colonel
felt. He had told Haley SO; he had
found a good situation for the man,
and he had added the deed for a little
house in the suburbs Of Chicago.
If Haley wouldn't re.enlist-there
never was a better soldier since he
had downed a foolish young hankering
for wild times and whisky-if he
wouldn't go back to the army, where
he belonged, let him settle down, take
up the honest carpenters trade that
he had abandoned, be good citizen
and marry little Nora to some class
mate in the high school, who might
make a fortune and build her
colonial mansion. should the colonial
still obtain in the twentieth century.
The colonel had spread a grand
prospect before Haley, who listened
unresponsively, dumb pain in his
wide blue Irish eyes. The colonel
hated It; but. somehow, he hated
worse the limp look of Haley's back
as he watched it dwindle down Mich
igan avenue.
However, Mrs. Haley had been more
satisfactory, If none the less bewil-
dering. She seemed very grateful
over the house and the 5000 for its
furnishing. A birthday present. he
had termed it, with flicker of hui
NOR because the day was his own
birthday. His fiftieth birthday it hap
pened to be, and it occurred to him
that q man ought to do something
little notable on such an anniversary.
This rounding Of the half.century had
attributes apart; 1t was no mere an
nual birthday; it marked the last van
fishing flutter Of the gilded draperies
of youth; the whitening Of the gar
lands; the fading tinkle of the light
music Of hope. 1t should mark mans
solid achievements. Once, not SO long
ago, Winter had believed that his
fiftieth birthday would see wide and
beneficent and far.reaching results in
the province where he ruled. That
dream was shattered. He was gen.
erous of nature, and he could have
been content to behold another reap
the fields which he had sowed and
titled; 1t was the harvest, whether his
or another's, for which he worked; but
his had been the bitter office to have
to stand aside, with no right to pro-
test, and see his work go to waste be-
cause his successor had a feeble brain
and a pusillanimous caution in place
of his own logged will. For all these
reasons, as we'll as others, the colonel
found no zest in his fiftieth birthday;
and his reverie drifted dismally from
one somber reflection to another until
it brought up at the latest wound to
his heart-his favorite brothers. death.
There had been three Winter broth
ers-Rupert, Melville and Thomas.
During the past year both Thomas
Winter and his wife had died, leaving
one child, boy Of IA. named Archi-
bald after his fathers uncle. Rupert
Winter and the boys great-aunt, the
widow of the great uncle, we're ap-
pointed joint guardians of the young
Archie. Tonight, in his jaded mood,
he was assailed by reproaches he.
cause he had not seen more Of his
ward. Why, he hadn't so much as
looked the little chap up when he
passed through Fairport-merely had
sent him letter and some truck from
the Philippines; nice guardian he was!
BY a natural enough transition, his
thoughts swerved to his own brief and
not altogether happy married life. He
thought Of the graves in Arizona
where he had left his wife and his
two children. and his heart felt
heavy. To escape musings which
grew drearier every second, he cast
his eyes about the motley crowd shut
fling over the tiled floors or resting
in the massive dark oaken seats. And
It was then that he saw Cary Mercer
At first he did not recognize the face
He only gazed indifferently at two
well.dressed men who sat some PAGES
away from him in the shadow Of q
great tiled column similar to his own
rrharn noe $hia AffPoronra ~ ho1nAmoA.