The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-05-07
Ix-contlnued.

! knew that she was timidly trying.
her color coming and going, to catch
my eye. to appease me as the greater
stranger and to keep the peace between
her III matched companions. who in
deed staH0edg along cycling one another
mach as a wolf hound and a badger
dog might regard each other across
q choice one But the young Dutch
mans sudden appearance had pat me
out. / was not in love with her,
yet I liked TO talk to her. and
/ grudged her to hlm-he seemed 81
mean a fellow. And so--churl that I
was-in answer TO her speech. l let
drop some sheer about the great fear
OF the Spaniards which seemed to pre-
walt In these parts.
You are not afraid OF them, Them"
Wan Tree said. with a smile.
mo; I am not" / answered, my lip
curling also.
"Ah." with much meaning. perhaps
you do not know them very Welt"
Perhaps not" i replied. Still. my
grandmother was a Spaniard."
$50 should have thought he re-
t0rted swiftly, 80 swiftly that / felt the
words Al I should have felt a blow.
VIVA do you mean2" I blurted out
Mailing before him. with my cheek
crimson. Ia vain were all Dymphna'a
appealing glances. all her signs OF dis
tAO1ns Twin udNO IOA CApidltis AlaoNCI
Van Tree. what you mean by that"
u repeated fercely.
II mean what I said" he answered.
confronting me stubborniy and shaking
Off Dymphna's hand. His blue eyes
twiukled with rage: his thin beard
bristled; he vas the color of a turkey
cocks comb. At home we should have
thought him a comical little figure, but
ne did not seem absurd here. For n
thing. he looked spiteful enough for
anything, and for another, though /
topped him by a head and shoulders, /
could not fatter myself hat he was
afraid Of nae. On the contrary. I felt
that In the presence OF his mistress,
small and shortsighted as he was. he
would have faced a lion without wink
sng.
His courage was not to be put to the
proof. It was still glaring at him, seek
Ing some retort which should provoke
him beyond endurance, when a hand
was laid on nay shoulder, and I turned
TO find that Master Berthe and the
duchess had Joined us.
$50 here are the truants." the former
said pleasantly, speaking in English
and showing no consciousness whatever
OF the crisis In the middle OF which he
had come up, though he must have dis
cerne6 In our defiant attitudes and in
Dymphnafs troubled face that some
thing was wrong. You know who this
fH. Master Frances" he continued
heartily. "or have you no been intro
ducsd to Master Van Tree. the be-
trothed OF our hosts daughter"
Mistress Dymphna has lone me that
honor, ! said stiffiy, recovering myself
I'm appearances, while at heart sore and
angry with everybody. But 1 fear
the Dutch gentleman has o thanked
her for the introduction since he
Iearned that nay grandmother was
Spanish"
t'Your grandmother. do you mean?"
cried the duchess, much astonished.
yes. madam"
We'll, to be sure" she exclaimed,
lifting up her hands and appealing
whimslcaily TO the others. this boy is
full OF starts M surprises. You never
know what he will produce next. The
other day 1t was q warrant! Today
Il Is a grandmother and a temper"
I could not be angry with her, and
perhapsSI was not sorry now that my
quarrel with the young Dutchman had
stopped where 1t had. / affected as
well as / could to Join I'm the laugh at
my expense n took advantage OF the
arrival Of host. who at this mo-
ment came up the slope from the land
Ing place. his hands outstretched and
q smile OF greeting on his kindly face.
60 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 III feeling behind 1t, and for the first
time during the two months we had
spent under Master Lindstrom's roof
the party who sat down to supper were
under constraint. 1t felt that the young
Dutchman had had the best OF the bout
In the garden, and / talked loudly aad
foolishly i'm the boyish attempt to as
sert myself and to set myself right at
least In my own estimation. Master
Van Tree meanwhile sat silent, eye
ing me from time to time In no friendly
fashion. Dymphna seemed nervous and
frightened, and the duchess and her
husband exchanged troubled g,ances.
Only u host and Mistress Anne, who
was in particularly good spirits, were
unaffected 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 practicfnp
fresh sentences at meal times Nv some
III luck h contrived this evening
particularly after, finding no one to
contradict me. 1 had fallen into COM
parative s~ilence--to frame her sentences
90 as to cause as much embarrassment
as possible to all OF us.
Wnere uid you walk with DymDhna
this morning." was the question put
TO meaS
You are fond Of Observation-Disclosures
are fond of A.water.'' she said to
Dymphna. npymphna Is tall; Master
Francis Is tan. / sit by you tonight;
the Dutch iadx sat by you last night
and SO on, mi SO on, with prattle
which seemed to amuse our host ex-
ceedingiy-he was never tired OF cor
Tecting her m~istakes-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.
1t was In vain that the duchess
made spasmodic rushes into con-
~versation and in the intervals
nodded and frowned at the delin-
quent. Mistress Anne. In he in
nocence, saw nothing. She went on uu-
al Van Tree could stand II no longer,
and with q half amothered threat,
which was perfectly ineligible to me,
rose roughly from the table and went
to the door "A IL to look out at the
night.
"What IS the matter p Mistress Anne
said wonderfully In English. Her eyes
aaemed MT length to be opened TO n