The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1909-04-09

Ct ~ ~! Al Lay Arsbells y
. very beautiful yong lady"
Sir Peter gTinnsA Hike Q rat-trap 1t
this awkward ooopliosat. and ~
marked:
Yes. yss. Arabells 10 like ny lady.
except not half 20 handsoaps. Egad.
vhea I married Lady Havkshaw.
had 70 cut my vsy. literally With my
sword. throagh ths body-gu of gen
tienea vho wanted her. AID as for
her relatioas-wsll. she deAed EN-.
that's ALL"
tried. With all the little art I
possessed. to get some Information
concerning Arabella out Of Sir Peter;
but beyoad telling me what knew
before-that she vas his greatiliece
ON the other side of the house and hrst
cousin to Daphne. and that her father.
now dead. was . scamp and Q pauper.
in spite Of being IN earl-hs told me
nothing. But even that seemed to
show the great gulf between u. Would
she. with her beauty and her title con-
descend to . midshipman somewhat
younger than herself. and penniess! l
doubted 1t, though was. in general.
of . sanguine nature.
found Gir Peter unbent a. the de-
canters grew empty. although l would
not for . moment imply that he was
excessive in his drinking. Only, the
mellow glow which pervades an Eng
lish gentleman after . few glasses Of
good port enveloped him. He asked
me II 1 was glad I had Joined the
service-to which could say yes with
great sincerity; impressed upon me
my good fortune in getting in a ship
of the line in the beginning, and gave
me some admirable advice. left him
with 4 feeling that l had 4 friend in
that excellent seaman. honest gentle
man. and odd fish. Admiral Sir Peter
Hawkshaw.
When l went below. told my mess
mates all that had occurred, rather
exaggerating Sir Peters attentions to
me. as midshipmen will. Then private
ly coniided to Giles Vernon. | told
what little l had found out concern
ing the star Of my soul. as l called
Arabella. to which Giles responded
by a long-drawn-out "Ph-ew!"
implored him, II he knew any Of
ficer In the ship who would be likely
to be acquainted with Lady Arabella,
to pump him for me. This he promised:
and the very next day. a. I sat on .
locker, studying my theorems, Giles
came up.
"Dickey," said he. "Mr. Buxton
knows the divine Arabella. She has
fortune of $4,000. and so has the
doveeyed little Daphne. all inherited
from their granddad, . rich Bombay
merchant. 1t seems that Lady Ara
bella's mother bought q coronet with
her money, and It turned out a poor
bargain. However, the earl did not
live long enough to ruin his father-in.
law: and little Daphne's parents. too.
died young, 80 the old Bombay man
left the girls his fortune, and made
Sir Peter their guardian. and that
means, Of course. that Polly Hawk
shaw il their guardian. Mr.. Buxton
says he would like to see the fortune
hunter who can rob Polly of those two
damsels. For Polly says rank and
lineage are not everything. She her.
self, you know, dates back to the
Saxon Heptarchy. though she did
marry the son of your drysalting great
grandfather. And she wants those
girls to marry men; and what Polly
says on that score is to be respected,
considering that she married into .
drysalting family to please herself. or
to displease her relations, don't know
which. I should say, though, II you
are honest and deserving and mind
your book, and get good word from
the chaplain, you will probably ono
day be the husband Of little Daphne,
but not Of Lady Arabella; no man
shall marry her while I live, that you
may be sure Of; but when marry her.
you may be side-boy at my wedding. "
thought this speech very cruel Of
Giles Vernon, and believed that he
did not know what true love was. else
he could not so tribe with my feelings.
although there was an echo Of earnest.
ness in his intimation that he would
kill any man who aspired to marry
Lady Arabella.
We were three weeks in the Bay Of
Biscay, thrashing to windward under
topgallant sails, and expecting daily
and hourly to run across a French
man. We were hoping for it, because
We found the Ajax to be very wealth.
erly ship and fast for her class; and
both Capt. Guilford and Sir Peter, who
had sailed in her before, knew ex.
actly how to handle her. And We
were to have our wish. For, one even.
ing toward suntset. we sighted q
French ship of the line of our beam;
and by the time we had made her
out, light French frigate was coming
down the wind, and in an hour We
were at 1t hammer and tongs with
both of them