Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-21

At AUNTON X. WYLAND, OF Pennsylvanlas
~ was approaching forty when he achieved the
zenith of his ambition, estate in England.
A gray old manor house, a chapel that had echoed
with monks chanting, bowling green that had rung
with their laughter, gardens, fish ponds, furniture
and pctures-cenury old herloOms in the late squire
famly-and, to crown all, ghost. What more could
American heart desireP
Amid the din of the Pittsburg workshops, with
the Earring thud of hammers the throb and thrill of
seam-goaded metal in his ears, he had dreamed of
distant island that had been his nation s CRADLE the
fountain head from which had sprung the hearts
blood of his race He had ventured fearlessly pit
ting capital and brain power against chance and the
dead weight of iron ORE and had won title to the
guerdon that has fred the of many scion of
the rough old stock whose battle cry rang overseas
Columbus slipped his mornings In the Guadal
culver or old Cabot sailed westward from Bristol
town.
The race to the swift, the battle to the strong,
such was the creed of which Naunton Wyland was
both prophet and proof; and In obedience to that
law which knows no control but that of time and
chance Halingdon Hall had passed into the keep
ing of the successful ironmaster.
For close on five centuries the Warnes had been
power in the south country; at Agincourt Warne
had played his part of the name had fallen at
Waterloo. Long had HalingdOn been famous for the
horses in its STALLS the wine in its cellars, for its
daughters fair of face and fame, and for the stout
it had sent forth in the countrys quarrels But
the glory of the Sussex house had faded for three
generations the Warnes had lived without thought
for the morrow had squandered their fortune wasted
their lands till the last of the race, eclipsing the
foes of his fathers had died ruined in health and
bankrupt. Gilbert Warne had married. He
had led a bachelor life for the most part in London
or on the continent leaving his only sister, who kept
house for him at the hail. to tend the sick of the
village and to sigh for the home coming of her way
ward brother. But the last man of the race saw
never again the home of his fathers. On his death
of fever in Naples his affairs found to be
hopelessly involved, the estate heavily encumbered
and his creditors hailed with relief the appearance
of the wealthy American who bought the property
for mere song, paid off the mortgages, and forth
with essayed the role of country squire
ri AUNTON WYLAND was an American to the
~ finger tips, but he had TO confess for the first
time in his life that the Unborn that had
been the prime factor in the building of his fortune
was at fault when deserted by his lawyer and agent
he took possession of the gray old pile He had
bought the property in its entirety with the pictures
the armor, and the furniture-from A to he
expressed it-yet he took stock of his purchase he
realized that it needed effort to persuade himself
that this heritage of the past his notwithstand
ing the fact that his signature good for six fig
ures. He found himself questioning the power of the
almighty dollar. What right had his wealth given
TO him to that oak hoor smooth-polished by the
feet of generations of Warnes? What share had the
parvenu in the memories that clustered about those
time worn beams, in the crumbling tracery of the
muloned windows9 And the portraits of long dead
Warnes frowned smiled, reproachfuly, scornfully
from the frames above the paneing: the gentle
lady with the brown eyes and parted lips, that hung
on the right-hand side of the hall close beside the
porch, seemed to question his right in the home of
her kin. But, for all that, Wyand was content, SUI
premely content; the realization of his dream had
not fallen short of his expectations chords that had
been silent in his nature for generations trem
bling afresh, breathed on by memories of distant
past.
Little by little the atmosphere of the place and its
surroundings played their part in holding the stran