The Marshall republican., 1909-03-12

let 1t pass with a groan. II seemed to
me that everything appetizing in the
dinner was passed by Sir Peter, in re-
spouse to a peculiar kind of warning
glance from the steward. This man,
] heard afterward, had sailed with him
many years, and was understood to be
an emissary of Lady Hawkshaw's.
We had, besides the pea soup and
roast pork, spareribs, potatoes, tur-
nips, anchovy with sauce, and a Gus
tard. Sir Peter, however, dined off
pea soup and potatoes; but l observed
that he was his own master as far as
the decanters were concerned, and 1t
occurred to me that he had made a
trade with the steward, by which he
was allowed this indulgence, as l no.
ticed the man turn his back every
time Sir Peter filled his glass.
Dinner being over, the cloth re-
moved, and the steward gone, Sir
Peter appeared to be in a somewhat
better humor. His first remark a
$50 you are fond Of the play, sir?"
! replied that / had been but once.
THE time you went with Giles YER
HULL IL Tic tOoCu udu DIOhtu uOWu
between London and Portsmouth, we
should have sailed without either one
of you"
/ did not mention that the coach
had upset, but merely said that we
thought there was no danger of any
detention, and that Giles Vernon was
in no way responsible for my going
TO London, as he knew nothing about
1t until we met the coach door.
! was revolving in my mind whether
] could venture to ask OF the welfare
Of the divine Arabella, and suddenly
a direct inspiration came to me. I re-
~marked-with bushes and tremors, l
must admit:
How very like Lady Arabella Stor.
mont must Lady Hawkshaw have been
at her age! And Lady Arabella is
. very beautiful young lady"
Sir Peter grinned like a rat-trap al
this awkward compliment, and re.
marked:
Eyes, yes, Arabella is like my lady,
except not half so handsome. Egad,
when I married Lady Hawkshaw,
had to cut my way, literally with my
sword, through the body-guard Of gen.
tlemen who wanted her. And as for
her relations-well, she defied 'em,
that's all"
I tried, with all the little art /
possessed, to get some information
concerning Arabella out of Sir Peter;
but beyond telling me what l knew
before-that she was his great-niece
IN the other side OF the house and first
cousin to Daphne, and that her father,
now dead, was a scamp and a pauper,
IN spite of being an earl-he told me
nothing. But ever that seemed to
show the great gulf between us. Would
she, with her beauty and her title, con-
descend to a midshipman somewhat
younger than herself, and penniless? I
doubted 1t, though l was, in general,
of q sanguine nature.
l found Sir Peter unbent as the de-
canters grew empty, although l would
not for a moment imply that he was
excessive In his drinking. Only, the
mellow glow which ~pervades an Eng
lish gentleman after a few glasses of
good port enveloped him. He asked
me II I was glad I had joined the
service-to which l 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 a feeling that l had a 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
Iy I confided to Giles Vernon. l told
what little / had found out concern
ing the star of my soul, as / called
Arabella, to which Giles responded
by a long-drawn-out "Ph-ew!"
I implored him, IL he knew any Of
hcer in the ship who would be likely
TO be acquainted with Lady Arabella,
TO pump him for me. This he promised;
and the very mex day, as ! sat on a
locker, studying my theorems, Giles
came up.
"Dickey," said he, Mr. Buxton
knows the divine Arabella. She has
q fortune Of 100000, and SO has the
doye.eyed little Daphne. all inherited
from their granddad, a rich Bombay
merchant. 1t seems that Lady Ara
belia's mother bought a coronet with
her money, and It turned out a poor
bargain. However. the earl did not
Ave long enough to ruin his father-in-
law; and little Daphne's parents, too.
died young, SO the old Bombay man
left the girls his fortune, and made
Sir Peter their guardian. and that
means, Of course, that Polly Hawk
shaw is 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
seif. you know. dates back to the
Saxon Heptarchy, though she did
marry the SON OF your d~rysalting gr( Y