Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1910-03-19
MANUEL'S SISTER
BY l.. G. MoBERLY


/ never really liked the looks of the
fellow, though had nothing against
him, and in his own quiet, rather surly
way, he was civil enough. I argued
with myself that it was ridiculous 10
feel either like or dislike for a man
n only met twice a day or so in the
staircase, and with whom one never
exchanged more than a brief word Of
greeting. My arguments did not alter
the fact. | did not like Manuel de
Castro's looks-that was the long and
short Of it! | lived on the floor be-
low him in the boarding house, which
was chiefly occupied by such as We
clerks, statesmen and other people,
vaguely engaged upon work in the
city. Below me were a couple, man
and wife, who both had jobs in a
typewriting office. / was clerk to q
big business firm in Wall street.
Above De Castro's rooms were rooms
shared by two jolly young fellows who
did something at Fulton Market, and
came home at all sorts of weird
hours in the morning; and there were
two girl secretaries tucked away in
another corner of the house.
And De Castro himself? None of us
knew precisely what De Castro did to
make a living. but we had a vague
theory that he proably worked for
someone of his own nationality, which
was Portuguese. He kept himself to
himself" as they say. He never came
down to the meals in the ROOM, which
was common sitting room and COM
mon dining room; whatever meals he
had he took in his own rooms up
stairs, and he was not communicative
TO any of us about his affairs.
For sevral months he had lived
alone in the two rooms above mine,
and then, one April morning, his sis
ter appeared on the scene. Mrs.
Bance, being %garrulous, told me De
Castro was giving up his bedrooms to
his sister, and intended to sleep him
his sitting room; but felt it did not
matter in the least to me where Man
uel de Castro's sister slept and | laugh
ingly said as much to my landlady.
| did not either say it or think Il
after my eyes once fell on Rosina de
Castro. l met her first down the
stairs, and as the sunlight struck on
her face through the landing window
| nearly gasped and stood quite still,
in a sort of daZzled amaZement. She
was so fair, to begin with, just as fair
as Manuel was dark. excepting for
her eyes and hair. Her coloring was
like the exquisite coloring of a ripe
peach, and the bloom on her cheeks
was as soft and lovely as on tine round
ed ~softness OF The fruit.
I don't know what | said to her
something rather confused and inco-
herent, l am afraid, for her great love
illness startled me. But she answered
my greeting in the prettiest English
imaginable, with just a hint of foreign
accent. There was a sudden awkward
ness in her voice and manner; she
seemed to wish to say no more, and
| had ~perforce to stand back and let
her pass me and continue her descent
of the stairs.
For the first two or three weeks of
her sojourn in the boarding house she
looked gay and light hearted enough
with a light in her yes and a smile
on her lips; but after those first
weeks | begun to see a change in her
"a change which sent a pang to my
heart. Her pretty color began to fade.
Her eyes looked dreamy and be viii
dered, as if she We're looking at some
thing a long way off. That glance
puzzled me, her whole appearance
gave me a sense of anxiety; and when
one afternoon | spoke to her, and h
started and uttered a cry of terror,
could almost have sworn she did not
know where she was.
1t so happened that | was in the
hall when she came in that evening,
and | noticed two things about her
first, that she carried a rather I'M
weildy and heavy parcel under her
arm; secondly, that her eyes again
wore a bewildered look like that of a
sleep-walker, or of someone who does
not quite know where she is. This
time | did not speak to her and she
passed me as If I were not there,
hurrying up the stairs with swift
steps, as if she were being drawn up
by some force stronger thea herself.
And then, one night, the climax
came. It was Thursday-and a cold
evening in November-an evening /
am not likely to forget till my dying
day. | had not seen Rosina since the
previous afternoon, nor had l came
across Manuel, but | had heard them
both overhead, and | had an insane
hope that Rosina's brother might be
going away again. / was dimly con
scious that the sounds overhead had
ceased, but was 100 absorbed in my
own business to give much thought 70
my neighbors, when all at once a tap
on my door Disturbed my train OF