The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1910-04-05
CHAPTER VII.
Continued.

QlScT66Cly three or TOUR pdC0S away
from Miss Burke's threshold--then
vanishes out of sight beneath an over
changing stone porteeochere or arch
way, whittier Mr.. Jones, his dapper
feet tortured by the stones, his yellow
kidded hands extended to save his
nose from collision with the wall, fol-
lows her.
The dark, winding staircase seems
trebly dark after the intense moon
light of the streets, and Mr.. Jones, a
cGyeful man not only as regards moral
but bodily risks, pauses at the bottom.
"Come along, If you are coming,
rings out Belinda's voice from airy
heights overhead. There Is plenty
of light when once you get up here,
only look out after your shins mean
while"
The "plenty of light" proceeds from
solitary oil lamp, which sheds its
dim religious rays before the figure
of saint on the landing Of the second
floor.
"We live one story higher still, y
says Belinda, "And unless Juanita
happens to have left candle, shall
have to entertain you in the dark.
However, there is the moon"
"And the brightness of your eyes,
Belinda!" says Jones, cropping his way
up the steep staircase after her.
"And what?n shouts the girl sharp
ly, through the darkness. There is
such an echo, Mr.. Jones--no hearing
word, unless you speak more dis
tinctly. What did you say would light
us?"
But something, either in the tone
of her voice or in the distance that
separates them, restraints Mr.. Jones
from again launching into the haz-
ardous region of compliment.
Under the lawful regime of Miss
Burke the outer door of the apart
ment is always kept yirtuously locked
after dark, but this, like other pre-
cautionary rules of life, is set at
naught when Belinda, as at present,
holds the rudder of government. Half
ajar stands huge oaken door, black
ened with time, crusted with dirt, a
door as old, probably, as the solid
masonry of the house. On vigorous
push from the girls hand, it creaks
slowly back upon its hinges, and Mr..
Jones is introduced to "Burke,s den, I"
room bigger than an Isle of Wight
church, the roof joisted and innocent
of all modern refinement of lath and
n1Qctor tho 1le % h. ~
able smoky gray of ages.
Mr.. Jones looks round him OPEN
mouthed, Belinda having been fortu-
nate enough to find a candle whose
solitary light pierces from end to end
Of the sombre, shadowy room.
And you-you live here?" he ex-
claims with unaffected amazement.
What place-what pictures! 1t
gives one the horrors to look at
them"
We'll, yes-the Maison Lohobiague
is not furnished according to Clap
ham taste" retorts Belinda, with her
frank impertinence. "But it suits me
better"
And now Augustus feels is the time
for him to crash down on this poor
pauper child with the magnificence Of
his offer. Miss Belinda, :"
he says, coming up beside her very
close, there is no necessity for your
to spend your days in these miserable
foreign places any longer. Since I
saw you this afternoon I-ahem-I
have been talking with your mamma. {"
"Stepmamma II you are not ac-
curate, you are nothing"
And have made my mind up! /
have made my mind up fully" says
Jones, with magnanimity, las to my
line of conduct. There may seem,
there are disparities. He chances
with an air of condescension at the
girls dress, at the appointments of
the meagre room. "Stin, as Mrs.
O'Shea says, six months of the first
educational advantages in England
would work wonders, and. at our age,
we can afford to wait, can we mott"
Il should answer better If had a
glimmering notion of what you mean
by we Are you going to school
again, Mr.. Jones? Mind your his
you know, If you do"
Belinda" his voice shakes, his
color rises. (How hideous he is,
communes Belinda within herselfl
How the mosquito bites glow and ra-
date from out that purple blush! J
Do you think you ever-I mean. ]
know never"-confound it all, why
Will the girl fix those hard eyes OF
hers upon his ace,--"never saw any
one so likely to make me happy. Oh
come, you mustn't take your hand
away" which she does, with unmis.
taxable energy, the moment she feels
his touch. Il will not let you 60 till
you answer me. Belinda, could YOU
ever care for me enough to be my
wife?"
He has stumbled through it al
well, perhaps, as the majority of mel
stumble through the most momentous
question Of their lives. Belinda, who
has never before heard declaration
imagined a declaration, thinks tn,
exhibition pitiable, and tells him so.
You are more complete fool thar
took you for, Mr., Jones. If yot
really want me, me, to marry you
why not say so like rational being
instead of stammering and hesitatint
and blushing like a schoolbo,
ashamed to speak the truth?''
Mr.. Jones stands silently recover
ing his nerve after the plunge. Il
Will, ] know, meet the wishes OF Mrs
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