Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-05
CHAPTER uI.-Continued.
"When was that?'

when was that?
IT can't tell you exactly. was only
tiny kid at the time, not more than
three years old, should say. Yes, do
remember, now I come to think of It,
that Uncle Arthur was home the Christ
mas after my third birthday. have q
distinct recollection of my dad telling me
that Uncle Arthur was one OF my pres
ents from Father Christmas, and OF my
thinking what rotten present it was.
Later; on, in the nursery, all OF us chill
dren were rather frightened of him, and
we used to have great discussions as to
where this uncle came from. The Christ
mas present theory was soon exploded.
because of some difficulty about Uncle
Arthur not having been actually found In
stocking. and his being too big. any
way, to be hidden In one. SO we fell back
on Jim's suggestion that he was the man
in the moon come down for a holiday"
'You." she said, had your third birth
day YIN in ). 1881"
THAT was the year. then. that your
Uncle Arthur came home from his wan
behring's about the world, during which he
had never given any news OF himself or
his doings to any member OF his family.
by Jove, Lou. what q splendid exam
lining magistrate you'd maker was Lukes
unsophisticated comment on Louisa's last
remark.
But she frowned little at this show
of levity and continued, quietly:
'''And your uncle. according to this So
called Philip de Mountford, was married
in 1881 in Martinique. his son was born
in 1882. and he left Martinique In 1888
never to return.
Hang 1t all. Lou!' exclaimed the young
man, almost roughly, that is all sur
mise
II know it is, dear; was only think
ing"
THAT It all TALES so very exactly and
that this-this Philip de Mountford seems
in any case to know great deal about
your Uncle Arthur and his movements IN
the past
There's no doubt Of that: and
Luke paused a moment and curious
blush spread over his face. The Eng
lishmans Unborn dislike to talk of GER
tain subjects to his women folk had got
hold of him and he did not know how to
proceed.
AS usual in such cases. the woman-un-
moved and businesslike-put an end to his
access Of shyness.
1.-THE matter is-or may be-too serious.
dear. for you to keep any of your
thoughts back from me at this juncture."
What I meant was" he said, abruptly,
that this Philip might quite well be
Uncle Arthur's son, you know; but 1t
doesn't follow that he has any right to
call himself Philip de Mountford, or to
think that he is Uncle RAIDS presumptive
heir
That will. of course. depend on his
proofs-his papers and SO on" she as
scented, calmly. Has any one seen
them?'
| "At the time-it was some time last No
vember- that he first wrote to Uncle Rad.
he had all his papers by him. He wrote
from st. Vincent; have I told you that?"
mo"
well 1t was from st. Vincent that he
wrote. He had left Martinique. I under
stand. In 1902. when. st. Pierre. If you
remember, was totally destroyed by VOL
canic eruption. It seems that when Uncle
Arthur left the French colony for good
/ local bank at st. Pierre in the name of
Mrs. de Mountford. OF course, he had no
intention of ever going back there. and.
anyhow, he never did. for he died about
ing her own life quite happily. Appar-
emily she did not banker much after her
faithless husband. / suppose that she
never imagined for moment that he
meant to stick to her, and she certainly
never bothered her head as to what his
connections or friends over in England
might be. Among her own kith and kin,
the half-caste population OF a French set
Element, she was considered very we'll of,
almost rich. After q very few years of
without much scruple Or compunction,
which proves that she never thought that
her English husband would come back
to her. And then came the catastrophe"
what catastrophe?'
1.-The destruction of St Pierre. You re-
member the awful accounts of 1t. The
whole town was destroyed. Every build
ing in the place = the local bank. the
church. the presbytery, the post Office
was burned to the ground; everything
CT cd for miles around And
thousands persisted, of course"
II remember"
Mrs de Mountford and her son Philip
were among the very few who escaped.
but she. with all q Frenchwoman's sense
Of respect for papers and marks of iden-
tification, fought her way back into the
house, even when 1t was tottering above
which she valued more than her life,
the proofs that she was respectable
married woman and that Philip was her
lawfully begotten son. Her second hus-
band-I think from reading between the
lines that he was a native. or at best 9
half caste-was one Of the many who
persisted. But Mrs. de Mountford and
Philip managed to reach the coast I'M
hurt and to put out to sea In an open
boat. They were picked up by a fishing
smack from Marie Ga.ante and landed
there. 1t is small island-French set
Element, of course-off Guadeloupe. They
had little or no money. and how they
lived l don't know, but they stayed in
Marie Galante for some time. Then the
mother died, and Philip made his way
somehow or other to Roseau in Dominica,
and thence to st. Vincent"
when was that?"
Last year, / suppose
and" she said. meditating on all that
she had heard, 1T was in st. Vincent
that he first realized who he was-or
might be?'
''Well. in a British colony it was bound