The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1913-12-12
The Fair Creole'S Fortune
By SIR WALTER BESANT and JAMES RICE
The Scheming Of a Desperate
Woman For the Sake of a
Profligate Brother and the
Resulting Adventures Of
Wilson's Yirginie ferrier.

EW
or literature, because her guardian had
but few books, and she had read them
over and over again. There We're no
politics. As regards European events.
they are treated on these estates with
about as much concern as if they were
the yer recorded in Gibbon.
To Nirginie, as she heard them sum-
med up when each mail came in, they
We're shadows and u%nmeaning things.
The realities life were the morning
and evening rambles, the flowers, the
water falls, the hills, the fruits and
Tom.
BY the side Of the one story great
house or bungalow of Mon Desir
stands a smaller one called the pavil-
ion. The son Of the house sleeps here
and all the bachelor guests, of whom.
at the season of the New Year, there
are always three times as many as
there are beds to put them in, so that
they toss up for privileges, those who
/ wy WI as OCSL tACt NoA upOA
mattresses spread upon the floor.
! Therefore New Years day, which is
about the longest and the hottest of
the tropical summer season, is by
this arrangement turned into a most
beautiful and festive time for those
tireless tropical pests. mosquitoes.
Like the great house, the pavilion Is
surrounded with a veranda, a spacious,
a'~v sitting room, without curtains or
mats. There are plenty Of chairs In 1t,
lounging chairs, sleeping chairs and
rocking chairs, and a grass hammock,
In which, with a Coringhee cigar and
something with ice in it, and perhaps d
book requiring no effort to understand.
I the civilized lounger. even one with
European ideas Of comfort. may while
away the hottest hours, swinging
slowly.
On this New Years day the numer-
! Gus bachelor guests assembled at Mon
Desir's by the hospitable squire. be-
gan n after another, to stir. sit up.
curse the mosquitoes, and finally to
get up and come forth, clothed for the
most part in coarse flannel and rough
tweeds that had known service in the
thorny thickets of Palmiste. Only one
of them appeared scrupulously dressed.
This was the Hon. Guy Talbot Terrier,
Virginie's second cousin. only son and
heir Of Lord Ferrier, and a captain in
at Palmiste.
Most of the party knew each other as
! only colonials can know each other
that is. with a perfect knowledge of all
the strong points, weak points, good
| qualities, bad qualities, virtues and
| vices which distinguish their brethren.
Not the least use for any of them to
pretend to sail under false colors, or to
put on style Of any kind.
OF course they did it, but it was no
use doing it. Among them was Sandy
McAndrew of the great Scotch firm of
McMull, McAndrew & Co. The only
fault Of Sandy, regarded as a man and
a companion, was that he generally
fell asleep during dinner. In other re-
spects he was perfect. Then there was
Davy Mclaughlin, his partner, remark
able for the fact that his legs after
dinner had a tendency to tie them
selves into knots, which is an embar-
RAISING thing to witness until you get
used to it.
There was also the pink boy, who
was only nineteen and had just ar
rived and as Yet had not had time to
display his many admirable qualities.
But he was good at laughing. and he
! was handsome as Apollo. The boy
was not a noble at all, but an &C
countant in a bank.
And there was the assistant colonial
secretary, a person of very great I'M
portance in the official world; In pri-
vate, a great retailer Of good things,
with a prodigious memory, SO that,
once started, he would go Oh with sto-
ries new and old for a livelong day,
very often did. He knew every man,
woman and child in the colony and
had an excellent story to tell about
each.
There was also Major Morgan, who
came With Captain Terrier. He was a
soldier by profession, but his principa
occupation was the playing of cards,
which was the reason why he was SO
frequently the companion of the young,
err man. Though he was entirely ad.
dicted to cards and found in the
changes and chances Of the pips the
only Joy in life and though he played
to win. he was not a gambler. At pres.
ent he is still young enough to play
any game that offers. whether ecarte
loo. baccurat, bezique. cribbage. whist