Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-04-13
BY DOM BYRNE


| introduced him, asking him to mark
some winners on her race card, and
| he came only obviously, shyly, and
not at al; pleased.
; \ smile, and he was atIhaea: a
word, anu his head was swimming
hand IN his sleeve. uai he was
| gone. The battle with the oookmak-
ers was forgotten while he explained
weights and pace to her, colorS,
! trainers and owners, and while he
went TO place her bets. equaling so
: cents or 81. Everything he was pos
sessed of he gave her that afternoon
time. knowledge. hospitality--in a
grave, transformations way.
4 x l. x
WHEN he got hack to Rathfa rnh a IN
W that night her vision remained
with him-the chic clothes. the
merry smiling face; the trim figure,
: and that most suitable age for him.
a forty that an, enthusiast might take
Tor thirty-two.
You would have thought. with the
pleasan house hs had and the race
/ meetings he went 10, that he would
have been happy here-happy as an
otter in the river, as d bird in high
oak tree. But he had hidden in thar
sandy-red face OF his a big ambition.
Once to every business man. to every
general officer, to every racing spe-
cialiSt. comes an opportunity that,
, taken. swings onward to- the heights.
| 4 horse rolls home at Il hundred to
one. and this is not always chance.
a.. but shrewd racing, preparation for
years and secrecy. Sometimes YOU
! can even get better odds If the book
! maker is caught mapping. And
! O'Connor Mellon often dreamed OF
/ the time when he would get wind OF
! job OF this sort. come in on 1t for
| good round sum, and be settled for
life.
Between himself and the Irish
, bcokies was ennity. The boobies
don't ike punters OF oConnor Mel
Ions type. They know as much as
the bdoRies do, and more. To pay
O'Connor Mellon a certain fixed sum
every yea--and to pay it as GER
tainly as to pay taxes-was no pleas
ure at all. OF the Irish bookmakers
the biggest was Patsy Regain:
II only Mellon could get on the
would take the shoes off Patsy Regain
And ii he did:
Then he would revive the title Of
. baronet his grandfather dropped be-
. cause of poverty-Sir Rory O'Connor
Mellon he would be then and an
owner instead OF merely punter.
He would have his horses at stable
J in England and few horses in Ire
land. He had dreams. too, for re-
building the battered old house in
Meath and filling the few tired acres
and buying a field here and a field
there until he had q little estate. not
much, but such as a country gentle
man of the old school would have.
And there were other plans he had
He wished to travel little. And he
ffattered himself he would give d
digrified account OF the last of the old
Irish royal house.
All these things were possible,
given the racing job. And the racing
job would come. he knew, so long as
he kept his ears cooked. his eyes
open, his mind keen. But now there
had come between his eyes and this
concrete ambition the merry, black
eyed smile, the trim figure and the
perfect su: table age OF Mrs. Peggy
o'Shaushnsssy.
On 9Th avenue in New York she had
one of those small shops where the
smaller the shop the dearer the
commodity. There was her Christian
name above the door-just Peggy
and in the window were a woman's
frock here and a woman's hat there.
and somewhere a sheaf of wheat, or
a bunch of posies. or some gadget of
that kind. Though the hat and frock
were perfect and most extraordinarily
! expensive. for customers Peggy never
; lacked She had come to America at
; the age Of ten, and now, at the age of
F.; forty, which an opeimist might take
! for thirty-ewo she was revisiting
! the land Of her birth.
! She had Set out TO make a conquest
! of OConnor Mellon. because, first. he
! was SO wonan-shy. and. second. be-
! cause he was a figure about Dublin
/ a queer, romantic figure. There was
| something so grotesque about him
{ and yet so dignifed You might smile
at o'Connor Mellon, but you would
! never laugh.
: He, in turn. loved her breeziness
! her worldlinesS, her outright American
| way. She had been to Paris, to the
! Riviera. to the United Hunts meet
fngs in America. Beside her in
knowledge and experience he was q
! child.
{ = :.
! CHE went up with some of he,
! - friends TO have tea in that it'll.
cottage in Rathfarnh2m. and surely
! never in the annals of Irish royalty
| were so many pains taken. so little
! expense Dublin had been ransacked
! for delicacies; friends cellars for old
wines. Strawberries had been wired
across to Devonshire for because she
! said the first Strawberries of the sea
son were a great occasion to her
They Were there for her, with cream
of the Irish kline And primroses
such as bloom only on the slopes OF
Three Rock for her.
All that dark cool houSe thaf mol