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THE LORD OF DUNDALTON.
AN IRISH STORY OF TO-DAY.
BY THOMAS SHERLOCK,
XL.
IN A BACHELOR'S LODGINGS.
Te lord of Dundalton Jost no time in setting on foot the
kept him awake the whole of the night following the dis-
covery that she and the supposed lay Sister of the Killawhist
nt were the same. As h ing in hi in fe-
likely than that the inflaence of the cousin would be exerted
in her behalf to procure for her the boon of doing so? Again,
piness such as could rarely fall to the lot of man.
the verdict at which he arrive i
life from the day of his courtship up to that hour.
would mend. He would no i en.
ready, indeed, he acknowledged that there had been a change
ja him—ever since Norah bad returved. Tt his worshipped
Helen was restored to him, there could be nothing more left
for him to wis!
orning found him unrefreshed by sleep. But the mag-
nificent Celtic physique of the man, and the vivacious Celtic
brain, were not to be worn down by the loss of a night's rest.
Hie was up early, full of vigor both of mind aud body, and
consumed only by impatience. Panctual as was Alexander
Macintaggart, senior, in arriving at the chambers of W. and
X. Y. Purpety at the accustomed hour of ten, that most re-
speciuble of conducting clerks had barely seated himself in
his arm-cbair in front of the long table when Garratt Dalton.
i It being Mouday morning, Alexander,
janior, could not farly be expected to make b
t ten at the earliest; so the conducting clerk
and the cheat were not likely to be disturbed in tue Jeust.
Garratt Dalton rapidly explained the situation aud what he
reqaired; but old Maciutaggari’s wits were too slow to keep
up with the narrutive. He just gathered enough from the
speaker to know that there was to be a search for some one;
therefore, putting on the ducpest aspect of gravity of which
even Ais features were capable, be said
“Tt will be ail right, Mr. Dalton; I have youc instructions, .
and I'll conduct the searva with patience, and perseverance,
‘Aa inkling that Alexand-r, senior, was not exactly the man
for the service needed came to Garratt Daltoa’s mind. Pa-
clerk if he cond recommend to him a swart private detec-
tive; aud the conducting clerk sagely anawered that he must
have time to think of ove whom he would feel in conscience
able to recommend to Mr. Garratt Dalton.
‘The answer did not content the eager searcher, He strode
out of the room abraptly, leaving Alexander Macintagyart,
make to hiwself reflections uot very flatterug to
» while Garratt Dalton went on his way with
proved every moment a born idiot only by his almost super-
natural gravity and his mechanical adherence to a few fix
rules of conduct.
‘The lord of Dandalton went to the detective office and told
i from the confi-
ot the
and that by the end of the
he had given, the missing
woman would certainly be found. But the week went by, and
the detectives had no tidings to impart; and the owner of the
lone house grew peevish because his
yonng reporter, was kept away by the duties of his position,
On the Tuesday following the brief interview with Con Den-
i the jail of Bullymacevoy, the reporter
drove up to the lone house. Never was his welcome warmer.
Never, he thought, was it quite so warm.
‘The host planged at once into the affairs which engrossed
his mind, detailing the steps he had taken, and their disap-
pointing results. Charley Gerty went into » brown study for
jnore than e minute. When he emerged from it he said quite
coolly :
S Yourself and Miss Dalton must become my guests to-
morrow, and perhaps for a day or two afterwards. Mine are
bachelor's lodgings. you know; but you must invade the!
there is no help for
ly; ‘*butif you cousider it necessury”——
Ley do.”
«Could you give me an idea of your scheme?”
“Tam goiag to invoke the talismanic power of the Press,”
mock-beroie manner; and he langh-
must
tell how early 3Irs. Dalton may be there, and you must be
before her.” -
This announcement threw the husband and tbe daughter
into a bigh state of excitement. . .
“You expect her?” they both questioned in a breath.
‘T do,” Charley firmly auswered; “1'll be the most disap-
~ pointed man in Dublin it she does not come.
o
That scatement dixpelied all lingering doubts about the pro-
priety of the step Charley Gerty had proposed.
‘As the youog man bad stated, he lived in lodgings.
To en-
able the reader to identify them it should be stated that they
REDPATIVS WEEKLY.
were the drawing-room floor of the house No. 37 Yellow
street. He was not in the least afraid of his landlady, and he
had the privilege of a latchkey, by reason of the necessities of
ich might keep him ont to most unearthly
tohim, ‘Charley, my dear bo
slippers?” and “Charley, my dear boy, you
gruel, for you have @ very bad cold.” He had no difficulty,
therefore, in arranging with her for the morrow’s expanded
This matter being settled, he went down to the
office of the Bulletin, and amongst other items of news hand-
din a paragraph which truth compels us to state was a pure
javention from beginving to end.
man printer, with whom also he w: d he
besonght that powerful fanctionary to give the invented para-
printer readily promised that such a prominent place the
paragraph shot vs nd then Chartey Gerty hied hi
me to be his conscience utterly untroubled by the
just.
In an early chapter it was stated that on the Circular road,
ontside of the nook of the city wherein the lone house stood,
a row of new houses had been built, greatly to Garratt Dalton’s
annoyance at the time, because of the fact that from the up-
per back windows of these houses a view of his lawn could be
Since the home-coming of his daughter he had forgot-
ten all abont that annoyance, and never once dreamt of car-
rying ont his former intention of heightening the wall of the
awa, Some of these houses were set in geutrel lodgings ;
and it is a curious circumstance that the main inducement
which led one lodger to rent an upper floor a year back was
the very fact that two windows afforded a view of the lawn of
‘The lodger was a lady, and she has hereto-
fore been known to the reader as Sister Martha Mary. Thus,
bh
under the pressure of pecuniary troubles her
fallen into a horrible degradation which made their living to-
gether a thing impossible, there lingered in her heart no little
Of her old affection for him, and the mere sight of his name
was a gratification to her. Sometimes it appeared in adver-
tisoments of his now popular inventions ; sometimes it was t
he found in landatory notices of these inventions, written by
‘And on the morning when Garratt end
Miss Dalton were the guests of Charley Gerty—in fact, while
tha three were comfortably seated at breakfast —Mrs. Dalton
opened the Bulletin and glanced down the paragraphs follow.
ing the leading columas to see if the name she looktd for was
there.
{t was not; but something else was which caused her heart
to cease its beating for a moment, and then to set off throb-
bing with the speed of a runaway horse. Aud this was what
she read :—
‘“Gearous AccIDENT To 4 Younc Lapy.—Yesterday even-
ing Miss Norah Dalton, only daughter of Mr. Garratt Dalton,
the well known inventor, was knocked down in Yellow street
by a passing milk car and seriously injured. . Tbe horse, as
usual, was being driven at a break-neck pace around a corner.
‘Tue lady was carried jasensible into No. 37 Yellow street,
where she still lies in a most precarious condition. There is
no possibility that she can bear removal for three or four days
‘under the most favorable conditions. Concussion of the brain
js feared. ‘The young lady’s father, unfortunately, left town
this evening. Really it is time to teach those dairy-boys that
they cannot ride roughshod over foot passen 18.”
a word of truth in this circumstan-
Tt was only that rogue Charley Gerty’s way of
i Pres:
and had inserted in his notable paragraph the wildly
fallacious statement, that Garratt Dalton had left town.
‘All fell out precisely as the reporter had anticipated.
breakfast equipage had scarcely been cleared off when Mrs.
Dalton drove up to the front of 37 Yellow street. On itquir-
the injured young lady she
loveliest, sprang upon ber with a glad cry of
Avd when their
Jong embrace was over, and Mrs. Dalton was about to ask con-
cerning the accident of which she had read, her husband, tall,
ive, snow-crowned, with an air of sorrow, but not of
abasement, stood before her, and murmuring ‘‘ Helen” in
the old soft tone she remembered so well, he stretched out his
hands.
Charley Gerty slipped from the room, and Norah Dalton,
her eyes shining brightly through tears of joy, quiety fol-
lowed him. When, after the lapse of half an hour, they ven-
tured to return they found husband and wife sitting side by
ride, hand in hand, nud a placid tappiness replacing the sor-
row and sadaess which had reigned in their faces.
Then Mr. Gerty was formally introduced to Mrs. Dalton,
animation than for connection. Questions were asked, but
those who asked did not wait for the answers, and the cross
fire of conversation was of & perplexing but happy character.
One dark point, however, was brought to light when Charley
‘as obliged, with the nearest approach to an appear-
ich he could assame, to acknowledge his
connection with the concocted accident story in the newspa-
transaction,
Iu the midst of the laughter which followed his confession
a knock at the door was heard; and presently Murty Mul-
lowney came in, crying, “Ob! glory be to God that I’velived
to see this blessed day!” Then he shambled over to where
Mrs, Dalton was sitting, and said:
“Don’t you know me, misthress jewel? doa’t you remim-
ber me, ma’am?—the boy that was thraa be the grey mare
on the steps o’ Dundalton ; an’ you had me carried into the
big house the same as ay I was # Jord; an’ you washed an’
dh bleedin’ head wud your own two little white
hands; an’ you wouldn't let me stir.a toe out o’ the place,
though it’s ashamed I was to be in it, till the docthor himse~
as more remarkable for’ Unless as a matter of busiuess.
per. Bnt vo one blamed him very severely for that nefarious
[December 7, 1882.
came an’ said I was all right. There's the mark there still,
a’am,” said Murty, concluding the longest speech he ha
been known to make for seventeen years by pointing toa
well defined scar on his right temple.
“T remember you well, Murty,” Mrs. Dalton smilingly re-
plied, ‘‘and glad I am to see you with the master still.”
“Oh, to be sure, ma’am, now he has you he won't be
wantin’ me at all at all. Av he'd give mea little spot o”
ground an’a cabin I'd never come near him tormentin’ him
any more.”
There was a sonnd as of a stifled sob as the, faithful old fel-
low finished his delicate intimation of his own uselesspess in
the future.
“Stop!” Garratt Dalton commanded. ‘‘No more of that,
T couldn't do without yon now, so you mustn’t think
on it.”
Matty!
of leaving me; give me your hand
i was moistnre in the eyes of both 4s Garratt Dalton
‘bert
pressed the hand of his humble friend.—To be continued.
THE MERRY AMERICANS.
—Professor: ‘Can you teli me the meaning of the slang
expression ‘ Cheese it,’ which you just now used ?” Student:
“Yes; it is a corruption of ‘Don’t give it a whey!’”
ate
At Alton, Ill, a preacher asked all Sunday-school children
who intended to visit the wicked, soul-destroying circus to
stand up. All but a lame girl stood up.—lIadependent.
x
ae
—‘ Why should you celebrate Wasbington’s birthday more
than mine?” asked a teacher. °‘* Because he never told a lie!”
shouted 2 little boy.—Exchange.
*
ae
—There is one theatrical manager in this country who can
refuse to engage a woman without making an enemy of her.
He tells her she’s too young.—Somervile Journal.
*
ne
—In New York so many men have joined the Moderation
society and pledged themselves not to drink before dinner,
that the tweive o’clock dinner hour of our grandfathers is
again becoming popular. —Philadelphia News.
*
he
—A cabinet organ which can be taken apart and packed in
a trunk has been patented. If we have ever said anything
again it baggagesmashers we most humbly apologize. Let their
good work go on.—Philadelpbia Press.
*
ate
—The newspapers are discussing the question “Why
Shouldn't Women Whistle?” ‘There isn’t any good reason
why they shouldu’t, but there is why they won't. Ali the
time spent in whistling would be so much time for talk lost.
*
ee
_—Did you ever see such pretty things as the boarding.school
girls of New York ? asks the New York Tribuve, and we have
no he jtation in answering that we have. The public school
girls of Wilmington are ahead by several lengths.—Wilming-
ton paper.
*
ty
—A lady was lamenting not long since the death of a young
professional man who had never entered into the bonds of
matrimony, and she concluded her remarks in this way:
“ . poor fellow, he is dead, and only nineteen young
ladies claimed him.”—Boston Courier.
*
, . . ae
—A little girl of seven exhibited much disquiet at hearing
of a new exploring expedition. When asked why she shonld
care about it, she said: “If they discover any more countries,
that will add to the geography Ihave tostudy. There are
*
countries enough in it now.
ae
—‘‘How many tenses are were?” asked the teacher of a
\boy. Seven,” answered the boy; ‘‘the present, the perfect,
the imperfect, the pluperfect, the first future, the second fu-
ture and the Oscar Wilde.” ‘* Why,” asked she, “ whattense
js he?” Oh,” replied the boy, ‘* he’s intense.”
*
from presenting the Piute congress with a bill ‘ine man
Philadelphia News. gress with a bill for $5,000.
. . ae
—A Missouri man got caught in asmall whirlwind the other
day, which raised him just a little way from the ground and
shook him until all his buttons fell off. When the thing
stopped he muttered: ‘* Reckon I'll have to send for another
pound of quinine.”—Philadelpbia News.
*
toe os. °
—A boy paid his first visit to the country school as a scho-
lar, the other day, and as he came home at night his mother
inguired : ‘Well, Henry, how do you like going to school?”
«Bully ;” he replied, in an excited voice. “I saw four boys
licked, and one girl got her ear pulled, and I don’t want to
miss a day for anything.”—St. Louis Ledger.
*
. s
_— A Washington paper says that the editor of the New
York ‘Tribune is a “political adder.” ‘The Washington man
is envious. If there is anything that a newspaper office would
welcome as a boon in these days of election tables, it is a po-
litical adder that can make a column foot up the same figures
twice in succession.
*
soot * et Be
—It isa sign of ill-breeding in China to mention the weather,
It's a good thing we closed
the front gate on the Chiuese before Enough of Sem came
over to make that rule effective here. Take away the weatber,
and you tamper with the foundation-stones of the conversa~
tion of 90 per cent. of the shining lights of American society.
in mind of a corset-maker.” ‘* Why, wy pet ?” he repli
he remained calmly oblivious to the adhing pati’
i Beownse you ake fueh long stays,” was her answer. He
id not remain after that unti ii i
fia at oe onst, ‘il the envious streaks didglace
«
—Mr. Herbert Spencer thins it strange that the avera
American spends only a day at Ningara "alloy whereas Me,
Spencer himself remained there a week. If Mr. 8. had never
beeu to Niagara he might wonder at the shortness of Ameri-
can visits, But to wonder after trying it himself shows that
Mr. §. either dida't pay the bills, that he is heartlessly indif-
ferent to the value of money, or that he is laboring in the in-
rest of the hackmen and hotel keepers. ~