People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 December 1892 — AMERIGAN PUSH. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AMERIGAN PUSH.

By EDGAR FAWCETT.

(gPYRIGHT. 1891 • By the Authors alliance

CHAPTER Vlll.— Continued. When Mrs. Kennaird now drew near the great square over which loomed the light and pretty facade of the chief Itotel, she at once perceived that Kathleen was being a great deal noticed and <ilently admired. “Little wonder, too,” it swept through her mind, “for as she walks there now her form and face 'Seem to embody this delightful thing of •Chopin's that his majesty’s musicians are playing so finely.” And then Mrs. Kennaird approached her daughter. But before she could reach her side, old Mrs. Madison, with wrinkled face, gouty •tep, and a cane big enough for a British squire beset by the same malady as herself, came hobbling forward. “My dear Mrs. Kennaird, 1 don’t know how I can stay any longer in Baltravia unless you present me to your daughterly It isn’t only that four or five young men are always tormenting me •for a presentation to her, knowing that I know you. It’s that lots of tiresome -old persons like myself, of whichever sex, make my tife a burden with their longings.” Here Mrs. Madison shook her head, and so briskly that her goldrimmed glasses trembled on her high, --clear-curving nose. “Ah, Mrs. Kennaird, it’s we old things that are the wisest lapidaries for pronouncing on the color and water of that dearest of -all diamonds, youth!”

"My daughter will be charmed to meet you, and your friends, also, my dear Mrs. Madison, of course,” was the reply given by Kathleen’s mother. But while she stood and strove to talk blandly with this old alienated Knickerbocker (for who could forget that the Madisons were leading people in the palmy days of the Van Leriuses, and that a Madison once married a Van Lerius, as far back as 1796?) she was -secretly throbbing with discomfort and ■ chagrin. Alonzo Lispenard here In Saltravia! And not only that, but on terms of special favor with the king! It was •niin of all those delicious hopes! For the very moment that he heard Clarimond had admired Kathleen, what would he be sure to do? Prejudice his royal friend, beyond a doubt, against both herself and her child. Oh, it was 'too aggravating, too maddening! When she reached Kathleen, Mrs. Kennaird grasped the girl’s wrist with a tremor and force that instantly betrayed her trouble. “My dear Kathleen,” she began, “I have such wretched news!” “Wretched news, mamma?” “Yes, don’t stare at me. Everybody, I hear, is staring at you. There— I won’t clutch you in that idiotic style any more. You—you know, my' dear, that I—l have always prided myself on •my repose.” “Well, mamma?”

“Let’s walk along quietly toward the -hotel, as if nothing had happened. I’ve just heard from Mrs. Madison that your ■ Wonderful beauty and grace have set •everybody talking about you.” “And is that all that has happened?” Kathleen asked, with a decided languor. “No. I only wish it were! My dear .child, where did you think Alonzo Lis•penard had gone after—after the breaking"of your engagement? Don’t look demoralized, now! Answer me!” Kathleen had visibly started, and her change of color was manifest. “Gone?” she repeated. “I heard that he was here in Europe. You remember, mamma, something was said about an Austrian grand duke having wanted him to purchase works of art for his private but I never believed the report. It was sever confirmed. I—” “Kathleen! Believe the report now, •if you choose!” « “Believe it, mamma!” “Yes. But change the Austrian grand -duke to a Saltravian king.” Kathleen looked fixedly at her mother for several seconds as they moved still nearer to the steps of the hotel When she spoke it was clearly to show that she had in a measure •understood. “Alonzo is here?” she faltered. “Yon -mean that?” “He lives here, and lives under the -very wing, so to speak, of Clarimond. It seems that his friend, Eric Thaxter, •aent for him to come on here after the failure ” Then Mrs. Kennaird gave a few further explanations which ended t>y the time they readied the huge inclosed balcony of the hotel and ascended • its steps Kathleen sank into a chair, not trembling, but looking aa if tremors might at &ny-mozuent>begin> »

“We must go away from here, mamma.” she presently said,glancing up into her mother’s face while that lady stood in placid grandeur beside her. “We must go at once." “Oh, now, my dear Kathleen! You surely won’t he so foolish.” “He will think we eame solely cn his account.” “But I tell yon he isn’t here.” “Still, he may return any hour. No, mamma; I will not stay. Let us go to VaUambrosa to-morrow. We intended going there, you know, when you suddenly got this craze for Saltravia.” Mrs. Kennaird tightened her lips together, stared straight ahead, and gave not a syllable of response. Oh, of course Kathleen must have her own way! It would be folly to keep her here against her will, for that will had modes of making itself felt which coercion sooner or later failed to profit by. And to think that the presence of this detestable Alonzo should shatter such a lordly edifice of shining and prismatic dream! Ah, it was too hard rowing! In a certain sense Kathleen was right; the- horrid creature might think she had come here because of him, though any thrills of dignity on the subject would have been wholly idle if it were not that this bugbear was actually an intimate of the king. In that abominated capacity he was fate appointed, as one might say, to head herself and her daughter off. Scalding tears of ire and disappointment gathered to the eyes of Kathleen’s mother while she stood and watched the spacious hotel grounds, dotted with strollers and sweeping on toward the palace, white and splendid against its dark-green mountain side. She had raised her handkerchief, to brush away these fiery tears if in reality they should show signs of falling, when a kind of flurry among the people on the laurels made her curious to learn its cause. This soon became plain, as she discerned a group at some distance away, headed by a man of noble and gracious presence. She had seen Clarimond a day or two ago, on the occasion when Kathleen had so evidently won his heed, and once having seen, it was not easy to forget him. She now leaned down and murmured to Kathleen: “The king, my dear. And I think he is coming this way.” “Let us go upstairs, mamma,” said Kathleen, rising. “Or will you remain here, and shall I—” The words died on her lips, for just then old Mrs. Madison came puffing up

the steps with a young gentleman of striking appearance at her side. “Mrs. Kennaird,” called the old lady, “I couldn’t stand the pressure of circumstances any longer. I’m compelled to beg of you that you’ll make me acquainted with your lovely daughter, so that I, can appease the longings of Mr. Eric Thaxter, who is resolved to know her or die.” “Mr. Thaxter certainly shall not die without knowing Kathleen,”, said Mrs. Kennaird, in her most dulcet tones. And then there was an exchange of introductions gone through quietly and quickly, as most well-bred persons manage to deal with such matters. Kathleen, who was one of those women made even more interestingly beautiful by weariness and pain, at once found herself liking Eric Thaxter. It had all come back to her that he had been “Lon-s foreign. friend,” and for this reason he was now clad with a peculiar enticement. While Mrs. Madison bowed over her cane and held converse with Mrs. Kennaird, the girl, lowvoiced and spurred by a desperate sort of frankness, addressed Eric. *T’ve just heard, Mr. Thaxter,” she said, “that Mr. Lispenard lives here, and with you.' 1 “Yes,” replied Eric, “but at present—” “He is in Munich. I’ve heard that, too. The whole piece of intelligence has given me great annoyance. I take for granted that he has told you of—of our broken engagement.” “Yes, Miss Kennaird, he did tell me.” Prepared though she somehow was far this candid reply, its gentle delivery sent the rose tints flying into her face. Her eyes moistly sparkled as she fixed them on Eric’s. “Oh, I’m so sorry mamma and I should have come here!” she exclaimed, though with a softness of tone that defeated her mother’s thirsting ear. “We never dreamed that he was here! I think nobody in New York except, perhaps, his sister, Mrs. Van Santvoord, really knew just where he had gone.” Then she drooped her gaze for an instant, and while she did so her observer had, as he himself might have phrased it, artistically explained her. “The face for a Pysche,” passed through his n>ifid, “and all the more entrancing because nature has gifted her with that divinest of charms—the incessant forgetfulness that she is so beautiful She doesn’t think in the least about the divinity of her profile. Self-conscious-ness, the curse of roost feminine beauty, has mercifully spared her. A woman like that, who treats herself as H she wwe a spinster of sixty, With defective i'

front teeth and a ftrfry tnofe cm chin, becomes an uncomeiouS goddess, I don’t wonder Lona adores her still, and I don’t wonder Clarimond is m-biny to know her." Bnt aloud Eric said, with his native affable bluffness: “My dear Miss Kennaird,it’s not a very mighty placet, after aIL Don’t bore yourself about Alonzo's proximity. When he knows that you’ve honored Saltravia with your presence, he will probably be quite too ashamed of his past misconduct to let you get the faintest glimpse of him. Oh, I know just how atrociously he'behavcd. He’s told me, and I’ve scolded him without pity.” Kathleen bit her lip and watched the speaker for an instant with searching and wistful eyes. “He’s told you?” she breathed. “Bnt if you don’t think me to blame at all, Mr. Thaxter, he—he must have given you a very generous version of the whole affair.” Then she drew herself up, and with almost a lofty calmness went on. "But we are going to-mor-row. We have decided to push on toward Vatiambrosa. No doubt you know it. They say it is so delightful, and quiet there. Retirement is what I most care for just now.” "Retirement?” echoed Eric with a mock gesture of despair. “And here I am. Miss Kennaird, come to you as an envoy from the king, who greatly desires the pleasure of your acquaintance.” Perhaps Eric had without intention loudened his voice a little. Anyway, Mrs. Kennaird heard all that he had just said; and considering the fact that Mrs. Madison had a minute ago uttered certain tidings of a most exhilarant sort to her, she was now suddenly transported once more with hopeful surprise. “My dear," she said to Kathleen, as the latter drew backward several steps, with a distinct show of reluctance, even deprecation, “I trust that if Mr. Thaxter wishes to present you to the king you will not hesitate to accompany him!” But here Eric shook his head and broke into a light laugh. “Miss Kennaird needs not to accompany me, by any means,” he said. “If you will merely walk with her down toward this little fountain where the bronze tritons are, I will bring the king to her.” Mrs. Kennaird caught her daughter by the wrist. She was excessively agitated, and showed it, to the great secret amusement of Eric.

“Do you hear, my love?” she almost stammered. “The—the king is to be brought to you!” Half descending the steps which he had lately mounted, and removing his hat as he did so, Eric answered in tones of courtesy as tranquil as they were careless: “Oh, I assure you, King Clarimond never permits a lady to be presented to him. He’s very royal, if you please, in other ways, but that is not one of them.” Pale, and inwardly quivering, Mrs. Kennaird still held her daughter’s wrist As Eric passed down to the lawns, her voice, with brisk, staccato whisper, shot into Kathleen’s ear. It conveyed but four words, yet these were pregnant with an intensity of desire and demand: “Come! Come, at once!”

CHAPTER IX Kathleen obeyed. After the ladies had left the balcony Eric again joined them. “If you will kindly wait just there by the fountain,” he said, point-ing-towards a charming aquatic design in bronze whose spirits of water had caught the slant sunrays and turned to liquid gold, “I will at once cause you and monsieur to meet And remember, please, we call him ‘monsieur;’ he prefers it” “And I am to speak with him in French?” asked Kathleen, somewhat nervously, “If you wish. I suppose you do not speak Saltravian?" “Heavens, no!” she exclaimed, still more nervously, and not noting the dry twinkle in Eric’s eyes. “The king will probably address you then in French. But if you prefer English he will accommodate you. It is one of the great self-delusions of his reign that he speaks English at all reputably.” Here Mrs. Kennaird broke in, with her blithest laugh: “Oh, my dear child speaks French very prettily,” and as Eric departed with a bow ishe turned to Mrs. Madison, who had just rejoined her, and said in a voice made purposely loud enough for him to hear: “What a delightful man this Mr. Thaxter is! No wonder the king likes him so!” Clarimond, who did everything with grace, soon had himself presented to Kathleen and her mother precisely as if he were some ordinary friend of Eric’s, with whom the latter had chanced to be moving among the paths. “Ana it Ail went off so easily!" as Mrs. Kennaird remarked after. “Be-

tore vre know Kathleen, be hail shaken bands with of us, and had asked you if you didn’t want to go with him and see the carp feu' in the great marble basin of the prendA* saur/" Kathleen and the king walked side by side, it is true, but they only paused for a moment to watch the carp dine, afterwards passing on to where the terraces of the palace dropped grandly down to an artificial lake, and a hundred windows blazed like huge diamonds or rubies where the westering sun smote them. Above, on the long marble balustrades, two or three peacocks were perched, one pure white as the sculptured stone itself; and below, half way between the lily-pods and the rustic landings, floated a few stately swans. Somewhere behind one those radiant windows the princess of Brindisi sat, and near her was Bianca d’Este. It was quite probable that the king knew he risked maternal observation during his present saunter with the young American lady whom he had sought to know. Since the arrival of his mother he had not presumed thus publicly to associate himself with any new foreign acquaintance. If Kathleen had been a man her disrelish might have had Its limits. At present there in her palatial ambuscade, with her cherished Bianca to share the humiliation, whether real or fancied, this disrelish became a boundless disgust • • • “It pleases me greatly, mademoiselle,” the king was meanwhile saying, in his flexible and almost native French, “that you should so care for Saltravia after so brief a stay here." “How can one help caring for it?" returned Kathleen, as they paused on one of the velvet-swarded terraces. Looking sideways across her shoulder she perceived that the same group which had accompanied the king before they met were following him now, at a distance respectful and discreet She perceived, too, that her mother and Mrs. Madison were also not far behind them. This was possibly what her companion wished. It struck her that he was a gentleman, this comely anij fascinating monarch, who wished thany things most decisively, and who had the art of making his desires operative with the same cool ease that beloutfs to the touching of ar electric bell an<3 ths summoning of a needed lacquey. “The weather here,” she contlxihed, “is always so enchanting." And then she looked into Clarimond’s face vith one of those smiles that his dlslik'i of commonplace women had even thus quickly caused him to feel was the harbinger of something at least quickened by piquancy. “I am already sure, monsieur,” she added, "that lapline et U beau temps are subjects which you control at pleasure. You keep the first amiably exiled and you allow the last, like one of your ancestor’s court-jesters, to do all the genial things that it pleases." Clarimond laughed: “No, mademoiselle,” he replied, “you overrate my powers of dqminlon. I’m more sensible than that far-away English king who commanded the sen to obey him,or that Persian one who whipped it with rods ” [to be continued.]

THE GIRL, LOW-VOICED AND SPURRED BY A DESPERATE SORT OF FRANKNESS, ADDRESSED ERIC.