The Argosy — page 291: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

272 Fack Laybourne’s Inheritance. with it, and were not numerous enough to constitute a separate neighbourhood. A short but level drive led up to the pension, which was sur- rounded by a garden, where the lilacs were just fading and the laburnums just coming into bloom. An obsequious landlord and a ruddy-cheeked maid or two came running out to greet us, and several smooth, discreet-looking heads, unmistakeably English, appeared at the windows and inspected us. Half-an-hour or so after our arrival the tea-bell rang; for, of course, as in all places of the kind, the dinner-hour was early. On de- scending, we found the usual long table, covered with cold meat, mountain strawberries, whipped cream and a line of teapots. Estab- lished at the same were many ladies anda few men. The fragments of conversation which reached our ears had reference chiefly to the various excursions undertaken that afternoon. Kate and I as new- comers were relegated to the foot of the table. Here I found my- self beside a lively old maid who seemed to think herself very fortunate in having somebody new to talk to. ‘“We have been almost the same party for three weeks,” she re- marked, ‘‘and I for one began to despair of seeing a fresh face. I daresay you wonder what attraction the place has in any way; but the truth is it is supposed to be good for the nerves, and people come here to make what the natives call the ‘ cure.’ ” ‘‘ And are all these people nervous invalids?” I asked in some alarm. “No,” said my companion with a smile, ‘‘ some—as, for instance, myself—are rich in nothing duv¢ health. Have you never remarked that there is a class of English people who seem to have been created solely to pass their summers in the Canton de Vaud? That little widow there opposite to us—the one with the two daughters—knows every pension, I do believe, for thirty miles around, and she declares _ that this is the most endurable of them all.” ‘* How lovely her daughters are!” I exclaimed, a new direction given to my thoughts by the winsome faces thus suddenly pointed out to me. ‘Tell her that and you will win her heart!” said my loquacious .— companion. ‘ Her pride in her children is intense, though she does - her best to hide it. She is one of your inscrutable North of Ireland folk, full of queer, warped pride and warm affections, and a bristling reserve. If you praise her girls, she looks a trifle drier and stonier, and takes an early opportunity of rendering you some service.” ‘You seem to be a student of human nature,” I observed, amused. ‘‘ My gossip shocks you, perhaps?” quickly asked Miss Lowndes, for that, as I afterwards discovered, was her name. ‘* By no means!” I answered. (Had I been frank, reader, I should have replied that I adored gossip!) ‘On the contrary, I should Gomicbooks (E(0)