CHAPTER, XXI.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 215, 13 August 1887, Page 7

CHAPTER, XXI.

Were honour to be scanned by lonj? descent From ancestors illustrious, they cojsld vauitat A lineatfo of the greatest, and recount Ainonu their fathers' niunes ot ancient etory. Ilcroce and godlike pntiiotfi, who suMuod The world by arms and * iriue, But thut 10 tUeir oah prai-c who did it. Howe. It had been *v*ud that it would have tali en the united teaming, genius, and industry of a London lawyer, a French detective, and a ScoteU antiquary to trace out the origin, -pedieiec, and relationship of the old Grecnlcafc, Rowleys, Slaughters and Fitzgeialdf.. These were the four pea t families who, amony themadve.*, owned the whole of Wilde county, with the exception of Haddon\s Feny and the public gtound upon which the court-houwe, the gaol, and the alms-houec weie built at the eount>seat at V.'ilde\ ille. , In order to keep the land among them- : selves, so froqi'ent had been the marriages, \ inteimauiages, and le-marringes among them that no herald could ha\c possibly told exaclly how much akin who was to whom. But enough of all this. Once upon a time,;.<, ;.< the old nursery stories begin, thcte nomished in Wilde county, a coi tain Mr Gerard Green leaf, of Greenwood, who nianied almost as many v ive> as King Henry the VI I I. of England, and had almost as many children as King Priam of Troy. All his sons, except the youngobt, had been killed in the Revolutionary War. All his daughters, except the youngest, had followed the tiaditions of the family, and mariied dutifully among their relatives, the Rowleys, the Fitzgeialvls, and Slaughters. The exceptional boy and giil weie the two children of his la*t marriage, and weie born after theii father had attained the ripe age of sixty yeais. At the' time of the commencement of our story, the son, Royal Gieenleaf, was a hale bachelor of forty yeais of age, and the master of Greenwood. The daughtei was a stately maiden lady of thirty-seven, and the mistress of her bachelor brother's house. No greater contract in personal appearance, mind and manner was ever .seen than that exiting between this brother and sister. Mr Royal Gieenleaf was a tall, gaunt, florid-faced, icd-headed and ied-beaided giant, with mciry blue eyes, bioadly smiling lips, a linging laugh, and a frank, lough and leady cordiality when he was ploased and in a good humour ; but a man of quick and violent temper, of reckle^vs woid and act, when wionged 01 offended. Hecaied little for agiiculture, lea\ing 1)1^ plantation to be managed entiiely by an overseer. He was fond ot hunting, fibbing, gambling, iiddling, feasting, dancing, and, in short, of all manner of pleasurable pastimes, and especially of pi actioal joking. It mi^ht be t-aid of him, as it has been said of many another " ne'er-do-well," that "he was no man's enemy but his own."' But thnse jolly good fellows who are no man'b enemy but their own often contiive, without any malicious intent, to do a vast deal oi haim to all men and Avomen who happen to be connected with them. This was csj>ecially true of Royal Greenleaf, who had the best heait, with the woist habits, of any man in the county. But if he squandered hunch eds of dollais on dissipation that all witnessed and condemned, he also lavished thousands \ipon thousands upon chaiities that few knew and none piaised. His house was always full of thriftless and indigent friends and relatives, who came as often and stayed as long an ever they pleased, and not only ate his dinneis and drank his wines, which was perfectly right and proper, but lamed his houses and broke his guns, wore out his clothes and borrowed his money, without scruple or measme, and also without blame, for all Koyal Gieenleaf s possessions were everybody's else's as well as his, so really royal was he by natuie as well a* by name. Besides this multitude of frequent spongers, he had some regular dependents who had a natural claim upon him. Fiiet among these was, of course, his younger sister, Miss Susan Greenleaf, the fair and stately maiden lady, already mentioned as such a perfect contrast to her brother. She was really thirty-seven years of age, but she did not look over twenty-fieve. She was tall and slender, with a well-set head, the hair on which she wore closely plaited and wound around her head. She had an oval face, small, regular features ; a clear, pale complexion, and deep blue eyes, with a very demur, reserved expression. She dressed richly and plainly in dark colours, and she carried herself very erect in walking. Miss Susan was an ardent reader dE romances, and her character was modified and her conduct modelled by the teharacber and conduct of her favourite heroines. She had had many suitors, but she laad ikevex married, because among all the Gfleettleafs, Rowleys, Slaughters and tlie Fitagecalds of her circle, she could nofc find any <ni«n who in the remotest degree answerod t© description of her favourite heroes. Her mostsadmired novel was " Tihe Childmem ( of the Abbey ;" her pattern of .all female «xcellenee was Amanda FizalLsun ; her iraadel of all fiuanly perfection was Lord Montamore. But at»iwithstanding the mraiantic aipd sentimental character of her amind, Miss Susan Qm&ileaf excelled in practical goad sense. HUe kept her bachelor brother* house ia jawlh perfect order that she w*e ; *lways csiQft #s the model manager of the neighbouiftiQCKJl. And to keep fun house lhaunted &s Ufa was by a multitude of .spongers, »ias uk> easy task. Besides MiiasiSusan, who, it may be said, foad a natural ai^fiit to her place at the head of her bachelor brother's establishment, tftvetre was another lister, Dorothea Greenj£fc£, who, by an 'im^f udent marriage, would seem to have lost hei^claim to her brother's protection. Koyal Greenleaf, however, did nob think bo, U)t' he gave a v/a,iw welcome to this unfort«nate poor msietr and her little daughter. Her husband had been captain of an East Indiamau which had foundered in a gale in mid-ocean on the night of fch<e thirteenth of December, and only half a dozen sailors picked up on a raft by an outward bound merchant ship had lived to tell the tale. Doy was stricken nearly unto death by this heavy blow. And though her devoted brother and si«tei' did all they could to conK)le her, it wa« months before sho was able to rally. Then she fixed all her affections upon her fatherless child, whom she now worshipped ■with an almost fanatical devotion. Since the loss of her gallant husband, Doy Fitzgerald and her orphan daughter had found a loved and loving home with her devoted brother and sifter. ,