LITERATURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7744, 21 February 1905, Page 4

LITERATURE.

THE EARL S CHRISTMAS BOX. C When Lady Gwyneth Rhys J ones *' became the Countess of ' the seemed possessed wit* l t hu I j ,ca • that ste was to have everything her f awn way, exactly as of old. She loon discovert. however, that Loi_d ». Pebbteridge had a strong will of His i; ; -' ma, and though, as a liance, he ' had tdaraUxl her vagaries, he was evidently determined, in the character •1 fcusbamV to put his foot down on . tome of her eccentric ways, and. '. what was worse, to Keep it there. Consequently, before many months of wedded 'bliss had passed over the beads of ihe wedded couple, it was apparent that, on one at least, the yoke had begun to poll. The first noticeable wriggle of discomfort appeared when Gwyneth was gently waiting her horse home, through a

pitiless drizzle, after a day's hard run with the South Ulankshiie Uounds. Mr Cadwallader's game marc ambled restlessly beside her. Hiey rode on lor some considerable time in dismal silence, filled up on Uwyneth's part with an acute attacU of selfptty. and by Cadwullader in anatho•■atising the tedium of their slow progression through the soul-depres-•ing fog, which seemed 'to eat into the marrow of every bone, and attacWsd itself in large beads to the

•j4HlashM, thus further obscuring the dripping landscape, already sufficiently blurred. At length Cadwallatfor's powers of endurance cam* to aji end.

" I say, Gwyneth," ho growled, in •n aggrieved tone " hadn't we better peg oa ? " Gwyneth turned her luminous eyes apon Um vaguely , like one awakened Iroiu a long sad dream. No, Owen," she returned, gravely, " i have teen wanting a nice quiet chat with you tor a long timet and now the opportunity has lomt."

" fJood heavens, Gwyneth ! " exriaimed Cadwallader, '" Surely we <puM have a nice quiet chat much •lore comfortably by the fireside, Without tin deadly fear of riieumator lumbago as a natural consefueoce ! "

" No, Owen," said Gwyneth, with •till greater gravity. ■' One or other •t uf would certainly be disturbed •n some trivial plea every minute of Che time. Resides, if you and I sat thatling confidentially over the lire lor more than two minutes and a fcaM. at the very outside, people *ould begin to talk." Cadwallader almost dropped the reins and his hunting crop from his eervous fingers, so powerful was the tudden shock. Should he give open expression to the silent laughter that was beginning to shake his internal *coi)om>\ or should he take this change of front seriously ? He took in at a gtanqe the saintliness of (Jwyneth's solemn face, and determined on a serious view of the matter.

> "I am no end glad that you are beginning to strain at gnats,," he •aid.'' "It is an excellent sign that you fa«ve some intentiom of abandoning your reckless indulgence in camels." Gwynoth raised a pa4r of deeply reproachful eyes to his face. " Whatever do you mean ? " she in chocked accents. Ctfdwallader was a trifle nonplusted. There are so many things that may be understood but will hardly bear explanation. He immediately bought the usual refuge. " Oh. nothing," he replied, with an air of supreme indifference. Then be hastened to change the , subject, and thus Gwyneth, usi was her habit, gained h'er point. " What is it you want to chat about ? " he asked with a deep and •uddea interest. " About dear old Pebbifc." said Gwyneth. Don't you think he has greatly changed ? " " Naturally," returned Cadwallader. "He is married."

" Vies, I know," said Gwyneth, shaking her head sagely. ■' But it * cam't he that, because be has not jr. change! for the better, you know." Does matrimony alter a fellow for the better ? " he asted, doubtfully. " Why. of course it does, Owen. Do you not feel, yourself, that you would have been a much better man il you hod married soma really nice woman whom you lovtd ? " , " Evidently Gwyneth was in a most admirable frame of mind this afternoon. If she haid not been so exv, clasively occupied by some abstruse problem that seemed to be worrying her frivolous littjle brain, she might •f have noticed that Cadwallader's lips tightened perceptibly, and that the . mare, as though in sympathy with f . ; her riden, winced and shied most un- ; reaaonatjly. Look here, Gwyneth," he said, with an air of etcrn decision. •' It ; : ia no use asking me to be peacemaker any more. I have been there f<h> often already, and _L.juu about fed with it. If you and poor old • Pefaftiie 'have had a row- " •* My dear boy ! " broke in Gwy- . mth. " What horrible things you what you call a row in our lives. Is it likely tha,t we should descend to tile level of coa^heavers and dock labourers, and people of that des\cription ? What I wanted to ask ; >ou was this: Don't you think the dear old darling is looking very much out of sorts ? "■ "Is he? I haven't noticed it. Worry, most probably." " Why, what can he ha*e To wor- : ry about ? " Again Cadwallader took safo and convenient cover fc "Oh, nothing whatever, of course. ' J«st e little matter of ncrvel iw>rnaps." r 1

; I wis jure of it," cried Gwyneth ,r UI^S " E * artI J' what I thoughts Then I am certain that you }}^ Kree enMr ply with me." For the sake of peace and uuiet IIZ ?. r °J? bIC that 1 may," said ~®L *hat am Ito agres to » " That dear old Febbie requires a change. \ol a miserable (little weekender. A nice, complete, aJ-round sort of change." drc* a long breath. Ah ! Now I begin to see through a glass darkly. You are anxious to pt away*somcwherc, and you must have mo to back you up in your nefarious schemes. Where do you want to go ? Monle ? Cairo ? The Far East ? " Wtere there really tears in (,'wyneth's eyes, or was it merely Ihc dense fog that so heightened their brilliancy ? " How cruelly you always misjudge me !" she murmured." " I am for ever being suspected of some wicked arriere pensee.'' Cadwalladar's conscience most unjustly, smote him. Those pearly drops "possibly of condensed fog, made him feel such a brute beast- " Koj, no, Gwyneth." he said hurriedly, " I am perfectly aware that you kt"eg nothing up your stlecve. When do you want l'ebbic to go. and where ? Of course, when you have settled that, the rest is a. foregone conclusion." Gwyneth's tears dried automatically-

" " You'are just your dear oKi self v ' ■ once more," she smikxl. "I am so glad you have come round to my way of thinking, for Febbio's sake. What do you say to taking him to the Holy Land ? You have been there, and wouM make a lirst-rato cicerone." : ■■■' Taking him ! Are you mad, Gwyneth V gasped Owen. '.' Where do you suppose I am to find the ready . . Mik to take PeMrie to thfe Holy Land? - * •'My dear 'joy ! Money is only a * minor detail. Of course we should *ut dream of asking you to go except as our guest. It occurred to ■im that, as you will be away at vt: 'Christmas time, the Holy Land * Would hp so nice and appropriate. I T wMI broach the subject to PebbiC • this very eveminjj." 'V ~ When the subject was broached t Lord Pebbleridge demurred, raised 3 tannifold objections, swore" that no- * - thing would induce him Io go, and finally gave wearily in.

lake the devoted little wife she jS* i*d her. hustmnd to Mover, and sire ■p raniaincd on the pier waving her I?* Htu« hand to the vanishing' boat un,'paired \o London and spent a most ]&.-Exemplary month with her mothi*r-gptffc-law, Eleanora Countess of I'ebbleg&fidC* KKp'£? length, weary and worn out BgMnth tte effort to assume virWr ♦ she most assuredly had fortuitously remembered tha 1 Hg~ a^ nai>t » around the family seat K?-^S uth ®knkshire would expect her ... towards making B?®?" vhriStmastide as cheerful as the Bgyovefbtal hard twines and the abHEMge; of ber lord would permit. She nKr y JnenUoned this solemn dutv wto dared iivt

suade her daughitei>in-]aw to forsake the path of rectitide into which she had mercifully strayed. ConfXs|iuently, the following afternoon's express bore Gwyneth soifthwait?, and seien■tific lectures, church meetings, and Albert Hall oratorios excjicd her i weary yawns no more, j For the .space of a week an army of carpenters and artificers of various kinds invaded the ancestral halls and turned the place upside down ; but; for the moment, else transpired to show that (Iwym'th was not a worthy follower of the high-minded. dignified chat Haines who for long centuries hart always net ml as guides, philosophers, anil f. iends to ami simple peasant. I ft was (.'hriKtmas ftve, and a most, unsatisfactory blend of snow and rain was falKng when two passengers, cold, weary, and more than a little out of temper, alighted ait a small, comfortless wayside station. 'J here was no conveyance to mee„ them, and only after some considerable delay was a vehicle procured | troiu the Tillage inn to carry them through the murky night to their destination.

" This ,s downright rot, Pcbbie ! " growled Cadwallader, as they bounced and humped over the awful roads. lou might at least have wired for something, with a few springs in it to meet us. This is worse torture than the luxurious ambulance affaii« in bouth Africa ! " (To be continued.)