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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1929-05-30, Page 7THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE by — ANNA S. SWAN lllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllililillllilllllllll ir CHAPTER I. Tally-Ho!tt "The Bellendale Foxhounds will -meet at Essendon .at elevejj. .o’clock xm Wednesday morning.” j The above announcement, print­ ed in the Bordwick Gazette, and -further circulated by word of ■mouth, had the effect of making the stj^es’aiid byways leading towards dW old house of.Essendope .particu­ larly -lively on a certain grey Nov­ ember morning. It was years'Since there had been a meet at Essendon lawn—not, indeed, since ths,;.balmy •days of the Ridde]l-Kerrs,, when their horse-flesh and their devotion to sport had been the talk as well •as th pride of Bellendale from end to end. Riddell-Kerr, of .Essendon was one of the names immortalized in Border song and' story. Tales of the daring and’ .courage of the race, gating -from Flodden Fields' to the <lays of the Red River that bold Buc­ caneer who had-thought nothing of <lrivin<>- in a herd .of. cattle #from the Cheviots for the use of his merry Essendon. men without so much as^ asking to whom they belonged,,, hut who was always ready to make good Sus freebooter’s claim .-with liis broadsword were' stilT told- at cot­ tage firesides on winter Rights. It was.even believed by the more super- stitous that the ’Red' River; a* fierce- 3-obking wight with wild/ eyes glow- •ei’ing in the darkness, still haunted !fche spur of the Chey-iots, on which the old house 61’ ^Essendon wan. built. But he had- not been actually .seen within the memory-of man. - It was a goodly show that' assem­ bled on the soft .green -Ward before the battlemented wings pf Essendon, and since the November sun was, kind, if a little uncertain, the scene lacked nothing of pictiiresdueness. The Master-, of '.the-; Foxhounds, Lord Hatherley.and Htune, an elder­ ly, .keen-faced < sportsman, leanojl from his saddle .to spegk for a moment with the kind hostess who, with a- white wrap about her shoui- .ders, £tood just within the low door­ way to watch .the pretly and animat-. «ed scene. She was fa tall, slight woman with a gently, high-bred face 5ind with quantitj&s’df' diill soft hair, which almost seBmed tq weigh her 3ieatly“poised',Seacl.' Sh’e hail very- little coloi’, and time, or more pos­ sibly care, had carved many unto­ ward lines on her sweet face. Her soft eyes were shadowed, and when she smiled as she did when the Mas­ ter -addressed her, the pathos of her looks .seemed accentuated. “This is as it should be, Mrs. Kerr, and brings back to my mind many a glorious morning. I never got in­ to my hunting kit with -a better heart than today. Don’t you think this is as it should be, and does,'it not warm your heart?” “It does and it does not, Lord Hatherley.’’ She answered, with a scarcely perceptible sigh. “We had a laugh over my husband’s, things this morning, I-Ie has been so long out of them that he and Leadbetter were hard put to it to get buckle and strap together. Yes, it pleases me to see him in the saddle again, though you will admit that his. mount is not to be boasted of, and he him­ self will expiring “He’s meet by runs him, close, might c be better. Kerr, when we had a horse to offer a friend, but now everything’s changed. There’s a motley crew here today. Do you see that big man in the brand newpink Coat? That’s the new Laird of Bellenden Priory.” “Is he? Lord Haterley, and I like his Harry has spoken him very much,” “Keep Harry Priory, Mrs. Kerr; den of thieves, and “But Weaver Laidlaw told us that he had been very generous to the Playfairs, >and had behaved like a gentleman throughout,” .“I’d like to break a lance with Weaver Laidlaw over that same,” said, the Master grimly, '“Laidlaw’s a eleven chap and a good lawyer, but there are some things he does not know, and one is the difference be­ tween a lawyer’s honour anej. that of U private gentleman.” “You are severe, Lord Hatherley,” murmured ■ Mrs. Kerr, still, looking with a somewhat painful interest on the well set up figure'of the new man on a hunter with which even the' MfF.H. cou)d find no" fault— which, indeed,-he had-regarded al­ ready With-a pang1 "Of envy, which speak of today as his last flicker.” the handsomest man- at this a long chalk, though Harry- Yes, the mount Time was, Mrs. He’s -hr tine-looking, man, fac$ likesto him, and theaway from it’s nothing but a robbers. nrayirn lent gall to his speech. “I suppose they are nobodies, but there is not very much to distin- *guish between us, after all, said with a little sigh, cast in the same mould- “No, madam, I beg to differ close enough to Bentley Carrington and yog will read linege in his. hose, Bo you see that trig jittle woman’s figure in the loose fawn riding-coat? That’s his daughter.” J " “Is it? What a pretty face—’* “Yes-—till you get . to close quar­ ters, and again the nose! It is a common nose, And he has a big, raw-boned son somewhere who, they say, is cleverer than his father in these which Priory tribe, worth the country, buf I need not ask.” “Indeed I have not, but chiefly because, I,, have fallen into alj. sorts of indolent years.” Bhe was Carrington, in his face- of relentless purpose which almost made her afraid. If he had made up his mind to capture the county, then she was perfectly sure he would capture it, just as he had taken pos­ session of the Priory because, he had considered it a desirable home. < But at the back of her mind there lurked a secret respect and envy be­ cause this man had made,, and had at his command, rthe money which was so painfully lacking in thp cof­ fer’s of Essendon. There was"' so little there, and the establishment was so badly reduced that she had display at the running breakfast hard put to it to make any decent display at the running breakfast which the assembled huntsmen ex­ pected iat the house where they were asked’Jtome’feL' This su'dden -desire of her husband’s to take part‘in the sport of which the Riddell-Kerrs had onc£ been passionate devotees, as was evidenced by their portraits as Masters of the Foxhounds—six in a row-—-which decorated the in­ ner hall of Essendon, hacl puzzled her greatly. “Alice,” he had suddenly said to her one day, “we have buried our­ selves tdo long and nursed pur pov­ erty too tenaciously. I see others as poor as we are getting the cream of life. I’ll ask Heatherly to bring there here fbr the next meet.” But both he and his heir rode on hired horses, and there was a -forced gaiety about the old man which ill concealed his heavy heart. ■ “Nobpdy has called but. such as are nobodies themselves,” said Lord Hatherley grimly.” We’ll keep them out of the count}’ as long as we can, Mrs. Kerr, and show them that there are some few things which money cannot buy. And when are you coming over to the castle? Cone- ’tantia hade me ask.” she YVe are all Get shady financial .transactions have been the • ruin of the and the making of the new And he’s working for all he's to get his brood shoved upon ■ You have not called— habits in the last few still looking at Bentley attracted by .something -a suggestion of strength a “Oh. .soon, tell her, Harry has Jmep home only a few days from British Columbia, you know--”, .“Ay, what did he fihd’ there?’* “He wants to go buck to his cou­ sin, Geoffrey Hamilton, who-is do­ ing'well on his ranch.” ■ ''< “But Geoffrey’s a fourth son. There ought to be something better than Canadian wilds for the heir of Essendon.” "“That's what we all think, but where are we to get it, Lord Rath­ er ley? There is nothing for him to do here, e’ven if John Baillie were dismissed and he took up the fac­ tor’s duties^ that.” Hatherly ply, and at rested simultaneously upon the heir of Essendon who had ridden up to the fair girl in the fawn coat and was saluting her with very marked warmth. Lord Hatherley grimly laughed as he turned his horse’s head. - ■ “Keep him away from the Briory, Mrs. Kerr. - ’ ’ _ ” blood clean and pure, though may starve for it.’lin these whole litany of his life.p Altep Ken grasped his meaning perfectly, but her eyes continued to rove over the animated scene, and always they would come back to-the pair on the outskirts of ’ ‘ * Hprry and daughter. The girl’s there is no money in did not immediately re- the moment their eyes Let • us- lceep the for it.’t words he embodied I I ■ tlae New Willys-KMigiit' Men of long experience in the ^custom-built” field designed the new-style Willys-Knight Si?t. Their artistry is apparent in this triumph of modern beauty. . 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DOYLE, EXETER fx the * crowd—her. son Bentley \ Carrington’s »i, ; ' • sweet face drew her, just as the father’s did, but with a •different magnet. Alice Kerr was not without pride of birth, and deep-rooted respect for old traditions,- old names, old families was in her blood; but1 the long struggle with poverty, while it had not soured her, had somewhat altered her view. The family« was in straits through no fault of. its own. The immediately preceding Laird of Essendon, a wild, terribly dissipated man, embodying in his own person and conduct all the least desirable traits of the race, had •'squandered the property and left it to, his successoi’ mortgaged to the hilt; *’He had - squandered it upon every evil thing, and his incredible folly and wickedness’had culminated in his bringing home’a wife from Paris who aided him in all 'his folly.( This woman’s, jointure—for she had ■survived, her -elderly husband for nearly thirty years—had been an ad­ ditional drain on the -slender re­ sources of Essendon, from which ’.death had only recently freed them. The present Laird of Essendon, Mark Riddell-Kerr, the very oppos­ ite in every respect of his disreput­ able uncle, had done his best to up­ hold his position on the very slender margin left after the rapacious maws of the various money-lenders had been filled. Every scrap of unen­ tailed land had been sold, and every tree felled that could with decency be spared, -and the ^.estate had been shorn of much of its-former glory. As for the interior of the house, jt was shabby to the last degree, though Anthony- Kerr and the tribe of ungodly folks, lie had surrounded himself with had not been able 'to rpb^it' entirely,oL „its,c.'bpm.elY„, and somewhat pathetic charm. One or two heirlooms in the shape, of pic­ tures had disappeared during his period of proprietorship,’ and every­ thing he dared lay his desecrating hands on had been turned into mon­ ey.Mark Kerr and his wife had never been able to add anything to the bare house or to restore any of it's former glory. But they had lived with dignity and simplicity, an'■ ex­ ample and object-lesson to all, and had won the enduring tribute of their people's love. But now .in their late middle-age it seemed as if Mark -Kerr had. suddenly awaken­ ed to the futility of all' his sacrifice and to the conviction that' they had lived grey and cheerless lives to very “ (To be continued) ,, MAY 30th, So Nouri »arini ho Wmore ramr .wimm g and Strengthening easy to serve! * With all the bran of the whole wheat -unchy shreds of baked whole wheat with milk'p^ fruits—all the life-giving vitamins—puts you on your ftpes^ Save the paper inserts in each package, * Exeter, Ontario ^Estimates gladly furbished for any,job, in any Grade of Seaman-Kent Oak, Maple 6r Birch ’ /^OQKING on a Perfection Oil Range j V-/ as fast as cooking by; gas, like city people use. It is faster than electricity and far faster than burning wood or coal. There’s no waiting at all. No delays. If you want hot water, say, you can boil it in no bmp, * J*■. //’ ' ;■ < • .-.j, ■- 5 * **v ’’ f\ ■' The New 1929 models are Well worth seeing. 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Mr. Jacob - Williams;- of Toronto, representative of the Carlton . Press, of that city spent a day’s Visit at the home .of his ueice, Mrs. C. L. Smith. ' -.1 'Mr. and Mrs., Major, of Toronto,' were Sunday visitors at the latter’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. -L„ -Sieb.ert on Sunday. ‘ . The concert put on by the Young People of Hensail in> the Town Hall, Zurich, on Monday evening was in every way a big success and the 'at­ tendance was large and everybody enjoyed the program very much. Mr. M. R. Rennie, of Seafortli,' was in town pk business, on Friday. Mr. Jas. Watson, of -Seaforth, was in town on business on Friday. Mr. and Mrs. H. C. JOy motored to London on Saturday. Miss Eleanor Fle'ischauer, who' has heen for**some time in London, re­ turned to Zurich and has taken a position at the. Dominion House. SHEET STEEL CEILINGS Stop falling pluster pend Unsightly cracked ceil­ ings. Easy to put. up quickly and once up they stay. No dust or litter. Easy to clean or paint. Toronto again gets big SWIM . Toronto has been awarded the fourth Wrigley Marathan Swim and the event will be staged off the Can­ adian National, -Exhibition grounds- as in the last two years during Ex­ hibition time. The prizes again Will total $50,000, but a stipulation that the water must be a temperature, ot 58 degrees will'make it a real sport- ig event rather than an endurance test against cold. Ah Exidantitimt—Boise is thb quality that enables a woman to aht as though' you couldn’t see -anything yoh shouldn’t Times-^rald GET THE FACTS YOUR MONEY SEE YOUR LOCAL TINSMITH CARPENTER