189G. 



TUB AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



75 



and took pains to show it id many pettj' 

 ways, particularly when Captain Gor- 

 don, who was considered a niatrinfonial 

 catcli, appeared on the scene and devoted 

 himself to Kato. " ^ 



"Captain Bnpert Gordon of the Forty- 

 seventh ?" queried Major Poole. 



"The very same, a dark beggar, with 

 a bad mouth and lots of money. 



"Well, he was the man that set all 

 the Dublin girls wild. They literally 

 lionized him. He was douce enough 

 there. He was asked everywhere, and 

 old Peter Donovan was mad enough 

 when he asked him for bis niece and 

 not for one of his daughters. They 

 said the three girls never spoke to Kate 

 for weeks. 



"Poor Kate! She hardly knew what 

 to do. bhe was very unhappy. She told 

 me all about it oue evening at a dance. 

 She had a devil of a life in her uncle's 

 house, and Gordon seemed very fond of 

 her. She didn't know what he really 

 was: neither did I, or I could have 

 warned her. They were married in Sep- 

 tember. In November Gordon took her 

 to the Riviera after the honeymoon was 

 over. A fellow who met them there told 

 me that Kate — that is, Mrs. Gordon — 

 looked miserably unhappy, and people 

 said Gordon ill treated her. However 

 that may be, she did not stay with him 

 very long. Oue day a woman appeared 

 at the hotel where they were staying. 

 She was a gaudily attired specimen, not 

 overculfured. She registered as Mrs. 

 Captain Gordon and forred herself into 

 the Gordon private rooms. Gordon 

 hadn't a word to say. He owned up 

 that he had married her five years be- 

 fore soniewnere, wheieh^s regiment was 

 stationed — 1 forget a\ here. There was a 

 terrible soeae, which ended by Ka!o 

 leaving the ni.tcl. Ko oue knew where 

 she went. j\ly iriend, an Engli.«hmau, 

 who told me jr.st v>l;at I have told you, 

 tried to foi.'ow her and offered to do 

 what he coukl for hor in a monetary 

 way. He was a gentleman and meant 

 well by her. the refused all offers c-f 

 assistance and disappeared as if the 

 Mediterranean had swallowed her up. 

 Be hoard uf her again at Marseilles. 

 She had been singing in a cafe there. 

 She always had a pas.cable voice and 

 played the banjo well. Pour Kate! Pi :r 

 pride was dragged in the dust ; her heart 

 was broken. " 



ChoIIy paused to wipe the perspiration 

 from his face and take a few sips from 

 a tumbler beside him. The old major, 

 for a wonder, kept silence, froin time to 

 time shaking his head sorrowfully. 



"I suppose that is the first part of the 

 story," broke in Andy Vicars. "It is 

 deuced sad. Hope the little girl got back 

 to her uncle. " 



"Uncle!" growled Major Poole. 

 "Poor child ! He didn't want her. He 

 was a cruel hearted, mean old sconndrel, 

 was Peter Donovan. He never treated 

 the girl right when he had her. " 



Cholly nodded bis head affirmatively 

 to Major Poole's assertion and continued 

 his story : 



"This all happened four years ago. 

 No one heard anything during that time 

 of pretty Kale Donovan, for, you see, she 

 wasn't Mrs. Gordon, after all. An aunt 

 of hers did have the grace to write to 

 me, making inquiries. She had heard 

 that Kate was in the United States, in 

 a place called Pennsylvania, and would 

 I make inquiries, as I lived, no doubt, 

 near thereV You know, these old coun- 

 try people, as they call themselves, think 

 that the United States are about as large 

 as an English county. " 



"Do I know it?" interrupted the ma- 

 jor. "Why, a lady in London once asked 

 me to personally deliver a small parcel 

 of china to her daughter because I lived 

 in New York, near where her daughter 

 was settled. I took the parcel, thinking 

 to see the address of some street here. 

 Where do you think the fair creature 

 lived?" 



"New Jersey?" hazarded Vicars. 



"Maine?" queried another. 



"No!" roared the major. "Idaho!" 



"Guess you didn't accept the com- 

 mission, major," said Cholly. 



"Well, no. I relieved my mind by re- 

 citing sundry words not in Webster's 

 Dictionary. Go on, my boy. Tell us all 

 you know of pretty Kate Donovan." 



"I came through Canada on my way 

 from the west a few days ago," contin- 

 ued Chnlly. "We changed cars at a 

 place not far from Toronto and had 

 some hours to wait for connection. 

 Strolling iiround, I came to a place 

 where a ciuus was in full swing — dou- 

 ble tent, sideshows, all complete. Con- 

 sulting my watch, I found I had time 

 to see the performance. An English 

 steeplechase was advertised as the chief 



