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Show A STORYfOF$WC JUTERNAWML PRESS ASS0CIM0N. CHAPTER V. (CosxiNCBt)). "It Is a very welcome Invasion, mn'am," said he, clearing his throat nnd pulling at his high collar. "Try this garden chair. What Is there thai I can do for you? Shall I rlns nnd let Mrs. Denver know that you are here?" "Pray do not trouble, Admlrnl. I only looked In with reference to our little lit-tle chat this morning. I wish that you would give us your powerful purport at our coming meeting for the Improvement Improve-ment of the condition of woman." "No, ma'am, I can't do that." Ho pursed up his lips and shook his grizzled griz-zled head. "And why not?" "Against my principles, ma'am." "Hut why?" "Because woman hns her duties and man has his. I may bo old-fashioned, but that Is my view. Why, what ts the world coming to? I was saying to Dr. Walker only last night that we shall have a womnn wanting to command com-mand the Channel Fleet next." "That Is one of the few professions which cannot be Improved," said Mrs. Wcstmacott, with her sweetest smile. "Poor womnn must still look to man for protection." "I don't like these new-fangled Ideas, ma'am. I tell you honestly that I don't. I like discipline, nnd I think every one Is better for It. Women have got a great deal which they had not In tho days of our fathers. They hnvo universities all for themselves, I am told, and there aro women doctors, I hear. Surely they should rest contented content-ed What more can they want?" "You are a sailor, and sailors are always al-ways chivalrous. If you could 'see how things really are, you would change your opinion. What are the poor things to do? There are so many of them nnd so few things to which they can turn their hands. Governesses? But there are hardly any situations. Muslo and drawing? There Is not one In fifty who has any special talent in that direction. Medicine? It Is still surrounded with dllllcultles for women, and It takes many years and a small fortune to qualify. Nursing? It Is hard work 111 paid, nnd none but the strongest enn inmi it. wit woul(T'i,Ou"i!ne-inem' do then, Admlrnl? Sit down and starve?" "Tut, tut! It Is not so bad as thnt." "The pressure Is terrible. Advertise for a lady companion at ten shillings a week, which Is less than a cook's wage, and see how many answers you get. There Is no hope, no outlook, for these struggling thousands. Life Is a dull, sordid struggle, leading down to a cheerless old age. Yet when we try to bring somo little ray of hope, somo chance, however distant, of something better, we nre told by chivalrous gentlemen gen-tlemen that It Is against their principles princi-ples to help." The Admiral winced, but shook his head In dissent. "There Is banking, the law, veterinary veterin-ary surgery, government ofllces, the civil service, all these at least should be thrown freely open to women, If they have brains enough to compete successfully for them. Then If woman were unsuccessful It would be her own fault, and the majority of the population popula-tion of this country could no longer complain that they live under a different differ-ent law to tho minority, and thnt they are held down In poverty and serfdom, with every road to Independence sealed to them." "What would you propose to do, ma'am?" "To set tho more obvious Injustices right, and so to pave the way for a reform. re-form. Now look at that man digging In the field. I know him. He enn neither read nor write, ho Is steeped In whisky, nnd ho has as much Intelligence Intelli-gence as tho potatoes that ho Is digging. dig-ging. Yet the man hns a vote, can possibly pos-sibly turn tho scalo of nn election, nnd mny help to decide the policy of this empire. Now, to take the nearest example, ex-ample, here am I, a woman, who have had some education, who have traveled, and who havo seen and studied the Institutions In-stitutions of many countries. I hold considerable property, ail I pay more In Imperial taxes than that man spends In whisky, which Is saying a groat deal, and yet I have no more direct Influence upon tho disposal of tho money which I pay than tho fly which creeps nlong the wall. Is that right? Is It fair?" Tho Adntlral moved uneasily In his chair. "Yours Is an exceptional case," said he. "But no woman has a voice. Consider that the women are a majority In the nation. Yet If theie was a question of legislation upon which nil women woro agreed upon one side and nil tho nibn upon tho other, It would appear that the matter was settled unanimously when more than half the population were opposed to It. Is that right?" Again the Admlrnl wriggled. It was very awkward for the gallant seaman to have a handsome woman opposite to him, bombnrdlng him with questions to none of which lie could find an answer. an-swer. "Couldn't even get tho tomptons out of his guns," as ho explained the matter to the Doctor that ovenlng. "Now those nre really the points that we shall lay stress upon at the meeting. meet-ing. Tho free and complete opening of the professions, the final abolition of the zenana I call It, and the franchise to nil women who pay Queen's taxes above a certain sum. Surely there Is nothing unreasonable In that. Nothlnp which could offend your principles. We shall have medicine, law, and Unchurch Un-church all rallying that night for the protection of woman. Is the navy to b the one profession abtent?" The Admiral Jumped out of his chair- with nn evil word In his throat ''Thire, there, ma'am," he cried. Drop It tor a time. I have heard enough. You've turned me a point or two. I won t itny It. But lot It stand at that. I will think It over." "Ccrtnlnly. Admiral. We would not hurry you In your decision. l!ut we still hope to see you on our platform." She rose and moved about In her toung. Ing mnscullno fnshlon from one picture to another, for the walls were thickly covered with reminiscences of the Admiral's Ad-miral's voyages. "Hullo!" snld she. "Surely this hlp would have furled all her lower canvas nnd reefed her topsails if she found her-self her-self on a loo shore with the wind on her quarter." "Of courso she would. The artist mas never past Graveccnd, I swear. It's the Penelope ns she was on the Hth of June, 1S57, In the throat of the Straits of Uanca, with the Island of Unnca on the starbonrd bow, and Sumatra on the port. He painted It from description, but. of course, ns you very sensibly say, allwas snug below and she carried storm anils and double-reefed topsails, for It was blowing a cyclone from the sau'east. I compliment you, ma'am, I do Indcedl" "Oh, I have done a little sallorlng myself as much as a woman can aspire as-pire to, you know. This Is the Hay of Funchnl. What a lovely frigate'" "Lovely, you say! Ah, she was lovely! love-ly! That Is the Andromeda. I was a mate aboard of her sub-Ileutenant they call It now, though I like tho old name best." "What a lovely rake her masts have, and what a curve to her bowsl She must have been a clipper." The old sailor rubbed his hands and his eyes glistened. His old ships bordered bor-dered close upon his wife and his son In his affections. "I know Funchal," said the lady carelessly. care-lessly. "A couple of years ago I had a seven-ton cutter-rigged yacht, the Ban-shee, Ban-shee, nnd we rnn over to Maderla from Falmouth." "You, ma'am, In a seven-tonner?" "With a couple of Cornish lads for a crew. Oh, It was glorious! A fortnight right out In the open, with no worries, no letters, no callers, no petty thoughts, nothing but the grent silent sky. They talk of riding, Indeed, I am fond of horses, too, but what Is there to compare com-pare with the swoop of a little craft as she pitches down the long steep side of a wave, and then tho quiver and spring as she Is tossed upwards again? Oh, If our souls could transmigrate I'd be a seamew above all birds that fly I' But I keen you. Admiral. ArtUuJ" J Tno-uirf"sair6r was Uo irVr,v-Vt4 with sympathy to say a word, ile cotfll only shake her brond muscular hand. She was half way down the garden path before she heard him calling her, and saw his grizzled head and weather-stained weather-stained face looking out from behind the curtains. "You may put me down for the platform," plat-form," he cried, and vinlshed abashed behind the curtain of his Times, where his wife found him at lunch time. "I hear that you have had quite a long chat with Mrs. Wcstmacott." said she. "Yes, and I think that she Is one of tho most sensible women that I ever know." "Except on the woman's rights question, ques-tion, of course." "Oh, I don't know. She had a good denl to say for herself on that also'In fact, mother, I have taken a platform ticket for her meeting." CHAPTER VI. . A.V OI.1) BTOIIV. BUT THIS was not to he the only event-f event-f u 1 conversation which Mrs. West-macott West-macott held that fifH&fi aay nor was the Qyi wjjj"y Admiral the only 5lA ffji, person In tho Wlld- ivfe- ZJtfiiin crness who was des- V&3fW' tlned to find his ,SKr!! opinions consider- j-y'' nuly changed. Two ' neighboring famil ies, the Wlnslows from Anerley, nnd tho Cumberbatchcs from Ilpsy Hill, had bcon Invited to tennis by Mrs. Wcstmacott, and the lawn was gay In tho evening with the blazers of the young men and the bright drsses of the girls. To tho older people, sitting round In their wicker-work garden chairs, the darting, stooping, springing white figures, tho sweep of skirts and twinkle of canvas shoos.the click of tho rackets and sharp whiz of the bnllB, with the continual "fiftt n love fifteen U!" of the marker, made up a merry and exhilarating scene. To see their sons nnd daughters so fluihed and hoalthy and hnppy gave them also g. reflected glow, and It was hard to say who had most plcasuio from tho game, Hioho who nlaved or those who watched. tnoHo who played or those wno watched. Mrs. Wcstmacott had Just finished a set when she caught a glimpse of Clara Walker sitting alone at the farther end of tho ground. Sho ran down the court, cleared the net to the amazement of the visitors, and seated herself beside her. Clara's reserved and refined nature shrank from tho boisterous frankness and strange mnnners of tho widow, and yet her feminine Instinct told her that beneath all her peculiarities there lay much that was good and noble. Sho smiled up at her, therefore, and nodded nodd-ed n greeting, "Why aren't you playing, then? Don't for goodnc-Rs sake, begin to bo languid and young ladylsh. When you give up active sports you glvo up youth." "I have played a set, Mrs. Westma-cott." Westma-cott." "That's right, my dear." She sat down beside her, and tapped iter upon the arm with her tennis racket. "I like you, my dear, and I am going to call you Clara. You are not as aggressive -us i should wish, Clura, but still I like you very much. Self-sacrifice Is all very well, you know; but we have had rather rath-er too much of It on our side, and should like. to see a little ontbe. other. it I M IsBBBBBBBKA What do you think of my nephew, Charles?" , The question was so sudden nnd un-wpected un-wpected that Clara gave quite a Jump In her chair. "I I I hardly ever havo thought of your nephew Charles." "No? Oli, you must think him well over, for I want to speak to you about him." "To mo? nut why?" "It seemed to me most delicate. You Clara, the mntter stands In this wy. It Is qulto possible that I may soon find myself In a completely new sphere f life, which will Involve fresh duties nd make It Impossible for me to keep P a household which Charles can hare." Clara stared. Did this mean that sho was about to marry again? What else could It point to? "Thercfon. Charles must havo a household of his own. That Is obvlims. "nw, 1 don't approvo of bachelor establishments. es-tablishments. Do you?" "Really, Mrs. Wcstmacott, I have never thought of the matter." "Oh, you mtip sly puss! Was thero ever a Kirl who never thought of the matter' 1 think that a young man of elx-and-twenty ought to be married." Clara felt very uncomfortable. The aviful thought had come upon her that this ambassadress had come U her as proxy with a proposal of marriage. But how could that bo? She had not spoken more than three or four times with her nephew, nnd knew nothing more of him than he had told her on the evening before. It was Impossible, then. And yet what could his aunt mean by this discussion of his private affairs? "Do you not think yourself," she persisted, per-sisted, "that a young man of slx-and-twenty Is better married?" "I should think that he Is old enough to decide for himself." "Vcs, yes. He bus done so. But Charles Is Just a little shy, Just n little slow in expressing himself. I thought that I would pave tho way for htm. Two women wom-en can arrange these things so much bettrr. Men sometimes have a difficulty In making themselves clear." , "I really hardly follow you, Mrs. Westmacott," cried Clara In despair. "He has no profession, nut he has nice tastes. He reads Drowning every night. And he Is mos amazingly strong. When he was younger wo used to put on the gloves together, but I cannot persuade him to now, for he says he cannot play light enough. I should allow al-low him five hundred, which should bo enough at first." "My dear Mrs. Westmacott," cried Clara, "I assure you that I have not the least Idea what It Is that you are talking of" "Do you think your sister Ida would have my nephew Charles?" Her sister Ida? Quite a little thrill of relief and of pleasure ran through her nt the thought Ida and Charles Westmacott. She had never thought of It. And yet they had been a good deal together. They had played tennis. They had shared the tandem tricycle. Again rame the thrill of Joy, and close at Its I heels the cold questionings of conscience. con-science. Why this Joy? What wan the real source of It? Was it that deep down, somewhere pushed back In the black recesses of the soul, there was the thought lurking that It Charles 1 nronnrrnil In hlstwoolnc then. HaroM. 1 Denver would stjl! be free? How mean, how unmaldenly, how unslstcrly the thought! Sho crushed it down nnd thrust It aside, but still it would push . up Its wicked little head. She crimsoned up its wicKeu nine neuu. cne crimsoned with shame at her own baseness, as she turned once more to her companion.' "I really do not know," she said. "She Is not engaged 7" "Not that I know of." "You speak hesitatingly." "Because I am not sure. Dut he may ask. She cannot but be flattered." "Quito so. I tell him that It Is the most practical compliment which a man can pay to a womnn. He Is n little shy, but when he sets himself to do It he will do It. He Is very much In love with her, I assuro you. These little lively people always al-ways do attract th slow and heavy ones, which Is nature's device for tho neutralizing of bores. Hut they are all going In. I think If you will allow mo that I will Just take the opportunity to tell him that, so far as you know, there Is no positive obstacle In tho way." i (TO HE CONTINUED.) , |