The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1870-06-24
BY w. A. LEE AND HUGH WILSON.

tieI uiu hcr lacc DflEhtcncd up in.
to perfect radiance us She diatcd on
his genius. "Many Of his paintings
havo been in tho Exhibition; but
since hc fell ill he has not been able
to dcvotc himself to his art ut all, and
We have no moncy-that is" sho in.
tcrruptcd herself hastily, whilst a
dccp flush swept over her check. "wc
arc not quito SO well off as We were,
and we do not know many people
for my mothers time is SO much Ia.
ken up with attending on my poor
father, that she is unable to 20 out
and sec friends"
o how my heart blcd for the child
as all unconsciously and artlessly she
revealed in her innocent words the
terrible poverty and anxiety that
filled her homo life!
BY this time We had reached our
destination, a small but clean -lookin @
house in Spa-road. A face looked
hurricdly ..out Of "a window as VIC
rang the bell, and woman's voice ex.
claimcd,-It is Ncllio at last, thank
God ~
1 claspcd her hand q moment as
said goodbye, and slipped into it my
card with Mr.. Mark Fleming, i
Arundel street, Strand,":: neatly en-
gravcd upon it; and then l had TO
charter u vehicle. for there were no
moro trains that night, to take me
homo and to bed, where 1 might
dream Of "only q face"
Three days slowly Jagged on their
course, crawling snail.likc enough, as
[ vainly attempted to devote my. at
tention TO my usual avocations. Dur
ing the whole of the time I was per
pctually haunted by that facc-Nel-
lies face; for already, after the fash
ion Of lovers, 1 had begun to call her
Nellie to myself.
It did not in the least signify what
subjects 1 wrote on, or what interesting g
matter I studicd: 4 vision stood ever
bosidemo with violet eyes looking
plcadingly ont Of their great depths
into mine. So ocxtraordinarya change
had tevcrish fancy wrought in my
usually prosaic and somewhat matter
ocfact temperament, that my imagi-
na9ion became affected; and in mo-
mcnts of "tcmporary insanity" to
use an exaggerated term, I caught
myself actually listening, with pain
ful tension of the nerves Of my organ
of hearing, for 1luttcr of starry
wings which might bear away my
angel from me.
"Marll Flcming,"I said to myself,
"can it be possible that any amount
of sense you flattcr yourself you pos
scss has been dispersed TO tho four
winds at your mature age of thirty
five by only q face Nothing more
The face too of a girl over whose
bright head not more than half your
years have rolled! Cui bono 2-this
insane infatuation, this following of
will-o'-the-wisp. Marriage, that usual
and desidcratum of feelings
such as you arc indulging in, would
be simply ridiculous mistake. May
and December welded together make
but sorry pair. Shake yourself up,
Mark, and don't be such an cgrcgious
fool Descend from the regions of
shadowy visions, return to earnest,
healthy life, and forgct-what? ON
ly face after al"
Not so casyA The spirit was will
ling, amcnable to the mandates of
reason but the flesh was horribly,
terribly weak. Like the anccdote Of
the old woman and the gin-palacc, for
three days 1 had mantully resisted
putting myself in the way of temp
tation on the fourth, 1 was forced TO
treat resolution.
l remembered the address of mn
old chum Of mine, whom knew to
be on the top ladder in his profession
and ut halfpast three we were steam
ing away toward Elysium, alais Spa
road.
Spa-road was my oasis in the desert,
the nest that contained my bird Of
Paradise, the tiny spcck on earth in
which blosomed the lovelicst fowerl
"eXotic Of celestial birth that should
have only biosomed in celestial air."
Already 1 but knew
"Two separate worlds; the oneI that small
Beloved and consecrat.d apot
Where Nellie was; the other, all
The dull wide waste where she was not"
Many sensational romance it had
S>Nii my PhoN AhCC W CIlLiClSC anu CuG
up, but none of them had approached
one.millionth portion Of hairbreadth
to- the romance of my own brain had
women in absurdity and want Of COM
mon sense i. for although not fop by
any manner Of means, the imperions
demands of civilization had entailcd
on me, in common with others of my
sex, the necessity of looking occasi-
onally into a.mirror; and 1 was fully
aware that though I was not a dwarf
OR humpbacked, or marked with the
smallpox, or even outrageously un-
pleasant to the hnman eye; that.
Dame Nature had not been especially
prolific in her gifts as to my: personal
appearance; that, in fact, I was a
long way off from being an Adonis,
or, On account Of my attractions, an
sntote gate of tho feminine sex.
Thirty-fve, and not handsome
what right had I, then, to think of
Nellie even, unless in a purely pater-
nal fashion? And just as I had ar
rived at this cheerful conclusion, my
friend the doctor and I found our
selves on the top Of the stairs of Mel.
lies house.
Reclining on sofa that was drawn
close up beside the window, with the
aufnmer 1ioht fo1lipn unoD oonL Poo