Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-10-24

was klad 20 ma him equal TO the proposed
P.o oSs had not ventGred to hope for 90
"Not but what it was q nasty shock to a fell
low" he said.
quite agreed that II must have been a very
nasty shock-a most unfortunate accident. At
t1ts be laughed rather wildly.
Whatever you call it, don't call it thai" he
..You mean that 1t was not an accident?p
II appeared that he did mean that,
But saw the glass fall, !" said.
y on mean that Won saw her throw it DOWN.
saw Who?" I demanded, unconsciously
adopting me interrosatives Of Hamlet.
1 thought him wandering in his mind.
knew nothing Of Arsbella. 1 could not remem-
bsr that had ever encountered, out OF works
OF netOn, any woman of thai name. And then
know of Stericker himself? In truth, It was
ait was Arabela's doing, of course ;" he con-
tnued. 81 know that very well. / know the
opera glass, for the matter OF that. l ought to.
l gave IL her."
Where had fret met Stericker 1 am by no
means clear. am almost certain that 1 was
ns7er formally introduced to him. But l had
seen him at various places upon numberless Oc-
cssOns, until seemed to have acquired quite a
habit Of seeing him. SO at lsst-the thing was
becoming quite absurd-there was no help for ii
but to recognize him as an acquain lance at auy
rate. Finding each other so frequently face to
race in the same place, beneath the same roof.
and even at the same table, what could we do
eventually, but laugh and nod, and say, "what!
You here?" And then We shook hands
sun protest that knew little OF him beyond
what be told me. But then what does one really
know Of any man beyond what he tells ons Of
himself? And certainly that is not always TO
be relied on. did not, / may add, Ike Ster-
ECKER; SIN less did respect him; although
had perhaps no special reason for not respect
ing him. beyond mer" prejudice of a fanciful,
and possibly of an understandable kind. He was
BY no means, however. the man l should have
selected Tor friend, or even for an acQualnt-
anee, had choice been permitted me in the mat
ter. But II wasn't. / was doomed to IN set
Sterleker necessarily, and 80 il CHANGED that we
came 10 be almost on terms Of intimacy with
each other. At least he came to be on terms of
Intimacy with me. And he called me old fsllo ".
did not approve of this; indeed l thought II
liberty; but what could do? / was not really
old, at any rate not so very old. But no doubt
had arrived at that period OF life when the
question OF age in its relation to ones self is
rather to be avoided than discussed, lest there
should arise personal application which could
hardly be otherwise than lncOnyenient
And now bad occurred this accident at the
opera-house, confirming as IL were my acquain-
lance with Stericker, and converting IL almost
into friendship. He expressed great gratitude
Tor the assistance had rendered him, Thou Oh,
IN truth, ii had been little enough. But again
ana again he thanked me, and, presently, his
wounded head having been skilifaily dealt with
and relieved by the application of strips OF plas-
ter, L found myself at his lodgings in Half moon
street, sitting in an easy chair, smoking cigar
and drinking temperate mixture of brandy
and-Water. Until tSSSn had never really knoHn
where Stericker lived.
''And you saw her throw down the opera
glass;" he said, returning to the subject of the
accident. l corrected him. L had seen no such
thing But he did not pay much attention TO
what said.
"And how did she look? Handsome of coursa.
She was always that; though she certainlyis not
lew nearly so young as when / first met her
and loved her. For what could / 10 then but
love her? Have yea ever been in love, old fe-
low he demanded abruptly.
said thought had. For felt at the mo-
ment that il was not g thing a man could be
quite certain about, and rather objected to the
question, and on that account preferred to give
somewhat evasive answer. / did not wish
painful memories 10 be awakened; they had
been asleep and very still for a good many
years.
"If you doubt about it, why, then. Won never
have" said StCrtCker, OraCUlsrly. "rhers can
be no mistake about an attack of love any more
than shout nj OF the govt. L have suffered
from both srtfctions. In my time have loved
good deal, and have, in return, been loved
very much indeed say 1t without vanity"
But he said IL with vanity, and it was to that
OBJECTED. He Outstretcned his right arm,
bringing an expanse of Wristband into view and
raised hIs hand TO his head as though about to
pass his fingers through his hair, and crest it up
after the invariable manner of the self-satisfed
ana vain glorious. For the moment he had for
gotten how bald he was! He had forgotten,
too, the strips OF plaster that cross barred his
crown! In discovering anew these inirmitivss
ne evidently experienced considerable mOrtid-
cation.
l had heard Stericksr described as handsome.
but that had never been my opinion OF him.
NO, he was never, he never could have been
handsome. He was always well dressed,
although inclined to make an excessive, AMI,
therefore, arather, vulgar display OF the iewelTy
he possessed. His teeth, il is true, Wera superb:
but was never quite convinced that they were
natural products of his own gums, and his nose
WAS OF that large, feshy, Roman form which has
always obtained, TO my thinking, an extravagant
measure OF admiration from the world in geDcr-
al. (My own nose, ! may mention, Is altogether
OF smaller dimensions, and of totally different
PafteTn.l Then he was very upright, carrying
before him his protruding waistcoat with cOnsid-
cradle dignity. Moreover, there was something
imposing about his aspect and manner, arising,
j think, from his impertuTbsbIe and deeply
rooted self-cOnfdence, and his fixed resolution
to exact from Others, or enforce upon them il he
possibly could, his own estimate OF himself
Sun there was something decidedly sinister
about the expression OF Stericker's face, and
especially when he smiled. 1t was a singularly
wicked smile, that wrinkled his nose curiOusiy
produced strange tints and dark flush upon
his forehead, and brought down the inner cor
ners OF his eyebrows close to his eyes, after de-
cidedly OminOus fashion.
"I have loved and been loved. ," he repeated,
"and' don't mind owning | have in my tune
morbid Don Giovanni air that thought partic-
ularly Objectionable. "Arabella Tilted me" he
resumed, "and has never forgiven herselffOr il,
nor me either. How fair sue was in those DAYS.
She's fair Sill, for that matter, though she uses
more peaTl-pOwder now than she did. Fair but
ialse. women are often that, you know. Snail
l say always"
IdeprecaJed slch an assertion. According to
my experience IT was tar TO sweeping He CON
ceded that was right, possibly. Yet, 10 seemed
20 ne that he despised me for my N )derAtiOn.
"NOu remarked this stud2" He produced the
stud We had searched for at his request, and
found in the lobby Of the opera house. It would
have PANIED me very much If 1 had lost It. /
regard il a. precious relic. IT belonged 10 Ara
bella once. IN fact-why should disguise the
truth from you?-this stud is formed out Of one
Of AIabella's front teeth
His smile as he said this was not pleasant to
contemplate. His confession had certainly
startled me. There was something dreadful
about It, and he had the air OF an Indian brave
exhibiting a alp. He gIOred in the possession
o. AIabella's font tooth! How had he obtained
II? Ventured TO demand. Was il a pledge of
affection? Could they possibly have exch anged
teeth az ordinary lovers exchange locks OF hair?
hardly knew what was say ing, or OF what [
was thinking.
al was a dentist in those days he said. What
be had been before that, and since; what pro-
fessiOn he followed At the moment OF his al
dressing me, | really had 10 idea. And Arabella
was one OF my patients. Bot she was no Ordi.
nary patient. She WAS something more much
than that. She was for awhile my aifiauced
bride. loved her and she loved meat least
We thought that We loved each other.
"ADd you didn't?i'
''WeH, we didn't, a. il bal pened, love each
other quite 50 much as we thought we did. Ia