The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-08-28
BY HUGH WILSON AND W. c. BENET.

ori6ce with the ]stove-pipe much as oil
prints represent the assault of batter
ing-rams on walled cities.
The situation was becoming ludicrous
Mr.. Chambers smiled somewhat grimly
aud crossed an anteroom toward tn
Voice, prepared to bow profoundly o.
the next threshold.
THE VOICE. "This Agatha is a cleve
c~reetur, and does not understand on
word I utter. What is she laughing a
now, I wonder? Look, Agatha, thi
picture is q horse"
Here was the owner of the Voice a
last. She was an eiierly lady, wearing
spectacles, and at the present momen
her costume consisted of q Balmora
petticoat, o linen sacque, and q whit
tnight-cap placed over her gray curls
somewhat askew, o .protect them from
the mortar dust in the dining-room.
"Ahem! I hayel called, madam
began Mr.. Chambers, hat in hand, ant
paused.
"Eh? Gracious i! who is that?" sh'
exclaimed, and fled.
Mr.. Chambers put his hat firmly o.
his head, found his way back to th
corridor, and was about to stalk ava,
through the still open main door, whel
a circumstance occurred which not onl,
altered his intention, but the course o
his whole subsequent life.
A door further along the passage wa
suddenly burst open, q stifed feminln'
scream reached his ears, and a volum'
of smoke poured forth into the corridor
Good Heavens was the house on fire
He rushed to the spot, and found him
self in a large salon, already rendered
densely Opaque by smoke, and as he die
so, q woman, young and fair. despit'
the obscurity of that atmosphere, com
ing toward him, paused, recoiled, thel
held out both hands in glad recognition
"Paul !" she said, in a low, tremulou
voice.
"Anne!"
There they stood, with hands clasped
gazing at each other, the smoke wreath'
gathering and billowing about them.
lit REKINDLEs AN OLD FLAME
The man and woman thus brought I'm
e1pectedly face to face continued to lool
into each others eyes in silence for
space of time which seemed long, 81
fraught was it with deep emotion, bu'
which in reality was scarcely a moment
duration. A wave of color swept ovel
the sensitive, mobile features of Pau
Chambers, and was reflected IN those o:
his companion, succeeded by pallor II
both, only while her lips trembled, be
compressed his own firmly.
"Wby are you here2" he finally de-
manded karshly.
81 have lived in Florence during the
past year." she replied, with forced com
posure, tears suffusing her eyes.
Another question rose to his lips; he
checked it, and released her hands. She
uttered a little sob, and hid her face in
her handkerchief.
Paul Chambers became aware that the
chimney wa belching forth smoke, that
the masons stood in a group in the door,
with Agatha, and the cook, in his white
cap, diminishing in the rear; and that
Aunt Sophia, owner of the Voice, was
advancing to the front, hastily adjusting
g cashmere robe, and a lace cap on her
head.
"What are we to do now?" she ex-
claimed in accents OF despair, and was
answered by a chores of sneezes and
coughs from the assembled company.
"Open the window" suggested Paul
Chambers, promptly, and himself threw
wide the easement.
"To be sure" assented Aunt Sophia.
in admiration and establishment, 81
really like to meet a man who knows
! what he is about. Anne, is the gentle
man a friend of yourself? Pray intro
duce me, my dear"
Anne removed her handkerchief from
her tear-stained face, and murmured
I some formula of introduction.
Nobody noticed her tears, for the rea-
son that all we're weeping, Tears trickled
down the cheeks OF the head mason, and
even Aunt Sophia's own spectacles were
dim.
Paul Chambers, with heart throbbing
as he had never anticipated it could
throb again, in the great shock of a
meeting for which he had longeI and
| equally dreaded, paused like one in a
dream. If the whole group gathered in
this smoke-laden room should suddenly
vanish before his eyes, he need scarcely
be astonished, but treat them as a pban-
tasy of the brain He had said to him
self repeatedly during the past five
years, eff she came to me once before I
die, and allowed me to look in her eyes
without speaking, I should be satisfied"
Here was an unexpected and even start.
ling fulfllment.
"Oh, the trouble that chimney has
given US! We had better give it up,
and freeze" Thus spake Aunt Sophia,
in smoke. stifed accents, and the Voice,
sharp, metallic, and practical, acted on
Paul Chambers lethargy as a douche
bath ~revives o somnambulist. He recol-
lected not only himself, but that the at
tention of Aunt Sophia and the gaping
menials must be diverted from Annie's
evident distress, even if up a chimney.
He removed his gloves, stepped forth
v~aliantly, and became leader in the bat
tie against smoke.
"This fireplace was never built to be
used" he said, removing the velvet
h~angings. "The space below is too
shallow for q lucifer-match to burn
we'll"
Aunt Sophia glanced at tame triumph
antly, and nodded her head. Paul Cham
bers, with his own hands, began to
chisel out the back of the fireplace,
recklessly enlarging the space. The
padrone-a gentlemanly person, addict
ed to cigarettes and embroidered smok-
ing-caps--would never have descended
to thus mending the chimney's evil
ways, nor would the porter in livery
below-stairs have done other than point
4 to the four winds for remedy. Aunt
\ Sophia simply exulted in him, and the
blacker his fingers became, the more
highly did she respect his efficiency.
Anne had vanished.
In half an hour the chimney's mouth
was enlarged past recognition; in ar
hour Mr.. Chambers applied a match tc
II artistic structure of pine cones, twigs
and sticks, and the flames leaped ur
merrily. The chimney having found,
acknowledged its master. Where was
Anne? She did not return, and Mr..
Chambers received Aunt Sophias cor
dial invitation to dinner somewha
stif1y.
"We shall expect you at six o'clock,
said the good lady, beaming with salts
faction. I'VE will blow out all til,
smoke before you return"
81 suppose I must meet Anne's hus
how'd +ban reditated Mr.. Chambers