The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-01-12

intense form OF maternal love? And
had all else Of that kind which / had
seen been only the prelude to this impe-
rial theme Of passion?
Although the chin was weak, the ex-
preston Of the whole face indicated
strength, but strength irregular and Of
uncertain action. The eyes might hold
the key to the whole face.
my darlingl My baby son! My
These words. beyond all doubt, were
the clue to her whole nature. That
child, beyond all doubt, was the acme
OF her present life. She was as uncon-
scious OF the presence OF any strangers
as though she sat alone with her child
under palm-tree in the oasis OF an
ocean Of sand.
"Ludgate Hill Ludgate HILL"
The train stopped and got up. She,
too, rose with shudder.
my darlingl My baby son! My own
1 left the carriage, and in doing 80
noticed that she had some difficulty in
opening the door. turned the handle
for her, and assisted her to alight. She
looked up
"Thank you, SIR"
Deep-set blue-gray eyes, with strange
red points OF fire in them, like sparks
Of glowing charcoal seen through damp
glass.
Her left hand and arm swathed the
baby to her bosom. The hand lay visi-
BILE and bare; on the third finger was a
wedding ring.
Who had wooed and won this woman
| whose sheer uncOmeliness would be
enough to shame all tender words,
turn awry all tender glances? And
how was Il that she whose appearance
secuted the thought any man could
seek love Of her, for appearance had
| nevertheless reached the crown OF wo-
mans dreams, motherhood, and yet
had room for nothing in her heart but
the one cry:
my darlingl My own!"
She was not widow. The child
could have been no more than few
months old, and she wore no widow
weeds. And yet he whose coming with
words Of endearrnent must have been
an apocalypse Of delight had already
faded into nothing, passed out Of her
heart, leaving no trace Of his image be-
hind, not even in the face OF the child,
for her eyes did not seek behind the
baby for his likeness. 1t was only
my ownl My ownp
Iconfeas THAT all the dh I was haunt
ed by the face of this ,wbman. q could
not get 1t out OF my mind. When
read 1t came between my eyes and the
page. In the street found myself look
ing for 1t among the crowd. kept say
ing to myself the words indicated by
the lips but never breathed by the voice.
I was detained in town until q late
hour. In the evening I met y friend,
DR.. Robert William Baird, OF Brixton.
I invited him to supper, and we turned
into q restaurant in the Strand.
After supper we lit cigars. thought
ton on his face. HAS anything IN.
pleasant happened ?'' I asked: "you
seem out Of sorts"
He shook himself, smiled, and reused
up. "Oh, dear, no! Nothing the mat
ter. 1 did know I was looking blue. To
tell you the truth, was thinking OF q
very unpleasant scene 1 witnessed to-
day. You know Langton, the solicit
"No."
Michael Seymour Langton, you
know ?"
"His name, no more"
"a good fellow. A great friend Of
mine you must know him some day.
Well, I looked in at his Office to-day.
He's always up to his eyes In work; but
unless he has client with him, he's al.
ways glad to see friend. One OF those
free-and- easy, good-hearted fellows,
who, without making you feel q bit un-
comfortable, will tell you to be of the
moment he wants you to 20, 30 that you
need never be afraid OF doing him griev
GUS bodily harm by staying awhile IL
he'll .w lst } you
Exactly. But can't help telling you
| a hn11f him hn'a Guph nnrYitQI faIlnw
You and he shall dine with me next
Sunday. Eh?"
"All right as far as I'm, concerned !;
but about the incident or scenel"
"Ouite 80. sit down, he said, sit
down, old man. Then looking at his
watch, he said, II you've got five or ten
minutes to spare, I'll show you the
most perfect development Of the genus
scoundrel that ever met
Il had the five minutes to spare, and
moreover ! always am open to make a
glimpse at anything superlatively good
or bad my liking FOR you, to illustrate
what I say, arises from your superlative
"All right, Baird; but for goodness
sake 60 on" said Ia little petulantly,
/ fear, for I was not In q. very jOcular
humor, and the exuberant garrulity of
the good little doctor Jared against my
nerves.
my dear fellow, you know my mot
to, slow and sure You can never get
the real flavor out Of story or port by
guIping 1t down. Taste. 1t curiously,
and you fill your whole body from your
forehead to your feet with delight, espe-
cially In the case OF port-whsn it's
good"
/ expostulated only by q sigh. I
knew him thoroughly. Had I expostu-
lated In words, he would have broken
out into further depression.
"Well," he resumed, after . few SOL
emn puffs at his cigar. .Iwaited. Now
said Langton. A knock sounded at the
door, and man entered. At first 7
thought Langton had made false d.
agnosis Of his visitor, for anything less
scoundrelly than the appearance OF the
man 1 never saw. He was Of the me-
dunn height, we'll made, handsome.
with light blue eyes, straight nose.
straight mouth. clear complexion, and
m snnot uni nina and In iIa