The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-05-19

2 might watch suspected thief As for James Grafton, he groped his melancholy way into his library.
 "Ha. what's this ?- he exclaimed with sudden joy, as his eyes fell upon a note lying upon his desk. From Lettie ! Dear girl. How thoughtful." :" He eagerly tore open the envelope. IL already ap- peared to him as if she had been gone some centuries. The note had been scribbled in desperate haste and excite ment, bu, il brought hope and courage with it, My dearest old Jim i, ran. "be firm now, or you are lost forever. see they don't mean to go. They must go, both of them. Keep to our arrange meni. Don't yield an inch. You dear lamb. how grieve to leave you so de- fenceless. If you value my peace ofmind, speak to Eunice Bell tomorrow and know your fate. She likes you: am sure of II. am fond of her; SO are you. Perhaps you think you are not: but mind wha, tell you-you are. How happy l should be if 1 could only feel you were in her good hands. Believe me. dear, she is a mos, sweet thing-With fondest love, your own Lettie." James Grafton 2 complexion. IL was not much the worse for wear 1, turned vivid scarlet as he read the last part of his sisters note. How on earth could she have guessed: What have said or done to suggest such an idea: Believe me dear, she is a mos, sweet thing knew that well enough wi,hou, Le,,ie's telling me. I'm fond of her so are you.'s And in spite of having lost first love whom the an- gels call Lenore." or some other delicious name, James Grafton, this bachelor of forty years. sighed with most youthful fervor for his second. She likes you: |: I am sure of it. Aye, there's the rub |. lLikes-likes-likes me-" he repeated, "but perhaps still loves some one on the other side of the world. Dos she: Why shouldn't 1 know 2"
 He read Lettie's note through again. It was singularly inspiring; never before had the case been put before him so clearly, never had he dared, even in his inmost thoughts, to put it so clearly to himself. He opened his eyes widely.
 Have l been fool, wonder? 1 must have been, or l should have" Bu, here he was roughly interrupted. Mrs. Charles girls and Mrs. Harry's boys. who always had the greatest con- tempt for each other. had come to blows. and now burst into the library, crying and sobbing, and making the house resound with their clamorous demands for instant justice. The mothers, who had been marrying each other until frail human nature could stand it no longer. rushed to the rescue. The noise became terrific Mrs. Charles demanded the immediate expulsion of "that woman and her ill., hammered children" Mrs. Harry re- turned the compliment with vigor. James Grafton, unused 10 such scenes, fled in dismay. They followed him to the shrubbery. and when they had driven him thence, they tracked him to the poultry-yard. where. rendered desperate by sheer despair. he turned upon them, and declared he would not re-enter the house until both had lief, it. There was something so resoiute in the way in which he sat down on some logs by the pump, as if he would stay there forever sooner than yield. that, knowing further resistance was useless the widows de- parted. For many hours afterward James Grafton fel, that he was the greatest brute in the world. He was. as regarded wo- men and children. most ,ender-heared creature. He hated himself for his harsh ness; l; made him feel degraded. and un- worthy even to woo so sweet d being as EAnice Bell. It was far in the neN, day before his self-respeci returned
 ames Grafton $ house was pleasantly situated on the slope of a hill. not many miles from London. Euniee Bell lived with a married sister. IF Tulip-,ree lane. within an easy walk of the bachelor $ res- idence. James Grafton. being on inti- mate terms with the family. knew. as in- deed all the neighborhood knew. that about two years ago Miss Bell had been engaged to be married. Then there had been quarrel and an arrangement. He the lover had gone abroad: she-why. one day she caught sigh, of her own face in the looking-glass. and repeated to her self:
 Charlotte. when she saw her lover
 Borne before her on shutter,
 Like well-conducted person.
 Wen, on cutting bread and butter"
 Other people said she went on living the same simple. helpful, beautiful life that she always had lived.
 There was difference to her in the aspect of things. doubtless; but if there were she never made others feel it. But now that broken romance was all over But there are som. events that never re- cede into the past they live forever in a perpetual now, although one may agree with ones self to behave as if they had never occurred.
 Now, James Grafton had had a broken romance of his own in early life. Gentle death had taken his |" Lenore," leaving wound in his heart, which, although deep, had no bitterness in it. So it had healed, very fairly; it was deference to Miss Bells feelings, not his own, that had kept him silent hitherto, for in truth he was very much in love with her, and had been for some time. James Grafton had promised to dine in Tulip-,ree lane the day after his sisters wedding. He read Lettie's note over three times before he started.
 "lt's that likes that makes me hesi- tate," he said to himself, as he began to deSrend inc hiIl<idA hv q hroad hsyh u,a,,