Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-27


! cess or her effort to get up, and by her
/ comfortable opportunity, she took her
/ friendly visitor into the confidence of
most Of her anXieties. She told him, very
| promptly and postiK ely, that she was not
/ going to get well at all, that she had pro-
badly not more than ten months yet to
/ live, and that he would Oblige her very
much by not forcing her to waste any
more breath in contradieting him on that
point. OF course she couldn't talk much:
/ therefore, she wished to say to him only
/ things that he would not hear from any
4 one else. such, for instance, was her
| present secret-Katie's and hers-the
secret OF their fearing SO much that they
shouldn't like PerciVaFs wife who was
not from Boston, but from New York.
! Naturally, that by itself would be moth
ing, but from what they had heard of her
| set-thiS subject had been explored by
their correspondents-they were rather
nervous, nervous to the point of not being
/ in the least treasured by the fact that
the young lady would bring Percival
! fortune. The fortune was q matter of
! course, for that was just what they had
heard about Agnes circle--that the
| stamp OF money was on all their thoughts
/ and doings. Tney were very rich and
| very new and very splashing, and evl-
\ IDENTIFY had very little in common wlth.the
/ TWO Miss Theorys, who, moreover if the
I - NbA must DC NOlN anu lAAS M&S u EAEdA
/ secret }, did not care much for the letters
! their slster-in-law had hitherto addressed
/ them. She had been at a French boarding
/ school in New York, and vet land this
was the greatest secret of all she wrote
to them that she had performed part Of
tie journey through France in a diligeRcei
or course, they would see the next day;
Miss Mildred was sure she should know
In m0menG whether Agnes would like
them. She could never have told him all
this If her sister had been there, and Capt.
Benyon must promise never to tell Kate
how she had chartered. Kate thought al
ways that they must hide everything, and
that even If Agnes should be a dreadful
disappointment they must never let any,
one guess it. And yet Kate was just the
one who would suffer, in the coming years, .
after she herself had gone. Their brother
had been everything to them, but now it
would all be different. OF course it was
not to be expected that he should have re-
manned bachelor for their sake; she only
wished he had waited till she was dead
and Kate was married. One of these
events, it was true, was much less sure
than the other; Kate might never marry
much as she wished she would. She was
quite mOrbidly unselfsh, and didn't think
she had right to have anything of her !
Own-not even husband. Miss Mildred |
talked good while about Kate, and it |
never occurred to her that she might bore |
Capt. Benyon. She didn't, in point of |
fact; he had none of the trouble of Won |
dering why this poor, sick, worried lady |
was trying to push her sister down his /
throat Their peculiar situation made |
everything natural, and the tone she took |
with him now seemed only what their /
pleasant relation for the last three months |
led up to. Moreover, he had an excellent |
reason for not being bored; the fact, name
" hot oft oil xrrsf ., l.
ter, Miss Mildred appeared to him to keep /
back more than she uttered. She didn't I
tell him the great thing-she had nothing
to say as to what that charming girl
thought of Raymond BenyOn. The effect
of their interview, indeed, was to make
him shrink from knowing, and he felt that
the right thing for him would be to get
back into his boat, which was waiting at
the garden steps, before Kate Theory
should return from Naples. 1t came over
him, as he sat there, that he was far too
interested in knowing what this young
lady thought Of him. She might think
what she pleased; 1t could make no differ
ence to him. The best opinion in the
wOrld-tf 1t looked out at him from her
tender eyes-would not make him whit
more free or more happy. Women of that
sort were not for him, women whom one
could not see Familiarity without falling
in love with them, and whom it was no
use to fall in love with, unless one was
ready to marry them. The light of the
summer afternoon, and of Miss Mildreds
pure spirit, seemed suddenly to flood the
whole subject. He saw that he was
in danger, and he had long since made up
his mind that from this particular peril it
was not only necessary but honorable to
flee. He took leave of his hostess before
her sister reappeared, and had the cour-
age even to say to her that he would not
come back often after that; they would be
so much occupied by their brother and his
wife! AS he moved across the CLASSY bay,
to the rhythm of the oars, he wished eth
er that the sisters would leave Naples or
that his COMPOUNDED Commodore would
send for him.
When Kate returned from her errand,
ten minutes later, Milly told her of the
Captains visit, and added that she had
never seen anything so sudden as the way
he left her. she wouldn't wait for you,
my dear, and he said he thought it more
than likely that he should never see us
again. 1t is as if he thought you were go
ing to die too"
Els his ship called away?' Kate Theory
@He didn't tell me so; he said we
should be so busy with Percival and Ag-
nes.'
''He has got tired of us-thats all.
There's nothing wonderful in that knew
he would"
Mildred said nothing for moment; she
was watching her sister, who was very
attentively arranging some flowers. "Yes,
of course, we are very dull, and he is like
everybody else"
81 thought you thought he was so Won
derful,'' said Kate, ''and so fond OF u.s."
$50 he is; 1 am surer Of that than
ever. That's why he went away so
abruptly"
Kate looked at her sister now.
81 don't understand"
''Neither do 1, darling. But you will,
one of these days"
Chow if he never comes backW
sOh, he will-after while-when l am
gone. Then he will explain; that, at least,
is clear to me-"
EsMy poor precious, as if l caredp' Kate
Theory exclaimed, smiling as she dis
tributed her flowers. She carried them to
the window, to place them near her sister,
and here she paused moment, her eye
caught by an object, far out in the bay,
with which she was not unfamiliar. MIL
bred noticed its momentary look and fol-
lowed it's direction.
''Its the Captains gig going back to the
ship" Milly said. ''lts so still one can
almost hear the oars"
Kate Theory turned away, with sud-
den. strange violence, a movement s.nd |
exclamation which, the very next minute, |
as she became conscious OF what she had |
said-29.Ssu, still more, of what she felt |
snl3te her own heart as it flushed her |
faceC with surprise, and with the force OF |
a revelation: 81 wish it would sink him |
to the bottom of the seaF
Her sister stared, then caught, her by |
the dress, as she passed from her, drawing
her back with weak hand. ION, my
dearast nv DoorestP' And she drew
Kate down and down toward her, so that
the girl had nothing for it but to sink on
her knees and bury her face in Mildred's
lap. II that ingenious invalid did not
know everything now, she knew great
deal.
ITO BE CONCLUDED NEXT sUNDAY.I