The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-11-26
HIS LIFE's ONE HOLIDAY.
BY LnLrAs CAMPBELL DAVIDSON.


had worked hard and well, and had
made fortune which even he thought
would enable him to marry without be-
ing recklessly imprudent; and he began
to think it was time to decide upon a
wife who should satisfy his somewhat
fastidiOUs requirements. She must be
of a stately and noble presence
Wayne had rather an idea of a fine wO-
man;-not too young, nor too emotional
Wayne was a person who hated
scenes; in short, she was to be a wo-
man made to order, and he found it
more difficult to discover her than he
had at first supposed.
It was with a feeling of something
as akin to failure as his well-regulated
mind ever INDUCED in that he ordered
his portmanteau packed for a fort
nights visit to Newton-On-Sea, and tore
himself away from the destinations of
club and Office life, to pay long prom
ised visit to his old friend, DR.. Mar
shall. He had seen nothing of the
Marshalls for years past, though there
was tie of old associations between
them, and even something of sadder
interest. Five years ago, when Wayne's
uncle offered him a berth in the tea
business of which he was now the
head, he extended q like offer to Hunt
ingdon's younger brother, Jack; but
Jack, always something of a hot-head-
ed fellow, took offense at some word or
deed of his elders, and refused the
offer. Soon after he took some post on
the east coast Of Africa, and went out
with high hopes of the fortune he was
TO bring back and lay at Hettie Mar
shalrs feet.
Huntington heard of the engage
ment with contempt for the folly of |
two young people without a penny; |
but when, three years later, news came |
of poor jack death out in Zanzibar, |
the little bride that was to have been
passed out of his mind, and it was only |
when an invitation came for him from
the Marshalls, who were at Newton-on-
Sea for Hetty's health, that the thought
of her existence crossed him again.
He had not seen her since she was
little child in pinafores; and when he
was brought up. on the evening he ar
rived, to the side of crimson ham
mock swung between two tail pine
trees, and introduced to a slight, pale
girl, whose great blue eyes were raised
to his with a pathetic gentleness and
sweetness, a feeling such as in all his
thirty-fiye years of sensible life he had
never before experienced shot through |
him with a thrill of wonder, and almost I
bewildeTment. He took in his own the
small, fragile, white fingers, and then B
laid them down almost reyerently on 9
the soft cushions amidst which she lay. t
suppose if any one had asked him
then and there whether he believed in d
love at first sight, he would have ans o
wered as contemptuously as ever; and Il
yet. for all that, he was as deep in
love as ever man fell at one blow. He
told himself it was pity-a pity that on g
" grew as the days passed by, and he a
saw how delicate creature her great g
trouble of two years since had left her; b
It seemed to him it was his duty to try 81
and atone to her for all the suffering Is
and loss she had undergone; as if his K
life ought to make up to her for Jacks u
Heath, somehow. Strange that duty s.
had never had such zest and pleas p
IRE in it before! T.
She was thing so new to his exper- 1
enee. with her pleading blue eyes, her 2
soft little ways, and the pathos that d
hung about all she did and said. Wayne
used to sit and watch her furtively, as a
4 she was a creature of some unknown Il
face. h
Three days after the first evening and "
he hammock, the ideal ''fine woman u
had died out of his mind, never to re- s.
turn; and before the week was over he u
had said to himself-he, the practical, q
Huntingdon Wayne-that q
life without little Hettie would hardly
be worth the living, and that he must
have her for his own or die. Practical /!
men often take the q
hardest form of the disease called love. u
BE spoke to DIR. Marshall before the
middle of the second week, and asked G
his consent to win Hetty The doctor q
listened with a good deal of surprise, q
but no appearance of displeasure; and s.
when Wayne had finished he grasped r.
him heartily by the hand.
my dear fellow. y he said, with some Q
hing between a smile and sigh, .you q
nave my heartiest consent and my best a
wishes, if you can get Hetty to say q
Yes You are almost part of poor 3
lack, and there's no one else should Z
10 gladly call my son. OF course it te
III rests with Hetty; but know she
ioeS not dislike you, and you must
rust to time for the rest. Love such
IS she gave poor Jack, perhaps the !,
anne woman never gives twice over; =
,ut there's no reason she shouldn't love II
rou well, and make You good wife. =.
The grief of two years back is passing y
.way-it is more the physical state left - -
y the shock of that time that wears on - :,
Ter now. Perhaps she viii never be =
cry robust, but you win take good y
are of her, I'm certain. - q
.'She shall be strong again, please q
sod. if can make her so by my deyo- VI
ion. said Huntingdon, while vision
{ unspeakable happiness danced be- 1e
ore his minds eyeS-a snow-white ~
acht cruising among smiling islands i uA
! summer sea. seeking health for her u
tho was its queen. no
.sI'l leave the business to look after
self, he thought, with glow of rap la la
IRE, land travel round the world with On
er till the color comes back to her /,
ale face, and the light to her eyes; ga
cs,- and the happiness to her heart.
So the fortnight wore away, and an Eel
her was well nigh gone, and vet
Eayne fingered at Newton-on-Sea He Jus
as never away from Hetty's side; he s.
itched and carried for her ike dog, snl
. was slave to her every wish. Dr.. ING
I'd Mrs. Marshall regarded him with IN
favor. Tom, the enfant aW
rzlblc of the family, voted him ..no
Id jolly and Heftys Hetty liked COL
N well; her eyes frightened when he ms.
me, she missed him when he was nal
Fayi ne was so thoughtful, so kind. so the
ood. no one could help being fond Of Y
One night there was . storm, and By iixe
ion the next day there came the news owe
n 81 n Il