The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-07-18

| gent of Valetudip arianS
 First came pretty American matron with bevy ot equally pretty daughters and nieces, needing rest after the tour of Europe. h their wake followed :=c handsome, pure -blooded young Hindoos students in law, anxious to see little more of English life and manners before returning to their own country. Then we had, Of course, two or three elderly bach elors ot both sexes, who wanted some one to chat with-one of the paI amount needs of human existence-and, lastly, mention a pair of acquaintances ot my own-a cheery married couple, with hardly more serious vocation in life than to make themselves agreeable, and who had come simply because asked them.
 Within a week, therefore. our mum bers had quadrupled, to the intense satisfac- ton of all concerned except myself
 rdere are manifold reasons why the members of an arti6cially composed family should thus rejoice at any addi- tion. To the materialist ell-patronized hotel means good dinr CT to the whim- slcal. the possibility of sympathetic ear
 The story-teller is sure of an audience, the dawdler of finding his fellow, the male coquette of at least pair of bright eyes, and the bored hopes against hope that at last some remedy shall turn up TOT his boredom.
 But my own case was wholly different did not care straw about the bills of fare Mir. Bolingbroke studied with such minute care from day to day. Lazy as was, l hated alike telling stories or hav- Ing to listen to them. l needed not the society of other good-for-nothings like myself to get through the day. And had never gone a step out of my way for pair of beautiful eyes till l gazed for | the first time on Lionelle's.
 Lionelle- Lionellel The very name haunted me from morning till night, as if 1t belonged to some being inhabiting a world of phantasy and dreams, while Lionelle herself seemed to recede further and further from the life every day, in so far as it concerned myself could no, blame the girls conduct in the least thing. It was not her fault that during those first days after my arrival we were thrown good deal together. and that such condition of things could not con- tinue.
 Without putting herself at all forward. L.onelle was now the very life and soul of the little society, and she bore her popularity with suavity and naturalness that must have disarmed envy, if, indeed. any feminine detractors had found their way into our Arcadia by the sea. But a, yet we were the most good natured set of people that chance could we'll have as- sembled together.
 The astounding part of it all was that. while as much of favorite with her own sex as with mine. she received the hom- age of both almost indifferently. Kind. warm-hearted, even to affectionateness, sympathetic to marvellous degree, she yet gave the impression of being cut off by some strange fate from the ordinary lot Of mortals. With all her confdine- ness and power of eliciting response she remained in certain sense aloof from every one of us. Even her ayety, to my thinking, had touch of unreality and hollowness about it.
 No one seemed to notice this except myself; perhaps because no one else studied her so closely and with such growing interest.
 My friends wife. Etta Molyneux, once said to her husband carelessiy, in my hearing:
 "That pretty Lionelle Do you know. Edmund, l feel confident that she has been desperately in love and has lost her lover5 Was ever filtration so perfect and so finished as hers1 No girl with heart to lose could hlrt in that manner. Or perhaps the poor child is consump- tive, and feels inIultlvely that she cannot live long"
 IheSe dlsconcerting suggestions made me watch Lionelle more narrowly than ever, but 1 could never discover the slightest foundation for either. l never caught her in dreamy, Respondent mood-the mood of girl who fancies she has nothing to live for. Still less could discern any sign of that dread | disease which is as Moloch devourlny maidens. No excitement brought a hec- | tic flush to that softly outlined cheek Airy, sPrite-iike, dainty creature that sine ! was, she yet broke her fast heartily with the rest of us. And when our fellowship numbered half a. dozen children, she | would run races with the heetest of them |
 Those terrible children! positively hated the place as soon as it became in- | vaded by host of turbulent yosng gsters | Lionelle was the most wonoe erful child | charmer ever knew. No wonder that now felt ready to die ot envy. She did l not neglect any of us, delighting the Hin- doc brothers still with an occasional tete- a-tete in French, wal,zing with me at nis sht amid the glow-worms and the white roses, playing and singing to the elderly folks in the drawing-room, getting up little excursions with the Americ ans and curates, of whom we now nu .nbered i've. In fact she was as much the life of the party as ever. But above all, she de- voted herself to the children. and, of course, the happier she made them the faster they came.
 And again Mir. Bolingbroke rubbed his hands.
 "A little heaven upon earth-eh. MT Archer2 What place is like ho ne with out childrene Rosy, cherubic faces, little footsteps, innocent prattle who