The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-08-28
We were such very good friends, and I

assure YOU I quite missed you"
Sinclair got up andloOkeddownmt into
| her Laughing ewes. II left St. Peters
burg" he said, "because was afraidto
| stay -,
Her ewes were aughingstill, but there
was a n unwOnted sOftness in her voice,
as she asked him, "Why were you
afraid to stay? Surely you were not a
Nihilist?"
He began to speak, and paused;
! then with a determined effort to keep
his voice under control, he said: II
left St. Petersburg because | was fool
enough to fall in love with you"
"Thank you for the compliment.
Was that 50 very foOlish?"
Not for others, perhaps. For me
folly, and worse than tOlly-madness.
Ineverthought | should see you again:
I did not dream that we should meet
tonight. Bur since chance has thrown
us together for the last time. as |
leave England in a few days for the
rest of my life. | may as well tell you,
for the first and for the last time, that
| love yOu.'
Her eyes were laughing still: those
wonderful gray-blue northern eyes
which so many capitals raved about;
but her lips were firmly, almost sternly
set. Still she said nothing, and he
went on II knew it was folly when |
first foundthaC I loved you over there
in St. Petersburg. was q poor Eng
fish gentleman, and you were the Prln-
cess Barnabas. | might as well have
fallen in love with a star. So | came
away" He said the words simply,
with a quiet conviction, and held out
his hand. "GoOd-bye, Princess, and
forgive me my folly
She rose and faced him. Any one of
the hundreds nthe great room beyond
who Glanced to look at thecouplehalt
hidden by the curtains of thedeep win
dow would have seen a man and a
woman talking lightly of light things.
And yOu have not forgotten me YETI"
she said.
Il never shall forget you," he an
swered sadly. II cannot love more
than once, and | love you with all my
soul. Doyou remember one day, when
we drove together i'll the Neva Perspec-
tive, how you stopped to give some
money to al old beggar? | enVied the
beggar for getting a gift from you, and
you in jest dropped acOininto my out
stretched hand" He took out his
watch-chain and showed her the tiny
gold coin with the Russian Eagle on it.
II have kept it ever SINCE" he said.
at is the only thing | care for in the
| world. | have lived and shall live so
much in the East that | am somewhat
superstitious, and l think it is my tai
isman. Good-by. He held out his
hand again. She took it.
"Will you come and see me before
you leave?" she asked almost appeal
ingly.
He shook his head. Better not"
he said.
For a moment she was silent; she
seemed to be rejecting. Then she said,
with a sudden vehemence, promise me
that if | write and ask you to come
you will obey me. Promise me that
! forthe sake of our old friendship"
Hebowedh his head. Il promise" he
said.
"Andnowgive me youra arm and take
me to my carriage" said the Princess
Barnabas. "Iwant togo hometo bed"
4 \ X 4
The next day Julian heard nothing
from the Princess. "Of course not"
he said to himself, struggling his shoul.
ders at the fantastic hopes which had
besieged his brain since that strange
meeting, and he doggedly faced his APP
preaching exile. But on the afternoon
of the second day after the meeting at
the Embassy, Julian Sinclair, coming
to his hotel after a day spent in busy
preparations for departure, found a
tiny note awaiting him. 1t was from
the Princess, and had only these
words" "Come this evening, / shall be
alone" And he went.
This was part Of a conversation
which Princess Barnabas CHANGED to
overhear at a reception at the foreign
office, and on the eve of her departure
for the east. The speakers were Sir
Harry Kingscourt and Ferdinand Lee
pell. Said the painter: Have you
heard the news about the Princess
Barnabas? She is going to marry a
fellow named Sinclair, and is going to
live in the east-Persia, or some place
of the kind. The fellow hasn't penny
iii the world and won't have from her
for | believe that by her husbands
will she loses almost all her fortune i
she marries below her own rank
"How very romantic" yawned Kings
court. Romantic" replied Lepell
sit is absurd. Have you not heard?-
the woman has committed suicide
And the speakers moved away.
"Suicide," said the princess to her
self, smiling. mo, no; / was going tx
commit suicide once, but / havelearn-
what life is worth, and / have changed
my mind. The Whitehall Review.