The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-09-01
FAIR AND TICKLE.

one is tho !noSl Ocautllul Wolnan L
have ever seen"
.';She is handsome, certainly"
'IIow oddly you say that, as though
you b,grudgcd it to herr
$50 do"
"Why, whit has size done to your
shrinking with pct Y afcctation of
terror from her companion. who has sud-
denly grown much too grave for ball
room, as he scowls at the graceful back
of the lady they are discussing. Did
she b. eak your heart, Captain Lawrence;
or has she poisoned your best friend.'
THAT is just what she did. l do not
mean, of course. that she put roison
in meat or drink for him. correcting his
vehemcnce with rather bitter smile, as
the laughter dies out in the pretty eyes
uplift. d 20 his. "She did thing much
more safe for herself. and quite as deadly
for him; she poisoned his heart and his
mind until Eut it is q wcman's privi-
legc to be tickle it no., Miss Smart?-
and quite the mus fault if he takes her
6ckleness too seriously"
81 shall not resent anything you may
say of women apropos of Mrs. Hamilton" I"
the girl says, gently. "You have SUI
fered so much for your friend that you
have almost right to be unjust to the
rest Of u.s."
''Lct me tell you aboat her, and you
will rcaii thlt to see her here tonight,
with everything that a vain woman can
desire, from rich husband to i dress
from Worth, is enough to make me Gym
ical even to you
"Plcase tell me-"
awe will 60 into the cons s'rvatory,
then; it is quiet there, and l should be
sorry, if the band WIRE to cease suddenly,
TO be heard by half this crowd, blwling
poor Fairfax's story, as 1 .hou.d be
obliged TO bawl it here"
T. IL must 60 back more years than shall
presently care to remember, for the time
when first knew Fairfax was when we
were at West Point togcthcr-he and his
sworn chum Brooke in the class next to
mine. Fairfax was from my State, and
our people were ol friends. He was
the only son of his mother, and she was
widow A better son, bravcr SOL
dier, a nobler fellow, than lack Fairfax
never lived. Brooke only knew slight
", but he was handsome as a young
Apollo; all 1 ever heard of him was to
his credit, ard Fairfax loved him as-as
David loved Jonathan. | always use
old comparisons from preference, you
under stand; they have all the force of
long habit as we'll as of iuuate appropri-
Rteness.
II left the Point, of course, a year b.
fore they did, and was ordered to one of
those places of exile to which our gov
eminent consigns her young officers, ap-
parently to give them the fullest oppor-
tunity of rusling out the education she
has ,ust given item. The next year, by
rare stroke of luck, Fairfax joined US
1t Fort -. nc:cr knew so happy
and SO hopeful a fellow. No duty was
too trivial to interest him, no succession
of monotonous days dull to him, for
everything. little or great. was prepa-
ration for the life before him-the life
that was to be 50 long, so full of happi-
ness, of work, and of success. God
heayensi when /. think what that boy
was and hoped 70 lie, and of how wretch
edly it all ended, l wonder that civiliza-
ton is so much stronger than nature
within me; that, instead of humiliating
that woman before her courtiers with the
story of her treachcry, only abuse hel
to you.
'The world was ve.y fair place to
Jack Fairfay just then, and men and
women nobly made in Gods image, but
far above the ordin,rv level of humanity
he placed Fritz Brooke. He hoped to
be good and successful man himself,
but he had not doubt that Brooke
would excel him. You may laugh al
me, Lawrence he used to say, rather
hurt at the amusement with which I re,
ceived some of these culogies. Tho
world will know that fellow some day
as / know him. and then even such 8
doubling Thomas as yol are will be- con
yinced' He used to bore me littlt
with this perpetual pancgyric. Not that
had anything against BROOKE. but that
like the Athenians, was tired of hear.
ing Aristidcs praised.
"a year PASSED; Fairfav got his frs
leave, and went home for two months
leaving such blank b; hnd him that W.
rather wondered how we had endured
life before he joined. When he returned
the rumor of his engagement to Mis-
Chester preceded him, and I prepare.
myself for new course of raptures, will
the variety of having her for sub ,cc
Instead of him. TO my surprise, h,
talked very little about her. The sweet
est and trucst of women loved him, ant
was to be his wife next year, and thougl
absence from her was hard to bear, yet
fellow 50 unutterably blest as he had NJ
right to complain. That was all he sa; d
Bit if he had been happy before, he Wa
as radiant as sunshine now. Bad tenn
per, discomfort, gossip, could no NOR
:xist in his presence than fever or mala
ria in the sweet sunlight and fresh ar o
the prairies. The only shadow on hi
content was some slight anxiety abou
Brooke, from whom he had only hear
inf :rectly for several months, as tina
brilliant young officer had been sent o
some scientific expedition to China Q
japan.
''The following spring was that OF tn
French Exposition. and Miss Cheste
went to Paris with her parents. 1t pu
six months more absence between Fairfa
and his 'lady-love'; but he abused hi
selfshness roundly for his disappointment
The autumn came, they returned, and
~ H.