, 1886-03-18

COAAR1 ~ AA1lts
Il hope you found your companion at
diDser n pleasant onefT said Mr.. Ramsay.
-Oh, yes; very pleasant, y replied Mr..
Hope carelessly. "She's a nice sort Of a
girl, / dare say"
A nice sort OF grill The wretched man
| hated himl
w think a great deal more OF her
than that (" said hat dear old Mr.. Ram
say.
Indeed" replied his companion, with
out evincing the slightest interest in the
matter.
"Yes--indeed Ind indeed echoed my
old friend. But Joking apart, did you
not notice she bids fair to be a most beau
tiful woman"
1t would nave needed little more to
have brought me from my lurking place
to have kissed that good old man.
Vincent Hope laughed quietly.
~She seemed to me OF the ordinary
schools girl type. / don't care much for
schoolgirl
| dug. my nails into my hands and
ground my teeth. Handsome as the man
looked In the moonlight, | could have
killed him then and there.
"Yet,r said Mr.. Ramsay, Il noticed she
talked pretty freely to you"
The shrug Of Mr.. Hopes shoulders al
most maddened me.
/ waited a minute; then | peeped ont.
and at last ventured to creep round the
laurel and reconnoiter. The broad back
OF my candid critic was just disappearing
through the dining-room window. Isholk
my fist viciously at II. | watched Mr..
Ramsay follow his guest, saw the window
close and the blind fall. then / flew at top
speed TO the library, whence | made my
exit, entered noiselessly, and threw myself
into a chair, feeling that my life was
bllghted.
Five years passed by. Either for better
or worse. / had changed in much, but still
retained my knRck OF never forgetting a
foe or friend. Incredible as 1t seems, my
anger against Mr.. Hope was keen as ever
my wish for revenge as strong.
It was winter. I was spending some
weeks with new friends, who had taken a
great fancy to %me-kind, h%ospitable people
who liked to have a constant stream OF
visitors passing, but very slowly. through
their house. Breakfast wat Just over, we
had been longer about 1t than usual. the
weather being too damp and drizzly to
tempt us out of doors. Letters were being
read with the last cup Of tea. The Squire
we called him the Squire-selected one
from his pile, and tossed IL over &c his
wife. remarking that she would be glad to
hear the good news 1t contained. Then it
went from hand to hand until | had the
pleasure Of reading;
al will do no more work for weeks, but
will take the train tomorrow and come to
Blaize house in time, | hope, for dinner.
"VINcRNT HOPE
Vincent Hopel 1t must be my old
enemy.
I had plenty OF time to mature my plans
and draw soothing pictures of the effects
Of my revenge.
Fortune favored me. As the greatest
stranger and last arrival, 1t would
have beer in Vincent Hopes province
to take our hostess into the dining
room, had we not been favored
that day by the presence OF a county
magnate, whose claim to precedence could
not be lightly overlooked. 1t seemed but
natural and part OF the plot that the
Squire should present Mr.. Vincent Hope
to Miss Rivers, and for the second time in
their lives these two should be seated side
by side.
lifted my lashes and looked straight
at him. II time had not been quite idle
with him, 1t had treated him kindly. He
was handsome as ever. The hair near
his temple being just fecked with gray
did not detract from his good looks. |
thought his features looked more marked,
and the whole expression OF his face more
confident and powerful even than of old.
He had won success, and, no doubt, fully
realized the fact.
"vincent Hopper l echoed. @Not the
Vincent Hopei"
guessed instinctively that fiattery was
not a bad gun with which to open fire.
BY this time his name was so well known
that IL would have been affectatlon TO APP
pear to misunderstood me. He bowed
and smiled.
Exchange Is but fair. I scarcely heard
what the Squire called you
"Rivers-Heritage Rivers"
"Heritage Rivers" he echoed musingly.
at is m ncomm name; but | fancy /
have heard IL before
"Oh, please don't say so. Mr.. Hope. l
did think I had one original thing to
boast OF my name. How would you ike.
after looking upon all your plots as orig
inal. 20 find them but plagiarismsf"
He laughed.
passing on forbidden ground. Let us
seek fresh pastures"
We did so. We talked all dinner time.
Mr.. Hope was condescending enough not
only 10 listen attentively to my words.
but to reply to them as II they had weight
with him. All this was very delightful
The first steps to revenge were smooth
and pleasant ones; for there is no need to
say that | hated him as much, and felt as
vindictive as ever.
He was walking straight to his fate. |
felt II when, just before the signal for de
parture. he dropped his voice almost to a
whisper, and was good enough to say,
that, to him, the peculiar charm Of his
particular dinner was that such an agree
able Interchange of ideas would not be
ended with the night, but might be re-
sumed tomorrow. Coming as 1t did
from such a famous person, | could only
glance my thanks, blush, and look pleased
at the compliment.
Very promising, too. were the events Of
the next day. He walked with me, and
told me, among other things, a great deal
about his early life and struggles for sue
cess. He was quite interesting. so much
so that I wished | could check these conf
dences. ! feared hat his talk might
awaken a suspicion OF sympathy In my
mind, which would grievously Interfere
with my vendetta.
Therei-I will write no more about It.
Now, | am utterly ashamed of 1t all. Had
IL not been for my resolve to reject IL when
offered, l would have stopped to win no
mans love-not even Vincent Hopes.
But In 1--WE days knew that my work was
done-and fully done-so fully hat |
dreaded the result OF 1t, and began to wish
] had not been so yindictiye. Worse than
all, friends ns friends will were ex-
changing knowing ~glances. and comment
ing on the relations which appeared to
exist between my foe and myself.
Could | ave conquered my nature, and
decided to forego evenge, It was now inn
possible to do so. For my own sake. mat
tiers must some to a climax, that all might
see how little | cared for the man.
Darhapa . lad ~ . - .~.tl Nrt.xu.t