, 1888-12-02

LlLo al WIZ 5LlCCIo VI DdpCI
ON which the handwriting was easily
recognized at a glance. Lake collected
himself and handed the missing page
to the newcomer, which was received
with a relieved look and hearty thanks
as he hurried out.
In the meantime the bouquet arrived
by a pert little messenger boy, and
you can imagine my feelings when
Lake sent it round the front tc be
thrown, not to Miss Swansdown, but
to Miss Carson.
AT the next instant, fortunately for
me, l was taken up behind the scenes,
and found myself in great demand by
those not on the stage. l Yves trying
to keep my eye on Lake, who was de-
voting himself to any lady who came
in his way, excepting the writer of the
fatal letter. His avoidance of her it
was evident she observed. l had
known her too long not to read the
slight quiver of the corner of her
mouth. She would never seek an tx
PLANTATION, but if something would
only happen to break the ice, / felt
hat everything could be explained.
When the last act was in progress,
having nothing more to do on the
stage, Lake stood around in an unde-
cided manner for a time, then suddenly
prepared to depart, placed me in his
overcoat pocket and started. Then
again he hesitated, and finally paced
the dressing room nervously till the
play ended. Then hurrying to the foot
of the stage stairs he began q lively
conversation with Miss Carson while
the others were rushing back and forth.
Miss Swansdown passed without his
apparently observing her, but /, peer
ing from his pocket, detected her half
glance at him, and Ifelt the quickened
beating of his heart.
Days and weeks passed, but the stu
dio was not again frightened by the
presence of Miss Swansdown, and the
theatrical season being over / was not
again taken out; consequently what
was going on 1 had to learn by study
ing the face of Lake and listening to
the conversation of callers. Even
when he held long consultations with
me in regard to the arrangement of
his front hair, 1 only knew that he
was going to some reception, party OF
dance.
How 1 used to wish he would be like
other heroes in novels or on the stage,
and talk aloud when alone! Then l
should have been thoroughly posted,
instead of having to surmise and
worry. How could 1 tell what he
might be planning to dol Suppose he
should lose heart on account of his
love affair, and, like the impetuous
hero in the novel, suddenly start for
foreign lands2
Then what would become of me2
I've always had a nameless dread of
o1rOtinnaafs- HNhfnI Of ,na IN "a CannnA
hand store, in a dusty window mixed
up with a lot of common cutlery,
cheap jewelry and old furniture! The
thought sends a cold chill down my
back. No wonder 1 was anxious for
his affairs to run smoothly.
l watched to see him become thin,
melancholy, morbid, neglect his work
and write poetry, but he did nothing
of the kind; he seemed more energetic
and industrious than ever, but how
ugly he was, and how he used to kick
the furniture aroundl
Finally the June days came; he
packed his traps, entirely ignoring me,
and was off for the summer vacation.
How the dust gathered! How quiet
it seemedl Even the ~janitor neglected
us, and my vision became quite OBJ
scure. My neighbors, the brass
sconces, the Chinese feather duster,
the Spanish knife, the bronze lizards
and the rest of us became too dull to
shine in our own society.
Finally a brush with the %janitor
rubbed us up a bit, and the next day
in stalked Brown Lake. In looking
over his accumulated mail among the
recent letters 1 noticed one from the
secretary of the Amateur Dramatic
club asking him to join in a repetition
of the play given the preceding season.
Holding the letter in one hand, he
took a lovely photograph of Miss
Swansdown from a cabinet and looked
at it in a discouraged sort of way; then
he answered the letter, politely, but
firmly declining to again participate,
saying he had never yet seen the
whole of the play, and he counted on
the pleasure of being in the audience
on this occasion.
A month later the night of the play
came. Fortunately for me, one of the
amateurs, seeing me in the studio and
remembering how useful l had made
myself, borrowed me for the evening,
much to my qualification. Brown
Lake, on a front seat, was watching
the play with rather languid interest
I'LL Roberts, coming upon the stage
with Miss Swansdown, seized her hand
and opened the love scene with the
familiar words of the fatal letter:
Il love you. l love you with my
whole heart"
Lake realized in an instant how he
had misinterpreted it ALT was simply
Roberts part in the play which Miss
Swansdown had copied off for himl
The moment the act ended Lake was
behind the scenes. AS Miss Swans
down came down the stairs he grasped
her hand-both hands-and spoke to
her, as he did so, in such a low voice
that l could not hear what he said, but
l could see through the open door of
the dressing DON where l was. She
blushed and smiled. He cast a quick
glance around t. see that no one was
looking, and then put his arms around
her and kissed her. Then a noise of
coming steps disturbed what l regarded
as the prettiest group that 1 had ever
seen. As she passed on down stairs he
popped into the room. 'She's miner
he said, picking me up as he said so,
but he did not mean me.-Will p.
Hooper in Pittsburg Bulletin.
80