, 1888-05-11

"No more he doesl He never did
dance, even as a cornet."
WAS he the same them"
II fancy he was-certainly he never
hung about the women much, " Trevor
admitted.
"Did he have a let down any time, do
you think2' Arlington persisted.
"a let down-no. The women were
always too jolly eager to nave him at any
price. Lord, I've seen hundreds of
women try for Amyatt-hundreds of
'eml"
That's just it." put in Arlington,
eagerly. They all try-but they just
have to try. It's queer, for Amyatt's a
handsome chap, and as rich as a jew"
Cant say, I'm sure. Just now he's
so taken up with his novel writing, and
every spare minute seems to go to that"
"But why did he take up novel writ
ing7" cried the lad.
Faith, and 1 can't say" Trevor
laughed. But his lovemaking's mighty
pretty for a woman hater, don't you
think?''
Meantime the object of all this
thought was in the sitting room of his
comfortable quarters overlooking the
green, which occupied part of the bar
rack square. 1t was a pretty room,
with walls of dark olive green, relieved
only by four or five pictures in plain
gilt frames, all of them originals of the
illustrations of the story which had made
his name famous-no, not his name, but
that by which he chose to be known to
the world.
For Maj. Amyatt did not write under
his own name, preferring for many rea-
sons to be known as John Dawes, " the
chiefest of which was that as q beginner
he had scarcely dared to contemplate the
possibility of other han failure, and he
had no wish to appear before the regi-
ment in the light of a So,
although for some time his intimates had
known him as the popular author who
stood second to one as a faithful delin-
Gator of army men and manners to the
world at large he was still John Dawes,
and but few knew that the name was not
his own.
A handsome man was Maj. Amyatt,
and looking at him as he sat at the table,
one could not wonder at young Airing
toms curiosity concerning his past life. 1t
would be hard to say positively that any
trace of a disappointment-what Airing
ton calls a '9et down"-marked his
pleasant fresh face, or lurked in the
steady gray eyes that were as clear and
| cool and undisturbed as the eyes of n lad
of 10.
He had a frank and tender smile, too,
and he was smiling then over a letter
which lay open upon the table before
him, a letter which had been forwarded
by his publishers, through whom it had
been sent, a letter written in a clear, I'M
j f1r,,,aI rIfll1, In,1 -, $500 .rL..I, Ill
been ruled with pencil lines.
''My lear Mr.. John Dawes" it said,
81 have read all your books and like them
very much. But, please, 1 do want to
know if Laura is going to marry Gerard
King. l do hope you won go and marry
her to any n else, because 1 am very,
very fond of him. So 1 am of nearly all
the others, but 1 like Gerard best.
Laura is my name, too. l hope you
won't mind my writing to you, though I
am still rather little. / am 0, or at least
nearly 8, and have no brothers or sisters,
5 that l read a good lea. But / nave
a dog called Gyp, and my mother is not
very old, so that she plays with me a
good lot.
with best love, 1 am your loving
little friend, LAURA Holt.
"P. SIT was quite my own idea to
write"
Like most writers who have won a
hold upon the hearts of the people,
Amyatt was accustomed to receiving
many letters from all sorts and conditions
of men and women who were utter
strangers to him, expressing all manner
of sentiment about his work. Nor was
this the first letter he had had from q
child; but it was the first that had
touched him so deeply as this one did.
There was a quaintness bout its phrases,
a brave frankness about its sentiment, G
freshness in his tone which won hi!
heart.
81 hope you won't go and marry her t.
any n else, because 1 am very, very
fond of him." Laura is my name
too" 81 am 0, or at least nearly
o." And at was quite my own idea
to write" Amyatt read the letter again
with a feeling which, if he had been a
woman, would have brought tears into
his eyes, but which, as it was, gave him
n suspicious lump in his throat and that
tender smile on his lips.
"Dear little SOUL" he said, softly, 81
must write to her''-and forthwith he
drew some paper before him and wrote
n long and charming letter to the new
little friend who was 0, or (scrupulous
little soul that she was) TAT least nearly
o."
Then he, too, added.a postscript, which
was, write to me again"
Amyatt's little friend did write to him
again, q letter full of glee caused by his.
Then Amyatt answered that, for he
couldn't leave the poor little woman's
pretty words unanswered, don't you
know; and so, before long, quite a brisk
correspondence passed to and fro between
them.
lie still kept up his nom do plume,
though for no particular eason other
than he wished to avoid the trouble of
an explanation, and it was all the same
to her. and long letters flledJwith &c.
counts of her child's life or with heI
opinions Of his characters came TO him
regularly and were as regularly answered.
Sometimes he would send her q book,
and often she would send him a little
box of flowers which adorned Institution
hole.
"Rather a new departure for you, eh,
old chap2" Trevor limited.
sgpattar lnto tlor ,a,ar ~ ,.ot,,,,,oI fhs