The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1888-04-27

1 mo more he does! He never did
darce. euon rs cornet."
"Was be the same Them N
II fancy he was certainly he never
hung ab~ut the women suauch, "Inevos
admitted tfftA 8ltE Ht|
did he nave let down any time, do
you thinkr' Arlington persisted.
= "A LEI. dswn-no. The women were
always too 5ally eager TO haWeihim at,say
price. Lond. I've seen hundreds OF
women try for Amyatt-haandreds Of
'emw
''That's jrst it," put in Arlington.
eagerly. They all try-but fhey just
have to try. IT'S queer. for Amyatt's .
handsome chap. and as rich ms . Jew"
Cant say, Tan sure. Just now hes
90 taken up with his novel writing. aad
every spare minmte seems TO 90 10 that
"But why did he take up nowe1 ~ris-
snGf" cried the lad. r1C er,y.i
Faith. and Z can't say" Trevor
laughed. but his iovemalring g nalghty
pretty for a woman hater. don't JOS
think2' st
Meantime the object OF ali this
thought was in tho sitting room OF his
comfortable quarters overlooking tdhe
green. which occupied part OF the tar-
rack square. It was pretty room,
with walls Of dark olive green, relieved
only by four or five pictures In piaia
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 70 be known as John Dawes" the
chie6esk Of which was that rs q beginner
he had scarcely dared to contemplate the
possibility Of other than failure, and he
had no wish to appear before the resi-
ment in the light Of a non-success. So,
although for some time his intimates had
known him a. the popular author who
sIood second to none as . 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. .ss.s rt-lR.3
~ 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. It
would be hard to say positively that any
trace Of disappointment what Airing
ton calls a "let 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 Lad
of 10.
He had a frank and tender smile, too,
and he was smiling then over letter
which lay open upon the table before
him. letter which had been forwarded
by his publishers, through whom it had
been sent, letter written in a clear, I'M
formed child's hand, on paper which had
been ruled with pencil lines.
my dear Mr.. John Dawes" it said,
Il have read all your booksand like them
very much. But. please, L do want to
know if Laura is going to marry Gerard
King. do hope you won't so and marry
her to any one else, because / am very,
very fond of him. SO 1 am of nearly all
the others, but like Gerard best.
Laura is my name, too. I hope you
won't mind my writing to you, though
am still rather little. am 9, or at least
nearly 0, and have no brothers or sisters,
so that read a good deal. But have
dog called Gyp, and my mother is not
very old. so that she plays with mao a
good lot
d ''With best love, 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 a
child; hut it was the frs; that had
touched him so deeply as this one did.
There was quaintness about its phrases,
a brave frankness about its sentiment, a
freshness in his tone which won his
heart. iv.E l ft.H ooN SO ~ s
( II hope you won't go and marry her TO
any one else, because am very, very
fond of him." Laura is my name,
too" II am o, or ut least nearly
o." And 1T was quite my own idea
to write" Amyatt read the letter again
with feeling which, if he had been a
woman. would have brought tears into
his eyes, but which, as it was, gave him
suspicious lump in his throat and that
tender smile on his lips.
Dear little SOUL" he said, softly, 81
must write to her. forthwith he
drew some, paper before him and wrote
a long and charming letter to the new
little friend who was 8, or (scrupulous
little soul that she was) lat least nearly
o." FNi
Then he. too. added postscript, which
vas. Write to me again"
Amyatt's little friend did write to him
again. 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 80, before long. quite brisk
correspondence passed to aud fro between
them. ra.fI
lie still kept up his nom do plume,
though for no particular reason other
than he wished to avoid the trouble Of
an explanation, and it was all tho same
to her; and long letters filed with ac-