The morning news., 1889-05-05

| Absolutely adores her, | believe
"She has everything to make her happy"
answered the colonel, briefly.
"Yes, indeed, ;" and the widow cast down
her eyes, "the love of a brave and dstin-
guisaed man. Ah!" she added, glancing up
again; you soldiers have it all your own
| way with us poor womenl But then it
should be so; ycu risk your lives for us, and
for vcur country; you go through har l.
snips, dangers, and no wonder we smile
on you when you return;" and Mrs. Dixon
SIN led.
''Its hard enough life, and the absurd
regulations spoil the service a fellow has to
retire nowadays in the very prime of life
Just look at ne!n
"In the very prime, indeed ~ softly echoed
Mrs. Dixon, favorably regarding the col
oners st llwart person.
"Here l am, with nv time hanging on
my hands, continued Forto, who had got
on one of his pot grievan es; too old to
start any new profession, too young to sit
down doing nothing"
"A ID you must 10 very lonely now said
| Mrs. Dixon in her sweetest tones.
This alarmed tie colonel.
"Oh, no." he said,n | get along pretty
WELL with the girls being so near, a I'd all
that Well, good morning, Mrs. Dixon;
this is your nearest road to the vicaraye,
aid L N going into the billiard room for an
hour;n and he took off his hat, and Mrs.
Dixon was compelled to take the rest of her
walk alone.
Neve -theless, she had not, perhaps, quite
1 wastel her time. True, Col. Forth was as
wary as an old fox; but still, as he walked
/ on, he cIuld not help thinking 'what a
/ goodlooking woman she was of her age,
I and agreeable, too; none of Frances snap
/ p,sh, unpleasant ways about her"
| And this favorable opinion was confirmed
few days Later, when he dined at the
vicarage to nIeet Mrs. Dixop. This lady
seesmed bent on ca rmiag him, and as La
sat next her he egan to think that after
| all IF she really has the money Appleby
! talks about, why should l not marry ho F.,
as she seems to nave taken such fancy to
me-"
| mo accounting for these things y
thought the colonel, looking at himself, on
| his return home, in the mirror over the din
| ing room mantepiece, with satisfaction in
| his small blJodslot eyes. "Sle is a sensible
woman, very good looking, too; and If S e
has good income-well, fellow might do
| worse. | must sound ppleby; of course
unless the m lney's really there it would be
absurd t. think Of su thing
| A I'd shortly afterward he took an oppor-
| tunity Of sounding" the vicar who was
quite eady to give him all the information
in MS power.
| "She seems a nice sort of woman, that
| friend of yours, Mrs Dixon, | thiak, " be-
gan the colonel, who joined Mr.. Appleby in
High street for th3 purpose OF making his
! proposed Inquiries.
| "Caarming-I call her charmi e. an
syered the wear, with all the viyaclty of
| youth combined with the more sober at
| fractions of advanced years Yes, / con
i slider Mrs. Dixon a woman whom any man
| might be proud to wiz: and, al my dear
| friend, he added, looking round, snllngly,
| Mt I "a col =
have made a serious impression in that
quarter"
'Oh, nonsense, folly"
quite true, l assure you; it would be be-
| traylng q fair lady's confidence were / to
| tell you all the pretty things she says Of
GU; in fact, l believe you have only to ask
the momentOus question to receive favor =
| able answer
''Oh, that's all folly
We'll, n w, between you and me, I'll
| give you HAT Of what sho thinks of you.
| After you left our house the other night we,
naturally, spoke Of you and your two lovely
| daughtei S, and Mrs. Dixon sighed yes, my
| fried, D sitively sighed He is a very
| fl 20 man. she remarked aud when widow
| says that and sighs-mark nay word, c)l-
| onel--lt means something; and then she las
such fine fortune"
Realty" asked the colonel, with strong
interest.
"Most certainly: her husband left her. |
| believe. over enty thousand pounds"
That's a pretty round sum. WHAT was
he!'
'On the stock exchange; yes, Mr.. Dixon
was in ST worldly man, and she was an
exemplary wife to him during his lifetime
and now quite naturally feels LITTLE lonely
| IN the world, and, believe, woIld not be
averse to axe a second partner, and / am
sure looks on you with very favorable
eyes"
These words made deep impression on
Col. Forth's heart. Twenty tlGusand
pounds! He had under four hundred year,
| and bad barely been able to get along when
tie girls were at home. Now certainly he
had enough for all his modest require
ments; but money is always welcome, and
he ought and thought Of what he could do
if Mrs Dixon's substantial income wore
added to his own.
But was all this really truef he asked
himself. He knew the report of money
gathers like a SNOWFALL as it goes along,
and be was afraid to commit himself on the
mere word OF the vicar. At last he made
up his mind he would run up TO town a nd
secretly have a look at the will Of the late
Mr. Dixon at Somerest House. He was balf
ashamed 10 act thus, it must be conceded
He had heard OF men doing so before, and
knew an instance Of ha dsome girl { row
ing gunner over becau e she found out he
had done the very same thing. But still
marriage was such a serious step that the
colonel felt it would be madness to take
such leap in the dark. No, he would fl nd
out all about it, and he actually did this.
aud satisfied himself with his owl ewes that
the late Thomas Dixon, stoc lOroker, resid-
ing during his lifetime at Bolton Gardens,
had left his wife the substantial sum of
twenty Thousand pounds absolutely. There
was no mention of childre in this docu-
ment, tn 3refore the colonel naturally con-
cluded there were none, blt several be-
quests 10 relations and friends Bu there
1t was in black ana white, twenty thousand
pounds, and as he Travelled back to Headlort
he fell almost as if he were already the
happy pOssessor Of this sum.
He had, of course, said nothing either 10
Frances or Ruth Of bis intentions. No, ne
determined he would keep it ell quiet until
everything was settled, but the question
now was, how and where should he propose
to the lady4
Mrs. Dixon had first come to Headfort as
the guest Of the vicar, but she had since
takel lodgings in the village, but Col
Forth had never entered them. Should be
CALI he asked himself. Fate, however,
was propitious TO nim, for the day af er he
{ back t . he met Ms Dixon, close TO her
own rooms, and after little conversation
she invited him in.
As tho colonel asceudsd the narrow star
case behind her, he felt the moment had
me. II certainly crossed his mind. as he
tumbled over q hole Ia the staironrpst, that
A. 4. -. g.. -