Wichita eagle., 1889-08-03
"No, you are not; there is no such man In

mo, you are not; there Is no sucn hisau III
tie army list-there was not year ago."
Possibly not at that time, for year ago
I was Monty Gordon. Last Christmas
good old man, who was my godfather, died
and left me all his fortune and estates, on
condition that / should take and bear his
name. complied. A Swift was manufac-
turni out oe Gordon. and vet remained =
captain. Under either apperauon eQuaIIy
at your command. But now I must AK OF
your dressing bag the same introduction fur
nished by my hat box. and learn by what
name can address my travelling incognita
when meet her again at the Towers" He
quietly bent over the flap Of Jessica's neat
Russia leather bag, but saw only the letters
~. NJ. s."
"Ah,n, he said. "the same initials as mine;"
then, interrogatively, 'they spelf'
"Jessica Montgomery Swifk"
A dead silence followed. JesSica lay back
against the cushions motionless, with GRIM
son flush on her cheeks and forehead Capt
Swift felt that some painful mystery was
about to be disclosed, and that the woman by
lis side was gathering strength for great
effort He generously repressed every sign
of curiosity and establishment, and waited her
pleasure.
After few moments she turned toward
him and spoke slowly and heaitatingly.
II throw myself upon your mercy, Capt.
Swift; do not deny publicly tomorrow that
you ever were married to Jessica Wynne.
Do not pursue those who originated that
libel Give me time / assure you that
will do my utmost to undo what I have done. u
She looked very young and fair, With her
nd nief
you done" he said, simply.
Listen to me and forgive me If you can.
When 1 first came to London, at IS, found
it horrid place; only married women were
admired, petted and courted-we girls were
nowhere So made up my mind to come
back to town-married and as had not q
husband nandy-they are so scarce, you
know-I invented one. thought / was
quite safe. WANTED him to be an officer, be-
cause England has such lot Of troops in
places people never go to. looked all over
the army and navy lists to make sure l did
not choose name belonging to any living
man; christened him Montgomery Swift
haphazard; I put the paragraphs in the pa
pers. He was a very likely sort Of husband
to have, you know, and 1t seems SO natural
that he should forever be among the savages
anywhere. Nobody seemed to care about
him at all; but they did for his wife simply
because she was not a girl, and it was all
working beautifully Oh, why did you turn
upf Why did you have Swift for a god
fatheri Why did he diei"
"Would it have suited you to keep up this
farce much longerp said Capt Swift. grave
ly, but an amused look passed in his eyes.
'Only little while" said Jessica, prompt
~. 81 intended becoming a widow very
soon-some Of the climates out there are SO
unhealthy-no one would have asked any
questions One accepts anything in London
when it is convenient to be credulous; but
if you are that horrid man please don't ex.
pose me yet"
Not till am dead, eh?"
~ can't make him out dead now" she said
petulantly; but will 60 away, hide my,
self, never show my face again"
THAT would be pity; there must be some
other way to achieve widowhood.r
Don't be cruel Il Is dreadful and
know have been very foolish But really, u
she added, with resumption Of her old
quaint coq,Ntry, 81 can't do more than ask
your PARDON
"Yes you can; you can ask for my advice,
he said, extending his hand, land, on my
honor as gentleman, l will help you to get
out of this scrape."
They talked low and earnestly for the re-
mainder of the journey. At Edinburgh they
shook hands warmly and parted. But nei-
Their Jessica nor Capt Swift went to the Tow
ers. Two separate kilograms informed Mrs,
Belune that her expected guests were una.
voidably prevented from joining her party
nor did Mrs. Montgomery Swift again glad
dan the hearts of her faithful swains by her
presence at the fashionable resorts of late
summer or early autumn.
Three months later Jessica was walking on
the seashore only mile distant from a pref
ty village near Bagni di Lucca, looking a:
fresh, crisp and fair as before her first disas
trous London campaign, only there was q
new tenderness in the dancing brown eyes al
she lifted them trustfully to those Of tai
man on whose arm her small hand rested.
And so you are really, truly not sorry
that you never denied your marriage with
Miss Wynnef" she said, coaxingly.
Not sorry at all, darling, as it saves me
the fuss Of communicating it now" answered
Capt. Swift. I'm desperately glad, though
it's all settled and done with. "-Londor
Truth.