The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-09-06
gin, and must make it short, for the

] 49, 'NAAAIAf oANIpl- 0luCIEu Tea 10 DC
brought up at once, but before l had fin
ished my second cup l fell fast asleep.
with newspaper and some letters that
my servant had Just handed ne lying in
my lap unopened, and my fox-terfior,
Nell, DOING at my feet. | must have
slept, suppose, for nearly an hour. when
| suddenly woke with violent start that
sent both newspaper and letters flying on
to the rug, the former bursting its cover
in the fall.
"When I had sufficiently recovered
from the shock of this rude awakening To
make any move, I stopped down and
picked UP the letter that was nearest to
me, and which happened to be lying seal
uppermost, and without even CHANGING at
the address tore open the envelope and
/ proceeded 30 read its contents. They
were startling, must admit"
''Was the letter from a lady or a gen
tleman, Mr.. AshtonI" asked enc of the
Americans,
From the former, and it stated that
being weary of life and unable to submit
any longer to paternal tyranny, she in
terded t. avail herself of her darling's
oft-repeated request that she should fly
with him, and that she, therefore, re-
quested him to meet her at the terminus
here (where here might be know not,
for there was neither date or address af-
fixed on Tuesday next at 4:15. I had
/ scarcely had time to finish the letter, or
to wonder who could have written it to
me, when my servant entered with a
telegram demanding an Immediate an
/ swer Isr1-ls---4-------fsss---s --,--..,--fUpfF
I Cuthbert busted himself with making up
the fire, and in so doing came into active
collision with Nell, whom he never could
manage, and who at once began to bark
in a way that drove me nearly wild. As
soon as my telegram was dispatched 1
looked around for the cover Of the
mysterious epistle, which 1 had decided
by that time ought never to have fallen
into my hands; but it was nowhere to be
seen. l asked Cuthbert if he had no.
tieed it-a long, white envelope.
" 4 suppose, sir, he answered in an
agrieved tone, for he and were often at
issue where Nell was concerned, that
that was what the dog had got hold of
Just now. l did try to take it from her,
but l know you don't like to hear her
bark. She dropped it at last, and 1
threw it into the fire, but it was Just a
mere pulp then. You couldn't have
read what was written on it.
$50 the envelope was DESTROYED. and
with it had gone every chance of nv ever
being ablesto restore its contents to their
destined recipient. Cuthbert then pro-
ceeded to inform that he had only brought
me in two letters-bne ones-with the
newspaper, and there they both were. on
the table, still unopened. So this third
epistle, which was, unquestionably, never
intended for me, had evidently arrived
between the leaves of the Field, and had
slipped ont when the latter burst its cover
in falling from my lap. During the fol
lowing Tuesday afternoon, which was an
awful one, often thought of the IN
happy young victim to paternal tyranny
and hoped that She came to no serious
harm"
''Buther name, Mr.. Ashton, " exclaimed
the American, ''we're all dying to hear her
name. Was there no signatureY"
"There was, but-good heavens! you'll
be burnt" The last remark was adj
dressed to Mrs. Fowler, who, in stretch
ing across the table to reach some bontons,
had nearly set fire to her lace sleeve.
With great presence of mind Horace
seized her arm with one hand, whilst with
other he drew back the candle, but only
just in time to avert a catastrophe; and
t5aG- 9 his - ~ these = rs h:s Sostess
it occurred to hif;-, in a fash of reveal
ton, that this diversion had not been
wholly unprecedented. "Her name,'
he continued, after a moments pause,
was But, no! it is not fair to
give up the name; it was such an uncom.
mon one, too"
Oh, the look of relief that came into
those light green eyesi If Horace had |
doubted for one moment the truth of his
he was quite sure now that
they were correct.
''It could not have been a more IN
common name than my wife's," said
Captain Fowler proudly, as if his wife's
Christian name reflected /
luster upon the whole household a /
should think, dear, that you were the
only Blenda in all England"
every possibly" said Horace dryly.
The following day, Mr.. Ashton, who
received patients at home throughout the
was honored by visit from
Mrs. Fowler. She had hurt her wrist in
that little encounter with the candle. and
had deemed it wiser to consult a surgeon.
After giving the case his careful con-
Horace fastened to assure his |
fair patient that there was nothing amiss;
she had only been frightened, not hurt
"That was very interesting story you
were telling Us last night, Mr.. Ashton"
said Mrs. Fowler in low, nervous tone,
as she was leaving the room. "Have you
kept tha5 wonderful letterln
81 have I thought l had DESTROYED
il, but I came across it the other day in
turning out the contents of an old dis
patch box But mean to burn it.
"Whenl"
"Oh, before long I cannot do it now,
for the letter is at the top of the house,
and have at least have a dozen patients
waiting to(see me. But as you are so
nuch>bIferested in the story, Mrs. Fowler,
n tell you what III do; I'll burn the
letter in your presence; III bring it up to
Davies street"
eyes, yesl But when?" very i'm
patiently.
oSIust I fix a date? Shall we say, then,
when come up to pay my visit OF con
gratulation2 Your step-daughter's en-
rsgement to my old friend Humphrey
is an open secret"
Mrs. Fowler turned crimson with
anger. and for a moment made no replyi
then. as Horace was opening the door,
she paused for the second time;
"SIr. Ashton, don't judge me too
harshly. l was young at the time-only
eighteen; and was very miserable You
don't know, perhaps, the evil of an over
repressive system Of education. But, be-
Iieve me. I thank God every hour of the
day that was saved from clipping with
The miscarriage of that let
ter saved me. l went up to the terminus
(at Portsmouth, caught a severe chill
dawdling about in the cold, and was in
Uhau I 70