New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1889-01-16

!Nlua. Les, Lil6U jill TlSIlE, tS1IaQvS.
You and I will hold each Others
hands. and pinch hard if we get very
frightened. =
.Thank YOU" Miss Lloyd replied.
/ Son the whole / should prefer for you
1 not to hold my hand"
But / won't pinch you 50 as to
!. hurt, said Nina. reassuringly; land
it isn't as if we were in the dark"
Shall l turn down the lamps?n
asked Mr.. Snowdon
No! noP' exclaimed his wife.
There really is nothing frightening
scarcely even creepy my story
at all, = said Mr.. Marischal, half apollo
getically. HYou make me feel like an
imposter."
"Oh, no, Uncle Paul, don tsay that.
1t is all my fault for interrupting,
5 said Nina. Now go on, please. I
have Gladys hand, all the same, she
added, sotto voice; "it's just as well
to be prepared =
q "Well, then" began Mr. Marischal
once more, sit must be nearly fifteen
q years ago. And I had not seen her
for fully ten years before that again!
i I was.not thinking of her in the least;
in a sense had really forgotten her;
she had quite gone out Of my life
that has always struck me as a very
curious point in the story" he added
parenthetically.
Won't you tell US who she was,
Uncle Paul?'' asked Nina. half shyly.
ooh, yes, l was going to do so. /
am not skilled in story telling, you
& see She was, when / first knew her
at the only time, indeed, that knew
her-a very sweet and attractive girl,
named Maud Bertram. She was very
pretty-more than pretty, for she had
remarka ably regular features-her pro-
hlewas always admired-and a tall and
graceful figure. And she was bright
and happy creature, too; that per-
haps, was almost her greatest charm.
You will wonder-I see the question
lowering on your lips. Miss Lloyd, and
on yours, too, Mrs. Snowdon-why, if
admired and liked her so much, l did
not go further. And / will tell you
frankly that did not because Idared
not. [ had then no prospect of being
/ able to marry for years to come, and
was not very young. was already
thirty, and Maud was quite ten years
younger. was wise enough and old
enough to realize the situation
thoroughly, and to be on my guard. !"
4 "And Maud?" asked Mrs. Snowdon.
aShe was surrounded by admirers
/ it seemed to me then that it would
have been insufferable conceit to have
even asked myself if it could matter
to her. 1t was only in the light of
after events that the possibility of
my having been mistaken occurred to
me. And don't even now see that ]
could have acted otherwise here
Uncle Paul sighed a little '.We were
the best OF friends. She knew that I
admired her, and she seemed to take
frank pleasure in it's being SO. had
always hoped that she really liked
and trusted me as q friend, but no
more. The last time I saw her was
/ just before T started for Portu.
gal, where / remained three
years. When l returned TO
i London Maud had been married for
two years, and had gone straight out
| to India on her marriage, and except
by some few friends who had known
US both intimately seldom heard her
mentioned. And time passed. can
not say | had exactly forgotten her,
but she was not much or often in my
thoughts. / was a busy and much
absorbed man, and life had proved a
serious matter to me. Now and then
some passing resemblance would re-
call her to my mind-once especially,
when had been asked to look in and
see the young wife of one of my cous-
ms in her court dress, something in
her figure and bearing brought back
Maud to my memory, for twas thus,
in full dress, that had last seen her,
and thus. perhaps unconsciously, her
image had remained photographed on
my brain. But as far as can recol-
+ lect at the time when the oc-
currence / am going to relate to
you happened, I had not been think
ing of Maud Bertram for months. I
was in London just then, staying
with my brother, my eldest brother,
who had been married for several
1 years and lived in our own old town
house in-Square. It was in April,
a clear spring day, with no fog or half
!; lights about, and it was not yet 4
O'Clock in the afterno very
ghost-like circumstances, you will adj
NIT. | had come home early from my
club--it was a sort of holiday time
with me just then for few weeks, in
tending to get some letters written
which had been on my mind for some
q days, and I had sauntered into the Ii
brary, a pleasant, tair-sized room,
lined with books, on the first floor.
Before setting to work sat down for
q moment or two in an easy chair by
the fire, for it was still cool enough to
make a fire desirable, and began
thinking over my letters. No thought,
no shadow OF a thought of my old
friend Miss Bertram was present with
q me, of that am perfectly certain. The
4 door was on the same side of the
room as the fireplace; as sat there,
hall facing the fire, / also half faced
the door. had not shut it properly
on coming in. had only closed it
without turning the handle, and ] did
s. r7nf fool ,,,ico6 u,lony, e1ou,1x-