Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-09-21

and yet not quite abandoned began to tell upon
her health. Then il was that madam changed
her manner; she appealed to her niscs's pride;
| Fanshaws was evidently heartless trifisr, and
was she, the last Of an cid and honored name,
70 hing away her heart and her sslf-rsspeot
after man who had long since forgotten her?
Mrs Latimer softened the blows she inflicted
oy renewed tenderness and care for Frances,
and the double appeal to her woman,s pride
and her flial love was not made in vainA Pride
| forbade her to unburden her heart to Mrs.
Graham; Fanshawe never again visited his re-
| lations and it was only accidentally that his
( promotion and success came to her ears. She
was glad OF 1t for his sake. but still more for her
own. Capt. Fanshawe did not seem the same
person as the young lieutenant, and it was
easier to forget him in his new and unfamiliar
| dignity. Little by little she regained her old
calm OF mind and manner; Fanshawe was ban
| lshed from her thoughts and, as she hoped,
| from her heart But hers was faithful ma
ture and If she could not bear to dwell upon
| the scene in the yew alley, at least she could
not repeat it with another lover.
| III.
Miss Latimer rose slowly from her chair by
the fire and with little sigh of reluctance laid
her work aside and crossed the room to an
| old bureau that stood sideways in the broad
bay window, and. drawing out the wooden
rests, unlocked and let down the flap, thereby
| tiers to be answered She sat down and attacked
them with more virtue than good will, and was
deep in the problem of weights and measures
III relation to pounds. shillings and pence. when
something leaped suddenly upon the table be-
her, almost upsetting the inkstand and
dashing the pen from her hand. That strange
gray cat again." cried she, with an accent
OF vexation due more to the trials of house.
keeping and accounts than to the presence
u the cat, which was rubbing its head
against her shoulder with a deep purr of
pleasure. Miss Frances was extremely fond
OF animals, and. when the said gray cat
mysterlously made its appearance some days
previously, she had not had tho heart to drive
1t away. There was something in its size and
stately movements. calm superiority in its
blg gray eyes, which made the necessary ad-
Juncts OF departure--the brickbats and .'shoo
cats!"-assume a sort Of moral incongruity al
most amounting to crime. Anyhow, the
gray cat staid on in the great house and APP
peared to have a special fondness for the
walnscoted parlor and the company of Miss
Frances. 1t was, however, dignified and un-
demonstrative creature, and it gave Miss Lati-
mer kind OF mental shock to find that it could
coax and purr after the fashion of the veriest
kitchen kitten. 1t seemed to find a peculiar
pleasure IN the connection of the lady aud
the bureau, and rubbed alternately against
the shoulder of one and the front of the other
as II i. had found secret affinity
between them. The interior of the bureau was
lined with drawers, three on either sde and
above them again with pigeon holes full of
letters, docketed bills &c. The central drawer
had a hanging handle OF quaintly-carved brass
and with this the cat graveiy played, patting it
softly as it would have done a mouse, Miss
Frances watched it for some time. half
fascinated by its grace and by a puzzling
sense of recognition. Where had she seen the
gray cat before? 1t had the familiarity of an
old friend. ALI at once the creature turned
| from the handle, and lifting its head with an
air Of solemn pride, looked straight at Miss
Latimer. With a mingling of pain and amuse-
ment the reason for her perplexity flashed
across her. AS far as a cat can resemble q
human being, in SO far the gray cat the
very image of Great-aunt Sarah.
MISS LatlmerS amusement gave wav to q
consciousness of something like irreverence;
the look of proud affection in the cats ewes be-
came unbearable, and with little shudder she
lifted 1t of the table, set it gently on the floor
and turned deliberately to her books The cat
made no attempt to disturb her again. and she
gradually shook off the feeling of discomfort it
had caused her. Book after book was added I'D
and laid on one side and the sum total of each
set on slip Of paper, till at last Miss Latimer
loosened from her chatelaine a bunch of keys
and proceeded to fit one into the middle drawer
and open it. The drawer stuck and the force
necessary to move it pulled it right out of its
place in the bureau. Instead ofreplacing it Miss
Frances set it down beside her and drew
her check book out of it. The rattle of the
hanging handle as she did SO must have at
tracted the cat, for it leaped swiftly up into
its old place upon the flap and began to scratch
and sniff in the empty receptacle for the
drawer. SO intent was 1t upon this that at last
Miss Latimers curiosity was reused. She OBJ
served that the cat continued to pat and sniff
at one side only Of the hollow.
Could there be a mouse in it? Impossible.
The hollow was clear and there was no hole or
room for any animal larger than fy.
hat har af%
left the hole and with beseeeching eyes, rubbed
against Miss Latimers shoulder. The latter
bent down and carefully examined the hollow;
nothing was to be seen. She put her hand in
and felt all around the sides. thrill of ex-
cltement went through her, for assuredly some
thing had moved against her touch; she pressed
more closely and deliberately and small, deep
drawer sprang out into the open space. She
drew 1t out upon the flap and saw that it was
full OF letters, on the top of which lay folded
slip OF paper sealed with her Great-aunt Sarah's
seal. 1t had no vestige Of writing or address
upon it and Miss Latimer held it in her hand,
hesitating whether to open it or not, when sud-
denly her eyes fell upon the letters She took
them up and saw that they were all in the
same neutrality-suspicious., decided and obvi-
same address:
To Miss FRANCES LAr1MER
.-. The Great House.
Latlmsr,
V>orthdnptOnsnlre
miss Frances Latimer?' For a moment or
two she wondered in a confused foolish kind
OF fashion who Miss Frances Latimer might be:
then suddenly mental illumination an intui-
ton lucid as q certainty, struck her with sharp
pain.
They were Jack Fanshawe's letters and thew
were meant for her!
A tumult Of passions swept her quiet soul:
curiosity, indignation, and reawakened love.
She trembled like leaf, and the cat, evidently
frightened at her emotion, sprang down from
the table and took refuge under q sofa.
For some minutes Frances sat- the letters be-
fore her, the sealed paper in her hand. too
shaken and confused to think or act: but at last
she rose, moved to the fireplace, and deliber-
ately broke the seal and unfolded the slip of
paper. 1t was written all over in her great
aunts fine italian hand, close, minute, but
clear as print.
Frances gave one look at the face above her
looking calmly and proudly down upon her
agitation, and with sudden hardening of ewes
and heart began to read:
SHOULD this secret drawer and its contents ever
come to the eyes Of my great-niece, Frances Mary
Latlmer, or OF any of my descendants it Is neces-
sary TO my honor and that of our house that there
should be some explanation of its existence /
shall not speak here of the love and hopes which I
an old ana weary woman, have centered upon
Frances; she best knows how great they were
''She also knows in some sort my repugnance to
matrinony and my innate distrust of men. II
could have done 50 consistently with my loyalty
toward our house and name would have kept her
unmarried. As 1t was desired TO see her marry
one who would consent to take her name and
whoss birth and fortune at least equaled her own
Years went by and M ollaa