Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-03-16

hlem of her social DOsitiol.
81 do not wonder" she replied, calmly;
for am not miss at all. am a WIDOW
- am deeply Prievedl" exclaimed Mr.
Drane hastily. ~ blow OF that nature
coming upon one so young must be severe
indeed
There was n most improper twinkle IN
the Young wOman'5 eyes rs she responder
pray do not distress yourself. My widow
hood came s0 unexpectedly. was such = sur
Prise. in fact. that II was more Of shocN
than blow There were certain cOmpch--
eotinc circumstances, but. OF course, !
ought not to speak OF such matter
"Eo, I suppose not" admitted NJ.
Drane. rather dubiOnslv Even IN NJ
wretohed situation he felt an extraordinary
interest IN this young widow. and be Won
dored again vaguely now it came tlat enc
WAS away from her employment at dhy-
break. She was tapping tho ground WIN
her foot thOughttully, evidently hesitat,lI
about continuing her explanation. MI'
Drano was naturally curious. Clrcun-
stances had brought them strangely To-
rother. What could be better than 10 eA-
change condolences He began.
You have been so good, madam. as 20
admit the possibility OF my having seen
better days. That is decidedly the cas-,
and I mean 90 see better ones yet II luck u
not wholly against me.
Then he stopped abruptly, for the con-
seriousness of his situation overwhelmed
him. and he felt the absurdity OF commune
in 4 mere servant. Tho young woman dId
not notice his manner.
at 10 YOU who have been good" sne
eaid. land you ought 70 know more fuHy
how YOU have bcfrlcnded me. Ny story -
a strange one; people DO not credit II, Dug
trust YOU viii believe me. Let us slI
down. for ! am fotigued with anxiety ana
sleeplessnes-.'
S6ll this same irritating condescenslQonl
from a lady's maid Mr.. Drane thoughI
uefuly of bis bedragcled appearance ana
admitted that appearances Justihed IT,
What becomes Of the fine
- mans man for n THAI"
whom everybody estimates bin by his ap-
parcl? How can the Tagamutlin meintal u
ms own plide when he knows that the rest
of the world j. against him! II - 1olly 70
kick against appearances, and what - Ioh
80 ueeless. and what ls useless should not
be held: ergo, a man who appears to be q
yacabond and disIeputabie IS vaGaOond
and i .srepuinIlo, and so much the worse
# he eiu1hOrnly uudeaYOr 10 malntaln the
contrary. Sucn was the bitter tram OF rea-
eoniuo INDUCED by Dir. Drene a. he and
the fair voung widow went 10 the hehch
from which she had been driven. for she
was fair, notwithstanding sundry evidences
of o sleepess night. and interesting III
spite of her biz cuffs and iace I'M. .,
ITO BEGIN. as woman must, at neither
end OF the storv,n she BEGAN when they
were seated. You must know that pos
se.s immense wealth"
Sir. Drane rose quickly.
- beg your pardon for the interrupt
ton" he sad, " bat doyou happen to have
any Of that with your ,
" Alas! no. y" she replied. dismally. and
that les not lie worst of IT,
IT'S as bad IA 1t can be for the mo.
1neut," MI Urane insisted. ~ lac resumed
Iis scat. lyon see. would have been
very Glad TO give YOU my note for five
hundred if you bad II convenient"
The young woman looked at nm search
should be wicked IL did not desire
10 hclp vou, poor man. she said Gravely
land trust the time may come speedily
when shall be able 70 do So"
Mr.. Draue was Ftung, but not crushed.
you must understand he exclaimed,
"that should repay II. Eve got plenty
of money. that is. there's plenty belonging
to M. and / can get II If can only prove
my identity
Tho young woman's eyes were dilated
with wonder and doubt.
"Strarre," she said slowly. "for that is
evqctlv nav own co-e. You shall tell me
your story presently. Listen 70 ml1e. l
became an orphan M an early ago and IN
til "a little more than year ago l lived
with NV guardian, warm friend Of my
fathers. in Buffalo. At the time Of
which ! am about TO speak with
sorne PARTICULARLY ] had just attained
nv majority SO that / controlled
what little property had been be-
oupathed 10 ME. / still lived with my
Guardian, however, and had not thought
seri 1usly of the fact that | was at last abso-
lutely responsible being IN the world.
There had been some sUltOrs FOR my hand,
lut 10 none had ] shown the least favor.
THAT they were al sincere ] hayeno doubt,
for nv fortune was too slight to be temp
taiion. Among them WIS a singular young
man Of really immense riches. tie was
generally credited with being thep OssessOr
OF thirteen Millions"
"Dcuced unlucky figure" interposcd
You shall sec" said the fair narrator
"I could not BRING myself 10 feel towards
this v0ung man asl believe q woman
should towards r. husband, although had
10 reason 10 entertain any tNlng hut re-
spect for his character. My guardian
pleaded with me o. make match 80 pal
pably desirable, tut L could not consent.
II was while tins matter was pend
ING that some OF Iny associates ar
ranged 30 give an amateur theatrical per-
Torrance for the benefit Of 4 char.ta-
bic institution. As fortune, or perhaps
shrewd design, would have It, this wealthy
Young man and ] were cast for opposite
parts. had plainly rejected lis proposals
10 me, but he would not take no for an
answer. and he persisted IN quiet, good
Eatured devotion that | could not resent,
hut which began u grow lrkSone, until at
last ! feared That ! should have to marry
him In order 90 be free from him. / was IN
this half tormented spirit whom we met
one uight at a private house fOr rehearsal.
HE was always insisting that We should
go over our love scenes AGAIN and again,
and the others who understood the situa-
ton sided with Linn. At the end of that
evening. having leased me as much rs pos
siblo. he suggested that we carry the story
Of our plqv to it, logich conclusion by re-
heArsinc marriage ceremony. It's some
thing We must all come to- he said, aud |
IMAGINE that a fellow would feel much bet
ter before the altar # he had learned how
to 90 through the motions the others
(silly young thiugs.) wore Tired with the
idea, and without further thought ar
ranged the furniture 50 as 10 represent an
altar. tine chaucel-rail, and all that -
& yery reprchensiblc proceeding" COM
meuted Dir. Drane. The young woman
was about to proceed when II gray-coatcd
officer. one If those guardians of public
parks ironically known as sparrow
chasers," stepped up and addressed Mr..
DraLe:
Say, yous. do you think nobody else
don't want % SIT down. | let You sleep
on your jag here, see an its bout time
you moved on, see?"
Mr.. Drano was about 10 resent the inter
ference when the young woman whisper
ed:
Say nothing and obeyp
So they rose. and followed for moment
by the policeman's curious eyes, walked
along the winding path to another bench
where they sat down again.
"OficIous impudence!" muttered Mr..
Drane."
Never mind" said the young woman.
soothingly. lie has To do something TO
earn his pay. Let me see, where was I OH
the other bench?"
" At the mock chancel rail"
oh. yes; well. leased as I was | con-
sented 10 the farce, saying that 1t should
be the last of my lovers nonsense that
would endure. We went through an alb
surd rignarole, they made me saw lots OF
foolish things. and at the end the young
man who played the minister in