Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-16

the next two minutes he and were shouting
at each other like maniacs-he vowing that II
was the younger sister he had meant to propose
| to all along and telling him till my throat was
| hoarse that he must have made q mistakei
cant account for this except, again, by the fact
| that we were neither OF Ms ourselves. Every
| thing seemed 70 me like Q bad dream-from
the stamping Of the horses in the darkness to
Saumarez telling me the story OF bis loving
Edith Copleigh from the first
| He was still clawing my shoulder and beg
ging me to tell him whore Edith Copleigh was
| when another luil came and brought light with
| it, and we saw the dust-cloud forming on the
plain in front of rs So we knew the worst
| was over. The moon was low down, and there
| was Just the glimmer of the false dawn that
| comes about an hour before ths real one. But
| the light very faint. and the dun cloud
roared like hull. / wondered where Edith
Copleigh had gone. and as 1 was won
| dering l saw three things together.
First Maud Copleigh's face came. smil-
| ing out of the darkness and moved toward Sau-
marez. who was standing by me. heard the
| girl whisper, George" and slide her arm
through the arm that was not clawing my shout
! der, and saw that look on her face which only
| comes once or twice in q lifetime-whe q
woman is perfectly happy and the air is full Of
| trumpets and gorgeous-colored fire and the
/ earth turns into cloud because she loves and is
loved. At the same time saw Summaries face
! as he heard Maud Copleigh's voice and fifty
yards away from the clump Of orange trees
| saw brown holland habit getting upon a horse
1t must have been my state of over excite
| ment that made me SO quick to NEEDLE with
what did not concern me. Saumarez was NOV
ing off to the habit but / pushed him back
and said: stop here and explain. I'll fetch
her back! And ran out to get my own horse.
Ihad perfectly unnecessary notion that every
thing must be done decently and in order, that
Saumarez's first care was to wipe the happy
look out Of Maud Copleigh's face. AL the time
was linking up the curb chain l wondered
how he would do it.
cantered after Edith Copleigh, thinking to
bring her back slowly on some pretense or an
other. But she galloped away soon she
saw me, and | was forced to ride after her in
earnest. She called back over her shoulder:
''Go away! I'm going home. Oh, go away!'
two or three times; but my business was to
catch her first and argue later The ride just
ground was very bad and now and again We
rushed through the whirling, choking
dust devils In skirts of the flying storm
There was a burning hot wind blowing that
brought up q stencil of stale brick kilns with 1T;
and through the half light and through the
dust devils. across that desolate plain. hickered
the brown habit on tho gray horse. She
headed for the station at first. Then she
wheeled round and set off for the river through
beds of burnt-down Jungle grass, bad even to
rid pig over. In cold blood l should never
have dreamed Of going over such a country at
night, but it seemed quite right and natural
with the lightning cracking over head and
reek like the smell of the pit in my nostris.
rode and shouted, and she bent forward and
lashed her horse, and the aftermath OF the
dust-storm came up and caught US both and
drove US down-wind like pieces OF paper
/ don't know how far we rode but the drum
ing of the horse hoofs and tho roar of the wind
and the race Of the faint blood-red moon
drought he yellow mist seemed to have gone on
for years and years. and was literally drenched
with sweat from my helmet to my CATERS when
the gray stumbled, recovered himself and
pulled up dead lame.
My brute was used up altogether. Edith Cop
leigh was in sad state, plastered with dust. her
helmet of and crying bitterly. "Why can't
you let me alone?" she said. II only wanted
to get away and go home. Oh, please let me
60"
You have got to come back with me, Miss
Copleigh. SaumareZ has something to say to
you"
1t was foolish way Of putting it, but I hardly
knew Miss Copleigh, and though was play
ing Providence at the cost of my horse, l could
not tell her in as many words what SaumareZ
had told me. / thought he could do that bet
ter himself. All her pretense about being
tired and wanting to go home broke down and
she rocked herself to and fro In the saddle
she sobbed and the hot wind blew her black
hair to leeward. / am not going to repeat
what she said, because she was utterly un-
strung.
This. if you please. was the cynical Miss Cop
leigh. Here was l, almost an utter stranger to
her, trying to tell her that Saumsrez loved her,
and she was to come back to hear him say SO.
l believe ] made myself understood, for she
gathered the gray together and made him hob
bic somehow and we set off for the tomb, while
the storm went laundering down to Umballa,
and few big drops Of warm rain fell.
found out that she had been standing
close to SaumareZ when he proposed to
her sister. and had wanted to go home to cry
in peace, as an English girl should. She
dabbed her eyes with her pocket handkerchief
as she went along, and babbled to me out of
sheer lightness OF heart and hysteria. That
was perfectly unnatural, and yet it seemed all
world was only the two Copleigh girls, Sau-
marez and l, ringed in with the lightning and
the dark, and the guidance of this misguided
world seemed to lie in my hands.
When we returned to the tomb in the deep,
dead stiffness that followed the storm. the dawn
was just breaking and nobody had gone away.
They were waiting for our return. Saumarez
most of all. HIS face was white and drawn.
As Miss Copleigh and I hmped up he came
forward to meet US, and when he helped her
down from her saddle he kissed her before all
the picnic. 1t was like scene in theater.
and the likeness heightened by all the
dust-white. ghostly looking men and women
under the orange trees, clapping their hands
as II they were watching play-at Saumarez's
choice. never knew anything SO un-English
in my life.
Lastly, Saunsrez said we must all go home
or the station would come out to look for US
and would be good enough to ride home with
Maud Copleigh? Nothing would give me
greater pleasure, said.
SO we formed up. six couples in all, and went
back. two by two, SsumareZ walking by the
side Of Edith Coplsigh, who was riding his
horse.
The air was cleared; and little by little, as
the sun rose. felt We were all dropping back
again into ordinary men and women aud that
the Great Pop Picnic" was a thing altogether
apart and out of the world-never to happen
again. 1t had gone with the dust storm and the
Jingle in the hot air.
felt tired and limp and good deal ashamed
of myself as l went in for bath and some
sleep.
There Is womans version Of this story, but
it will never be written unless Maud
Copleigh cares to try. RUDYARD KIPLISa.
MISS BELL A BELLE.
Her Fame Is Rung by the Ladies of