San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-07-03
Ten Minutes to TW6IV6.
By M. G.. M'CLELLAND

niIl11eT w. r.oyaliGlt he could never
sufficiently applaud. He had fresh horses
put to the carriage as it stood before the
| door, and hustled about and hurried the
women with their preparations, laugh
ing and joking with the utmost j~oviality.
This was not farewell at all, he cheerily
declared, only that French thing the
| pronunciation of which he could never
remember, and which meant just moth
ing worth mentioning. The schedule
did not admit of extra kissing on the
down grade, and the party would GER
| tainly be left unless a limit was put to
embraces. As for recommendation to
take care of Phyllis and himself, he
| would scorn to name the thing to a man
| who could defeat death and the doctors,
and come hundreds of miles to be mar
| ried two months after he had been re-
| ported broken all to pieces.
So the journey commenced amid mer-
| riment and kindliness, and oYerwrought
as he was, even Royal lost sight for a
moment or two of the grim TACT that
| through him darkness and Ieath had
| joined hands.
When he had his charges safe in the
| car and felt the train in motion he drew
a long breath; he was another step
nearer the end, at all events. The strain.
on him was beginning to tell.
Phyllis was in the gayest spirits, and
laughed and chatted merrily. Her face
was closely covered, the heavy veil
doubled across her eyes, for which
Royal knew there must be reason, but
forebore to inquire intoit just yet. He
had gathered that the young lady's case
was far from hopeless, and the knowledge
| tn ! was so brought more relief and
thankfulness than his position toward
her would seem to warrant. He could
realize the intense Importance which i'm
mediate possession Of the money must
have had for John Royal-importance so
great that he had been willing to risk
his life to secure it. 1t might mean
sight to the eyes as well as food and raj
ment for the body of the woman he
loved. 1t made the conditions of the
will more difficult of comprehension than
ever, but he forebore to trouble his mind
with that question. Other matters were
more pressing than could be the solution
of an apparently impracticable woman's
vagaries.
They would make better time on the
down trip, the conductor informed him;
the grade would help instead of hinder
ing them.
Royal, cognizant of the inevitable pain
to which each revolution of the wheels
brought them more near, set himself to
prepare the minds of the women, in a
measure, as best he could. The girls
cheerfulness smote on hun with a sense
of discord, S though one should en-
| counter mirth at a deathbed. And yet
to sadden her seemed to him just then
| the hardest task he had ever been COM
PEELED to put his hand to. His pity
pulled him both ways-he could not let
the calamity fall on her like a thunder
bolt from a clear sky, and still, even to
turn her mind in the direction of the
coming disaster, to his overwrought
nerves appeared like drawing a child
into the already wavering shadow of a
rock which would presently fall and
crush it. 1t took all the courage of
II nv LO was hhhobOl W LOl1ON ULO lllIOc
laid down for himself.
He was as adroit as it is in the nature
of a straightforward man to be, and
there had been nothing to arouse the
| suspicion of his companions or make
them doubt his sincerity. To them he
was the master of the situation, the
grand male creature who had just proved
possession of manhood and ~puissance to
an unprecedented degree. They heark-
ened to him g~raciously, and treated him
with the subtle suggestion of trust and
dependence which Is spontaneous with
all womanly women. After a little the
talk, insensibly guided by Royal, drifted
to serious things, and he told them, as
of a strange and pitiful happening, of
his meeting on the train the day before
with a poor young fellow, i'll unto death
and in sore trouble. He told how he
(RoyaD had noticed him faiating in his
seat, and, being a physician, had gone to
him to do what he could. and then had
discovered that the sick stranger had a
claim on his care, being a brother Mason.
He spoke of the interest which this dis
cOVery mao aroused, anu OF now IL nau
deepened in view of the others courage
and patience, and of how he had been
obliged to leave him at last in the
strange hotel, without friend or hnsman
near, fighting his battle with the grim
destroyer alone. He made a little story
of it, and gave it to them as simply as he
could, hoping to arouse their interest
and sympathy. And they asked ques-
tons in hushed voices, and were sorry
in a sweet impersonal way, as women
will be over tales of sorrow.