San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-07-06
Ten Minutes to TW6lVe.
By M. G.. MCLELLAND.

ence or human cur1OSly.
The question in point was, to whom
should the story first be told? Under
ordinary circumstance it would have
seemed to him most fitting that the per
son most nearly concerned in an affair
should be the one earliest made intimate
with it's ramiications; but the present
circumstances were anything but ordi-
nary, and the communication he wa
called upon to make might easily be
reckoned unprecedented. Royals in
stincts revolted from the straightfor-
ward method; it seemed to him rough
and brutal. He still hoped, in some as
yet misty and mysterious manner, to be
able to spare Phyllis a little, or at least
to soften things for her. knowledge Of
her affection had aroused his interest in
a way totally apart from, and yet
strangely commingled with, the interest
awakened by the peculiarly of his own
position toward her.
To this last, indeed, he gave little
thought, for in his mind she was still too
closely associated with John Royal to
admit of identification in II way with
ulIllSCil. II va SIMPLY SOuSSiOuo ID q
man of an infinite pity for her and as
a physician of the fact that here was a
case which would require delicate ham
ding.
His thought lowered around Mrs. Hart
with an ever increasing sense of relief and
satisfaction. Here was a beacon amid
the rough waters for them. He hadbeen
l,O,,rht TOO fran,,anf1u into f,ryforSui
ton with the creatureafeminine under
various and trying circumstances MOTTO
recognize a sensible and helpful woman
whenever he beheld one. If there should
be wO-se breakers ahead she wouldin-
dictate their presence and also show him
how to shape his course so as to avoid
more damage than would be imperative.
OF his own unaided efforts in this matter
he had come to feel profound distrust.
The event proved that he had not
reckoned without his host, for when the
| natural CONSERVATION and bewilderment
incident to an upheaval of accepted con-
ditions had passed away Mrs. Hart rallied
to his assistance with all the ~gallantry
of a large natured woman. Her &C
/ uudluOdLlSC cOuh lsoSol az DtCh
SO slight that her regret for his death
was without the poignancy of personal
bereavement, while her admiration, sym
PATTY and comprehension of his motives
and character rendered the process by
which she set him aport and exalted
him into a chevalier sans peur ct sans
| reproche a simple evolution of senti-
ment.
Her most active and dominant thought
in the matter was for Phyllis.
After some moments given to medita-
ton, during which Royal watched her,
conscious of naught so much as the re-
lief of divided responsibility, she turned
a troubled face toward him.
Its positively awful, this happening
| Just now" she declared. II mean it's
more disastrous than if it should have
happened at any other time. You
haven't got at all the complications yet;
but you're a doctor and a member of the
family, so l can speak quite freely, and
can depend on you, I'm sure, to help me
decide what will be best for that poor
child in the other room. This calamity
ought to be kept from her, and yet how
we are going to contrive to keep it l
can't see. Perhaps you may be able to
suggest a way"
In her anxiety she ignored the fact of
the marriage by proxy having really
taken place, or rather she unconsciously
allowed for it IN a wrong premise. DR..
Royal himself she accepted pretty much
i q, H., n,,nc,1yo hid ,o,a.taI h,-, os n
man who inspired trust and might help
| her out of a difficulty. The fact that so
| far he had proved himself more adroit at
| complicating difficulties than at fur
nishing solutions for them somehow
failed of its proper impression. John
Royals death, for the time being, ap-
peared to nullify all that had preceded it.
Royal nov learned that for more than
a year the girl had been under treat
ment for the disease which obscursd her
vision; that she had spent months at
Mrs. Harris house in Alexandria during
the previous winter, in order to be near
the celebrated oculist who had charge Of
her case, and who divided his time be-
tween New York and Washington. The
case had progressed 50 favorably that
the great man had appointed a day with
in that month-indeed, within the next
fortnight-for the final and all important
operation which would restore her sight
or leave her hopeless forever. ,
Meanwhile, the strictest care had been
enjoined to keep the patient bright and
hopeful, to surround her with cheerful
influences and auguries of promise.
| Nature must be induced to cooperate
with science to effect a cure. Amy sud-
den or overwhelming emotion, any vio-