The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1891-06-04

One drops through the dark So"
Torpenhow thrust out a large and hairy
paw from the long chair. Dick clutched it
i tightly, and in half an hour had fallen
asleep Torpenhow withdrew his hand,
and, STOPPING over Dick, kissed him lightly
on the forehead as men do sometimes kiss
a wounded comrade in the hour of death, to
ease his departure.
In the gray dawn Torpenhow heard Dick
talking to himself He was adrift on the
shoreless tides of delirium, speaking very
quiekly
sslt's pity-a great pity. But it's helped,
and it must be eaten, Master George,
sufficient unto the day is the blindness
thereof, and, further, aside all Melancolias
and false humors, it is OF obvious notoriety
such as mine was-that the queen can do
no wrong Torp doesn't know that. III
tell him when we're little further into
the desert. What bungle those boatmeA
are making of the steamer ropes! They'll
have that four-inch haWser chafed through
in minute I told you SO! There she goes
White foam on green water, and the steamer
Slowing round How good that looks! I'll
sketch it. No. can't. I'm afflicted with
ophthalnlia. That was one of the ten
plaques of Egypt and it extends up the Nile
in the shape of a cataract Ha! that's
joke. Torp. Laugh, you craven image, and
stand clear of the hawser. It'll
knock you into the water and make your
dress all dirty, Maisie dear"
"Oh!" said Torpenhow. "This happened
before. That night on the river"
'sShell be sure to say it's my fault if you
get muddy, and you're quite near enough to
the breakWater. Maisie, that's not fair.
All? knew you'd miss. Low and to the
left, dear. But you've no conviction.
Everything in the world except conviction.
Don't be angry, darling. I'd cut my hand
off if it would give you anything more than
obstinacy My right hand, fit would serve"
'sNow we mustn't listen. Here's an island
shouting across seas Of misunderstanding
with a vengeance. But it's shouting truth,
I fancy" said Torpenhow.
The babble continued It all bore upon
Maisie Sometimes Dick lectured at length
on his craft; then he cursed himself for his
folly in being enslaved. He pleaded to
Maisie for kiss-only one kiss-before she
went away. He called to her to come back
from Vitry-sur- Marine, if she would; but
through all his rawlings he bade heaven and
earth witness that the queen could do no
wrong.
Torpenhow listened attentively, and
learned every detail of Dicks life that had
been hidden from him. For three days Dick
raved through his past, and then slept a
natural sleep what strain he has been
running under, poor chap!" said Torpen-
how ''Dick, Of all men, handing himself
over like a dog And was lecturing him
on arrogance! I ought to have known that
it was no use to judge a man But did it.
What demon that girl must be! Dicks
given her his life-confound him !-and she's
given him one kiss, apparently"
sTorp," said Dick from the bed Ego out
for walk You've been here too long. I'll
get up. Hi! This is annoying. I can't
dress myself. Oh, it's too absurd!"
Torpenhow helped him into his clothes
and led him to the big arm chair in the
studio. He sat quietly waiting under
strained nerves for the darkness to lift. 1t
lid not lift that day, or the next. Dick adj
ventured on q voyage round the walls. He
hit his shins against the stove, and this sug-
gested to him that it would be better to
crawl on all-fours. one hand ii front of him
Torpenhow found him on the floor.
'I'm trying to get the geography Of my
new possessions" said he 'D'you re-
member that niger you gouged in the
square? Pity you didn't keep the odd eve.
It would have been useful. Any letters for
me? Give me all the ones in fat gray enve-
lopes with sort of crown thing outside
They are Of no Importance"
Torpenhow gave him letter with black
M. on the envelope flap. Dick put it into
his pocket. There was nothing in it tina
Torpenhow might not have read, but it be-
longed to himself and to Maisie, who would
never belong to him.
when she finds that don't write, she'll
stop writing. It's better so. / couldn't be
any use to her now" Dick argued, and the
tempter suggested that he should make
known his condition. Every nerve in him
reyolted II hive fallen low enough al
ready. I'm not going to beg for pity Be
sides, it would be cruel to her" He strove
to put Maisie out of his thoughts; but the
blind have many opportunities for thinking,
| and as the tides of his strength came back
to him in the long, employees days of dead
darkness, Dicks soul was troubled to the
core. Another letter, and another came from
Maisie Then there was silence, and Dick
sat by the window with the pulse Of sum
mer in the air, and pictured her being won
by another man, stronger than himself
! His imagination, the keener for the dark
background it worked against, spared him
no single detail that might send him raging
up and down the studio, to stumble over
the stove, that seemed to be in four places
at once. Worst of all, tobacco would not
taste in the dark. The arrogance of the
man had disappeared, and in its place was
settled despair that Torpenhow knew, and,
blind passion that Dick confded to his
pillow at night The intervals between the
paroxysms were filed with intolerable
wailing and the weight of intolerable dark
ness.
''Come out into the park" said Tor
penhow. ''You haven't stirred out since
the beginning of things"
whats the use? There's no movement
in the dark and, besides. he paused ir-
resolutely at the head of the stairs-''some-
thing will run over me-"