The Opelousas courier., 1891-03-14

fraught with peril in the matter of sup
plies. The weak-eyed young man wa
in a state of excitement bordering OF
delirium. Lady Loveday sighed as he
eye ran owe the mass Of pushing, per
spring, be.mackintoshed human being.
on the platform
t7There isn't a soul here that / want tt
speak to-" she thought, settling into the
comfortable corner-rlace which ths
youthful professor had secured for her
and then, as her eye caught the Square.
shouldered back of a check-coated man
in. the distance, she added, mentally
stThat looks like a nice man. His hal,
is cut beautifully short, and he's got g
brown neck and a properly ironed collar.
He reminds me of poor Dick"
But, directly after, the train steamed
out of the station and Lady Loveday's
"reminiscences came to an end. She had
TO make conversation with her cicerone
for the day, and a whole ~carriageful OF
other people. By the time they had
arrived at the pits mouth and were
waiting their turn to go down, Lena was
not sure that she wanted to engage in
such a perilous experiment.
Only a quarter of the trainful of peo-
pie could be accommodated under the
shed which covered the shaft. the rest
were waiting outside. Finally, however,
she was jammed with some sever or
eight other people, including her sclenti-
fc admirer; in the b~aize-covered bucket,
and was emptied out, after an uncanny
descent through a black void, into The
brown-walled cavern at the bottom. The
mine had been decorated with thousands
of candles in honor of the event, and each
visitor was provided with a tallow dip
etuck into a wooden handle. Down in
the depths of the mine the Scotch pro.
fessor waxed confidential.
"This man is getting a bore" thought
Lady Loveday; ~ must really eysde him
somehow" and with another turn
of the rock she managed to slip away
from him. Candle in hand, she followed
a group of people in front of her. Pres
emily one Of the party-the young man
whose back she had seen ON the platform
stopped, and, with an action which
she recognized at once, struck a match,
stopped his head, and lighted a cigarette.
"Why, it is Dicki" she murmured;
and just then he turned and saw her.
ssI thought you were in-Afghanistan,"
she went on, ~hurriedly, as he stood gaz-
ing at her.
$50 I have been, for the last two
years. That frontier business took
than I thought. And your
Lady Loveday blushed and looked
down. Here was an adventure after her
own heart. She wa a curious mixture
of practical worldliness and theoretical
sentimentality. She had liked him, hand
some, penniless Captain Bramwell, more
than any man she had ever known, aud
ne-well, she was quite aware he had
the very ground she trod on.
But all that was three years ago, and in
;hree years there are many changes.
81 saw you the other night" he con-
presently; ''you came in an aw-
fetching cloak, with a white, fluffy
hing round your neck. I've been trying
o find you out ever since, but nobody
hat I asked could tell me anything about
Miss Gardner"
Lady Loveday smiled. He did not
Know of her marriage, theng The ca
,rice took her not TO tell him just yet
he wanted, womanlike, to see if he had
'emained faithful all these years.
"Oh, I'm suck IN Insignificant person
n the midst of all these bigwigs."
Dick smiled back ct her-he had a
charming smile-and they wandered
long together, each with a tallow dip
iickering and spluttering, and fitfully
their handsome young faces. She
lad not altered one bit, he said; and she
declared he was as brown as a Hindoo,
would have to be scraped white.
flies when old lovers meet, end
learly an hour had gone before Dick had
old her that he had come down to the
to read a paper in the geo.
,raphical section. Would she come and
rear ito OF course, Of couse, she wouldg
Poor old Dickl Why, he was just as
lsrd hit, she firmly believed, as ever.
When they at length got back to the
,ottom of the shaft, there was not a soul
o be seen. The awful truth began to-
lawn upon them that they had been left
How easy that might be, with
he five Oh six hundred people who had
'ome with the excursion, they both saw
e q glance. What was to be donea
Enthusiastically nothing. Lady
turned greenish white as
he leaned against the rock.
ssSir James," she moaned-"Sir
ames would never let me die like a dog
. a hole"
stSir James?' said Dick, surprised.
You mean the Presidents Is he q
reat friend of yoursg"
HE is-O my poor Dick!-he is-my
usbandl" she faltered, not daring to
ook at him now. Captain Bramwell
ave a little whistle and turned away.
What a farce, and how like Lena the
hole thing Wasl Lady Loveday did
OF see him smile.
"Forgive mel" she murmured, step-
ing nearer to him, and, laying a caress-
lg hand on his arm. She was very
md of the drama, and that was always
hat they said in plays, when the old
'ver came back from India and found
ie heroine faithless.
''My poor child" he answered grave
:, ssIIl forgive you anything-as long
we ever get out of this pit"
lena could hardly conceal her disap- ! !
ointment. Was it possible-actually
he did not care, that he