New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-07


Mrs " exchanging mute pite9Ms slsn'ls i; "'
distress. What was 10 be done? Wlthon' eA'll-
ing remark. our hostess colld not Tor az r's,
fifteen or twenty minutes give the signal 1or Inc
ladies to depart. For an instant caught her eye,
and read in il Wild dcspairlnc appeal Tor hcIp'
Half a minute more. AMI the entire SITUATION mus
have been plain 10 everybody. The taplr was a.
ready beginning 10 be strre with a sehse OF some
thing unusual. ] rapidly breathcd what slP-
posed was prayer braced myself ior al cnoI',
and addressed my Vis-a-vis in loud. hrm zones
Pardon me. Sir, bit what you say rchlhuS
mc--
II am speaking TO this lady. sir his manner
was quite courteous" and really must
" If YOU will kindly allow me. said. very po-
litely but with endcaV0r 10 introduce Il con-
siderable amount of resolution INTO NY tone
what You say brings 10 MY mlhd 80 .iyiuN an
incident that once happened 70 me; lhai cannot
refrain from relating It. You VIII Hhn IL "oi'n
listening to. | imagine
DisIegarding a movement Of impotence ON The
part of Of the gentlemen, with whose dislike
for anccdOte | would under other circumstances,
have been in perfect sympathy, l went ON
Some years ago
Here a gesture from all the gentlemen, and
half-suppressed groan from one or TWO; Wnle'
among the ladies' rustic Of pleased anlcIpa'loh'
proceeded rrcntlessy Is:
Some years ago when barely twenty | was
returning from The Cape, whittier mad been sent
in search Of health We had Il pleasant company
on board, composed of strangely varied clements,
which yet seemed happily chosen for blending into
the most perfect harmony and good-tello"ship
Among the more noticeable OF The passengers was n
lady. whose age might have been anything from
twenty two to twenty seven: Intelligent. aT1stlc,
handsome married, but whether wife or widow.
none Of us, think. knew In the crowd OF gay
and gOod-humored people who Helped 10 charm
away the monotony of the voyage, Sht might we'll
have been awarded the first place and our plcas-
ant evenings in the saloon were indebted 10 her
for much of their success. If one had 20 find d
fault in her, il would, perhaps have been that
she too brilliant bright and sparkling rather
than amiable or tender: that her clevcTncSs was u
trille tinGed with sarcasm and that altogether
ones predominant feeling in regard 10 her was adj
miTatiOn rather than liking. But il seems m
gracious to cav at the very qualities which made
her prc-enincntly good COMPANY and SO laid us all
under "a deep obligation. was at that dreamy
agr when our powers, habits, Of observation are
htful and erratic; when we fail to notice the nine
and ninety things that perfectly obvious and
are keenlN awe 10 the hundrcdtb. which 10 one
would ever have expected lis 10 II was my
within 10 he interested i'm her: and in the
intervals when | was not watching the recei-
ing southern Cross or wondering how many
yet undreamt Of in my philosophy. hadl the i'm
pertinence TO speculate about her 10 conSid rabc
extent. And the first result of my speculation was
that ! persuaded myself that detected a forced
note in her gaycty. She sang. and sang well: bat
II was strange how pcrSistPntly she avoided these
tender songs | would have preferred To hear. and
gave MS. for the most part. songs that mDcked
at life, or wild gypsy melodies ringing with De-
fame. and full of passion too fierce 10 he called
by the gentle name of love. The 'lIsbancra Of
Carmen then comparatively NEW was perhaps
that ought to have been convincing. that would
have convinced any but very Young man OBJ
stinately bent on maintaining his theory And my
theory. OF course was OF woman bearing about
fifth her q deeply hidden SORROW. woman OF IN
tense tenderness Incorporating a. hcarless. fearful
of revealing anything lest sh' should reveal too
much ! began 20 court her society. and you may
imagine that in the course of many walks on deck
| was able 10 manufacture good deal Of evidence
to cOrrObOratr M theory
During ALI This i could see the face OF my friend
xpi + T.
tenton and an earnest determination not - fail
10 discover in what the precise apposit'nc-s Of my
story might consist.
81 saw that | manufactured evidence. for really
there was none Our conversation was always
Of the most ordinary character. and. 80 far ~
il went perfectly frank and friendly | was not
in love with her-not in the least: considering
the circumstances. and the fact that | was twenty.
and she some few years older. have since re-
garded il a most marvellous thing that was
not: but ! suppose my intense intellectual Interest
in her. not to call it by the vulgar name Of
curiosity engro>sed he completely. Always was
watching for the revelation Of her inner deeper
sef and il never came. Once, remember. we
were crossing. we Had often crossed before
sort Of bridge btwcen the two decks. Beneath
we coull see right down int, the ships hold
depth that seemed al times quite fearful. This
evening She paused awhile lookd down. shuddcrcd
slightly, and passed on. ] always regarded That
little action as symbOcal Of our intercourse. We
kept strictly 10 the level uprr walks OF TIE con
vcntionaitles and mediocrili"s. What dreadful
cargo she carried. if any. ] YVES never privileged
- know. She always seemed 10 me lowell, 10
shuddcr. and pass on.
Did SAY that my theory found a'syllIieF no
evidence u support II. was wrong. There Was
just trifc, light air. if you Will ! have
said that her SONGS were of the wild. hcrcc. de-
FAINT hooking kind But sometimes IN tn pau~r5
Of our cOnycrsaton-ior We had grown To be Oh
sufficiently good terms 10 sustain even loH2
pauses without awkwardne-~-l have heard her
gently humming 10 herself and lancird. or rather
not merely fancicl. that | caught the t'ndcirr
note now bar or two OF HecthO.cn. now Il song
Of Schumamn. or a snatch oil Eisas music ~ 10,
brncrin' and. more often STILL some simpi' OLD
scotch nelody-'Ne banks and braes,' ! know |
have heard. and Aud Robin Gray
Here lady AT tbe other end OF the table
suddenly dropped her fruit-kDifc. with little eA-
clamstion.
IL fear | weary YOU | said.
No. no. Quite the reverse. Go on. please
with much emphasis
We'll, couple or nights before we reached
Madeira I dreamed of her. a dream that ! know
became provokihgly indistlnct Ont Of i came
TO me but one IDEA. but that stood forth with
startling irresistible force. Through the dream
and aftcrward with increasing persistence. wa,
Haunted by the question viii there be letter
for her at Madeira :" IT borne in upon me, ~
manner not to be withstood. that issues Of the
swcr 10 This question 1t filed my mind 10 an
extent quite absurd and incredible / loneed 10
speak TO her about il YET ire very same reason
rendered il impossible that should 90 81. =.
smch words a. these Won. | suppose. like the
rest of us. expect news AT Madeira :? How many
times such words were on the tip Of my tongue
But the more strongly | was iinpelcd TO speak
them the more strongly felt that the spanking
Of them wonld be an unwarran'sbc liberty. g
presumptuous request for confidence that conid
be nothing short Of sacred. While nv nllnd was
st1l tortnred by this cver-incrcasing curiosity, We
reached Madeira
A trivial but still quite compelling. circun-
stance occurred ths-, to prevent my learning
4 .n1
t5e island r--neither saw nor heard anything Of
INV friend That no letter had come on board
for her ! afterward asccrtained: but She hnd
gone on shore, and of mr. movements
Chile there no one seemed to have any KNOWLEDGE
A few hours after We had started, | saw heT
for O. moment at the door of her room, ana one
glance al her face sufficient TO tell me tiH,
STbatever the answer TO my dream-nucstion. the
result for her had moi been happy. All the gayety:
real or assumed, was gone now, and III iis stead
there was such an expression oil agony ana nope