Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-12-29

enznge ana travis
Before hzd TIME Co Snswer her the door
ope1sd aid a yoang nan came IN eagerly
huEEisdly--a y0eny Ian about my Own
age ami height. at the aght OF me he
stopped u surprise.
'-You have Ma<ts q mistake. str. said
msdeInoisslle. with a lock II the intruder
that was alEscse iook Of alarm; this Is
ny private s.fgin<y r0ona-"
With = E8attsrea apology and keen
LOOK At me, which | received with Stony
British stare. the Intruder withdrew
Annoying said raa1emoiselle, with .
slight frown % her pretty face and
heightened color. bat such things viii
sometimes happen in hotels and boarding
houses Bat here comes the coffee. l
always take cup Of coffee az this hour.
VIII you JOIN mes"
| had some coffee; we chatted few min
utes longer. and then the Lady sent me
away, saying that she had some letters 10
write a. we'll as her packing 10 do.
As passed through the hall on my way
10 the street door door opened behind
me. turned sharply around and encoun-
tered again the stranger who had come
into Mile Dcioskrs room. lie gave me
what thought was suspicious glance,
rstreated into the room and closed the door,
An uneasy feeling crossed my mind.
slipped half "A crown into the hand Of the
man who held the street door open for me
and asked Ia low tone. Who is that gen.
tlemany'
Don't know, sir, Pm sure" answered
the servant Hes just come-asked for
Nile Deloski. sir"
So the fair foreigner had been decefving
me when she pretended that the man was
unknown 20 her, However. IL was no bust
ness of mine, | reflected. She was not in
any way bound 10 introduce her friends to
me, and If she chose To have secrets--well,
she must have them. l determined. how
ever. to make her confess her dupiicity
later on.
Next morning / was at IL Westmeath
Gardens in plenty of time-in plenty of
time. yet twelve hours too late. Mile. De-
loski had gonel For me she had left letter.
MY brother turned up unexpectedly
last night" she said, land as he was just
leaving for Berlin had no excuse for re-
fusing 10 go with him. He will see me as
far as the Russian frontier. a thousand
thanks for all your goodness! Adieu, kind
friend, adieu"
OF course was furiously angry. / tore
the letter into shreds and rushed of some
where-anywhere.
Three days later had occasion to search
for letter. l knew l had placed il in my
| letter wallet, but that | could not find. At
! last | remembered that ! had taken it out
Of my pocket at Westmeath Gardens and
| forgot to take it up again. The coffee tray
| must have been placed on the top OF it,
else | must surely have noticed it before
| coming away.
went to the house at once in search Of
| it, and found lying there for me small
| packet addressed in lady's delicate hand
writing. Ii contained the letter wallet
and the letters | had left in il, except one
| or two which were of no Importance, and
also a slip of paper bearing the words:
"One day hope you will forgive me-"
| The envelopes belonging to the letters
had disappeared, and my passport also
| was not 10 be found.
Then | understood.
| l understood still more clearly when ]
read a few days later in the newspapers
| that some Russian political prisoners en-
! their way 10 Siberia had succeeded in max
| ing their escape in a remarkably clever way,
and that it was believed they had been aid
ed very materially by an Englishman, a
| DarrlSter OF the name Oh Jones.
| OF course / wrote to The Times denying
| that | had anything to do with the escape
| of the conspirators in Russia, and also
| called at the foreign Office and rendered
some explanations which were received, ;t
seemed to me, with some incredulity. II
was impossible for me to make things as
clear as | should have liked.
Years passed-ten, twelve, sixteen, eight
cen. 1t was quite eighteen years after
these events had happened, and had &C.
casion to go to a charity ball.
My dancing days are over now, but l
happened TO be introduced TO charming
young GIRL and in order to secure her COM
pany for short time / asked her TO dance.
Her face was very pretty; her air was viva
cious, yet modest 1t seemed to me that
she reminded me vaguely of some one
some one whom / had known long ago.
When the dance was over she begged me
10 take her back TO her mother. l did so.
The lady was sitting with her back to us
as we came up, but | could see that she
was decidedly stout and wore the dress OF
widow She turned as her daughter
touched her and our eyes met.
She started violently, dropped her fan
and picked it up again.
Then timidly, as if fearing repulse, she
held out her hand. The young girl looked
ca wondering.
"Do you forgive mef" she whispered
What could / say but "Yes;"
Shall j confess it? i cherish a secret
hope that Mile. Deloski-her real name is
OF no consequence-will one day be my
mother in awl Such is the irony Of fate.
New York Evening Post.