The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1893-01-13

4 nOlnluH, w NHFY uitlet 70 uta ufAlTtus
Lady Bracllncll has climbed to the very
4 top OF the tr :, and sits there in II graceful
attitude 10 | 2 gapcd ut by multitude OF
admirers. sle likes admiration, as you
will remember, and takes some pains to
obtain it. She Is very accessible, too, in
spite Of her brilliant position, and II you
will go and call upon her in Wilton place
am sure she will be glad to see You, and
will begin exercising her destinations upon
you without ,oss II time.
"Don'tG sid Jim.
! But went on all the same. "You had
better call upon her; don't think she
will fascinatc you, my dear Jim. Her
hair has ch nged color; il is a lovely
bronze now, but her complexion requires
no aid from art. She dresses exquisitely;
she is addicted to private theatricals, and
once or twice in the season she makes her
father-in.law give ball and receives his
| guests for him, so that Lady Mildred may
be free to remain by his side in case he
should want anything. When he snubs
her, as he does every now and again, she
won't allow him 10 see little Lord Sun
ming for day or two. That brings him
10 his bearings, &c lhe has to go round to
Wilton place in his bath chair and apollo
gize."
81 don't want to hear about her." said
Jim. He added presently: 81 suppose
you sometimes see Bracknell, don't your
replied that | did As matter of
fact, | had latterly been a good deal in
Wilton place. because | am credited with
a certain facility for drilling amateur ac-
tors, and Lady Bracknell had found me
useful in helring her to arrange the plays
with which s.le was wont TO entertain dis
tinguished audiences from time to time
''I wonder, said Jim, whether he ever
feels sorry for having treated me as he
did. We used to be friends, you know,
and--and don't think he can quite have
realized what an injury he was doing
me-
That seemed likely enough; but I was
unable to say that | had observed any
signs of an awakened conscience in Brack-
| nell. lknOw exactly what will happen" +"
/ remarked. .You will be as great
friends as ever by the end Of the week;
anu bIih&N q Abi uhCl uC W LII o
borrowed sum Of money from you which
may probably be represented by four fig
ures. What is the use of your trying to
bear malice, Jim; You ought to have
thrashed Bracknell six years ago. You
could have thrashed him without any
great difficulty; the process would have
been consolatory to you and salutary to
him. But instead Of doing that, you
chose to expend your wrath slowly upon
unoffending lions and tigers, and the con-
sequence is that you haven't spark Of it
left for home consumption. You are dy-
ing to shake hands with your enemy now
you know you arc. "
81 don't know that | am particularly
anxious to shake hands with him." said
Jim consideringly; II would rather not
think Of him as a traitor, that's all. You
see, it does make difference if man
says he is sorry"
was beginning to point out that eX-
pressions Of sorrow must he taken for
what they are worth, and that, although
ii may be right 10 pardon u man who has
shamefully deceived you, it is extremely
foolish to put faith in him again, when I
was interrupted by the entrance of o Sec
ond visitor, and who should this prove to
be but Bracknell himself!
II was an odd coincidence that brought
him to my lambers on that afternoon of
all others; fOt he had never so far honored
me before; but he had evidently not come
with any ide.. of meeting Jim, whom he
glanced at with an impatient frown and
did not recognize. jim was certainly al
tered, but Bracknell was perhaps even
more so. He had lost his good looks to o
great extent and carried more superfu-
Gus flesh than he was entitled to at his
age, His constitution was fine one,
but believe lie mixed his liquors in an
appalling manner, and one can't sit up all
night and every night, playing cards,
without exhibiting traces Of fatigue.
Jim stared at him in a sort of conster-
nation; no doubt the change in his for
mer friend was more apparent to him than
it was to me As lie did not see fit to de-
clare hhnse,s, the duty Of making him
known deyolyed upon me, and watched
with some H. crest the demeanor of the
two men who were thus unexpectedly
brought face to face once more Jim got
up slowly, looking very grave, and said,
'How do 20 do, Bracknell'n But Brack-
nell burst in, laugh and seized his old
school fellow by the hand.
"Jim lie. h, as I'm living sinnern
be exclaime "Dear old Jim! Where
on earth ha you been concealing your
self for the last hundred yearsS Didn't
somebody tell me you were going in for
big game in central Africa or somewhere
/ wish had been going with you'll Let
me know when you start off again, and
III see If can't get out Of this for q few
months BY Joyel what relief it would
bep'
twas so evident that he had completely
forgotten the trifiing circumstance Of his
having once robbed Jim Of wife
that l was shaken by internal laughter,
and had to turn away to conceal my emo
tion; but Jim, dare say, saw nothing to
laugh at in sIch callousness. !,S
~ don't III nix am likely to be making
any more expeditions of the kind yet
awhile" he answered cofdly. 81 have
stayed away from England too long as
it H."
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