The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-01-27

hung about the women much, +" Trevo,
admitted.
did he have let-down any time
do you think?" Arlington persisted.
"A let-down, no. The women were
always too jolly eauer to have him at
any price, Lord, I've seen hundreds
OF women try for Amyatt, hundreds
of ,'em!"
"That's just it" put in Arlington,
eagerly. They all try-but they Just
have to try. "It's queer, for Amyatt's
@ handsome chap, and rich az g. Jew"
Cant say, I'm sure. just now he's
SO taken up with his novel-writina
and every spare minute seems to "a
to that" As 9
"But why did he take up novel.
ing?" cried the lad.
"Faith and can't say" Trevor
laughed. "But his love-makings
mighty pretty for q woman-hater,
don't you think?"
Meantime the object of all this
thought was in the sitting room oil
his comfortable quarters overlooking
the green, which occupied part of the
barrack-square. It was a pretty
room, with walls of dark olive-green,
relieved only by four or five pictures
in plain gilt frames, all of them origin
ais of the illustrations of the story
which made his name famous-no, not
his name, but that by which he chose
to be known to the world.
| For Major Amyatt did not write
under his own name, preferring for
many reasons to be known as "John
Dawes" the chiefest of which was
that as q beginner he had scarcely
time to contemplate the possibility
OF other than failure, and he had no
wish to appear before the regiment in
the light of non-success: So, al
though for some time his intimates
had known him as the popular
author who stood second to none as
afaithful delineator of army men and
manners, to the world at large he
was still John Dawes, and but few
knew that the name was not his own.
| A handsome man was Major Amy
att; and looking at him as be sat at
the table, one could not wonder at
| young Arlington's curiosity concern
ing his past life, It would be hard to
say positively that any trace of dis
| appointment-what Arlington called
q "let down"-marked his pleasant,
fresh face, or lurked i'll the steady
gray eyes, that were as clear and
cool and undisturbed as a lad of six
teen.
He had a frank and tender smile,
too, and he was smiling then over a
letter which lay open upon the table
before him, q letter which had been
forwarded by mis- publishers, through
whom it had been sent, d letter
written in clear, uniformed child 8
hand, on paper which had been ruled
with pencil lines.
MY dear Mr.. John Dawes" it said. II
have read all your books, and like them
very much. But please, l do want to
know if Laura is going to marry Gerard
King. do hope you won't go and marry
her to any one else, because am very,
very fond of him. So am of nearly all
the others, but like Gerard best.
! Laura is my name, too. l hope you
won't mind my writing to, you, though l
am still rather little. I am nine or at
least nearly nine, and have no brothers or
sisters, so that | read great deal. But I
not very old, so that she plays with me a
| good lot.
with best love, am your loving little
| friend LAURA Holt.
"P SIT was quite my own idea to
write"
Like most writer's who have won a
hold upon the hearts of the people,
Amyatt was accustomed to receiving
many letters from all sorts and con-
ditions of men and women who were
utter strangers to him, expressing all
manner of sentiment about his work.
Nor was this the first letter he had
had from child; but it was the first
| that. had touched him so deeply as
this one did. There was quaintness
about it's phrases, a brave frankness
about it's sentiment, a freshness in it's
tone, which won his heart.
81 hope you won't go and marry
her to any one else, because am very,
fond of him." Laura is my name,
too" Il am nine, or at least nearly
nine." And "It was quite my own
idea to write" Amyatt read the let
ter again, with feeling which, if he
had been a woman, would have
brought tears into his eyes, but which,
as it was, gave him a suspicious lump
in his throat and that tender smile on
his lips.
"Dear little SOUL" he said softly, II
must write to her"-and forthwith he
drew some paper before him, and
wrote long and charming letter to
the new little friend who was nine, or,
scrupulous little soul that she was,
lat least nearly nine." Then he, too,
added postscript, which was, "Write
to me again"
Amyatt's little friend did write to
him again, letter full o. glee caused
by his. Then Amyatt answered that,
for he couldn't leave the poor little
woman's pretty words unanswered,
don't you know; and so, before long,
quite q brisk correspondence passed
to and fro between them. =
! He still kept up his nom de plume
though for no particular reason other
than that he wished to avoid the
trouble of an explanation, and it
was all the same to her; and long let
ters filled with accounts :.ot her child's
life or with her opinions OF his char
acters came to HIM regularly
and was as regularly answered
Sometimes ne would send her e
book, and often she would send hin
g. little box of flowers, which
adorned his buttonhole.
Rather new departure for you