The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-08-04

party. Tho. Eeutenant's one thought
was that he was still on time. Tho
beatitude Of the idea 50 possessed HIM
that he did not heed tho usher who po-
litely stepped forward as he started
| down the center aisle, nor did hee1otice
the hum of curiosity that ran over the
church when he had advanced tosthe
steps of the altar and turned and stood
| there erect and alone with an air that
was sublime in its impertur bablhey.
He had not arrived moment too soon.
for scarcely had he turned andStacod
the entrance when the buzz OF expecta-
ton grew louder; tho interpretive
murmurings of the organ turned into
the triumphant joy of wedding march,
and the bride-the end and brief epfto-
me of all-with her retinue Of men and
maids, entered and had already begun
her progress toward the altar. With
| out shade of self-consciousness, but
F.! if possible more erect and martial than
ever, the lieutenant stood there and
waited her approach. Behind him the
officiating clergyman had silently taken
his place at the head of the chancel
steps, and two men in unexceptional
| black, one of them with the air of an
actor who was to play principal part,
had arranged themselves near him.
The lieutenant, whose senses were ab-
sorbed by the spectacle in front of him,
had seen nothing of this, although the
men In black Immediately noticed him,
and had exchanged significant glances
of inquiry.
The procession slowly advanced. It
was closely upon him, when his eyes,
for some inexplicable reason, strayed
for moment from the bride and intel
ligently fastened themselves upon her
escort, upon whose arm she leaned.
He started, for it was not Mr.. White.
Something must unexpectedly have
happened to him, he thought, some
sudden illness, to keep him away. His
glance quickly went back to the bride,
but this time he did not start-for an
instant his heart stood still and he
ceased to breathe. He could not be-
lieve the evidence of his eyes, but
thought he. had suddenly gone mad.
Even though the veil covered and in
part concealed her, the approaching
figure was not Miss White. For one
awful moment, that sometimes comes
back to him in dreams, he stood there
without sense or volition. Then he
turned round and saw the two men in
evening dress in the chancel behind
him, and at once the horror OF 1t all
flashed through his mind.
How the lieutenant got out OF the
church he never knew, but it was not
until he found himself on the sidewalk
that he came once more into full posses
sion of his faculties. Then he ambled
up to policeman and inquired, falter-
ingly:
"What church is this?"
Trinity chapel" was the reply.
He did not groan-he was made OF
sterner stuF-but his heart sank Hike
lead within him. He had to go to the
corner of Fifth avenue before he found
q cab that was disengaged. He didn't
care, however; he was in no hurry now.
He recognized the futility of even try
ing to hasten where haste could no
longer avail When at last man from
the opposite side of the street signaled
his readiness for a fare he motioned
him across and asked in a voice in
whose appealing note of despair there
was an infinite pathos: 'Do you know
where the church of the Holy Trinity
is?'
81 do sir" said the cabrnan.
'Where is it?"
"Corner of Madison avenue and For
ty-second," was the reply.
There" said the other. wearily, lis
where desire to 60"
When the lieutenant arrived, crushed
and discouraged, at the church for
which he had started out in such high
spirits earlier in the evening, he found
it closed and deserted. He had known
that this would be the case, and when
the cab drew up in front of the build
ing he didn't even dismount.
THE Dakota" he said hopelessly to
the cabman, and then wondered at him
self for having said it
It is long drive from the church of
the Holy Trinity to the great apart
ment-house in Seventy-second street,
where the Whites lived. The lieuten-
ant, however, did not mind it this time,
for it gave him the needed opportunity
to think over what course to pursue.
Of one thing he was certain-and he ac- |
copied the fact erimly-he had lost |
Miss White. Then there came to him !
the realization of that loss. He thought |
bitterly of the lonely wears that !
stretched out before him; how his fam
lily and friends in Vienna, particularly |
his felIow-oficers, would regard the at |
fair, and he resolved to see her once |
more and learn whether he had forever !
forfeited all claim to her affection. The /
particulars Of that interview have !
never been divulged, but Lieut.. and |
Mrs. Won Lendheim certainly start /
ed the same evening on their wedding
Journey. Mrs White also left town i'm
mediately, which, considering the pre-
dicament in which the public was
placed by the marriage notice that had i
duly appeared in the morning papers,
was an unfair thing to do, but she had
certainly produced social effect,
though not exactly in the way intended.
The lieutenant, in hls far-away Wen
ma home, is happy man, except when
he thinks of that night in New York,
when a cold. hard look comes over his
face. Once in awhile letter is re-
ceived from Mrs White, in which she
expresses the hope that the two will
soon come to America to make her q
visit, but when it is read aloud by his
wife the lieutenant says never q word
-he merely shrugs his shoulder,
Abreast Of tho Times.