Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-02-25

Ut writing to each other"
That was enough. So the ship would stop ct
Gibraltar, and that was q matter Of six DAYS,
aud . letter posted at once might be back in
England within another three days. But would
| he write! The ninth day answered the ques-
| ton duly, for when Hyacinth came in from n
late drive there was little pile Of letters living
upon her d.sk, and the one on top bore q clear
and her fingers hurried "a if to tear it open.
but all At once she stopped, and laid it down
very evenly and turned to her dressing table,
and began taking out her bonnet pins. and un-
fastening her veil with the incest deliberation.
She busted her bonnet tidily, and put IL in its
box, and rufied and tousled her bang about
into a charming state Of disorder, and next she
took OH her gown and put herself into An old
and sympathetic wrapper rolled Q chair and
footstool up to tho nrepulled the logs into place
herself down and lazily gathered her letters
together. The foreign one fell into the mid
die OF the heap now, and had to take its turn
and wait 1ntil the others had been attended to.
Then it was cleanly cut apart with nice little
paper knife. and devoured in = dozen glances
OF those lovely, eager eyes;
my DEAREST LOVE: Do you forgive mee
The gentle pity in your face AZ you looked
upon me the other day comes back to comfort
and reassure me. but again have . wretched
thought that may have vexsd you, and this
overwhelms mo. Let me tell you now.
No y AoNoo sOu WIN every puIso OI uoArS
and every aspiration Of my soul since those
oays you were ct Durham . year ago. Have
you forgotten? Tho first evening / saw you
you were in the drawing room with all the
others, and you spoke to me Of the old friendlyte
between our people, and wondered il remem-
bered how We used to aght the stone lions q,
Shepley. and at the hrst note o: your voice
and lifting % your eyes I loved you. You
were gone IN day or two, but you staid with
me. Then was living TO: the spring, that
lifylat h. oh
the confusion Of your London world. it has
seemed to me as il you were IN the midst Of q
dazzling fog that obscured all the realities Of
NE, and that could not penetrate it, though
II yelled you from me. And so perhaps Fate
did me kind turn, after all when she sent me
OF SO suddenly, for now II die it will be with
. memory In my heart and on my lips that
makes both life and death . mystery Of Joy.
You know We only got our sailing orders
the day before our leaving, and was counting
upon seeing you at Jacks little farewell gath
ering after the review. But when you were
not there the world seemed to come to Q halt.
and then every impulse within me impeled me
to you. / was beside myself with longing and
loneliness, and the boon which your compass
sion prompted you 10 grant me shall bless
you Tor to the end Of my days. There was
never devotee more filled with reverence,
with 10 Wy abasement before some undeserved
mercy from heaven.
In writing to you now with the spell o,
your presence upon me, and with the thought
Of what may happen that would make these nv
last words to you, cannot name You other
wise than what you are to me-my love, my
light
MAY God bless you my beautiful and be-
loved lady, and pour upon you the pure peace
and happiness which belong to your sweet life
Faithfully and always yours,
"HESRY SPENCER AINsLIR."
II grudging old Mother Nature had bes.o wed
the gift OF second sight upon lovers divided by
distance. the balance OF delight and disappolnt-
msnt in the world would undoubtedly remain
the same; but in Ainsle's case, could he have
had a vision Of Hyacinth that May aftern oon
as she read his letter, the proportion Of his
content would have been almost too great for
any load Of after-sorrow to outweigh II. He
was riding with the army across the miserable
desert of the soudan, monotonous, baking,
fighting had been going on all day, and it was
neither glorious nor an inspiring business
Nor was he serene in his own right. He saw
no reason to hope Of gaining the girl he loved.
and doubted lest he had made too rash a move
and lost his chances for good. Now il only a
mirage had danced before his sight in the
shimering air and shown him the girl he loved
a. she sat with arms lifted drowsily above her
head and such winning coquetry slight in all
her face!
Glow tall he was. How strong he was,
What steady eyes! Why did never know him
before? How is 1t that know HIM 30 we'll
now2" The freight fickered, the twilight
gathered, the girl dreamed on, and when she
rose she was humming . snatch from Mar
guerites song
''se,n hoher Gang.
Sem ede G.stslt.
Sem Auxsn Gswalt
''und seiner Rode
ssin Hsnd.druck'.-
and then the refrain sang out and her voice
was low, but clear and thrilling sweet
''Und. ach. sein Kuss!"
But poor Ainslie was plodding on, worn, hot
and racked with the bitterness Of impotent
suspense.
Miss Myr,oun and her grandmother had
never gone through a gayer London season,
and Hyacinth had never been more brilliant
figure OF beauty and triumph. At balls, at
dinners, at fetes Of all kinds her fair face
showed up with its radiant smile and quick
glances Even her grandmother took to fat
tering her upon her appearance. The interest
she showed In Egyptian affairs delighted the
old lady, too. for she herself came OF a military
family, and her granddaughter's lack Of en-
thusiasm about such matters had always been
. disappointment to her. But now Hyacinth
read the Times to her by the hour-how the
troops were ordered here and massing there,
Gen. Lord Wolseley sent out in command,
and the mahdi gathering hosts OF followers,
and 30 on, and SO On.
II wonder why Jack Ainslie didn't 60 into the
army, grandmamma?" she asked
oh my dear OF course not" answered
the old lady. ''You know as we'll as do that
Oldest sons never do. 1t was proper for Henry
to go. Aud John Ainslie couldn't possibly
fight, either"
You've known them both since they were
boys, granny"
''Since they were little chaps in sashes and
shoulder knots. Their father was one of INV
Oldest friends. Nice little chaps they we're,
too. Henry was such dear boy. I've seen a
great deal OF him every year down at Shepley.
when you were with your Uncle James He
has always been SO good abou: coming to see
me, and dear old Gen. Spencer never tires OF
telling me about him, and of his pride in him
and plans for him. l meant to have him a
great deal at the house this spring. but it hasn't
seemed to come to pass, and you never seemed
70 take 70 him particularly"
Hyacinth wondered after ward that among all
the fancies of those feet days she had had no
moment OF concern for Ainslie's safety She
thought OF him always As masterful, resolute,
successful The domination of his indiyidu-
ality 30 impressed itself upon her that to pic
ture its force a. arrested or struck down never
occurred to her. Thus 1t was q binding blow
when one morning early In August servant of
Lord Johns came, with q troubled letter from
his master, to say that he had Just received a
cable from Alexandria. Henry was badly
wounded in the shoulder and had been sent
home Immediately on q ship just then return
ing. The ship was due that very dav-his
friend had delayed cabling on purpose-and be