St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1893-01-07

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i1as opportunity had come to him t7li
evening.
1t was at a carpet dance at the hous
OF Mrs. Venable, friend of his uncle
Mr.. John Orde, that Marcus Gray,
young American over on his travels
having screwed his courage to the stick
ing place, proposed to Mary Lumsden
! the eldest daughter of well to do city
merchant. They had met several time.
s4ha h course Of the preceding month
ana II nsSei not taken Gray long to dis
cover that in Miss Lumsden he had
lighted on the girl who, for him, was
s'the fairest flower the sun shone on"
His opportunity had come to him this
evening, when he and Mary by some
happy chance found themselves alone
in the curtained embayment of pro-
Jecting window. At any moment they
might be disturbed by some other stray
couple in search of quiet nook, and
what Gray had to say, if he did not wish
the occasion to slip through his fingers,
must be brief and to the point.
Presumably it was SO, in view of the
fact that not more than three minutes
elapsed from the time of our people find
ing themselves alone in the alcove to
that OF their emergence. It may fur
ther be assumed that their conversation,
brief as it was, had not proved unsatis-
factory to either of them, seeing that,
as Miss Lumsden's partner for the next
dance came up to claim her, Gray con-
trived to whisper in her ear, II will call
upon your father in the course of to-
morrow"
Mention has been made of Marcus
Gray's uncle, Mr. Orde.
John Orde's dearest friend was Ed
ward Lumsden, Mary's father. Their
friendship dated back to their school
days. They took to each other, as the
saying is, from the irst-so much so in
deed that some portion of the holiday
Of each was generally spent at the home
of the other. When the time came for
them to push their fortunes in the world,
the city of London acted as loadstone
to both; Lu1nsden found a stool in the
Office of drysaltery firm in Upper
Thames street, while Orde went under
the rutelage of his father, whose bust
ness was that of a shipbroker Years
passed, bringing with them their inevita-
BILE changes and vicissitudes, but in no
wise interrupting the current Of their
friendship. In the course of time Orde
succeeded to his fathers position, while
Lumsden started in business on his own
account, and to neither ef them did
fortune prove unkind.
We come now to certain memorable
ninth Of June, the day Immediately fol-
lowing that of Mrs. Venable's carpet
dance. Both Lumsden and Orde had
deemed it advisable little while before
to put themselves in telephone connec-
tion with such of their customers and
agents as preferred to specify their wants
and wishes through that ready medium
OF communication, and accordingly
wire had been laid on the premises of
each. Although Lumsden and Orde were
in no way related in business affairs, they
frequently used the telephone for mes
sages about private matters, such as q lit
tie while before would have necessitated
the writing of a note or the transmission
of telegram. For instance, Lumsden,
having got himself 'sswitched on" at
the exchange, woult! telephone Orde
an invitation to dinner or request
to join him at his club at GER
tain hour, while Orde, on his part,
would inform Lumsden through the
same medium that he had just had tick
cts sent him for a concert or the thea
ter, and would specify when and where
{ he would look to meet his friend and
wife unless they happened to be other
wise engaged.
Attwenty minutes to two o'clock on the
afternoon of the aforesaid June ninth, the
telephone bell in Mr.. Orde's private
Office signaled that some one was de-
sirous of speaking with him. Mr.. Max,
one of the staff, whose duty it was to
attend to the instrument during his en-
ployer's absence, at once responded to
the summons, which was followed up
by the usual preliminary question, ''Are
you there"
TO this Max replied with the stereo-
typed, Yes; who are your
fLu1nSQSu, WIS tl6 duSWeT.5 J. lneu, |
evidently recognizing that the voice was
not his friends, 'sIs not Mr.. Orde there?"
he queried.
.sAt present he is out, sir" replied
Max; ssbut am expecting him back
every moment.
I'm that case will keep the connec-
ton open for a few minutes. Tell him
to signal me Immediately he returns"
'sAll right, sir" responded Max, and
with that the conversation came to an |
end for the time being.
SO far as could be ascertained after
ward, it would seem to have been
Lumsden's intention to ask Orde to meet
him at his club and dine with him, his
wife and daughter being under an en-
gagement to accompany some friends
that evening to concert.
-Four minutes later Mr.. Orde pushed
open the swing doors of the outer Office
and was at once informed by Max of
the conversation that had passed be-
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