The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-27


[ love, Marian ChattertOn. The meeting
was a dreadful shock 10 mel may as
[ well confess IL at once. ] knew her again,
Of COURSE II is only in story books that
a man meets an old love after rev
years, and does not know her from
Adam j should have known her any
where. at least, ] think so. Sut time mad
certainly not dealt gently with her. In
fact time had been 10 generous alto
gether. for she must have weighed at
least fourteen stones. She met me with
q tender air Of recogniuonf anu Al once
reverted 70 our old friendship, without
any attempt at cOncealment.
Yes darling" she said TO Phyllis when
she came across the room, take Col.
NAlers and give MIN some Tea CQl;
Starkey and / are old friends and VIII
| chat a little while together Ihen' as
| Phyllis carried Nlllers of, she turned 10
1 world used you since last we metz"
Il must confess that i have had more
/ than my deserts" i admitted
| All, yes. ! read an the accounts Of
! your successes she murmured IN Q low
voice. Il felt so proud to think that l
| had won the Victoria Cross
"Oh, il was nothing / said. with an
| uneasy wriggle. for after all, what man
| can sit sui and calmly hear a woman
/ talking about an incident which, all said
/ and done, was more or less OF an accl-
NO. no. the Victoria Cross never is
/ anything to those who have won =, she
I cried. u quite understand. charlie.
She called me Charlie On quite an ordin-
] airy way, ana, somehow j uld wish she
would not be quite so reminiscent or so
! friendly. To avoid any further marks
I other topic OF conversation.
! your daughter is very like YOU" l re-
| marked. ! tried hard to say Mrs. Cor
/ DON but, somehow, the words would not
/ come, they fairly stuck in my throat.
/ Yes everybody says that Phyl is very
! Ike me. j always say very ike what was
! once. You viii ind me appalingly altered,
! don't you2"
She looked at me in an appealing kind
/ of and / well. after all. I OUIF
! human, j am only a man, so 1 murmured
/ something Of non-cOmmittng nature TO
| the effect that she was little stOuter than
! she had been when ! had known her he
/ fore. she smiled and looked down, and ]
! could have killed myself for being such an
/ IDIOT; However, l could not undo what
| had been said, and 1 ventured on another
! subject
Il had no idea that you Were here-at
| least, mean that / had no idea that 1
/ was being brought TO see you to-day. /
| quite had an idea that your married name
$50 it was" she replied, but we had
| to take the name Of Gordon to inherit
And Mr.-er-Mr Gordon-I hope he is
| well2' / asked, rather difiidently.
| "Oh, my husband has been dead sew
erai years, she replied, in a perfectly mat
! If she had only wept a little or even
! lowered her eyes, ii would not have been
so badt but she pretended nothing, and
/ evidently the demise of the late Mr. Cor
/ don, if II had ever been a grief to her
l udu iOuS since ceased 10 be a trouble.
| ! ne sltuauon was really q serious one
for me. And the worst of it all was that
/ 1 admired Phyllis more and more with
| every minute that went by.
She asked me presently if I would like
/ a cup of tea, and on my saying yes-for
4 would cheerfully have accepted a cup
| Of cold poison at that moment If it would
| nave gOt me of thar sofa ana away from
| those terrible "reminiscences Of the past
| the past which had been all a mistake;
| we Went across the room together and
stood near the little tea table at which
| Phyllis was presiding; and as we stood
| there waiting while she poured out our
| tea, caught a glimpse OF our present
ments in a long looking glass which
/ 1lled the space between two of the win
| dows looking into the street below Was
/ II possible that Mrs. Gordon was only
| three years older than me? That was
/ what she had said long ago; but to look
/ at her now, any one might reasonably be
! lieve that she was at least a dozen years
/ my senior. True. / was a young-looking
man for my eight and thirty years, ana
! she one or the Oldest looking women / had
| ever seen for only three years older than
that
so you have met Col. starlsey before"
/ SAID Ntllters, in his CHEEKY tones.
Mrs. Gordon sat down on the nearest
seal seal taxing the cup which Phyllis had
| with a smothered sigh, I'VE knew each
| other ever so long ago. We were quite
BOY ana girl together. 1t makes me feel
| horribly old to think how long ago"
| So it did me, only 1 could not very well
/ say SO. les, 1t did make me feel old 10
| be told that we had been boy and girl
! together. l could not say anything, be-
| cause II was absolutely true We had
! Deen boy and girl though then she had
| been careful TO tell me that she was years
| and years my senior. And il that had
! been bit of a stretch, she certainly was
! Three years older than 1 was. She had
! owned up 10 three years.
And as We went away from the pretty
! house Nilliers dug a facetiOus finger into
my ribs and told me 1 was Sly dog
| ana no mistake about it, l could have
! kicked Nllllers at that moment with the
| greatest of pleasure
The next day l had note from Mrs.
| alter with them. She added that she had
| asked Nilliers also, and said that l was
stand in the way OF it. L went; well, yes,
| the fact was ! really could not resist the
chance Of seeing Phyllis again, although
! knew that the past, and | was afraid
| also the present, stood between us, and
| that seeing her would not do me the
| smallest good, rather the contrary, in
| truth. Still, l went, ana 1 saw Phyllis
| again, and went away from her at last
| with the pleasant knowledge that I was
| desperately in love, and that the leaves
| of my first love We're dead, dead dead,
and lay full of sadness and melancholy
between my heart and me.
CHAPTER III
Somehow, after that little dinner. with
a theater to follow, l got into way of
going to that pretty house in Green street
| at all times. knew that it was worse than
| foolish, for it was plain to be seen that
| the widow had quite mistaken my visits
and believed. poor soul, that l went to see
| her and for the sake of that old boy and
| girl love affair which had come to such an
| untimely ending twenty years before Poor
/ mistaken soul, | felt such a brute and
every time that found myself going down
to Aldershot-generally by the cold meat
train--l made a fixed and firm resolve
! which 1 truly meant TO keep, that l would
go no more. And every day when l found
| myself free and able to go to Town, SO
did my resolves fade away and l found
| myself getting out Of my paint like light
ming that might catch the up-train; and
4 it invariably happened that in next to no
time, l ended my journey in the becoming
| ~ shaded drawingroom, which called Mrs
/ Gordon mistress l gave up resolving at
/ last and submitted to my fate, because il
| is a degrading thing for man to be al
| ways making and breaking resolves. So
| determined that might as well be hang
cd for a sheep as a lamb, though, Heaven
| knows, it was the lamb and not the sheep
| that wanted in this instance
Al last, however, the season came quite
to an end. and / had no further excuse for
| racing up to Town in season and out of
/ season, for Mrs. Gordon and Phyllis had
made all their arrangements for going to
/ Carload. / believe she-that is, Mrs Cor
I don-went to Carlsbad in order that she