Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-02-19
FALSE DAWN.


truth Of this story, though women ma,
whisper 1t to one another after dane
when they are putting up their hair fo
the night aud comparing lists of vic
Tins. A man Of course cannot assist Al
these functions So the tale mass-b,
told from the outside, in the dark-al
wrong.
Never praise sister to sister in the
hope Of your compliments reaching the
proper ears and SO preparing the way
for you later on. Sisters are women
| first. and sisters afterward and you will
find that you do yourself harm. Sau-
marez knew this when he made up his
mind to propose to the elder Miss Cop
leigh. Saumarez was strange man,
with few merits so far as men could see.
though he was popular with women and
carried enough cOnceit to stock vice.
roy's council and leave little over for
the commander in chiefs staff. He was
a civilian. Very many women took an
interest in Saumarez, perhaps because
his manner to them was offensive If
you hit pony over the nose at the out
set of your acquaintance, he may not
| love you, but he will take deep inter
est in your movements ever afterward.
| The elder Miss Copleigh was nice,
plump, winning and pretty. The young
| or was not SO pretty, and from men dis
regarding the hint set forth above her
style was repellent and unattractiye
Both girls had practically the same fig
ure, and there was strong likeness be-
tween them in look and voice, though
no one could doubt for an instant which
was the nicer Of the two.
Saumarez made up his mind as soon
as they came into the station from Be-
har to marry the elder one. At least we
all made sure that he would, which
comes to the same thing. She was two
and twenty, and he was S3, with pay
and allowances of nearly / 400 rupees a
month. So the match, as we arranged
it, was in every way a good one. Sau-
marez was his name, and summary was
his nature, as a man once said. Having
drafted his resolution, he formed a Sc
lect committee of one to sit upon it and |
resolved to take his time In our un-
pleasant slang the Copleigh girls ''hunt-
ed in couples that is to say, you
could do nothing with one without the
other. They were very loving sisters,
but their mutual affection was some
times lnconvenient. Saumarez held the
balance hair true between them, and
none but himself could have said to
which side his heart inclined, though
every one guessed. He rode with them
a good deal and danced with them, but
he never succeeded in detaching them
from each other for any length of time.
Women said that the two girls kept
together through deep mistrust, each
fearing that the other would steal a
march on her. But that has nothing to
do with man. Saumarez was silent
for good or bad and as businesslikelv at
tent1ve as he could be, having due re-
gard to his work and his polo. Beyond
doubt both girls were fond of him.
AS the hot weather drew nearer and
Saumarez made no sign women said
that you could see their trouble in the
eyes of the girls; that they were looking
strained, anxious and irritable. Men are
quite blind in these matters unless they
have more Of the woman than the man
IN their composition, in which case it
does not matter what they say or think.
l maintain it was the hot April days
that took the color out of the Copleiqh
girls cheeks. They should have been
sent to the hills early. No one, man or
woman, feels an angel when the hot
weather is approaching. The younger
sister grew more cynical-not to say :
acld-ln her ways, and the winningness
OF the elder wore thin. There was more |,
effort in it,
Now, the station wherein all these
Things happened was, though not little !:
one, OF the line of rail and suffered :
tnrough want Of attention There were Y
no gardens or bands or amusements !. |.
worth speaking of, and it was nearly a 4
days journey to come into Lahore for a
oance. People were grateful for small
things to interest them. q
About the beginning of May and lust 4 4
before the final exodus Of hill goers. =
when the weather was very hot and =
mere were not more than 20 people in -
me station, Saumarez gave moonliaht F"
fldlng picnic at an old tomb six miles q
away near the bed of the river. Il was a al
'Noah's ark'' picnic, and there was to IN
% the usual arrangement of ouarter ~
nile intervals between each counle on ~
recount of the dust. Six couples came "
'itogether, including chaperons. Moon u
lght plcnlcs are useful just at the very tn
no OF the season before all the girls 90 is
way to the hills. They lead to under m
landings and should be encouraged nv Il
naperons, especially those whose girls IL
ook sweetest in riding habits, I knew h1
ase once But that is another story
nat picnic was called the "great non az
lcnlc' because every one knew San. M
larez would propose then to the eldest g.
llss Copleigh, and besides his affair h.
here was another which might nossibIv bs m
'me TO happiness. The social atmos A,
here was heavily charged and wanted r.
learing.
we met at the parade ground at 10 In
ne night was fearfully hot. The horses ~.
veated even at walking pace, but anv. ~
ing was better than sitting still in onr liz
Vn dark houses. When we moved off -
1der the full moon, we were fonr ~
uples, one triplet Mr.. Sau1narez roda -,
lth the Copleigh girls, and I loitered 49,
the tail Of the procession wondering q"
lth whom Saumarez would ride home. 10,
very one was happy and contented. but "a. m
all felt that things were going to M aw
'ppen. Wc rode slowly, and it was wv
'arly midnight before we reached the 10
q tomb facing the ruined tank in the llo
oayed gardens where we were going ole
eat and drink. was late in coming no
!, ana oeiore went into the garden / W.; ".
W that the horizon to the north car. SKI
ID faint, dun colored feather. But ou'
one would have thanked me for spoil- up
SO well managed an entertainment ane
this picnic. and a dust storm more or tne
's does no great harm. Hc
We gathered by the tank. Some one era
q brought out q banjo, which is az a.
'st sentimental instrument, and three on
iour OF US sang. You must not laugh @ uoS
this. Our amusements in cut of the oVe