The Dickinson press., 1896-12-19
"You come most punctually upon


He Read 1t Over Axnin in Memory.
your hour" she said. gravely. and be-
fore the surprise on :Ames' face ut this
unexpected greeting had time to fade
or change she continued in the same
strain with the lifting sequence: "For
this relief much thanks. tits bitter cold
and i" and with tho pron0un she
paused. and the unexpected quotation
drifted away into a sigh. AInes said
the only thing he could very we'll say
under the circumstances. He said:
let me hope you are not sick nj
heart"
The woman looked away for mo-
men. looked ut the sullen river and the
shining distant lights. then her great
dark eyes fixed their gaze again lppH
rhilo's face.
perhaps l am she answered. :lt
was very good of you to come. and We,
] felt sure that you would come; and
you see that wis right"
Philo felt ana spprt ciHted the ecccn.
tricity of the occasion.
"YOu sent for me-" he said. with a
manner of grave courtesy, land l am
here Can he Of any service TO you "
The woman replied, after the fashion
Of women. 10 one question with III.
other.
do you care for lifc:" she asked,
slowly and earnestly.
There was something absurd in the
uttcr1nce of such a question. at such a
time and under such conditions, which
would usually have made Philo laugh.
But. though the position was incOll-
gruous, though the question was gro.
tesque. Philo did not feel moved to
laughter The woman appeared to be
in earnest; the woman certainly was
beautiful, and her eyes seemed. In the
fine phrase of l'ortia, to have over
looked her companion of a moments s
jjme: He did not allow himself time
to reflect upon the queerness of this
eccentric encounter: Upon the amazing
abruptness Of the Interrogation, upon
the sinister possibilities that might he
associated with the adventure. In
deed. sinister possibilities ncvc: count
cd for much in Philo Ames' estimate
of an interesting situation. and the
present situation bad ut least the merit
of being exceedingly interesting. SO
he gave back an earllast gaze into the
dark eyes CT his companion while he
thought of some appropriate reply to
her question. But he could think Of
nothing on the spur of the moment
more appropriate than the vague and
non-committal formula Of '.That de-
penls." and so lie said that with m
effort to make 1t seem Informed with
many meanings. 1t did not have a
very satisfactory effect upon the wO-
man. 4 look of disdain shadowed her
eyes with deeper darkness and tight.
ened the tension of her red lips.
"You declared once." she said. that
a man Ike yourself, man with no
special purpose In life. always ought
to be rendy to place his life at the ser
vice of n beautiful woman: DO you
remembers"
Philo shrugged his shoulders slight
ly. 1t was very likely, indeed. that he
had said something of the kind, a,
some time or other, to some one OF
other. Indeed, it was probable that III
had said those words, or words resem
bling them. many times to many per
sons. But he could not RECALL any spe
cial occasion and he said 80. The wo
man frowncd Mt his explana ton.
You said SO once" she replied. It,
Que Who was then a dear friend O.
yours. who happened to he a dea
| friend of mine, and who repeated you
| phrase to me. Never mind the name
| you may very we'll have forgotten IL
| and ut least you never knew my name
| and uever saw my face before"
| "YOnrs ia not u face" said P!ii:H
''that man. once seeing it, is at al
likely to forget"
$40 you think am beau,lfui:" sh
asked him suddenly, shifting her Ipy
sitjon, as she spoke, so that the ligil
nf the lamp fell more fully upon h..
face. Amcs answered her with quie.
assurance:
j know that you are a :ery l,eant
fui womap-ope Of tho most beautiful
that l have eyer SfeA.'
For moment the impnssiveEcss O
the wOman's pale face lapsed into
smile Of satisfaction. Am"s noted wit
pleasure that the transition did notl
ing to diminish the impression Gf love
liness that he had just praised q
highly.
"Then l am tempted" she said. 1t
remind you of your old-time chivalry
and to claim the fulfllment Of you
vow-even though it was not mad
over the peacock
Perhaps there was a subtle sugge'
tion Of hysteria in her fantastic speec
touched Ames, or perhaps 1t was til
enchantment Of her physical beauty q
it showed under that glimmering "a
lamp; perhaps an appreciation Of bot
possibilities led him to answer. ver
gently and very decisively, that /
should consider himself.very fortunal
: If it We're in his power to he of any II,
in any way to her.
+ The woman caught eagerly at h
a words. Come with me-" she said. NJ
: as she spoke she clutched rather tina
4 took hold of PhilO's arm, and SCENE
u In her impatience to seek to drag hi
= along with her: Philo surrender,
!. himself with impassive acquiescen
O to all her actions. 1t was always Il
!. rule when he began game to play
h out to the end, and as he had once I
o all decided TO accept this chance of e
u tertaininent he was now stubbornly l
" solved to see the thing out to its Ell
Il His companion hurried him along t
" embankment as far as to the neighlN
l. hood Of the next gas lamp. Then Am
T. saw that y hanson cab was in waitir
its two lamps cleaning ip the drea
n darkness hike the eyes Of q belated o,
le When they got close to 1t PhilO 8,
It that the cab driver was apparently I
Is gagged in an animated conversati
T. with a policeman, who seemed to
s, questioning him sternly as to his ,
le occupied presence then and the
It When the cab1nan saw Ames and
~ unknown friend come toward him {
" Of the darkness he Strengthened hi
in self from the stopped attitude he h
It adopted in conference with the ];
N and pointed tri4mphantly toward
h woman.
x There's my fare.' he said. with
p hoarse exultatioD. Il told you hat
ll fare all along, but you wouldn't
le lieve me-"
I'd The policeman did not appear to
n. greatly reassured by the arrival OF
OF pair when he had only heard Of o.
for he turned the light Of hie la1tt