Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1896-05-07

them were from her girl friends
but on the envelope Of one she re
cognized the fne, bold handwrit
ing of Ton Bantry. She stole /
furtive glancs = Weblsy as she tore
open the envelope, but he was ab
sorbed in his morning paper nov
that his mind was arrest and they
were fairly off.
Dear Miss Markham, the letter
began, Il was unexpectedly called
away from London more than q
week ago by the sudden illness Of
my uncle, Sir John Tre'IJan. Be-
fore departing Tor - - - hall ]
wrote Q letter to you Explaining WY
l could not be at the picnic mp The
river, Through my stupidity and
the hurry of getting away, I find
| left your letter on the table in my
rooms in the temple. I had ex-
pected a letter from you while at
Trellyan hall, and when it did not
come l was greatly disappointed.
found on my return this morn
ing, as said, my own letter, which
was not posted, so, of course, you
did not receive it. Will you for
give me, therefore, for breaking an
engagement with you and your
friends without an explanation !?
And may call this evening, as l
have something of Importance Ito
myself, at least,) to say to you !?
l will remain all day at my cham
bers In the temple awaiting your
answer with some anxiety
He signed himself. Yours very
truly, Tom Bantry,' and then ad-
ded, in a postscript, as if an after
thought, Il should have told you
that my uncle died two days ago,
which makes a great deal of diff.
ference in my plan of life, as per-
haps you are aware
Tillie Markham was a cautious
young woman, and always consid-
cred that a bird in the hand was
worth two in a bush. She looked
at George, and he smiled across at
her.
when do we stop she asked.
'Willsden junction, believe, and
we ought to be there now
How long do we stop
'Only few minutes
DO You think you could get me
half dozen telegraph blanks while
we are stopping there?'
ooh, | don't need to go out for
Them, said Webley. Il always car
ry plenty of them with me, and
sixpenny stamps also.' AS he said
this he reached down a bag from
the rack over his head, opened it,
and handed Tillie a number of al
ready stamped telegraph forms.
When the train slowed up at Wiles-
der she said:
DO get out, George, and find me
q time book, for l want to know
how many times this train stops
before we reach Liverpool
Webley had no sooner disappear
ed than the young lady called the
guard to her.
where is the next stop, guard p
she asked.
AT Bechley, miss
'How long before we reach there:'
we are timed for Bechley at
lila
She had already written her tele-
gram, all but the instructions where
to reach her. 1t ran:
Tom Bansry, Coke-upon Little
ton Chambers, Temple: What do
you wish to see me for this even
ing? Answer Bechley station, on
board the Liverpool express.
'TILLIE.'
'Can you send this off for me at
once, she asked the guard, slipping
it with a sovereign into his hand.
Certainly, miss and he was
moving away when Tilly said +:
Il may have an answer to this
when we reach Bechley station.
Will you see that l get it quickly p
Certainly, miss
Just as the train was leaving
George Webley sprang into the
compartment with the train book
in his hand. Tillie opened it and
found the number of stops the train
made between London and Liver
pool. When they reached the sta
tion she said
'Oh, George, 1 wish you would
get me q cup of tea.