The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-09-11
The Melancholy HuSSar.
By THOMAS HARDY.
(Continued.)
CHAPTER V.

gift, but the talking was soon entirely
on Humphreys side as they walked
along He told her of the latest move
ments of the world Of fashion--a sub
ject which she would willingly have
discussed to the exclusion Ct anything
more personal-and his measured Ian
guage helped to still her dlsquieted
heart and brain. Had not her own sad
ness been what it was she must have
his embaTTGSsment At last he
abruptly changed the subject
Il am glad you are pleased with my
little present." he said THE truth is
that brought it to propitiate zee and
to get you to help me out Of II llighty
difficulty.
1t was inconceivable to Phyllis that
this independent blchclor--whcm she
i'll some rospects--could have
difficulty.
Phyllis, IN tell you my secret at
once, for have u mcnstrous secret t.
conflde before can ask your counsel
The case is, them that an married
Yes, l have privately married Il de-.
young belle, and if you knew her, ant
/ hope you will, you would sly every.
thing in her praise But she is not quite
the one that my father would have
chosen for me--you know the patelial
idea as well as land | have kept it
secret. There viii be terrible row no
doubt, bat think that with your holp
l may get over it. II you would only
do me this good turn---vhcn / have told
my father, l mean-say that you never
could have married me, you know, q
something Ct that sort--'pon my life il
will help to smooth the way nightly.
| am so anxious to win him round t.
my point Of view ard not to cause an?
estrangement. p"
What Phyllis replied she scarcely
knew, or how she cGunseled him as tC
his unexpected situation. Yet the reflex
that his announcement brought her was
perceptible. To have confided her trou-
BILE in return was what her aching heart
longed to do, and had Humphrey been a
woman she would instantly have poured
out her tale. But to him she feared TO
confess, and there was real reason for
silence till sufficient time had elapsed
to allow her lover aud his comrade to
get out of harm way.
AS soon as she reached home again
she sought a solitary place and spent the
time in half regretting that she had not
gone away and i'll dreaming over the
meetings with Matthaus Tina from their
beginning to their end. In his own
country, among his own countrywomcn,
he
to her very name.
Her listlessness was such that she did
| not go out Of the house for several. days.
There came morning which broke in
fog and mist, behind which the dawn
could be disoerned in greenish gray, and
the outlines of the tents and the rows OF
horses at the ropes. The smoke from the
canteen fires dropped heavily.
The spot ct the bottom Of the garden
where she had been accustomed to clint
the wall to meet Matthaus was the only
inch Of English ground i'll which she
took any interest, and in spite of the
disagreeable haze prevailing she walked
out there till she reached the well
known corner. Every blade Of grass was
weighted with little liquid globes, and
slugs and snails had crept out upon the
/ plots. She could hear the usual f. int
noises from the camp, and III the Other
direction the trot Of farmers ON the roat
to Weymouth, for it was market day
/ She observed that her frequent visits t.
this corner had quito trodden down the
grass in the angle Of the wall and lef
marks Of garden soil on the stepping
stones by which she had mounted to lool
\ over the top. Seldom having gone there
| till dusk, she had not considered tina
her traces might be visible by day. Per
haps it was these which had revealed
her trysts to her father.
While she paused in melancholy re
gard she fancied that the customary
sounds from the tents were changing
their characteC. Indifferent as Phylli
was to camp doings now, she MOUNTED
by the steps to the old place. What sh
beheld at first awed and perplexed her
Then she stood rigid, her fingers hooked
to the wall, her eyes staring out of he
head, and her face as if hardened t,
stone.
On the open green stretching befor
her all the regiments in the camp wer
drawn up i'll a square, in the midst o
which two empty collins lay ON tn
ground The unwonted sounds whicl
she had noticed came from an advanc
ing procession. 1t consisted of the banC
of the York hussars playing a deat
march. Next two saddle soldiers of tina
regiment, guarded on each side and &C
companied by clergyman. BehinC
=, came crowd of rustics who had BEEF
attracted by the event. The melanchol.
procession entered the square and halt
ed beside the coffirs, where the two con
demned men were blindfolded and eacl
placed kneeling on his coffin. A few
minutes pause was now given Will
they prayed.
A firing party Of ~ stood ready wit
leveled carbines. The commanding off
Ger, who had his sword drawn, wave
it through some cuts of the sword eX