, 1896-11-02
LIEUT.. SWASH'S LOVE

AO'>s
starting from my seat, S o greatly had
he surprised Inc.
My friend Swash generated Il great
cloud of smoke in his pipe, ami it so en-
veloped his head that l could rot see
his face, deeply flushed as it must have
been, and from the cloud of gray vapor
can't the graft reply:
"Yes, in love, cOnfound it!'
"Oh, how interestingly exclaimed my
wife, dropping her magazine and look
ing up at my friend and myself, whom
she had always previously declared to
be most uninteresting when we got to-
gether over Our pipes.
at is not very pleasant for me, nut
tered Swash. He was greatly embar-
raised and fixed his eyes pensively on
the floor.
"What is her namc?" I asked.
Il don't know" he answered
brusGuely.
"Where docs she live;" ventured my
wife.
Don't know that"
"Whcre did you meet herr" said l.
"Can't tell that either. Dockboy.
Don't think me disaGrccablc. If l could,
l would gladly answer your questions.
Indeed, | wish that I was able to-"
your case is truly Il strange onc,' l
said. "Is this young woman purely an
ideal, a mental creature Of your own!
You have been melancholy enough of
late TO have been signing for something
more material"
ttSko 10 y,pf % p,aro rroafinp nf my,
imagination" replied the lieutenant
solHmnly. "She exists where l don't
know. l saw her Once a great way off,
and she realized all my ideals Of the
woman 1 would make Mrs. Swash. And
when | saw her, for an instant though
it was. l cried to myself: Here, Swash,
is the oma you have dreamed of all
these years. That soft, intellectual face,
those soulful eyes, they belong to the
woman you have been waiting for.
Then she was gone, from where and
whittier 1 don't know, for I can't tell
where 1 saw her.
Swash sent a beautiful ring Of smoke
circling upward toward the ceiling, and
on it he fixed his eyes. watching it as it
swung away into tho air, became thin
ner and thinner and finally disappeared,
and where it had been he kept his gaze
fixed so that it seemed that he was look
ing off into space, unconscious Of our
presence. My wife glanced m%eaningly
at me, as though she suspected that our
VISITORS mind was either permanently
Or temporarily ~dcranged.
"Your case is really most remarka.
bic, " said. Explain. Don't surround
yourself with such an air of mystery. 1t
would relieve you to confide your trou-
bles in us. Perhaps we could help you"
YES, indeed cried my wife enthu-
s%iastically. perhaps we can help you"
Swash started. "Ah, yes. Where did
I leave off? Perhaps you can-indeed.
yes"
Perhaps we can assist you," I re-
peatcd.
II think not. Dockboy," ne said,
having recovered himself. "For my
case is truly remarkable. 1 have swept
the skies with Il telescope and cannot
find her. l have walked the streets day
and night, scrutinizing thousands of
windows, and still have not n trace of
Z 1ou stts ! 81" litI ulIutl III IloSt
peculiar circumstances, but see her
did, and l lost my heart. From Il salts
fed bachelor of so | have been meta
m~orpbosed into IL lovelorn, disappoint-
ed. unhappy can't get u word to fit
my case"
Your use Of n telescope is queer"
interrupted. have suspected ull along
that you saw her in the Skies"
You have guessed my secret" he
said m%ournfully. 1T happened That one
night about u month ago l was walking
down Broadway on the way home to
my boarding house," continued my
friend. ut seems to me that I had been
up here to see you. At Fortieth street,
as i'll luck would have it, l ran across
one of those itinerant astronomers who
had set up a telescope OIL the pavement
and hung II u small sign calling at
tention to the fact that Saturn and its
rings could be seen for 8 cents. Bust
ness looked dull and l kind Of pitiod
the poor fellow. 1t had never been my
fortune to gaze at Saturn and her rings,
so | stepped up. gave him n nickel and
fixed my eye on the end of the instru-
ment. At first all was blackness. i
can't see any rings, said I: The lens is
not adjusted, replied the astronomer.
And with that he began to turn q lot
of screws. The blackness gave way to a
hazy, gray light, that l suspected was
from Il theater across the street, but /
said nothing and strained my optic
nerve to make out the planet. 1t was
Of no use. l Withdrew my eye and COM
planned. The then discov.
cred that tho telescope was pointed
wrong, and hc looked through it, low
cred one end and gave it n turn.
my eye was at the instrument
again, but no change was visible in
the make up Of the heavens Leyond a
marked increase Of light. Once more
I complained, and the man declared
I must be nearsightcd. Look harder, ;
he said, giving the machine a little
twist. And l looked harder. but instead
Of Saturn l saw clearly a woman-my
ideal, she whom for years I had pictured
in my smoking moments. There she
was, sitting at q window, one arm rest
ing on tho sill. her hand on her chin,