The record-union., 1896-07-26

moon was reflected brokeniy in the
Whispering river. Teddy asked me, 1
remember. if had seen Harry in Ed
inburgh.
Dear old chap re said thoughtfully
I'D like to see him again If only he
were here, and Bob back from Cairo.
we'd be a nice little family party.
wouldn't We, mater?''
Il thought, if Will could manage to
stay tin Christmas, we'd have family
reunion then" said Mrs. Orme Bob
hopes for leave, think"
Christmas" calculated Ted. That's
a long way off,
st. Teddy wishes all his family to see
him head of the river" laughed VIII. .
Ted laughed, and pushed his canoe
out from the bank, calling back 'Auf-
wiedersehen," and I suppose the word
brought the song to his mind, for
through the plash of the river, we heard
him whistling the plaintive Est list bes-
timmt in Gottes Rat" as the canoe
slipped from sight.
| The next day was showery in the
morning. Mrs. Orme and 1 went into
Oxford before lunch, and while she was
calling somewhere, l wandered down
Broad street towards Wadham, where
we had agreed to meet again, and was
driven by a smart shower to take shelter
i'll the entrance to the Ashmolean.
was pleased to meet Teddy in his green
and white blazer just coming out, and
we stood talking while the rain pattered
down outside.
Suddenly | asked: Have you ever got
over your objection to the mummy,
Ted?" and he turned to me laughing
Il had forgotten that you knew that
Mrs. Moncrieff,' he said. Well do you
| know, I've never looked at them all
these years, just because I'd got into the
habit of avoiding them. Let US go up
and look at one of them now, and get
the introduction over"
We did so, and he stood in front of one
| case, looking at the face of the thousand
years dead within. He was standing
carelessly, crushing his cap between his
hands, and as he remained silent a long
time gazing into the eyeless sockets of
| the black distorted countenance before
him, l was struck by one contrast, by
| the sweet glad young eyes, with the
hidden laughter in their brown depths,
| the firm, smiling lips by the hope and
life reflected in the sunburnt, boyish
face, and then by the horror of the
| SudSliy tulIlS Opposite. L CduS III HIS
arm. THAT will do 1 exclaimed; "let
US go now
Teddy laughed but there was queer
look in his own eyes as we went out
| again to find the shower had ceased and
the clouds racing away before a light
breeze.
| In Wadham garden the grass and
flowers were glittering in sunlight, and
n e..
never keeps an appointment punctually
by any chance.
That is an interesting old chap"
said Teddy thoughtfully after pause.
Il wonder why I was so afraid of him as
a little 'un. I am a fearful coward
though" he turned to me as he had done
so many years before, with the strange
shadow on his face, "and awfully afraid
of DEATH Mrs. Moncrieff" Then with a
| bright laugh and complete change of
| tone he added: Il wonder if, when the
| time comes for one to look that, too, in
the face, it is with a surprised Hello,
old fellow, you're not half 50 bad as I
| thought that he is greeted. But here
comes the mater, and 1 must be off.
You'll be both on the barge this after
noon, won't you?"
| ".
It was very hot and bright on the
river that afternoon, and the crowd on
| the barges and along the river unusu-
ally large. The Ormes were present in
great force, though Phil and Jack were
not with US; they had joined the under
| graduates on shore, scantily clad in
f1annels and prepared to run along the
| bank with the boats and cheer them
! selves hoarse when the races began.
Bertie, Rex's little boy, was most at
tentive to Lassie and explained every
| thing to her. SO that, to our amusement,
she chatted quite fluently about it all,
took really an intelligent interest in the
boats, and was immensely proud of her
| acquaintance with the cox of ST Brides.
| Teddy joined us as soon as we ap-
| peared, and remained with us during
| the first division, holding Lassie on his
/ shoulder, and giving her his greenland
white cap to wave as the boats went by
Then he went off to procure tea for
| US, asking us to remain together that
we might have it socially
| While he was away Sir Edward
| Morse, the head of st. Brides came up
and after speaking to me, said: Let us
| go down stairs, Mrs. Moncrieff, and
| have a cup of tea away from this bus
| tle," and offering to take Lassie's hand
| he added, Don't you think that a good
idea, little maid?" OF course 1 had
never thought of declining, but to my
| amusement, Lassie drew herself up and
| said politely, but with great pride "Oh
no, thank you; mater and 1 are going to
| have tea with the cox" Sir Edward
| bowed, smiling, and said he would never
think Of interfering with such an en-
| gagement. 1 think it was probably the
| first time the head of ST Brides had
found himself to be nobody compared
| to the cox of the boat
| After the boats of the o'clock di-
| vision had gone down to the starting
| place we all waited in great excitement
| for the guns, speaking little and con-
| stantly consulting our watches
| In spite of our expectation we all
| started as the five-minutes gun was
| fired, and pressed forward eagerly to
| see the canoes and small boats clearing
away from the center of the river In
| two minutes there came the dull sound
| of the second gun; all conversation
| ceased: even the terriers stopped bark
| ing and raised one ear in quivering i'm
| patience. On doomed the last gun a
shiver ran through the crowd, a great
| cry rose from beyond the bend of the
river where the boats lay out of our
| sight, and Will, who was beside me.
! muttered between his teeth, They're
| Off"