The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-14

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ty-two years of Hong Kong-don't you
know! You were Miss Newenham then;
tbs as Miss Newenham 1 have always re-
membered you"
My eldest boy. Walter" my mother
said, as he looked at me. Yes, general,
my eldest son. Now, don't pretend you
don't Believe it."
Bless my soul, might be your brother!"
the general put in quickly. And so indeed
he might For there never was younger
looking woman than my mother.
They stood and talked awhile about old
times as old friends will do after years of
absence. Then they exchanged cards. and
we two went off alone along the Serpen-
tine.
turned up at the corner by the artificial
rockery.
"Who?" my mother asked sharply with
sort of timid glance at me.
why, Gen. ODonoghue.
How did you know his name? I never
mentioned it," She seemed quite fright.
ened.
l stood still by the waterside, there in
London, in broad daylight, feeling sudden.
~ aware that a miracle had happened
Half-terrified myself, l answered. 81 re-
membered it,"
Remembered it! Impossible! You never
saw him. He went to Hong Kong before
1 was married"
yes; but you saw him, and l remem-
Der it perfectly. / knew it was Capt.
O'Donoghue the first instant he came up
to u.s."
My mother looked hard at me.
Walter she said, earnestly, you're
trying to play tricks upon me, You read
his card sideways. Either you're imposing
upon me, or else you're mystery
ing"
Mother" 1 said in my most solemn
tone, I'm doing nothing of the sort I've
never read his card or seen him before
since-since 1 parted from him years ago
by the bridge at Canford.'
Her face grew white. She grasped the
railing by the border a second.
You parted from him." she cried, "by
the bridge at Canfordl You never parted
from him. 1t was 1, and you know it,"
l started back myself 1 knew she spoke
the truth l remembered parting from him
quite well, oh, so well; too clearly; but I
was young girl then, in bright morn
ing dress, the very day after the Canford
party.
In second. l saw what had really hap
pened This memory of mine was separat-
ed from all others by a gulf, an immeasur-
! able gulf Between it and me there inter-
vened, like a wall, an indefinite Some
thing. Yet 1t was l all the same. 1t was
who had said goodbye, a fearful girls
goodbye. to Capt. ODonoghue of the en-
gineers, by the bridge at Canford. And just
as a scrap of the tapestry was needed TO
revive my memory of the room in which
I lay in my cradle, so the sight of the
bronzed face and grizzled moustache was
needed to revive the memory of the man
had seen when as yet l was not.
Let us go home" l said slowly over
whelmed in thought.
Let us go home" said my mother
We returned in silence.
For several days after that. nothing
more was said by either of us on the sub
| ject But for the first time in my life, l
| noticed that my mother seemed to shrink
from my touch and to dread being left
alone with me.
| For myself, this new clue was so vastly
interesting that l followed it up with the
/ inteusest curiosity. Starting from Gen
| O'Donoghue (or Capt. O'Donoghue, as 1
! called him to myself, l found l could re-
member endless people and things con-
! nected with Canford and my mothers
| childhood. You know how one sometimes
! forgets a verse of poetry, yet, with one
! line as a clue, gradually and carefully
! builds it ell up again. 1t was just so
! felt with my vague recollections of my
/ mothers life. Indefinite at first, and only
! distinctly recalled to me by the episode of
| the young engineer officer who had come
! girl, they grew more and more coherent
1 the longer 1 thought about them They
/ came back to me one by one as the episodes
| of my own infancy had done before.
/ knew now, too, why l remembered first of
! all the parting with Capt. O'Donoghue
| When l came to recall it, il was the event
/ that had stamped itself deepest and clear
! est on my mothers memory-that is to
| say, on my own, for the two were INSOFAR
! able.
The weight of this secret bowed me
! down with its magnitude.
At last one day, as loitered in the libra
ry, my mother spoke to me.
Walter" she said, imploringly, don't
! keep me in the dark. Do tell me how You
heard about myself and Gen. O'Donoghue."
Il didn't hear" answered. Il remem-
! ber-everything
She clasped her hands and looked at me.
| Her lips were ashy white.
My boy she said, my boy, do tell me
] this Is trick got up between yourself the