Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-11-07

white. and well shaped, but-the girl of whom they had been speaking had l possessed hands like those of a little cbild, and he missed the rosy dimples which used 10 crown the juncture of each slender finger with the dainty palm. Perhaps the woman beside him divined something of this unspoken l thought and resented it. At all events she withdrew the altered hands into her lap. and faced him with all the tender softness of the last few moments ban ished. and with the newer air showing forth again.
 "She must have been delightful fn- deed I am glad to have had the privi- lege Of knowing her" she exclaimed. sarcasticallY, "even if, at the time of our acquaintance, I did not realize one tenth of the loveliness and saintlines9 which she possessed But unfortunate 1y," her voice growing harder and cold CT as she went oH, and the professional smile appearing brilliantly again, like all the other paragons and saints, she is dead. And in her place" she con tinued with defiant air, you behold Dr. Helen Winston!n
 He bowed tremendously, and as though to a newacquaintanee; she eo1- ored indignantly
 Not that l allow my professional title to be used upon social oeeasions,a she hastened to add. She was talk ing rapidly to cover the emotion which she could not entirely repress: Ut is seldom indeed that l am obliged to con sidor that side of the question at all. l go into society very little. am here tonight because Mrs. Dudley is such an old and valued friend that she claims the right of refusing to take no for an answer to her ldndly-pressed in= yitations once in awhile. It is only upon rare occasions that I drop my Workaday name and attire for a few hours, and become something of a but terhy again For the girl you know, who loved social festivities so dearly',- dropping a little of her defiant manner and ceasing to talk against time as her cheeks grew coIder-s'is dead. ;"
 He did not reply, and there was si- lenee between them for some time. The dessert had been nearly disposed of be- fore he broke it.
 Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead ?" he then asked, with suddenness purposelX startling; and the girl supposed to be so long buried rose ID unmistakably in her eyes as they turned, swiftly, and full of unshed tears, upon him.
 ''What2'' she gasped, in breath1ess astonishment .'What do you mean ?n
 Then she flushed with anger.
 Not i'm this life" she cried, with sharp emphasis; but he saw, or faneied he saw, the trace of tear on the bright cheek nearest to him, and was in no wise daHnted by her wrathful and chilling manner.
 Have you ever" he persisted, watch 1 ing her with keen scrutiny as he spoke. .in the course of your professional and scientific observations. come across I Such thing as ease of suspended 1 animation. or supposed death ?'
 And this time he was certain that the vivid blush which reminded him so irresistibly of the girl whom they had been discussing, was accompanied by a , tear. He saw it fall from her cheek to , the napkin in her lap; and his heart lcaped for joy
 s But her reply was long in coming, and the rising signal of the hostess, 3giyen just as she struggled for words Fin which to frame it. saved her from the necessity of making it at all He held the door open for her to pass through in silence, noticing, as he did so, the long richly-colored velvet robe, so exceedingly unlike the fluffy white ness of that other girls holiday attire, and in another moment she was gone. He found himself repeating his unan- swered question to himself, as he made his way back to the table.
 Possibly, however. he propounded it again later in tbe evening with better success. Anyhow, early the next morn ing, the chum who shared his conf dence and his apartments found him dreaming over cigar with q smile so bHssfully happy that he yielded, for once, to a most unmaseuline curiosity.
 "So you took Dr. Winston out to diuner?'' he remarked. And what, I wonder, did you find to talk about? ?"
 The other smiled again; his voice,
 
 as he made reply.
 She told me how completely dead her old sef-the self that l used to know-was." he answered. "and L. agreed with her,'
 The listener gave an exclamation of impatieHce.
 We'll" he calculated, T must say that you chose an exhilarating subject for conversation. after all those years. And I must say, toe, that for man who used to be so precious fond of that old self of hers you are looking strange ly joyous after the funeral"
 Don't fret. old boy" said Harper softly. Strange things sometimes hap pen, you know. There have been well authenticated cases of suspended ami nation that merely simulated death. Dr, Winston tells me that she has never met with such a case in all her prae- tice; but it may be, my boy" accept ing the others proffered hand and shak-