The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-06-21
THE FREEZE



any one else May" said Jack. "But l
can Z honestly ask you 10 consider yourself
tied fast 90 me ana my poverty. III Moth
ing better turns up II go back to Florida
and start again, though it would be years
| before i should DO well enough OFF 10
| marry You must consider yourself free,
as free as You care TO claim freedom But
you must write. the oftener and the
| longer the better "
! Iom could have sworn that he saw
| tears In Jacks eyes rs he said good by
and watched their train out of the station.
Jack sterling gold, " no said 20 May.
III he doesn' come TO good luck, and ~
you are not happily married before long,
l shall never put my trust IN Providence
again. SO there Now for home. Poor old
governor, and poor old mater too | know
just how she'll look when she sees us.
May. She'd be just as happy at seeing us
III we were tho = two most tumble down
disreputables.that ever crossed the herring
pond. Not that we're much better to boast
Uf anyway
To May and to Tom the days passed
along merrily enough. The thought that
they were In England and at home was
enough 10 dispel that dark cloud that
would occasionally hover over them whom
they thought of the future. Simply to
lounge at home, to see old friends, 10 re-
visit familiar spots. this, aftor four years
exile, was Perfect delight. Gradually
their spirits rose. Tom made up his
mind To return the following October
He heard good reports from his plantation,
and in three or four years he hoped TO
have regained once more the position OF
safety and atliuence he had before the
frorZo came His father undertook e. pay
his passage out and give him small sum
To get through his first year on, to be
paid back in his own good time. SO that
on the whole Tom did not find much To
grumble at There could not surely be
another freeze in his lifetime; IL there
Were, well, it was easy enough TO go into
the swamps and starye himself until the
| inevitable fever came and took from him
the life he would no longer care To keep.
| so his chart OF lifo was straightforward
! enough.
With May IL was not SO. All her future
depended on Jack Grenham, and Jacks
depended on how many things To some
| extent he wns in tho same position as
| Tom, but on the other hand there wers
| many more posi- bilities. lis brother
might die his father might relent, some
| unexpected uncle or aunt might leave him
money, dozen things might happen i'm
! his life that were certain not To happen in
| Toms because the latter lived in differ
! ent class of life and came Of poorer stock.
Jack wrote To May loving letters, full of
| affection and reverence. His father had
| apparently received him moro kindly than
| and feeble, aud was inclined in his iDcreas-
| ing weakness TO overlook Jacks little
| crop of wild oats, witch was after all,
| nothing to what he himself had sown I'm
tho iifties. Jacks elder brother. too. was
much moro friendly than he had expected.
| and had limited that he would not be left
so badly of as he had imagined
1.-The old governor has been screwing
| like the very dickens since you went To
Florida, he said to Jack, and now you've
got into his good books again | expect
you'll have some benefit out of 1t. Don't
you hurry back; he can't last much
longer. You'd better wait till It's over
lie seems to cling to you more and more
every day. You're so like mother you
know F"
All this Jack dutifully reported to
May. along with accounts Of. his doings
at home and elsewhere But 1t seemed 10
May that every letter OF his, instead of
tightening the bond between them, gave
signs that Jack was slipping away from
her There Was net word he wrote that
intimated so much; but she easily found
corroborations of her own doubts and
fears. In Florida tbev had been on the
same level, socially and peculiarly; now
they seemed leagues spart. Jack was
above their sphere he did not live in a
poverty stricken parish on insufficient
means among uncultured friends with
narrow creods and unlovely faces. lie
was leading gay life amid wealthy anu
fascinating women, who would 10 certain
10 enslave the handsome young settler
from Florda-he who had LED such q
merry youth been toss,d aboutso pictu-
resquely by the waves OF fate was so full Of
strength, and had such an aroma OF
romance about his life. This was how
IL appeared To May, and as Jack said moth
ing about their engagement and did not
seem To have mentioned IL to his father or
sl
it was oil a question OF time, that Jack
would soon give her up entirely, and that
then her heart would break. and thnt
would be the end.
Tom went back in October, leaving his
sistor and Jack behind. II a wrote 60 the
latter promising to keep an eye on his
trees till he should choose TO come over,
and promising also 10 write occasionally
To say how things wero prospering.
so May stayed behind and lived only for
Jacks letters, which were now getting
fewer and shorter His father was seri
ously Ill; any day might be his last
some weeks after Tom had reached
Florida-Ec was In capital spirits again
May saw in the paper notice Of the death
of Sir Joshua GrenhaIp, Bart Of Upwick
hall, Surrey. a short to from Jack
aprrised her OF the evunt, and told her
that he was going abroad with his brother
who was very much upset by his fathers
death.
Then followed months OF silence May
woke up every morning with "A boating
heart, wondering II tho prayed-for letter
had come at last But 10 never came
She anxiously read all tie society papers
to CLEAN the slightest news Of the where
abouts Of the two brothers. Now thev
were I'm Egypt, now IN India now in
Australia, but never n line did sho get
from Jack. She grew paler and thinner
with grief hnd longing; the roundness
wore out OF her checks and the sparkle
dic1 out of her eyes.
"Nou must go back to Tom" said her
mother. This air does not suit you.
You must have got used TO Florida. and
you must go there again. It's the only
thing that will bring the roses back To
your face.
The family doctor, who knew that her
disease had nothing 10 do with climate or
smoke. gave his consopt.
Perhaps the change will 90 her good"
he said. But ~ Is her mind, not her
rody that Is suffering. You can only put
oil tho evil day. Unless fresh hopo comes
| into her life che will fade away little by