Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1897-07-21
A BRorHER's SACRIFICE.
By STANLEY HOWARD.
WAS leaning g


,s WAS leaning
! !. ! ! !. ! !: ! !: : /: ! |: ! ] ] ]
.ae hNsS against the rail-
.;Ss| HssnH ing in the park,
'.asSSsL W. enjoying cigar
sSsY EaSs and watching
a M1E sSNa the carriages as
SSs2yl Ma they passed. It
SME ~ was the fash
IN Jl ISsS ionable hour,
W AyNs~Iy&S and this was a
GezlSS%SMS favorite occupa-
VTMnIEESS. ton of mine.
~" Had I been
Younger, I might possibly have in
dulged in a dream of the time when
riches and luxury should be mine,
when the inner circle of society should
be my world; but I was no longer
young. At sixty one is contented with
sufficient, and wealth loses much OF Its
fascination. I have found it SO, at
least.
There was block for two or three
minutes, and the occupants of the car
riage which was standing just in front
of me arrested my attention. There
were two ladies and a gentleman
husband and wife and daughter l took
them to be. The man, who was about
my age, was exceedingly good-looking,
an d the young lady was pretty, but it
was the elder lady who particularly IN
terested me. Her hair was quite white
and her face pale, but SO handsome,
and SO exquisitely sweet in expression,
that in a moment my old brain was
weaving a romance about her. Many
people looked at the carriage and sew
eral bowed. Evidently the occupants
were people we'll known.
"You seem Interested" said man,
touching my arm, as the carriage
moved on.
eyes," I answered, shortly. I have
rooted aversion to entering into con-
versation with strangers.
The man looked at me curiously,
with smile upon his face. He was
tall and thin, only fairly well dressed,
but of gentlemanly bearing, and there
were deep lines under his eyes and
about his mouth.
''I have been looking for you fol
two months past, he said.
''For me! You have made a mis-.
take. I think
'sYou have changed little, Mr.. Har-
graves; I must have changed much,
or you would remember me-
Certainly I have forgotten you" ]
said, politely, hearing him call me by
name.
'sRobert Denmore.
For moment I was silent-Den-
more!
"of fcourse-yes. We met in Vienna,
didn't we?"
He nodded and we shook hands.
"Vienna-twenty years ago, I said.
.sHow time fiesl What have the years
brought to you?"
ga living death, vas the strange
answer.
I looked inquiringly at him.
''True," he said. ''Come to my
rooms and renew our old friendship.
I haven't friend left in the world ex-
cept you; and I cannot let you go now
I have found you. I have been look
ing for you for two months-twc
months tomorrow. I can fix the time
to an hour"
Robert Denmore had always puzzled
me-he puzzled me now. As I walked
home with him, my mind slipped back
twenty years. He and L had met in
Vienna, and finding our tastes agreed,
had travelled about together for few
months. We became very good friends,
but he told me little about himself.
He seemed to have done with the past
altogether, and thought very little
about the future. remember him
saying once, 'I never think about
what did yesterday; don't care what
happens tomorrow; to-day is all ]
trouble myself about" and he carried
this system of existence to such an ex-
tent that arrangements were often up
set. No doubt there was q secret in
his past life, but I found him an inter
esting companion, and his secret did
not concern me.
After dinner that night we sat and
smoked.
cit does me good to see you again, 81
he said. ''The fact of the matter is,
that I want to tell you story. Were
you never curious about me in the old
days?"
eyes, often"
swell, I want to tell you my his
tory. I was a disappointed man then;
I am broken-down one now, without
friends, almost without money. Oh!
I am not going TO borrow. You re-
member when I left you and returned
to England?"
"I do, and you promised to look me
up in London, which promise you
never kept"
''No; but you received letter from
me telling you that I was going
abroad?"
"Yes."
"That letter was lie. I have not
been out of the country since. I knew
I was not going when I wrote that let
ter"
He spoke as if the statement was
the keynote to his whole history. His
manner quite startled me.
'eYou wonder why I took the trouble
to tell you lie? Well, wanted to be
forgotten; I did not want you to try
to find me-"
candy yet you have spent the last two
months looking for me-" L said.
CT don't want to be forgotten any
more. I want to have friend in the
world to talk to.
He was silent for a moment and re,
lit his pipe.
s'There were two of u.s." he said
s'twin boys. I was the elder by ten
minutes, and we were born three
months oftar o11r father's death We