The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-10-12

upon Last satumn when We left home, directly
after fathers death. Mothers health seemed
TO require II. and. as you know, she was fol-
lowing the advice of her ply siclsn. But shout
o month ago she began to feel homestck. She
longed to be among the familiar soehes in New
York. She repressed her yearning for time,
until II became 20 strong that she was wholly
miserable. Finally she declared she could
stand II no longer and telsgraphsd TO Liver.
pool for . cabin.
Is IL unmaidenly to confess TINT was secret.
ly pleased2 No, for 1t would enable me to see
you months sooner than either of as expected.
In my heart was glad, as ] knew you would
be. decided to surprise you. would let you
know nothing of our change Of plan until after
our arrival home Then would send you
note inviting you to call.
That was my scheme, which was spoiled by
the affair of this afternoon. Strange that you
should appear at the critical moment. But 1t
was 30 ordered Of Providence. You were the
means OF saving mothers life, and she knows
II, and would have saved mine but II the fall
from your horse. Ny heart stood still when
saw you 60 to the ground with such awful sud.
denness, but they said you were not badly
hurt, and the news We got from the hospital
was that you were doing even better than was
expected.
Oh. how glad and thankful ami You will
soon be yourself, and Of course will take the
first opportunity to call upon your impatient
but devoted JEANETTE.
The emotions caused by the reading
of this letter drove all thoughts Of
'"Budd" of Chicago from my mind.
In one sense the lady's missive was
revelation. She was devotedly attached
to Harold. Probably the two were en-
gagged. 1t was his impotence to see her
that had led him to sail for Europe six
months sooner than had been his inten-
tion, and as was understood by the young
lady herself.
And yet at the very hour that he was
sailing down the bay she was coming
up, if possibly she had not already ar.
rived. She had sought to surprise him,
not dreaming that her lover would at
tempt tho game thing.
But what was to be my role in this
strange complication Having assumed
the character of my double, it was i'm
possible to cast it aside. No one would
believe me. 1t would be the height Of
dishonor to assume the place Of Harold
IN the affections Of his beloved.
And yet, in one sense, how could help
it? would have to call upon her. for a
failure to do so would be beyond ex-
PLANTATION. might stave off the meeting
for day or two because of the acct
dent, but only for very brief while.
Within the next few days I must pay
my respects to Jeanette.
But confound It'll What would she
think of my behavior in her presence?
OF necessity there would follow hum
dreds Of trifling references whose mean-
ing would be as hidden from me as from
the man in the moon. She would be
mystified, puzzled, shocked.
All, ha! I had it. Happy thought
My violent fall in the park had af.
fected my brain most peculiarly. While
everything else was clear, my memory
had been so Jared that it was at fault.
The wheels had slipped cog. I found
it impossible to recall many past occur
rences. hoped to recover in time, but
the specialist whom I consulted said
the strange affection might remain for a
year. Meanwhile my friends must pity
and have patience.
The refuge which had SO suddenly
presented itself promised to open the
way for escape from other disagreeable
entanglements. 1t might enable me to
shake off Mr.. Budd Of Chicago
Having hit upon this providential
refuge, there was no reason why should
not call upon Jeanette at once. l would
do 50.
Bnt, holdl Where was her homer
What was her full name?
Surely there should be no difficulty in
learning all that. She had dated her
letter simply "At Home" for surely
she had the right to assume that that
was sufficient for her lover.
No help to be obtained there. All,
why did I not think of it before? The
newspapers must have an account of the
accident yesterday in the park, with the
names of all concerned. That would
give the clew.
Three of the leading dailies were de-
livered at the rooms of Harold, in addi-
ton to two afternoon journals. 1t was
hardly to be expected that the account
of the accident would be in the after
noon papers Of the same day. Neverthe-
less searched them carefully. Neither
contained word about the runaway in
the park.
81 shall find it in all of the morning
papers.
I went through each one several
times, but with no better success than
with the others. No person having been
killed, the incident was not considered
worth record, especially as the political
news just then was of stirring charac-
| ter.
sent ont later in the day and got all
the evening issues. One of them spoke
of a runaway in Central park in which
the driver was badly injured and a
young gentleman who attempted the
part of the gallant rescuer was thrown
from his horse and so badly shaken that
he was taken to the hospital. No names
were given, and no more was printed.
began to feel vexed. 1t looked as if
fate was trifing with me. What ought
to be very simple matterwas becoming
difficult one. Some baleful influence
was intervening to work my discomf-
ture.
But how absurd the thought Evident
ly all had to do was to inquire the
names Of the ladies in the carriage, and
they would be given to ME.
But tomake inquiries Of my acquaint-
ance would expose me to ridicule, for it
was inconceivablo that any jar which a
lover might receive would cause him to
forget the name and home Of his be-
trothed.
After perplexing thought I telephoned
to the central office to send me one Of
their best detectives. He arrived within
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