The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-06-08

|
else. He had heard the voice before;
he was sure Of it. 1t seemed to him to
come from some time of the long ago
some time of which he had kept no
souvenir.
at seems strange thing to say" he
said, but l cannot help thinking we
must have met before. / am sure
recognize your voice"
YES" she said, 1--WE have met. You
would have recognized my face, too,
even in this mist, if Il were not veiled.
/ knew you at once. You are Charles
Marone."
"Will you not,n he went on, ''at
least put back your veil? 1 am sure 1
should recognize you Zen aud know
your name. Wherever we met before
it IS strange enough that we should
meet again like this, at night on the
moor-I lost in the mist and you my
guide"
Yes she said, ''it is strange. You
shall see my face, but not yet Perhaps
you will remember without that. Tell
me, can you remember 20 years ago?''
Vaguely" he said. II was young
man then-a wild ass of the desert.
But what have 20 years to do with it,
for unless my judgment is very wrong
you can not remember 20 years ago?D
ssWhV not ~ She said
Because" he said, laughing, 'you
cannot possibly be 20years of age"
"Never mind" she said. Twenty
years ago you did precisely what you
are doing now. You went away to
village to get some work done"
very likely,r he said. "That was
when L was up at Oxford. 1t is not
impossible, butt have no clear recol-
lection of it,"
She began to hum tune. The tune,
like the voice, came back to him.
81 remember now-an old mill, an
orchard behind it. 1 was in the or
chard.u
She raised a gloved hand, in which
she carried some fast fading flowers.
"Smell these" she said, ''and they
also will help your memory"
Their scent was curious, harsh and
heavy; not sweet and refreshing.
"I know" he cried. "They grew
there all among the grass, those great
red poppies. Now l recall everything
and could even have sworn that you
were"-
"Who?' she asked softly.
zone who % years ago had the grace
and the voice and the figure that you
have now"
Out of the gray mist came a row of
low, white painted ratings.
''Let me rest little" she said.
She leaned against them. A stone,
dislodged by her foot, fell far down and
splashed in the water below.
"What was her name?" she asked.
"a strange name for an English
girl" he said sadly. '.She was called
Antoinette"
az am Antoinette," said the woman
before him.
"But not the same, " he said. "That
would be impossible"
She laughed.
"If," she said, "you had been a wo-
man instead of man, you would have
noticed, even in this light, that / wear
the fashions of 20 years ago. Won't
you believe? Look at my face then"
1t was the face of the woman whom
he had more or less loved 20 years be-
fore. He shrank back few steps from
her.
"What does it mean?' he asked.
"How isit that you have not changed?"
He was frightened.
Il came here" she said, latter you
had gone. 1t was just at this spot that
| read your last letter. Listen"
He heard the water murmuring be-
low him.
at was 20 years ago." she went on,
81 died-down there-beeause you had
left me. Come back to me now"
Slowly and mechanically he stepped
forward again toward her.
The lamentable death of Charles Ma
rome while still comparatively young
and at the height of his reputation was,
the newspapers said, the result of acci-
dent. He had, in spite of warning,
gone out on the moor in thick mist
and lost his way. The local paper re-
called with some jubilation that it had
directed public attention to the dis
graceful state of the railings on the
bank of the river some time before and
added in a fine vein of sarcasm that
the door would probably be shut now
that the steed was stolen.-Barry Pain
in Black and White.