Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-03-10

ment. | won't keep you if
But already she was half hidden by the
%shrubbery, and her only answer was a be-
wildering smile. He had p~eriorce TO fol
low.
sit seems more crowded than ever" she
said as they picked their way through the
throng. "Ah, there are my mother and
Captain Havelock! Shall we join themY
/ hope you are attending to your duties,
Ralph. Mr.. Holland and | have been dis
cussing Meredith and things. Tired, moth
err Oh, you must be! Mr.. Holland, will
you find my mother o seat somewhere
near the band, If you can? The Hungari-
ans are so good"
Delighted" he replied. Then lower,
II may see you again before you go, Miss
Lindsay"
"If you can, " she repeated.
She watched them until they were lost
in the crowd, and then deliberately led
Captain Havelock back to the little nook.
Some girls have no originality. But it
was still empty.
"Better sit down, Ralph" she said, TAX
ing her old place.
"Thanks; l prefer to stand" he said.
sit is a matter of taste-or of comfort. "
She gave him a swift glance. "Not up to
Simla, Is it?"
"I'm sick of it. Beastly pack! / haven't
had a chance of speaking to you all after
noon, Nell"
philanthropy is its own reward" she
said.
tits not that-Mrs. Lindsay Is all right.
But there's that scribbling fellow who's
always dangling after you"
"He is very amusing and clever"
SIS he? He doesn't know one end of a
gun from the other, and l suppose he
thinks that horses were invented to drag
the Chelsea bus, or wherever he stays"
"Why, dear boy, to be a groom is not
mans chief end. And you are very rude.
Mr.. Holland speaks very nicely Of you"
"Confound his impudence!' And, by
way of relief, he proceeded to kick a hole
In Mrs. Gurdon's turf. Look here, Nell,"
he said presently, "I'm going off to
Egypt"
Indeed! l thought winter was the
proper season. Won't it be rather warm
there just now9"
"That is, If they'll have me" no con-
tinued, paying NJ heed. GIVE volunteered
for Dongola. Kitchener is going up to
Khartum in the autumn-at least | hope
So"
sin Cook boats? What fun"
"It will be-for Fuzzy and the dervishes.
But you might have the decency to say
you are sorry, Nell. l mayn't come back,
you know"
$50 that is why you told meY" she
asked. "Don'tyou think it is rather crude,
Captain Havelook?" But she was not
looking at him, being engaged in tracing
fancy patterns on the grass. Not that it
would have mattercd, for he, OH his part,
was also regarding the point of the sun
shade with apparent interest.
"Oh, l dare say that writing chap would
have done it better" he said savagely.
"It's his trade. / suppose you mean to
marry the beggar, Nell?'
"His name is Holland, !" she suggested.
81 know that. You can see his portrait
in any illustrated paper for a sixpenoe. It's
In them ALL"
(Which is really no reason why he
shouldn't be addressed properly, is it9 l
have some idea that I have seen another
portrait in the same places, with the let
ters ID. S. O. after the name"
You need not get disagreeable. Be-
sides, you haven't told me yet If you are
engaged to him."
well, you see''-here she ventured an
other ~glance-"he hasn't asked Inc YETI
II suppose you will marry him,
though" he persisted. cts natural
enough, perhaps he's a genius and all
that-and of course I'm not. Wait a min
ute, Nell! can't stand this any longer,
and I'm bound to have it out for good.
You were always cleverer than I was, but
you know what I've wished for ever since
| was an unlocked cub at Elton. l wasn't
afraid to tell you then. You remember,
Nell?"
II remember thinking that those lick
ings-which you did not get-might have
done you good"
"Well, you didn't say SO! And all the
time l was stewing in India 1t was the
same, and when l was down with fever in
the plains 1 kept shouting one name-so
the doctor told me-"
sit was in very bad tasts," she muir.
INJURED.
sob! Then that fort on the frontier,
with the Waziris bowling round-and not
i've minutes sleep on end for fear they
should rush us-and the grub running out
and the only idea in my head was to see
1t through somehow and get home to ask
you to marry me! There, Nell, it's out at
last!'
She was looking at him now, but there
was a world Of reproach-and perhaps
something else-in her eyes. "You haven't
asked me yeti" she cried.
"But, Nell-good heayens!-you don't
mean to say
And then-well, in some mysterious
fashion he managed to gain possession of
her hands and to say the rest without
words. As for her:
"You might have seen it, you foolish
boyl" she said.
And that was all.
Except that, a little later, she met Mr..
Holland.
"lhave been looking for You, Miss Lind.
say" he said. 81 have something to say.
Not going already surelyq l may call to.
night then? / need not tSl you what it
is-perhaps you can guess-I-I hope 80"
II think it would be better not to come,
Mr.. Holland" she replied, giving him her
hand. II am sorry, but-will you oblige
me by considering the episode as olosedp I
am engaged to Captain Havelock. "-Da.
vid l.. Johnston in Chambers journal.
The Bid Wa IJndersisa.