The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-03


/ turn that page; she was, in fact, ponder
| ing problem and it's solution He looked
| at her for a minute or so carelessly, then
It dawned upon him that she was a beau
| tiful girl with a beauty out of the common:
| her face was purely classical-a Greek face
face apparently beyond any possibility
of being moved by Venus, so cold il was.
| She lifted her head and looked round alb
! stractedly, seeing nothing except the way
/ to tackle that problem. Cold as the light
/ upon Siberian hills was the look in those
eyes. Yet. when they rested for a moment
/ upon the young mans face. he jumped.
4 oh" he cried. bending forward. 81
have met you already. Do you remember?'
No, sir she replied, irritaby, because
| the solution vanished just as she thought
! she held the thread. Besides, to be 'spok-
! en- to- is disgusting. 81 do not remember"
She looked out of the window upon the
black walls of the tunnel as If to escape
/ the sight of him. But he persisted.
Surely / am not wrong? We met at a
village called Dingley not far from Maid
stone-fve or six years ago. Your name
I is, l remember now. Eliza Scholastica ia
gos 1t was a a village feast and prize-gIv-
ing"
She turned and looked at him with lit
tie colour in her pale face.
Yes" she said, doubtfully, for one
ways, crooked ways. dark ways, forbidden
ways young mans footsteps may have
led him. 81 remember" she said. you
were on a newsDape you took tea with
us; ! showed you the way across the fields.
Your name is John Coverly, and you had
ambitions"
Come to that. so had you Dreams of
higher walks"
Mine are working out. I have been
J student Newman in h 10Th
school"
And so are mine am on a London
daily"
And your dream of poetic fame2"
81 have volume-my first volume-in
the Press. My pubishers-very eminent
publshers-assure me that their readers
opinion is most favorable.
"Indeed?"
Yes. l am to give them sixty pounds
and they will do all the rest They estimate
the profits at very large sum.
"Oh! l congratulate you, Mr.. Coverley."
The train rolled into the station. 81 get
out here. Good day Perhaps we shall meet
ELECTROMAGNETIC. l shall watch for the
appearance of your book"
Il will get out here, too May I walk
with you as far as your lodging, Miss
Jago?"
You must not call upon me here" she
be in Kensington Gardens at the end of
the Serpentine, on Sunday, about four.
And Mr.. Coverley, it is a triflingsmatter
but ! have gone back to our old family
name, l am now, if you don't mind Elise
Jago; we are descended from Spanish
noble who was taken prisoner in the Ar
mazda and never went home again"
CHAPTER III.-DARKNESS.
They met in the Gardens. John Cover
ley reported the progress of his poem. He
had paid the f60-all he had in the world
and he was promised proofs Immediately
Oh! he knew exactly what to do he
would be liberal with the press copies. He
would only advertise in the best and like
lest papers; he knew The only thing to
consider was what TO do when the profits
came in. There were, he explained. prof
| its of two kinds; the actual returns from
the sale of the books-he had worked it
all out, say thirty editions of thousand
each-that made thirty thousand copies !;
at hundred readers for each that meant
no more than three hundred thousand
readers, a small slice out of the great
mass of readers, but still something. Ed
| itors would clamor and compete for new
poems. His future, so far, was assured
and, reckoning profit of no more than
| eighteenpence on each volume, there would
| be-he had worked 1T out-a profit of a.
reer. The girl listened and was carried
away with admiration and-perhaps-envy.
| When she went back to her problems ard
| her differential somehow they seemed fiat
! and poor compared with these splendors
AN admiring world, the competition of
| editors, the rolling up of dollars!
| The book came out. OF course, for the
| first week or two, one could not expect
| After six weeks the poet began to show
.yer iofx 1isfA
tell how many copies had been taken; the
returns had not come in. Meantime, they
| wanted more money. There had been a
| preface not in the agreement, there was
/ the advertising, there were corrections,
/ there were, IL appeared, many other things
not in the agreement However, the book
was making way; of that he was certain.
! Envious pens had tried to write it down.
I One poet always hates another; il is
| shameful, but what can one expect? They
! all try to run down the newcomer. So
| he kept up his courage as they walked
| along the leafy lanes of the Gardens on
| Sunday afternoons.
One Sunday the poet failed to keep his
| appointment. The next and the next fol-
lowed. He came no more. And Elise knew
not his address or the paper for which
he wrote, because they talked about moth
ing but the volume and its prospects. She
went TO the trysting place every Sunday
| afternoon; she sat on the covered bench
at the head of the Serpentine. He came
not and her only comfort was the volume
| itself 1t was vilely printed and bound.
The poor poet had been shamefully treat
ed; and Elise was fain to confess, when
the magic of the poets voice and pres
ence was not with the volume, that the
poems were feeble and insipid things, like
ssterly kisses or sandwiches of veal'
Three or four months passed, and the
summer was gone and the autumn as we'll.
The leaves were off the trees, and The
gardens were bare and desolate. Sun,
however, the girl went there every Sun
day. She was not in the least in love
with Mr.. John Coverley; but he was a
friend, and she had no other friend in
the whole of this great London. So she
went and waited for him. And he came
not
One day-at last-she had letter from
him. IF you have any friendly feeling
left" he said. "for a wreck and a wretch.
meet me in Raymond buildings, Gray's
Inn. on Sunday afternoon at g."
1t was a grey cold day in November.
When the High School teacher kept that