The Republican., 1899-07-06

stones directed my attention to the
street. What | saw there kept me
rooted to the spot. A great yellow
coach with large, heraldic emblazon-
ments, driven by white-wigged coach
man, had drawn up in front of No. 10.
The powdered man holding on behind
jumped down and gave a knock that
brought the rest of the Row to its par
lOr windows in time to see the most
obvious dowager duchess disappear
through the doorway. What could it
mean? Had some dame Of high estate
heard of their sufferings, and called to
play the part of Lady Bountiful? Then
| remembered that from Bessie's attic
could be obtained a capital view of tIx
new tenants first floor front, and
caught suddenly by frenzy of curios-
ity, binding me to all sense of decency,
L scampered up the stairs and arrived
at the attic window at the moment
when the strange visitor was crossing
the threshold of the room where
guessed the invalid lay. From where |
''OCu L saw tllS pun llliiC NlillC vi
spring up on her couch, eyes wide, pale
lips parted as though she beheld
vision; then fall back on the instant
among her pillows, hiding her face in
her hands. Another moment, and the
visitor was by the bedside, bending
over her, and what followed came to
me as blurred tangle of caresses and
emotion, in which the men standing dln
the other side of the bed was also in
cluded. Then l turned away, startled
suddenly into propriety by the con-
sciousness of tears running down my
face.
A week later the great yellow car
riage drove UP for the last time before
the door at No. 10, where its daily APP
pearance in the interval had gone far
to compensate the Row for what it had
undergone at the hands of the new
tenants. The dowager sailed in in her
usual rustling state, and returned sup
porting a bundle of shawls, out of
which peeped familiar, pathetic little
face. The husband followed behind,
and the faces of all three shone like sun
shine after rain as they entered the
coach and clattered out of High Row.
Neither of the pair gave us so much as
backward look, but the little maid-of-
all-work, uperintending the lading of
fly" with portmanteaus belonging to
her master, cried miserably on the
doorstep.
And that was the end of it, and we of
the Row were decidedly out of conceit
with ourselves and with one another.
1t had been variation on the theme of
Alfred and the Oakes, and we had dis
tinguished ourselves in the part of the
neatherd's wife, when a little more dis
cernment might have placed us in per-
manent touch with the British aristoc-
racy. For, although we were never able
to learn the whole of the story, the fact
of the intimate connection of the couple
with that august body was established
beyond a doubt. But by tacit consent
mention was rarely made of them in
our neighborly talk. They had been
the means of dispelling our Illusions as
to the unerring character of our in
stincts and perceptions, and the subject
remained a painful one.
| once saw the girl again, but only for
a moment. I had gone to stay with u
friend in London, and we had walked
one afternoon to the park to watch the
carriages returning from the drawing
room. She was in one of them, stately
but radiant, in nodding feathers and
flashing jewels. A princess, every inch
of her! How could we have misread
the signs? Our eyes met, a look of
recognition crept into hers, then she
turned away with a flush and little
toss of the head. They had understood
us, then. and our attitude Of hostility,
and had resented it and been panied by
it, while appearing to ignore it! 1
wished she could have known how near
| had once been to holding out my hand,
and my eyes filled with tears, which
owed none of their bitterness to the
fact that it was a noble lady who had
Just given me the cut direct. For at
the moment | could think of nothing
but the lost opportunity of human
love.-Good Words