The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-04-13
A Lock Of Hair.

At the age of is he was old and was not
pretty. He was bald, his face was thin
and meager, though his waist measure
ment was extensive. His memory played
him tricks, and his gait was little curl
Gus. The doctor, who had just driven
away in his brougham, found him inter-
estlng as a conglomeration of diseases,
but did not respect him. He was coming
rapidly 10 the end If MS luxurious though
somewhat disordely life. There was no
disorder in il now. His cellar slept I'M
disturbed, and they measured his whisky
twice day in a graduate glass, and
they never filed the tumbler more than
half full because his hand shook badly.
his two plpain nieces kept his house for
him, and would inherit when he died.
Iney found him occasionally bad tenn
pered, and always a little eccentric, but
put up with it because he was so ILL.,
Whenever he called one by the name OF
the other or forgot both names, as some
times happened nowadays. they slipped
out of the room, giggled in their hand
kerchiefs in the passage. and came back
with their faces composed.
This afternoon, after the doctor had
gone, he sat contentedly smilingg at the
fire. He had been told that in all proba-
bility he would not last much longer, and
on the whole he was heatily glad of it.
Suicide 81 uld be scandalous-he did not
dream al iI-but death was welcome
enough. After all, there was no more
fun to be mad. He decided to set about
his preparations for leaving.
He found Ethel in the drawing-room.
She was the elder of the two nieces.
II want you TO get my keys for me,
Agnes" he said. Bring them 10 the
study"
Che ,-or;.L.a -. - -, - a..
laugh because she had been called Ag-
mes by mistake. When she got back TO
the study he had dragged out an old deed
box which stood in one corner of the
room, and placed it beside his chair in
front of the fire. Unlock it, he said.
Which key" she asked.
Don't know
She tried several, unlocked it, and was
about to raise the lid
Leave it alone,' he snapped out. "You
can go. Don't interrupt me for couple
Of hours; shall be busy
When she had gone he opened the box
and begun on the letters first. Some of
the letters he read They were. unaues-
tionably, letters which he did not intend
to leave behind him for the perusal of the
girls. Soon the big fireplace was a mass
of charred paper. The remainder of the
contents OF the deed-box was pitched on
the fire in handfuls without further ex-
animation. When all the rest was burned
little envelope which had fiuttered away
on the floor by itself, attracted his atten-
ton. He picked it up. In it was a curl
Of absolutely golden hair. Now, whose,
he thought to himself, could that have
been.
At this moment Ethel opened the door
and said, brightly, 1--WE brought you your
beef-tea, uncle!'
Go to the devil!' said uncle
When she had vanished he resumed his
examination of that fascinating golden
curl. 1t was not Marian's She had light
hair, but hers was straighter and not such
a deep gold. Cold it have been anybody
that he met abroad? He had Travelled a
good deol, but at that period, ne remem-
bered, he had found it impossible to fall
In love except with the mystic type, with
dark hair and eyes. 1t was a pretty curl
The hair was like spun silk It must have
been some rare idyl possibly the one
piece of poetry in life which had been
grossly materiaiistic. He put the en-
veloppe into his pocket and went into the
next room to ask Ethel (by the name of
Agnes where his beef tea was
He spent a good deal of time in the
course of the next few weeks in meditat-
he imagined things about it. Ten minutes
later he would forget whether he had i'm
agined them or whether they had really
happened. He was getting into a shock
ing condition. He somewhat accelerated
his death by neglecting the prohibitions
OF the doctor He knew that in any case
it was matter of weeks, so he had the
champagne, and the old port, and the
old brandy, and broke the graduated glass
and refused pills and farinaceous pud-
dings. He had just helped himself liber-
ally to Strasburg pate when death took
the plate away.
Ethel and Agnes who did not keep on
cryingg when they were quite alone were
looking over the papers they had found in
his pockets, and came across the curl Of
golden hair in the envelope.
II know that envelope" said Agnes:
that is the sort grandmamma always
uses"
20, yes" said Ethel, land there is the
hair. Don't you remember? She sent it
to him for fun about month ago. Just
imagine that when he was a little boy
of he had curls like that"
Sect said Agnus, what is this he
has written on the envelope?"
In. an exceedingly shaky hand were the
words:
Whom alone I really loved"
20, he was eccentric! said Ethel
Barry Pain, in Black and White.