The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-09-27

IN y
MNM%fVM3 EN%N Thirty odd years
M N>NEC&SyA ago the set he
WIN 1M9WusM MS1 lived in had been
" VWN ENN v startledand mys
titled by his sudden flight and disap-
pearance. At that time his position
here had seemed Il singularly pleasant
one He was young-he was seven or
eight and twenty; he was fairly well
off-he had something like three thou
sand year. Indeed; he belonged to an
excellent family, the Shropshire Vel
lans of whom the titled head. Lord
Nellan Of Norshingfield, was his uncle:
he was goOd-looking, amiablc. amusing
popular, and he had just won seat
in the House of Commons, (as jun
ior member for Shefiingham). where
since he was believed to he ambitious
as well as clever, it was generally ex-
pected that he would 20 far.
Then. quite suddenly. he had re-
signed and left England. His motive
for this unlikely course he explained
10 no one. To a few intimate friends
he wrote brief letters of farewell.
world shall be gone an indefinite
time"
The indefinite time ended by defin-
ing ID as upwards of thirty years. for
the first twenty of which only his so
llcitor and his bankers could have
given you his address and they
wouldn't. For the last ten he was
IN lta lix-in In hn I,la nd Of
Porto Rico. and planting sugar. Mean
while his uncle had died. and his cous.
in (hls uncles only som had succeeded
To the peerage. But the other day his
cousin. too had died. and chlldless, so
that the estates and dignitles had de-
volved upon himself. With that re-
turn to England became an obligation;
rles under his cousins will whose lega-
cies could not without delay he paid
unless the new lord was at hand.
Mrs. Sandyrl Kcmpton sat before tine
fire in her wide, airy, faded drawing
room and thought of Theodore Vellan
of old days. and wondered what the
present Lord Vellan would be like. She
had got Il note from him that morn
ing, dispatched from Southampton the
day before. announcing:
II shall he in town tomorrow
Bowden's Hotel, In Cork street" and
asking when he might come to her
She had answered by telegraph:
Come and dine at eight tonight, ="
10 which he had wired back an ac-
ceptance
There,pon she had told her son that
he must dine at his club; and now she
was seated before her lire, waiting for
Theodore Vellan to arrive, and think
ing of thirty years ago.
She was a bride then and her hus
band, her brother Paul and Theodore
Ncllan We're bound In league of ar,
dent young mannlsh friendship, q
friendship that dated from the time
when they had been undergraduates to-
gether at Oxford. She thought of the
three handsome. happy. talented young
men and Of the brilliant future she bad
fOreseen for each OF them, her husband
at the bar. her brother In the church
and Vellan-nOt In politics, she could
never understand his political nspira
lions, they seemed quite at odds with
the rest of his character-but in litera
ture, as a poet, for he wrote yerst
which she considered very unusual ant
pleasing She thought of this, and theI
she remembered that her husband was
dead. and that Theodore Vellan hat
been dead to his world at all events
for thirty years, Not one of them hat
IN any way distinguished himself; no
one had in any measure fulfilled III,
promise OF his youth
Her memories were sweet and bitter
they made her heart glow and ache
Vellan, AZ she recalled him, had beer
before all things, gentle-with the gen
Hest manners. His gentleness, sh
told herself. was the chief element o
his charm-his gentleness which wa
really phase of his modesty. III
was very gentle, he was very modest
he was very graceful and kind" sh
said, and she remembered hundre,
Instances of his gentleness, his mod
esty, his Kindness. oh. but he was n
milksop. He had plenty OF spirit
plenty of fun. He was boylsh, h
could romp. And at that time seen
repeated Itself TO her mind, Il seen
that had passed Ia this same DRAWN
room more than thirty years ago. |
was tea time, and on the tea table Ia
dish Of pearl biscuits, and she am
her husband and Vellan We're alon,
Her husband took handful of pea
biscuits and tossed them one by on
In the air, while Vellan threw bac
his head and caught them In his mout
as they came down-this was one {
his accomplishments. She smiled q
she remembered 1t, but at the san
lime she put her handkerchief to h'
eyes.
why did he go awayG What coul