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

bewilderment nj his conduct, her whole
being longing to comprehend it, re-
viving with something of the old, old
force. Gould it have been? Could
1t have been? And an old guess. an
old theory, one she had never spoken
to anybody, but had pondered much in
| silence, again presented itself interrog
ativcly to her mind.
The door opened; the butler mumbled
name, and she saw Il tall. white
haired pale old man smiling ut her and
holding out his hands 1t took her a
! little while to realize who 1t was. With
an unthlnking disallowance for the ac-
tlon OF time, she had been expecting Il
young fellow of eight and twenty,
brown-halred and ruddy.
Perhaps he, on his side, was sur
priscd Il little by meeting II middle
aged lady in II cap.
After dinner he would not let her
leave him, but returned with her to the
drawing room. and she said that he
might smoke. He smoked odd little
| Cuban cigarettes, whereof the odor was
delicate and aromatic. They had talked
of everything, then had laughed and
sighed over their ancient joys and sor-
rows. We know melancholy wanders
hand in hand. She had cried a little
| when her husband and her brother
were first spoken OF, but ut some comic
"Reminiscences of them II moment after.
wards she was smiling through her
| tears.
do you remember so and SOP and
What has become of such n one:"
were the types of questions they asked
each other, conjuring up old friends
and enemies like ghosts out of the
past Incidentally he described Porto
| Rico and its natives and its Spaniarls,
Its climate, its fauna and its flora.
In the drawing room they sat on
| opposite sides of the fire and were 81.
lent fora bit. Profiting by the permis-
sion she had given him, he had pro
| duced one of his Cuban cigarettes.
opened it at its ends. unrolled II. rolled
1t up again, and lit it.
Now the time has come for you to
tell me what | most want to know"
! she said.
! What is itY'
why you went away"
"OhH' he murmured
She waited minute. Then--
Tell me- she urged.
| DO you remember Mary Isona :" he
asked.
She glanced at him suddenly as If
startled.
Mary lsona! Yes, or course"
| We'll, | was in love with her"
You were in love with Mary Isona?"
| Il was very much in love with her.
have never got over 1t, I'm afraid"
She gazed fixedly at the fire. Her
lips were compressed. She saw slen-
der girl in II plain black frock, with a
sensitive pale face, luminous. sad, dark
| eyes, anu Il mass of dark, waving haIr
Mary lsona of Italian parentage. a
little music teacher whose only rela-
ton to the world Theodore Vellan
lived in was professional She came
into it for in hour or two at n time
now and then, to play or to give IA
music lesson
YES he repeated. II was in love
with her. | have never been in love
with any other woman. 1t seems ri.
diculous for an old man to say ii. but
l am in love with her still. An old
man? Are we ever really old? Our
body grows old, our skin turns white
Dut the spirit, the heart? The thing
we call IL Anyhow, not day. not
an hour passes, but | think of her.
long for her. | mourn for her. You
knew-yOu knew what she was. DO
you remember her playing? Her won
derful eyes? Her beautiful pale facey
And how the hair grew around the
foreheady And her talk, her voice. her
Intelligence! Her taste. her instinct.
IN literature, In art-it was the finest
| ever met"
Yes. yes, yes" Mrs Kempton said
slowly. "She was a rare woman.
knew her intimately better than any
one else. | think. | knew all the un.
happy circumstances of her life: her
horrid, vulgar mother; her poor.
dreamy inefficient father: their power.
W; now hard she had to work. You
were In love with her. why didn't you
marry herr"
"She wouldn't have had me-"
Did you ask herr"
mo. 1t was needless. II went with.
out saying
You can never tell. You ought to
have asked her"
1T was on the tip of my tongue
of course, to do so hundred times
My life was passed In torturIng myself
with the question whether had any
chance, in hoping and fearing. But as
, often as found myself alone with hel
| knew 1t was hopeless. Her manner
, to me Is one OF frank frlendIiness
{ There was no mlstaklng 1t. She never
J thought of loving me"
2 "You We're wrong not 10 ask her. One
n never can be sure. Oh, why dldRt YOU
ask herT' His Old friend spoke witt
] great feeling.