The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-08-11


through, friend. Were you at the
dance last night she said.
'T'll tell yos about that later. Tell
me about Mr.. Calverley first, deart Are
you perfectly sure about him? One has
to be so careful OF these Englishmen
who are not properly accredited"
Miss Porter laughed naughty
laugh, Not properly accredited, indeedI
Afriehd of the prince, a relative gilmore
or less half the peerage, on nickname
terms with all sorts of dukes, and lords,
and things, a man Of his perfectly APP
parent meansl Not properly accred-
tied, indeedI Her rebuke was terrible,
though brief. She mentioned her own
Judgment and knowledge Of the world,
and her mothers friend withdrew, baf-
fed yet doubtingg
AS she went She caught Sight of Cal
,yerley in a big leathern chair before
tie fire, smoking his briar pipe, and
that night she told her husband about
it. "What can john Porter be think
ing OFF," she demanded.
'Hissown troubles, perhaps, ,"he sug-
gested.
"The man is taking possession Of the
whole place"
Her husband dropped into poetry:
i" His easy urlswept hearth he lends
From Labrador to Guadaloupe:
TIL, elbOWed out by sloven, friends,
He camps, at sufEerance, on the sloop.'
The Spanish is bad, but the sentiments
all there"
"Some one ought to put a stop to it"
Don't you be the some one, then.
Let her work out her wn-salvation.
If she is in love with him, She'll do olas
abe likes; if she isn't, it won't matter" I"
There was presently no doubt about
her being in love with him.. She was
frank in most things, was Miss Porter.
There was but one matter in which she
could bring herself to dissemble, and
only then because Calverley impressed
the great necessity for it upon her.
He explained that though he loved her
to madness and must marry her, there
were sometimes reasons which Amer
leans could not understand why it was
best for Englishmep who were friends
of the prince, and oyery well connect
ed as he was, to keep their marriages
lsecret for a time.
The girl from the French convent
might have seen through that. But
Miss Porter believed bit. anyway, the
Il notion of an elopemet ra thsr appealed
4 to her Californian Fe cf the pictur-
aaque Upon tie aaE BET She went over
eras tbe h .th q light haart and
BE was To mee6 uc taiEe hel
to the church. He was not there. She
waited, but he did not come.
At sunset she recrossed the bay
alone, sadder but not yet a wiser girl
Such was her judgment and knowledge
of the world that she thought Calverley
must have met with some horrible ac,
cident.
A note which she found at the house
explained otherwise. It was all about
circumstances over which he had nc
control, and sudden financial reverses
and how he should always love her and
cherish her memory. Miss Porter be
/ lieved it. And her heart was broker
really broken. She even went so fan
as to be desperately i'll for six weeks
At the end of which time she came
forth again, pale, subdued and wilted
but with mistaken faith in Calverley.
The faith remained unshakeI
through long months of silence, a 81
lence so profound that she thought il
must be of the grave, and decided thai
he had probably killed lhimself. But
one day that happened which filled hel
constant heart with hope once more.
81 say" a man said to her, casually
81 saw your friend, Extraordinarily
down south the other day"
Miss Porter turned white, after tht
most approved fashion of the shilling
shocker, and clutched at her throat
The man very naturally wondered whar
the deuce he had gotten into, anyway
and explained, in answer to her hoarsr
entreaty, that he had been in Rands
burg on business and had met the Brit
isher in the street.
Miss Porter asked if he lived there.
''Give it up. I didn't speak to hin
and he didn't see me. Only he dOesn'
go by the name of Clayton-Calverle!
down there. They call him Myers"
There was the suspicion of a twitcl
about the corners of his mouth, bu
Miss Porter could not see that it wa
funny. She could readily understand
why he had chosen to hide his identity
5 A name like Clayton-CalverIey wOult
I naturally be unwieldy in a rough min
ing town.
Now, she was a young woman VIII
=. had always done exactly as she please,
without asking anyone's leave-fre
t quently for the excellent reason tina
there was no one about of whom to as,
! it. Such was at present the case. Judg
/ Porter was away, to be gone indefinite
) ". So she packed her own bag an
!. bought her own ticket, and took tina
/ nights express for the south, and i
due time the stage set her down in tn
. town of Randsburg, where her appear
$ ance-although she was gowned wit
what had seemed shabby simplicity i
S San Francisco - caused considerabl
!. excitement and some little levity.
: The hotel man was very civil, how
s ever, when she asked where she coul
find man named Myers. He took he
/ out into the street and pointed out
small, unpainted house some distanC