The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-04-18
The Duty 'oldier.


hair is growing thin now. and I'm only
thirty-nine."
| In spite of himself. he started: he
| had just ordered bracelet 10 be given
| her on her forty first birthday.
She saw she had made a slip. ana
fastened 10 recover her balance. Don't
| tell me you know better" she rallied
| him-"snce my birthday is in February
| L may be forgiven for keeping IL only
| in leap year. But truly. l shall very
soon have less hair than you. Don't you
| believe meT
He shook his head incredulously.
She deliberately loosened some half
dozen pins and took from the centre OF
| her coiffure a plait of not very great
proportions. 1T is my own, she remark
ed incidentally. 1T was cut OF when l
was very-not very. very we'll ! had IL
made up. Now, come and look at
my bald spot"
AS one who approaches a shrine, Col
onel Jemmett did her bidding. Two OF
her long fingers diving into her nalr
discovered TO him perfectly bald disk,
certainly not bigger than sixpenny
piece: perhaps IL had been once tenant
ed by contumacious patch OF gray
"Can you give me nothing TO make IL
grow again?" she asked pitifully.
Colonel Jemmett's heart tiuttered as
he stopped and kissed the place, but
the kiss Nself was reverental. Tne
widows surprise was divided evenly
between his gallantry and his austerity.l
She wondered what he would do next
II hope YOU are not offended with
me-" he said.
"Oh, no, dear grandpapa," she an
sWered with trace of malice. Slt
| down and tell me all about yourself;
| about your exploits in the East.
want TO hear particularly about them;
| for the newspaper reports are so SUI
| pid | never can understand them.
Exploits" seid the Colonel: Il new
| er had one 10 my name. -.
Don't be modest with an old crony,
| she returned II heard of what you
| did In the Black Mountasns-or were
they blue?-although l confess ] could
not make out exactly what II was.
Upon my honor" declared the Cole
| mel. II never did anything at all.
"What?" exclaimed the widow laugh
4 .ngly. "You never marched from some
| place to the relief of some other place,
carrying your guns over snow noun
| tain?"
"Ah, l know what you're thinking
| Of" said the Colonel. 1T was man
called Whippett did that. A splendid
| chap he Is, too; you really ought 10
| know him."
"The papers said you did it," persist
| ed the widow.
THAT was a confusion in the names,
| Jemmett and Whippett Whippett said
| nothing about IT. but 1t was corrected
| as soon as possible"
II don't see that Jemmett and Whip
| petit sound at all alike" protested the
| widow.
mo. but on the telegraph code
| they're much the same
"How stupid OF these horrid news
papers" the widow CALCULATED disgust
| edly.
well. il really was not so stupid
| the Colonel argued. For IL might, in
a sense, have been i. instead OF Whip
| petit. that did It,"
| How do you mean?" asked the Wild
| ow. sharply
"Well. you see," replied the Colonel.
a trfie nervously. "Ali Pindah. where
was Ben Williamson, who had TO be
relieved. was at the apex OF an isos-
ce.es triangle of which a line drawn
between Fort Dufferin. where Whippett
was. and Fort Nicholson, where / was.
would have been the base"
THAT conveys no idea TO me- re-
turned the widow psttlshly. Cant
you use plain English
II mean to convey" said the Colonel
desperately, "that Whippett and were
equidistant from Ben Williamson. and
II was a toss up which of US made a
dash for him."
"And why were you not the one to do
ft?" queried the widow
"You know never was a dashng fell
low" answered the Colonel. humbly.
"You don't mean 20 say YOU were
afraid she said. after while.
The Colonel nodded his head. II was
afraid"
She waited yet, awhile before deliv-
ering what she meant to be p taunt: ''I
cannot understand why YOU did not fol-
low your fathers profession"