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

W MSHtSXANlNN\\ thirty e a S.
MNM\fNM3E EN%N Thirty odd years
Ml NNkEI&SA ago the set he
WIN fMgW~sNS0 lived in had been
" EWN icN~ startledand mys-
titled by his sudden flight and disap-
pearance. At that time his position
here had seemed singularly pleasant
one. He was young-he was seven or
eight and twenty; he was fairly well
0ff-he had something like three thou
sand u year. Indeed; he belonged to an
excellent family, the Shropshire Vel
lans of whom the titled head, Lord
Nellan Of Norshingteld. was his uncle;
he was goodlooklng, amiable, amusing.
popular, and he had just won seat
in the House of Commons, (as jun
ior member for Shetiingham) 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
TO no one. To few intimate friends
he wrote brief letters of farewell.
Il am OF for a journey round the
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
nn t,. I,., L., ii,
Porto Rico, ana planting sugar Mean
while his uncle had died, and his cous-
In (his uncles only som had succeeded
To the peerage. But the other day his
cousin. too. had died, and chlldless, so
that the estates and dlgnitles had de-
volved upon himself. With that re-
turn to England became an obligation;
there were score of minor beneficial
ries under his cousins will whose lega-
cies could not without delay he paid
unless the new lord was at hand.
Mrs. Sandyrl Kempton sat before the
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 note from him that morn
ing, dispatched from Southampton the
day before, announcing:
Il shall he in town Tomorrow
BOwdens Hotel in Cork street" and
asking when he might come to her
She had answered by telegraph:
Come and dine ut eight tonight"
10 which he had wired back an ac.
ceptance.
Thereupon she had told her son that
he must dine at his club and now she
was seated before her fire, waiting for
Theodore Vellan to arrive, ana think
ing Of thirty years ago.
She was a bride then, and her hus-
band, her brother Paul and Theodore
Nellan were bound In n league Of ar.
dent young mannlsh friendship, u
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
ht the bar, her brother In the church,
and Vellan-nOt in politics, she could
never understand his political nspira-
lions. they seemed quite ut odds with
The rest of his character-bu in litera.
ture, as poet for he wrote verse
which she Considered very unusual and
pleasing. She thought of this, and then
she remembered that her husband was
dead, and that Theodore Vellan had
been dead TO his world at all events
for thirty years. Not one of them had
IN any way distinguished himself not
one had in any measure fulfilled the
promise of his youth.
Her memories were sweet and bitter.
they made her heart glow and ache.
Vellan, as she recalled him. had been
before all things, gentle-wlth the gen.
Hest manners. His gentleness, she
told herself was the chief element of
his charm-his gentleness which was
really phase of his modesty "He
was very gentle, he was very modest,
he was very graceful and kind" she
said, and she remembered hundred
instances of his gentleness, his mod.
esty, his Kindness. Oh. but he was no
milksop. He had plenty OF spirit,
plenty of fun. He was bOyish, he
could romp. And at that time scene
repeated itself To her mind, a scene
that had passed in this same drawing
room more than thirty years ago. II
was tea time, and on the tea table lay
dish OF pearl biscuits, and she and
her husband and Vellan were alone
Her husband took handful of pearl
biscuits and tossed them one by one
In the air, while Vellan threw back
his head and caught them In his mouth
AS they came down-this was one OF
his accomplishments She smiled al
she remembered 1t, but at the same
time she put her handkerchief to hel
eyes
why did he go away? What cOult