The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-03-30


day or two to spend a week on q
friends pleasure Wherry, and he con-
cluded to take THE Touchstone of Life
with him and revise it at his leisure He
put the bundle of proofs into his bag.
and then, remembering several matters
that wanted attention, he crossed the
Temple and Fleet street to Chaneery
Lane. On the first floor Of a dingy
building he found Miss Carlton at her
desk She was a very pretty girl, tall
and graceful, with wonderful eyes that
matched the deep. rich brown of her
fluffy hair: and that she had plenty OF
pluck and the ability to grapple with
the question of Women's employment.
was shown by the skill with which she
conducted a typeWritlng bureau rounded
and owned by herself. From an inner
room, where two assistants were hard
at work, sounded the rapid clicking of
keys.
Good morning, Mr.. Mayne,' said
Violet Carlton. IF YOU have come for
these two short stories, they are ready
for you. I have been getting ahead with
my copying, as I am about to take a
short holiday
I am sure YOU deserve it . AIayne re-
piled, awI1wardly. He was in no hurry
to be off. He would have preferred to
finger, hoping-as he had vainly hoped
on many past occasionS-that the pretty
typewriter would throw off the air Of
cold business reserve which always
seeemd to hedge her about. It was not
as if they were strangers; she had been
doing his copying for more than year.
Yet why did she persistently refuse to
unbend2 Why deny him an opportunity
of knowing her more intimately
Il trust the weather viii continue
good" he remarked. II am taking
holiday myself
With that the girl bent her head over
a page Of writing, and Mavne. stuffsng
his MSS into his pocket, babe her good
morning, and left the room. For an IN
I, >. S1or
figure, there was a look in her eyes that
might have brought him back had he
observed it.
In no pleasant humor Mayne returned
1eisurely to the Temple. I'm a fool"
he reflected, Ito keep on hoping that
there can be any chance for me in that
quarter. / wish / had never seen Violet
Carlton. All these years I have been
heart-free, or nearly so, and here am
now, a bachelor of thirty, caught fast IN
the tolls. She is the only woman [ ever
really cared for. She is lady, too
and one that has known better days BY
Jove. I admire her grit in going in for
typewritinSi Any chap might be proud
to call her his wife. But what's the use
of dreaming Of such happiness! It's just
the things one wants most in this world
that one can't get
This was philosophy. perhaps, but 1t
did rot afford AIayne much comfort; his
love for Violet Carlton was too deep
rooted for that He found a letter at
his rooms, summoning him home on
matter of business connected with the
estate and the following morning he
Travelled down 10 the Midlands. Three
days later, after exchanging several
kilograms with his friend Hardy. he
crossed country to Norfolk and Joined
the pleasure Wherry Sunbeam at Wrcx-
ham. And when he had greeted Mr..
and Mrs. Jack Hardy a third passenger
was called on deck and introduced to
him He was speeches. for the mo-
la 7-lfo
hand ard looked into her amused eyes
Mr.. Mayne and I are not exactly
said the girl
did you know 1 was coming?" Mayne
asked her. after tea.
I think Gladys mentioned your name
in her last letter. was the demure re-
ply.
Miss Carlton is an cid friend of The
wife's," Hardy explained to Mayne. later
in the evening. She's a very fine girl,
I assure YOU. Her people are all dead:
and she hasn't had too easy a time of
it. She deserves lots Of credit"
shes a woman in a thousand"
The wherry was lying off South Wal
sham staith one afternoon. when Mayne
opened his bag and looked at the proof
sheets Of The Tombstone OF Life" He
felt a bitter hatred and contempt for
himself but there was no longer any
doubt in his mind. Love had won him
the victory.
Thank goodness it is not too late!" he
with such a black stain !
on my soul I should not dare ask that
pure, sweet girl to be my wife. I will |
90 to her clean handed.
He walked into the village before tea |
and wrote and posted a brief letter to !
which he slept that night with an easier |
conscience than he had enjoyed for |
weeks Late the following morning the |
Sunbeam crept down the Rure, and |
blowing, an upward bound yacht was /
encountered near the bend by Upton |
Mills The f1annel-clad young men on |
beard of her had no hired hands with /
hem, and did not understand their bust |
ness properly. At a critical moment |
hey made a. wrong move, and a collision |
was only averted by an instant shift of /
he Sunbeam's great sail. Hardy's quick
warming shout confused Violet Carlton.
and before she could dodge the swinging
boom IL had struck her lightly and /
swept her off the narrow deck.
The yacht luffed safely to one side. and
he Sunbeam damned her nose hard into
he opposite lying bank There was a
loarse cry and a splash as Mayne
without stopping to remove coat or
shoes. plunged into the widening gap of
ieep brown water. He dived, missed the
girl and rose to the surface to see her
within three yards of him
Half a dozen frantic strokes and he had
'aught her arm as she was on the point
II sinking again. Hardy pufiSQ alCnS-
tide the spot with the dinghy. and as,
luickly as possible transferred them to
he Sunbeam.
Mrs. Hardy assisted the half conscious
girl to her cabin, and a little later Mayne,
MS heart filed with gratitude he
thought of what might have been, went
below for a change of clothing. The yacht
md her apologize crew went their wav,
and the wherry kept on her course to
Gle bridge and mOored off the Angel inn.
The next day was bright and mild
vpical June weather. Violet. pleading IA
fcr7z n 7af a. Z q c
ad from the Angel, who had been to the
post, brought the letters on board: there
vas one for Nayne from the London pub
Usher. and he read it with heartfelt re-
ief and satisfaction. He broueht the
lroofsheets of THE Touchstone Of Life
1ut to the saloon table. with the intention
IF giving them final revision
He had not been long at work when he
vas interrupted by Violet Carlton in her
Yachting costume of blue and white fan