Evening star., 1901-03-09
Copy 1900. by A. II. Hawkins }
PART I.
A Suppressed Passage.

perium Club, and his short, stoutish figure.
topped by a chubby, spectacled face, might
be seen entering that dignified establish
ment every day at lunchtime, and also at
the hour of dinner on the days when he
had no invitation elsewhere. He had once
practiced at the bar, and liked to explain
that he had deserted his profession for the
purpose of literature. He did not, how
ever, write on his own account; he edited.
He would edit anything, provided there was
TO great public demand for edition of it.
His taste was curious and his conscience
acute. He was very minute and very scru-
pulous, very painstaking and very discreet
in the exercise of his duties. Sometimes he
fell into a sore Struggle between curiosity
and discretion, having impulses in himself
which he forebOre to attribute to poSterity.
He was in just such a fix now. so he
thought to himself, as he perused the man
uscript before him. 1t was the journal of
his deceased friend, Josiah Cholderton
sometime member Of parliament 0n the lib
eral interesD for the borough of BaXton in
Yorkshire, commercial delegate to the con-
gress of Munich in a. and inventor of the
hygroxeric method of dressing wool. At
times and especially during his visits to
the continent, the diaTiSt indulged himself
in digressions about people he encountered,
and these assumed now and then a char
aCter so personal or divulged episodes so
private that the editor had recourse to his
blue pencil and drew il with a sigh through
pages "hlch ne nau himself found no small
relief from the severer record of CholGer-
tons services to the commerce of his coun-
Try. Mr. Neeli sat now with blue pencil
Judlclously poised, considering the follow
ing passage in his friends recoIIections
The entry bore date Heidelberg 1879.
AT the widows CIr. Cho,derton is speak
ing OF certain Nine. de kries) pleasant
FlIa L became acquainted with lady who
mace something of sensation in her day.
and whom l remember both for her own
sake and because of a curious occurrence
connected with her. A year and a half be-
fore (Or thereabouts) society had been star
lIed by the elOpement of Miss T with Sir
h T. Ihey were married, went to France
and lived together month or two. Sud
uenly Sir R went off alone. The lady was
not long left in solitude, and when | met
her she passed as Mrs. F, wife of Can't
+ The captain seemed to me an ordi-
nary good-looking, reckless young fellow;
S Spt Mrs F. was a more striking person.
She was tall, graceful and very fair beau
uful woman u might rather say girD be-
yond question. Talk revealed her as an alb
soIute child IN moral sense, with a child's
nnnlte candor, a child's infinite deceit a
chllds s love of praise, a child's defiance of
censure where approval would be too dearly
earned The natural feelings of woman,
al least' were strong in her, and she was
rettng over the prospects of the child who
was soon to be born to her. Capt F.
shared her anxiety. / understood their feel
ings even more fully Qn any case the sit
uation was diStressing) when / learned from
Mime. de Kries that in certain events (which
happened later) the lady and her baby after
her would become persons of rank and i'm
portance-
Now comes the scene which has slammed
Itself on my memory. was sitting in Nine
de kries' parlor with her and her daughter
AN odd, dark little thing five or six years
old. suddenly Mrs. F came in. She held
letter in her hand and waved it in the
ar crying, Sir RS dead; Sir Rs dead!
We can be married. Oh, we're in time, in
time, in timer
'tEXrraOrdInar,y
may appear, when the circumstances and
my own presence are considered l have
repeated them verbatim. Then she sank
DOWN on the sofa, Madame de Kries kneel-
ing by her, while the Imp (as 1 called the
child, whom disliked) stared at her OPEN
eyed, wondering, no doubt, what the fuss
was about. Directly after came in al
most as upset as Mrs. F, and the pair be-
tween them managed to explain to us that
she had received a letter from Sir RS
servant with whom she had apparently
maintained some communication an
nouncing that his master had, after two
days Illness, died of heart complaint on
the 9Th of June. Think of the difference
II makes, the enormous difference? she
gasped, jumping up again and standing in
the middle of the room. We shall be mar
rfed directly. she went on, with that
strange absence of shame or pretense
which always marked her. and then it'll
be all right, and nobody'H be able to say
a word in the future" She went on in this
strain for long while. until Madame de
Kriest at last insisted on her calming her
self and proposed to accompany her to
her own house At this point / made my
excuses and retired, the Imp following me
to the door and asking me. as 1 went out,
why people had to be married again when
other people died. She was child who
needed wiser and firmer bringing up than
her mother gave her.
~ did not myself see Captain and Mrs.
F again. as I left Heidelberg the next
day, the 22d of June. 1 learned, however,
from Mime. de kries that the wedding was
hurried on and took place on the day fol-
lowing my departure; after this the pair
went TO Baden, and there three weeks later
the child-a boy-was born. 1 must confess
that 1 was glad the young couple avoided
the calamity they were in dread of.
My feelings were. however. abruptly
changed when, on paying flying visit to
Mime. de Kries. a few months later. L
heard of the sequel of the story, told me In
the strictest confidence, and In violation, L
fear. of the old ladys pledge OF secrecy
Sir r. E did not, in fact, die on the date
reported. He fell into collapse, mistaken
for death by those about him and even by
his medical attendant; after lying in this
state for twenty-four hours he revived and
lived nearly a week longer. A second let
ter, apprising Mrs. F of this fact and an
nouncing the correct date of his death as
the 18th June reached her al Baden on the
2Sth. BY this time she was married. but
the validity of her union, solemnized on the
23d, did not appear to be affected; Nothing
more was done and the boy was born, as l
have stated, early In July. Where, as
matter of form. and 10 avoid doubts in the
future, Capt. F. wrote for the official GER
tifcate of Sir RS death. 1t came as a
thunderboIt. Sir R. had been residing in a
small Russian town near the frontier; he
was interested. I understood, In some buSi-
ness there. The servant to whom / have
referred was an uneducated man and he
had picked up little French, but spoke no
Russian. The servant gave the dates 1
have set down-the 9th June in the first
letter the 18th in the second The letter
writer put them down; and Mrs. F read
and Immediately accepted them. 1t did not
cross her mind or Capt. F-'s that the dates
used were the ordinary Russian dates-were
in fact old style and consequently twelve
days behind the reckoning of Germany
OF England. 1t did not occur either to
Nine De kries or to myself to raise the
question. Indeed. who thinks OF the old
style at this period of the worlds history?
Besides, l did not know at that time, and
i do not think Nine. de Kries did, where
the first letter came from; Mrs. F. said
nothing about It. But when the certificate
arrived-about the middle of July as / un-
derstood. the mistake was clear; for a note
IN the officials hand translated the dates
into new style for the benefit of the for
eigners to whom he was supplying the
rap0r.axs 49,