The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-08-21

THE MAN WITH THE STRANGE EYES
Being more or less OF a dutifui son II
Is with no little compunction that l be-
gin this narrative. for IL nearly con:s'ns
my father. and fear he wiz come none
toe well out OF the ordeal Yet what
have to relate Is so remarkable that for
its singularity alone i may hope to be
pardonsd any lack of dial piety. And
perhaps. when all Is said and done. my
father. though he may not cut an ire
proachable hgure, may appear not quite
a contemptibie one. IL must not be for
gotten that only knew the wreck OF him
the stout ship that had battled with 80
many tempests IN 30 many seas was 10
me practically unknown Yet from what
i have since heard. there was a time
when the name of Captain Bob Kingston
was respected la very strange company
when his mere entrance into public
place caused men 10 nudge each other
and whisper low, when from Hakodate
down 10 the Torres strait his name was
common property. But that WAS long
ago, long before the Terror had seized
him.
MY personal knowledge Of him up to
my seventeenth year was extremely
slight. for. with rare intervals he spent
times he was away for two or three
years together. and once he staid abroad
Tor Ave years at stretch. To me his
absence meant little OF nothing. Had IL
not been for my mothers talk Of him
j should have forgotten his very exist
ence- To my imagination he seemed al
most a myth, a sort OF Flying Dutchman,
who was forever battling with stormy
seas. But TO her. Of course. he was still
the man to whom she had plighted her
troth, and often had I caught her poring
over bar album, in which were at least
n dnnen portraits of him. And though
al first ] did not know what her hasty
closing of the book meant. have stu a
vivid recolisction OF her great, sad eyes
as she turned them up TO rne-eyes full
Of q pitiful inQuirins pathos. some
times thought the scrutiny satisfied her.
at others she turned away with sigh
which L failed to read Perhaps In those
days did not Try very hard-for what
has q boy to do with the inner thoughts
OF vomen7-but IL all comes back now.
and I read the meaning Of those looks
as I would a written page.
But, boy Is I was, 1 soon knew that
his long absences preyed upon her mind.
Never once did l hear her murmur
word against him, and whenever she
spoke of him IL was always with n glow
ing satisfaction. just az one sees face
Light I'D at the resurrection Of q pleasant
memory. But II was far-on memory
and one charged with inefrable sadness
II was mainly through my Uncle Jim,
my mothers brother. that i FIRST learned
20 suspect my father of not being the
best OF husbands. But when i broached
the subject TO her She declared quite an
Rrily that II would become Uncle Jim
better II he were TO mind his own busi-
ness. And yet this know ne continued
TO believe was HIS business, for he loved
his sister very dearly. and so that he
might be near her he had lately taken
cottage on the Maidenhead road, little
the other side OF Slough.
We lived between Slough and Windsor
n bit back from the road thr& branches
Off to Datchett Here father had brought
my mother shortly after their marriage
and there was born. There lived dur
ing the whole Of my young life, and 1t
was there my father spent the few weeks
he could spare from the sea have but
slight recollection Of him at that time,
for on the occasion Of his last visit to
us ] was only years old. know be
brought mother some laces and sillts and
me some queer eastern toys-dolis from
yapan idols and the like from Burma
and s.ar, and q wonderful kite from
China which WIS tho envy and admira-
tion Of every boy In the neighborhood.
Then thought my mothers face
changed. and she looked young and pref
~ again. Not that she could ever have
been anything but pretty with her Won
derful brown eyes. her masses OF black
hair and her soft. sweet face. but sup
pose the inward happiness heightened the
effect Of the mere physical beauty.
Then came the parting and for days
before n melancholy fell upon tho house,
while for days after she would move
about like one In a dream.
At first the letters came with COM
III. "a xxrtf ~ taA
face she used 10 read extracts to me.
Now ne was In Japan. now I'm Java and
now at Thursday island. N seems he
had n boat OF his own and used 10 trade
between tho China seas and the northern
coasts OF Australia That he was a
Shrewd business man as well as n capa-
6is sailor I had no doubt. for. though
ve did not live In luxury. we had never
q momentary trouble. No. II was not
the want of money that gradually paled
NV mothers cheek and gave her that
wfstfui. faroff look, II was not for money
that she watched the postrnan come down
the road week In ana week out.
As the years slipped on the letters
same at rarer intervals. Once we did
not hear from him for ten months and
then n was only a short note 10 say that
he had just returned from a long voyage
0u the Pacific and that he was about 10
undertake a mission I'm the interior OF
China. We we're not In expect 20 hear
from him for a isSg time and sure
enough he kept us waiting for Is months,
Then came a letter inclosing a draft for
a very large sum OF money and tho init
nation that we might hope 10 see him
shortiy. But his next communication.
received some months later. Informed us
that ne had changed HIS mind and that
ne was about 20 set out on n voyage 20
F7T. Tben AZ varied intervals came short
note, from the most unexpected places
He seemed 20 have become man with
no fixed trading route. but bobbed about
hitber and thitheer. victim 20 a
most fantasticsl caprice. Uncle Jim
srowied. lie saw the gray sorrow sad
dentng his sisters face.
And so the long months ran into years
--lone months for her who watched. hut
for me months OF youth and health and
general contentment. went TO a-capital