Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-02
TJHUE WIDOW
FROM TEXAS.

! DESTROYED, and entailing a loss to you
of possibly several thousand dollars.
"In nv anxiety as to the destruction o
your property. had the misfortune to D.
knocked down by huge tree, and in tn
general mix-up which ensued, sustained
i compound fracture of the right leg
which will. in all probability, keep me
prisoner, and semi-invalid for man,
months This Will, of course, necessitat'
the appointment, Of a substitute. during
the interim" Then there was added
postscript which amply verified the rnucl
In little theory regarding P. SIS In gen
! eral-''My year Of probation In this END
| of-the-world Inferno is nearly at an end
| Cut 1t short, Connie dear. Have some
| commiseration on a poor devil. who loves
| you now more than ever.
| She had flushed and paled alternately
| while reading. and sigh wrung from the
! very depths OF her heart escaped her lips
! She read the letter through twice, after
which she looked out of the window fol
| long time; over the garden poppy beds
| In their crimson beauty. over the tall
| hollyhocks in prim array. beyond the
| green, lush meadows. away to the far
| off mountain peaks, where the purple va
| pors rose triumphant above the sombrc
| shadows below. and noated away-away
| until they kissed the blue of the ether
above.
| She was still looking pale and some
| what subdued. almost sanctifed. Chan,
| ming thought that night. as they bowleG
along the cool. sweet-smelling country
| road. where the brier sent up Its fra
| GRANGE on either side She was so un-
| usually quiet. too, that convers a ton SEEM
! ed extremely difficult: however, silence
| was good enough under such conditions
"You aeem accomplishments al
most" he ventured to remark after
prolonged pause.
We'll, received some very bad newf
to-day" size replied softly.
Their friendship was on a sufficiently
firm basis for him to inquire as to VIVA,
nature. which he did. And then she TOLD
him. When she came to that part con
corning the injuries Of the manager. her
voice faltered as If she found it hard to
proceed, then broke. and to Channing's
CONSERVATION. abruptly ended in spas
modic burst Of tears. Distressing. Of
course. to lose thousands at one single
stroke Of misfortune. but though he would
have found 1t difficult to explain, he fel!
a subtle consciousness that those pas.
sionate tears sprang from deeper source
than mere mercenary losses. In line with
this thought, vague doubts and misgiv-
ings as to the personality of the manage:
in faraway Jamaica. flashed with electric
quickness through his brain; and per
chance his half defined suspicious found
an echo in his next question.
We'll. which are you crying about. the
banana grove. or the manager?' he asked
abruptly.
Charming fancied that he felt her tren,
= h,,f tic i'm ocip =
that moment, that it was not to be relied
upon.
She flushed him a swift look out of ths
tail of her melting eyes-''Why the ba
mana grove Of course" she answered
calmly, though with Just the faint -sug
gestion of a note Of indignation in her
voice.
He did not ask for any details of the
catastrophe: somehow, he felt a decided
disinclination to press the inqustio1.
She dried her tears forthwith. and then
Charming never knew Just how the thing
happened but under the combined in
luence of the moonlit night, and the
glamour Of her misty eyes he plunged II
medals res and caught himself telling her
Of his love, almost before he was awar.
Of it He was victim of circumstances
But then every man who proposes is that
Tell me that you care enough for me
to marry me? he said
I'll let you know In the morning" she
replied. without looking at him.
This commonplace, matter-of-fact an
swer-to a man whose nerves and sensi-
bilities had been keyed up to the intensity
of a declaration of love- acted on Chan
ming very much like a sudden douche Of
cold water. 1t was distinct shock te
him. His artistic sense of the roma ntic.
rJ1Ha "a frnr1 irt
would be hard for him to recover. He
dropped her hand which he had taken bu.
a moment before. f1icked his horse not
very gently with his whip: and set off al
a much liveIier pace than hithertoo or
the homestretch. The silence of tina;
drive was q thing to sink into the yer.
marrow of the bones. Nothing relieved II
save the clatter of the flying -hoofs,- an6
the plant of some night bird. lost mid
the dense shadows of the thicket. Char
ming was counting time by the beat OF
his heart; double quick time, too: an6
the widow-wel1 the heart of a. widow
cannot be expected to keep pace with tina,
Of a susceptible young man.
At the gate of the Inn he handed hel
out. saying as he did SO. "Ren1embe,
your promise to which she replied. "Ill
remember Goodnight" pressed his hand
ever so slightly, and then ran up the
garden path like a wrath In the moon
light.
Rhea happened to be alone. when in
reply to the timid rap which she had
grown to recognize from any other. she
opened her door, to see Mrs. Fairfax
standing there with her. hat on. just as
she had come in from her drive. Rhea
wondered why she had not pushed oper
the door as was her custom, after rap
ping.
Are you alone? I hope so, because ]
have something to say which is for your
ears only
Rhea treasured her on that point, an6
she came in. looking a. triie white and
tired. and threw herself into the frs:
chair she reached.
81 am going away early in the morn
ing. My business interests call me- (she
didn't say anything about any other in
terests.)
Sudden. Is it not?'' Rhea interjected
Rather. You see. I had letter to-
--------