The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1902-05-02

me when she was threatened with con-
sumption and had been sent away to
Judson, small Florida coast place, to-
live. She had taken tiny cottage,
for which she paid no more in year
than l spent for nothing at all in a
week. But she had spare room, and
wrote that she would love to keep me
for as long as liked to stay. Her
name was Mrs. Pendennis and we had
got acquainted through my writing,
in care Of her editor, to tell her how
much l liked story Of hers.
She did me good because she never
fattered, but scolded me instead for
being cynical. She said it was
"mental dyspepsia, . and while | lived
with her | almost believed it was
| hadn't been in Judson for week
when one day l came in from walk
and exclaimed: 'Well, it's begun!"
"What has begun?" inquired my
dear old friend, looking up from love
scene which was meant to make the
public shed tears.
"The usual thing" saidI. GA man
has come. | am not conceited, but
there are signs, and I'm sure he is
one of them"
She knew what | meant without
asking, and merely sat still with a
mild smile as l related the incident
which had occurred.
Circumstantial evidence was with
me, for men were out of season IN
Judson. had been the onl y stranger.
Now, within a week Of my advent,
there was another-a male stranger,
a gentleman to the eye and ear, well
dressed (but not too well dressed),
STAYING at a hotel which offered no
inducement at this time of year to
his kind. | had seen him come out
of that inn, and instinct told me that
was the inducement. Who thema
was | could not guess, but | was sadly
sure that he more than guessed who
| was. Somehow my secret had been
betrayed, and he-no doubt oil the
army of impecunious unattachedones
had stalked me to my lair. My hat
had blown off, he had run after it,
picked it up and handed it back with
bow and a murmured word.
To be sure he had not followed up
his advantage, but | was certain that
this was only his cleverness, and that
! he would be more pushing next time.
| | was so hatefully experienced in that
: kind of thing knew all the phases.
) Mrs. Pendennis tried to cheer me
up, but l had seen the speck in my
! garnered fruit, and it was a big speck,
at least six feet tall and broad in pro-
portion. One couldn't forget it, espe-
cially as to less sophisticated mind
it might have appeared exceedingly
good to look upon.
Next day met him again, or rather
! he met me. But to my surprise, in
stead of taking off his cap and smil-
: ing and making the most of yester-
days acquaintance he glared and
= plunged round the first corner. Could
= this be new kind Of tactics? asked
myself. Could it be that he wished
to rouse interest by piquing curiosity:
| smiled with scorn at the thought
and determined to show the man at
r the first opportunity how futile were
= his subtleties. Still, if it were his
2 object to make me think Of him,
! must confess that to a certain extent
| he succeeded, for it was novelty tc
I. be glared at by man, and the pic
+. ture of the big brown frowning fel-
e low fingered in my mind.
| That evening my opportunity
, came. My afternoon walks had usual
0 ly to be taken alone, as Mrs. Penden'
! mis- working days were long. | was
t. strolling by the sea at the sweet hour
when the east is misty silver with the
= rising of the moon, the west fading
e pink with the setting of the sun
r There he was, presumably lying in
e wait, SO l glared and, turning round
$ marched away. But something
4; seemed to force me to glance back
= just feeting glance, yet long enough
= to see that the man was striding oil
e in the opposite direction. So far hac
he gone already that was afraid he
: must have missed my protest
o For an entire week we kept it up
y There were not many different walks
4 to take, so it need not have been sur.
y prising that wealmost invariably met
e But as invariably we turned upon
T. our tracks and-often met again.
: could not help wondering who he wa:
= and all about him, and whether, after