The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-04

friend. Up! and he in your own small
self a whole corpoTals guard And If
your corporal doesn't come home from
the wars, perhaps you'll remember him
kindly? Think"
He made a Vivacious gesture, the
small animal sprang into the air, con-
vcluted with gratitude and new love,
while Craiey, laughing softly, led the
way to the hotel There, while he ate
sparsely himself, he provided munlfl-
Gently for his new acquaintance, ana
recommended him, with an accompanl-
ment of silver to the good offices OF the
Rouen House kitchen. After that out
into the sunshine again he Went with
elastic step, and merry word and a
laugh for every one he met At the old
English gardeners he bought four or
five bouquets, and carried them on a
round of visits of farewell to as many
old ladies' who had been kind to him.
This done, leaving his laughter and his
flowers behind him, he went to Fanchon
and spent part of the afternoon bring
ing forth cunning arguments cheerily,
TO prove to her that Gen. Taylor
would be in the Mexican capital be-
fore the volunteers reached New Or
leans, and urging upon her his belief
that they would all be back in Rouen
before the summer was gone.
But Fanchon could only sob and
whisper, Hush. hush" in the dim
room where they sat, the windows
darkened so that, after he had gone, he
should not remember how red her eyes
were, and the purple depths under
them. and thus forget how pretty she
had been at her best. After a time
finding that the more he tried to cheer
her, the more brokenly she wept, he
grew silent, only stroking her head.
while the summer sounds came in
through the window; the mill-whirr of
ho Of
farm bells, the laughter of children in
the street, and the gay arias of a mock
ingbird swinging in the open window
of the next house. So they sat together
through the long, still afternoon of the
last daV.
No one in Rouen found that afternoon
particularly enlivening. Even Mrs.
Tanberry gave way to the common de-
preston, and, once more, her doctrine
of cheerfulness relegated to the ghostly
ranks of the purely theoretical, she
bowed under the burden of her woe so
far as to sing ''Methought I Met
Damsel Fair" cher of the bursting
sghs) at the piano. Whenever sadness
lay upon her soul she had acquired the
habit of resOrting to this unhappy bal
lad; to-day she sang it four times. Mr.
CareWe was not at home, and had an
nounced that though he intended to
honor the evening meal by his attend
in itself; as comment upon which
statement Mrs. Tanberry had offered
ambiguously the one word, "Amen!"
He was stung to no reply, and she had
noted the circumstance as unusual, and
also that he had appeared to labor with
the suppression of a keen excitement,
which made him anxious to escape from
her sharp little eyes; an agitation for
which she easily accounted when she
recalled that he had seen Vanrevel on
the previous evening. Mr.. Carewe had
kept his promise to preserve the peace
as he always kept it when the two met
on neutral ground, but she had obserV-
ed that his face showed a kind of hard
leashed violence whenever he had been
forced to breathe the air of the same
room with his enemy and that the
thing grew on him.
Miss Betty exhibited not precisely a
burning interest in the adventure of the
Damsel Fair, wandering out of the
room during the second rendition, wan
dering back again, and once more
away. She had moved about the house
in this fashion since early morning,
wearing what Mamie described as a
peaked look White-faced and rest
less, with distressed eyes, to which no
sleep had come in the night she could
not read; she could no more than touch
her harp, she could not sleep; she
could not remain quiet for three min
utes together. Often she sank into
chair with an air of languor and wear
mess, only to start Immediately out of
it and seek some other part of the
house, or to go and pace the garden.
Here in the air heavy with roses and
tremulous with June, as she walked
rapidly UP and down, late in the after
noon, at the time when the faraway
farm bells We're calling men from the
fields to supper, the climax of her rest
,;1l,a 4
peration, so old in her sex, the rebellion
against the law that inaction must be
her part, had fallen upon her for the
first time. She came to an abrupt stop
and struck her hands together despair
ingly, and spoke aloud.
What shall 1 do! What shall dol"
"Ma'am?" asked a surprised voice.
just behind her.
She wheeled quickly about, to behold
a shock-headed urchin of 10 in the
path near the little clearing. He was
ragged, tanned, dusty, neither shoes
nor coat trammelling his independence;
and he had evidently entered the gar
den through a gap in the hedge.
Il thought YOU spoke to me?' he said,
inquiringly
what is it,
You, Miss Careweo" he asked; but
before she could answer he said, reas-
SurlDStS. w ny, OIL course you are L
remember you perfect, now l git the
light on you, so to speak. DON'T you
remember me?"
mo I don't think I do"
Lord he responded, wonderingly
81 was one of the boys with you on
them boxes the night of your pas
fire." Mingled with the surprise in his
tone was a respectful JUNCTION which
intimated how greatly he honored her
father for having been the owner of so
satisfactory a con1lagration.
Were you? Perhaps I'll remember
you if you give me time"
But at this point the youth recalled
the fact that he had an errand to dis
charge, and, assuming an expression of
businesslike haste too pressing to per-
nit farther parley. sought in his pocket
and produced sealed envelope, with
which he advanced upon her
Here. There's an answer He told
me not to tell nobody who sent it, and
not to give to to nobody on earth but
you, and how to slip in through the
hedge and try and find you in the gar
den when nobody was lookin', and he
give a pencil for you to answer on the
back of it. and a dollar"
Miss Betty took the note, glancing
once over her shoulder at the house,
but Mrs. Tanberry was still occupied
with the maiden, and no one was in
sight She read the message hastily.
II have obeyed you, and shall always.
You have not sent for me. Perhaps that
was because there was no time when
you thought it was safe. Perhaps you
have still felt there would be loss of
dignity Does that weigh with you