The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-06
CHAPTER X.

ECHOES OF A SERENADE.
More than three gentlemen of Rouen
wore their hearts in their eyes fors any
fool to gaze upon; but three was the
number of those who told their love be-
fore the end of the first week of Mr..
Carewe's absence. and told it in spite
of Mrs TanberrY's utmost effort to pre-
SERGE, at all times, a conjunctin be-
tween herself and Miss Betty. For the
good lady, foreseeing these declarations
much more surely than did the subject
of Them wished to spare her lovely
charge the pain of listening to them.
Miss Carewe honored each of the lorn
three with a few minutes of gravity;
but the gentle refusal prevented never
swain from being as truly her fol-
lower as before; not that she reSorted
to the poor device of alf-dismissal, the
everyday method of the school girl
iirt. who thus keeps the lads in DALI
ance, but because,even for the rejected,
it was a delight to be near her For
that matter, it is said that no one ever
had enough of the mere looking at her.
Also, her talk was enliVening even to
the lively, being spiced with surprising
turns and amiably seasoned with art
of badinage Toluse the phrase of the
time, she possessed the accomplish
ments,an Anticipated charm now on the
| point of disappearing, so carefully has
tied. The pursuing wrath of the
young, it comes to sit, ghost at every
banquet, driving the flower of our youth
| to unheard-of eXertions in search of
escape, to dubious diplomacy, to dis
! NAL inaction, or to wine; yet time was
when they set their hearts on the
accomplishments"
Miss Betty Carewe at her harp, ah! it
was a dainty picture; the clear profile,
with the dark hair low across the tenn
| pie, silhouetted duSkily, in the cool,
/ shadowy room, against the open win
! dow; the slender figure, one arm curV-
ing between you and the strings, the
other cleaning behind them; the deli
| cate little sandal stealing from the
white frotn of silk and lace to caress
| the pedal; the ninble hands f1uttering
across the long strands, Like white
! blossoms borne on Slanting lines of
rain!" and the great gold harp rising
| to catch a jaVelin of sunshine that
| pierced the vines at the window where
| the honeysuckles swung their skirts to
| the refrain-it was a picture to return
many long year afterward, and thrill
the reveries of old men who were then
young. And, following the light cas-
| cading ripples of the harp, when her
| low contralto lifted is one of the "old
songs" she often turned inquiringly to
see if the listener liked the music, and
| ner Dr1lllanl, dark eyes would rest on
his with an appeal that blinded his en-
tranced soul. She meant it for the
mere indication of a friendly wish to
suit his tastes, but it looked like the
divine humility of love. Nobody Won
dered that Gen. Trumble should fall
to verse-making in his old age.
She sketched magnificently. This is
the very strongest support for the as
sertion: Frank Chenoweth and Tap
| bingham Marsh agreed, with tears of
enthusiasm, that 'magnificently' was
the only word. They came to this con-
cluson as they sat together at the end
of a long dinner Cat which very little
! had been eaten) after a days picnic
by the river. Miss Carewe had been of
their company, and Tappingham and
! Chenoweth found each his opportunity
in the afternoon. The party was small,
| and no one had been able to effect a
| total unconsciousness of the maneu-
vres of the two gentlemen. Even Fan
chon Bareaud comprehended languidly,
though she was more blurred than ever.
| and her far-away eyes belied the me-
chanical vivacity of her manner, for
Crailey was thirty miles down the riv-
err, with a fishing rod neatly packed in
a leather case.
Mr.. Nanrevel, of course, was not in
vited: no one would have thought of
asking him to join small party of
which Robert Carewe's daughter was to
be a member. But ii was happiness
enough for Tom. that night, to lie
hidden in the shrubbery. looking up at