The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-09

. came 20 the bench. You must oeileNe
me: I would not brighten you for any
! thing in the world.
Why are YOU wearing that dress
/ He laughed. and pointed 10 where.
behind him on the ground. lay long
gray cloak. upon which had been toss
ed a white mask. I'm on my way 10
a masquerade" he answered, with an
airy gesture in the direction or the
violins. I'm an Incroyable. you see;
and / had the costume MADE from my
recollection Of a sketch Of your great
! uncle. saw Il a long time ago in
Miss Carewe'seaccustomed poise was
quite recovered. indeed. she was aston
ished TO discover distant trace Of
appointment that the brilliant ap-
partition must offer so tame an eXplana-
ton. What be said was palpably the
truth. there was a masquerade that
night. she knew at the Madullon's.
little way up Carewe street, and her
father had gone. an hour earlier,
blue domino over his arm.
The Incroyable was a person of al
most magical perceptiveness; he felt
the let-down Immediately and feared
q failure. This would not do; the at
titude OF tension between them must
be renewed at once 'Youu forgive
me?' he began. in a quickly impas-
EA0llE4 zone. II Was OLl4E AFTER you
sang "a dream possessed me. and"
i cannot stay to talk with you"
Miss Betty interrupted, and added,
with raightforwardness which
made him afraid she would prove la
mentally direct; I do not know you"
Perhaps she remembered that al
ready one young man had been pre-
sented to her by no better sponsor
than white cat. and had no desire
to 49,
than that In the present instance
there was not even kitten.
She turned toward the house. where
upon he gave her little pathetic ex-
clamation of pleading in a voice that
was mastery, being as sincere as il
was musical. and he took a few lean
ing steps toward her. both hands out
stretched.
one moment more,'' he cried. as
she turned again TO him. 1T may be
the one chance of my life to speak
with you; don't deny me this All the
rest VIII meet you when the happy ev-
enlng comes. viii dance with you, talk
with you, see you when they like lis
ten 10 you -ing. /. alone, must hover
about the gates, or steal like a thief
into your garden to hear you from a
distance. Listen to me-just this once
for a moment"
4 ~0AAAiOA 4AStEAtt she SdlQ. nTTllV.
and stood quite still. She was now in
deep shadow
L Will not believe you mercilesst
You would not condemn the meanest
criminal unheardt" Remembering. that
she was so lately from the convent. he
ventured this speech in a deep. thrill
ing voice, only to receive a distinct
shock for his pains. for she greeted il
with an irrepressible, most unexpected
peal OF contralto laughter. and his lips
parted slightly with the surprise of it
They parted much farther in the next
instant-in good truth, it may be stat
ed OF the gentleman that he was left
with mis- mouth open-for, suddenly
leaning toward him out of the shadow
into the light, her face shining as A
cast of tragedy, she cried in a hoarse
whisper:
Are you a murderer"
And with that and a whisk of her
skirts and football on the gravel
path, she was gone. He stood dumb
founded. poor comedian, having come
10 play the chief role, but TO find the
scene taken out of his hands Then
catching the lutter of her wrap, as she
disappeared into the darkness of the
veranda, he cried in a loud, manly
voice:
You are a dear,"
AAE NdAiiE Oul INTO the street
through a gap in the hedge, he paus-
ed. drawing his cloak about him, and
lifted his face to the eastern moon. 1t
was a strange face; the modelling most
like what is called Greek" save for
the nose, which was a trifie too short
for that, and the features showed q
happy purity of outline almost child
like; the blue eyes, clear, fieckless, Sc
renely irresponsible, with more the look
~ rnf Cfr,~r --stx
unconscious of it; eyes without care,
without prudence, and without evil.
A stranger might have said he was
about twenty-five and had never a
thought in his life. There were some
blossoms on the hedge, and he touch
ed one lightly, as though he chucked
it under the chin; he smiled upon il
then, but not as he had smiled upon
Miss Betty, for this was his own, the
smile that came when he was alone;
and, when it came, the face was no
longer joyous as it had been in re-
pose; there ives an infinite patience
and worn tolerance-possibly for him.
self. This incongruous and melancholy
smile was astonishing; one looked fol-
the laughter of a boy and found. in
stead, a gentle. worldly, old prelate.
Standing there, all alone in the
moonlight, by the hedge. he lifted both
hands high and waved them toward
the house, as children wave to each
other across lawns at twilight. After
that he made fantastic bow to his
! corrugated shadow on the board side.
walk
Again. you rogue!" he exclaimed
aloud. Then. as he faced about anc
began to walk in the direction of the
beckoning Violins: Il wonder if Tom:
kitten was better, after all"