The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-11-02
CHAPTER TX.
Continued.

speaker? "And so your name is Paul,
eh, youngsters" Raising the child aloft
to his tall shoulder, and at once attain
ing q prominent place in Daphne's re-
gard. Suppose you and I find a spot
out Of the sun and make friends. !
carry about bonbons on purpose for
naughty boys, NJ. Paul. Good boys
have the reward Of being good. They
can get on without me. You like burnt
almonds? So does the lady in the
Mother Hubbard hat, only you mustn't
tell her I said so. I have got a package
of the sort she most affects in my
pocket"
Cousin Felix seats himself in the
shade, on q ledge Of rock, and begins
gravely to search his pockets for burnt
almonds.
Daphne and Miss Hardcastle glide
into the effortless small talk with
which women, gentle or simple, edu'
Gated or %unlearned, gid over the awk'
ward beginnings, alas! and endings OF
human intercourse.
"You don't like burnt almonds, Mrs,
Chester" asks Cousin Felix, in his
well-toned, half-awake voice. swell,
at least you will take shelter from the
sun with me and NJ. Paul? The way
that English women brave the inclem'
encies of climate is marvellous" he goes
on, as Daphne, too shy to refuse, sits
down beside him on the rock. "And
still there are no women in the world
who can show such compilations. Look
at me, Paul, my friend. All, I see
Hazel eyes, with black lashes. A per
feet likeness"
. Daphne reddens at the covertl com
pliment to herself; she smiles at the
open one to Paul. Mr.. Broughton
without loss Of time. adjust his eye
glass and himself to M Of the limo
cent half firtations, which come to him
as simply as nectar-tasting to a but
terfy the moment he finds himself
by the side Of a young and pretty
woman.
These non-amative elements, the two
Supernumeraries of the scene. disposed
of, what shall hinder the lovers in form
from wandering away among the rocks
and renewing their oaths, laughed at by
Jove, of former days? Severne gives
q rapid glance at Clementina. She is
watching Felix Broughton; watching
him, not with the rare smile that can
transform her face to beauty, but
rather with an expression that, did the
circumstances not render such a sup
position absurd, might be termed a
Jealous n
-It is one Of those horrible, sitting
days, when even doing nothing is too
great an e1ertion," she observes, a
little shortly, and selecting an upright
slab of rock beneath which to arrange
Il cannot say compose-her charms.
~'You must find the heat Of Jersey al
most as uncomfortable as India, Sir
Iohn?"
al have managed to exist through a
week Of it." he answers, taking his
place, as duty bids him do, at her feet.
"But then I have really improved the
shining hours with hard work. Do
sou draw as much as ever, Clemen-
hna?" He has accomplished the Chris
tan name this time. II remember be-
Tor I left"
II sketch in autumn" says Miss
Hardcastle, much as one might remark
that the leaves fall, or the days
shorten. During the season, Of course,
n could not trife away the time on
accomplishments, and then the exhibit
lions so thoroughly put n out Of ones
conceit with ones own attempts"
" 1t is encouraging to think that Glenn
entina Hardcastle ever can be put out
Of conceit with anything.
SeverDa asks a commonplace Ques-
lion about the pictures Of the year;
alas, and gets answer that freezes him
more than did the geological love let
ter!
Daphne listens, not altogether with
but a pang of envy, to the calm assur-
ance with which Sir John Severne's
sweetheart displays her stock Of knowL,
edge.
"You have not been to London this
spring, Mrs. Chester" asks Cousin
Felix, packing away the remains Of the
burnt almonds into such fragmentary
portions Of Innings as can be called
Paul's pockets. Have never been there
at all? Well, this is something that
] have travelled the world over to find
q human creature who had never been
in literary and scientific London. You
don't know" co~nfdentially, show
much you have been spared. I have
only been in town three weeks-is it
not three weeks since I came back
from Vienna, Glenn"
without referring to Fraulein
Schnapper's diary, I don't know that
I can remember the important date Of
your arrival, Cousin Felix"
"And during that time I have been
Saken"-Mr. Broughton reckons on his
d~elicately gloved finger tips-"to two
Friday evening discussions about the
ichthyosaurus at the Royal Institution,
nave heard an afternoon lecture On
the Nature of Organic Radicals with
a DEPRESSION as to the 'Synthesis of
Proprionic Acid"
1.-THE synthesis!" Felix Broughton did
not so accent the word, but this mat,
ters nothing. "Oh, what pronunciation!
What a helpless mixture of wrong
ideas! Cousin Felix, why will you al
ways insist upon getting out of your
depth in syllables"
II insist? When you were talking
to me this very day about plestiosan-
you know the rest! Miss Hardcastle is