The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1904-06-11
Seleft Sturg.
ROMANCE AND A POSTER.
MorIce Genrt in rhe Qneen.

| was luXurIatlng accordingly. The wide
bay was studded with rowboats and with
the white sails of innumerable craft, with
here and there the tunnels of excursion
| steamers.
4 pair-oar shot out from private land
| ing stage, a young man in hannels rowing,
a girl holding the rudder lines Many
people turned to look at them as the boat
shot through the water. They were a
handsome pair, and conveying a sense Of
distinctiou-a gift rarer than that Of
! beauty
The man was Paul Dashwool, cousin
/ and heir presumptive Of the Earl Of Sea
/ chester, whose ancestral towers dominated
| Westerton from convenient distance
| Paul was heir presumptiye but not prob
i able, for Seachester was very little his
senior, and As likely to marry As any other
young uobleman Paul only laughed at
the description Of himself in "Debrett.
and remarked that the entry which linked
his name with the Seachester property
/ would soon have 20 be revised In the
meantime and until quite recently he had
scraped along comfortably enough on the
$500 a year which kindly Providence had
I interpo>ed between Paul and the necessity
( Of get,ipg his own living He did not run
into debt, and he did not save Why
! should he2
suddenly change came over the views
Of this Young man lie was FIVE an TWEEN
/ ty when. staying at the Towers with his
cousin, he met his present epxswain, Ag-
ues Lester. Old Lester, with an invalid
/ wife aud one daughter. lived in biz house
at WesteTtou. with terrace and the
; landing stage fronting un the sea. Mon
tagae Lester came of an old. but impover-
shed family HIS wife had been the
/ Hon iayinIa Stradhrooke beiure her mar
mage Agus~ wa. the only child, repu,ei
70 be- great he,rcss. endowed with a
I maichl,ss figure and ari@toeraljc features
Z Of she Grerk type
4 Paul Eastwood iell in Ioye with Agnes
At once Before hong there was subtle
( recognition On both sides of the b0ud Le
tween them Tor the girl had not been slow
( 20 r,~pond to Paul very evident appre-
I cia,iou Yet no word 81 actual love, -iill
7 l,7z Of sn engagement and marriage had
been spoken.
Paul was hampered by the fact that be
vas ! gentleman lli- own E6O0 a year
/ vas enough to supply has wants, to meet
the expenditure on his room, in Bratou
-trrci, hls club subscriptions, aud the hun
dred liiile wants oF Z man ahou, town who
sas neither spcudthrift ner scrcw
/ Nothing more. OLD Lester. il was thought.
I could have dosercd his daughter sufficient
( u 10 abuadan,ly supply all immediate and
+ prospective wants But. even IL It were
T true, Paul vas no; the man 10 Accept the
I position Of housekeeping gn his wife pin
( money
1 Agnes handled tbe uutrigSer with mas
tcFly skill. sieered her way through the
uamcrou. craft they passed or met with
sure precision. Yet she continued to see
7 throughout the osrsman face. and read
/ in j, the story Of so,ne anxiety or regret
I A shadow rested upon the open brow, blue
I eyes and strong. sell-shsped mouth She
\ ielt, too that Paul. when her own eye-
seemed ayer1ed, booked at her Wisttully.
Paul had clearly a weigh, on his mind
Was IL Did be feel 1t was time To-?
I She vas annoyed to feel herself blushing
the warm blood mautHag her cheek and
sarging about her tiny ears. Her bosom
keayed
Theu she pulled the wrong string There
was shout Of warning Paul made a
Z desperate effort to retrieve she situation by
backing with one car and pulling with the
other. Il was too late There was a
crash. Agnes felt herself flung heailong
/ The water cuyeloped her The blue SKY
disappeared She flung up her arms She
could see nothing There was buzzins
in her ears. Her brain throbbed Then
il did not matter. She vas going To sleep
l. would be cruel 10 wake her.
When Agnes Lester came to herself she
was lying in her own room At Westerton
House. Her mother, wan, worn. quietly
moving. came into the room.
Who pulled me out of the water
mother
Don't you know, dearest-how should
YOU, thought Only fancied you might
have guessed. Perhaps she had. II
was Paul Dasbwood
Agnes flushed
He was not hurt-he is all right?'
.-Oh, yes. He wanted to see you, but
the doctor would not hear of it, Besides,
unless you could 20 down, it could not be
managed. "
Mrs. Grundy, said Agnes She
smiled, and vet she was sad. She would
have been more sad had she known why
Paul wanted to see her.
The next day she came downstairs,
weak still and white, but much better. 4
note from Paul Dashwood was lying on an
inlaid table. She knew it was his, al
though she had never seen his hand writ
ing before. The letter was dated the
previous day.
Dear Miss Lester: am more disap-
pointed than | can say that | am not able
to see you to say goodbye.
The room swan with her. Ii was some
minutes before she could read on
Il have had some work offered me in
Egypt which may be highly remuueratiye,
and may enable me to say what have
never dared to say--if | am equal to the
task of doing it. intended to tell you
today when we went out, but this extra
ordinary accident prevented me. Untor-
tunately, the appointment must be taken
up at once or should lose it. 1t comes
to me through the influence of my cousin,
Seachester | can never forget these
days, and | ask your remembrance, too.
Some day | hope to come back and dare
little. Till then will you try and be
kind to my memory and keep it near you?
Ever most truly yours
"PAUL DAsHwooD.
The letter dropped from her fingers.
Agnes had tainted.
A long street of jerry built houses of
red brick, with pretentious little bay win
dows and lodgings or apartments,
according to the preference of housekeep-
er, on a card in most of them, in South
London, not far from the Brixton high
! rood Il xpoS avapipo In tho rountrv