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

Mr.. Boughton still continues in DE.
voted attendance upon Daphne; Paul
clinging to his mothers skirts and gaz.
ing up, with wonder unsated, at the le>
biau Mussieu AngliaZ, who carries a
white umbrella when there is no rain,
and whose pockets are lin d with burnt
almonds for naughty boys.
Strephon and Chloe are left behind,
and must, preforce, address each other
without auditors, and in some form in
human speech approaching the lover
like.
You must have thought Felix and I
had fallen from the skies?"
Miss Hardcastle is the first to speak.
but she does so with visible c%onstraint
of manner, not turning her eyes for an
instant toward her companion.
"From the skies? Oh, not in the
least" Severne answers, stif1y. Il
never felt any doubt as to the terres.
trial nature Of your appearance"
But the truth is, Lady Lydia is
such q scatter-brained little creature
a little wild Irish girl-a most substan.
tial shadow Of a chaperon. 1t is a
stroke Of good fortune for me that my
cousin Felix CHANGED to be n Of the
party on board the Liberia"
II can understand that you find it a
most fortunate chance" says Sir John,
with dry brevity.
"He is more like a brother to me,
really, than a cousin, as you must see."
"Yes?"
"The only relation of my own that
I possess. Poor mamma left no other
niece or nephew"
"No?"
"And he was so much with me when
I was little. Why, wen papa-even
Mrs. Hardcastle herself-looks upon
Cousin Felix as an efficient chaperon."
This time Severne answers not by SO
much as a monosyllable. Miss Hard
castle perceives that she has commit
ted that commonest mistake Of a guilty.
conscience, an apology.
81 can quite believe that you find the
time pass quickly in these regions, Sir
John. And now that she is no longer
on her DEFENSE, Clementina gains cour-
age, and can look round at her lovers
face. MRS. Chester is positively-very.
nice! Very. Inch-thick shoes, dilapi-
dated small boy, murdered Lindley
Murray. and ALL"
"Inch-thick shoes-for the Quernec
beach! A trick of speech that is not
the last Piccadilly slang" replies Sir
John, h0tly. "Ah, if you had been liv-
ing in India for three years, as I have,
you would not find much difficulty in
forgiving faults such as Daphne's."
Daphne! Is it a ame-a human
creatures name? Really? OF course, I
know it in botany. Genus monogynia,
class Alexandria, and, in the natural
method, ranked under the thirty-irst
order, veprecula."
Monogynia. Octandria. The natural
method. Veprecula."
And there was a time when he adored
this girl, treasured decaying plants (no
matter Of what class or genus because
she had touched them, thrilled at her
glance, spent sleepless nights at a sus'
picion Of her GOODNESS.
There was a time-and now, Sir John
Severne feels he could as soon be In
love with a volume Of the British En-
cyclopedia or cherish q prayer for
Maunder's Treasury of knowledge.
They pursue their path, and after a
minute, Miss Hardcastle, who seems
disposed to take the initiative as re-
CARDS the starting Of subjects, inquiries
Of her lover if he has seen yesterdays
papers! The Indian Budget appears to
be Of more than ordinary interest, and
If the projects Of Decentralization
"Ifhave' not seen an English Iews-
paper for three weeks" interrupts Sc.
verne, a little absently.
He is thinking again, and once again,
Of that boyisn love Of his; Of its deli
c~iousness even when he most despaired.
Of it's CLEANS of hope, its honey-sweet
meetings and partings. Can the page
indeed be clio led ~forever-not so much
as the poor odor Of a dead :'oseleaf lett
to recall its freshness?
"Yon are not changed, Clementna,"
and now, at length, his voice is low,
all but tender. II could still think 1t
was the day in Kensington Gardens.
you remember ?-when you got away
from Schnapper and the children, and
talked to me for five blissful, forbidden
minutes under the chestnuts. And yet
it seems to me that your hair is a
shade or two darker than it used to
be-"
my hair vas always pretty dark.
was it not? You have grown accus-
toned to the lint-white locks Of Mrs.
Chester. AS for you, I should have
known you in a second, wherever and
however I had met you; the only
change isl may be wrong, but 1t
seems to me you are not quite so tall
as I had imagined"
"Your eyes have grown accustomed
to the level Of Cousin Felix" Is Sir
John Severne's answer.
To be continued. :
rs~---r Go~n