The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-02-14

! least as good as thirteen. or that
/ opals are not as handsome as other
! jewels or II you by any mlSchance
/ break a mirror your mind runs shud-
I deringly over the state Of health per
I tanning to the various members OF
I your family to wonder which Is most
1 likely TO die before the year i out
Be this as il may. Constance. though
| a clear-headed, sensible woman, was
| appalled, 10 think she had watched her
/ husband cut Of sight But she was
| cheered the next moment by recOllect-
| ing her tower. She sped quickly up
stairs, then along the corridor and 70
I another flight This brought her 70
the foot Of the tower. which was built
/ a one side Of the house. and rose nf-
/ teen feet above H. There were win
| dows in il on all sides, and it gave a
/ commanding view OF the country, TO
/ mantle and unusual for the house it
/ self was built on high ground. Scat
/ tered about were books. a flute, a gui-
/ tar, and there was also a small tele-
| scoDe there.
Not noticing these objects, however.
/ Constance went straight to the win
! dow overlooking the street which led TO
/ the station. Far Edown there was a
| spot where her husband would cross
| the street Cunless he had crossed it al
/ ready TO 60 10 the train. Fronting
I The crossing was hotel known as the
/ Essex House. she might see him, she
/ thought, al this point II so. she would
I just take one look TO coun eract the
/ malignant effect OF having watched
/ him out Of sight Her lips
I curled at her own folly. but
I her determination never wavered even
while she whispered. What fools we
women ara"
With exDeotant eyes and halt-parted
I lips she eagerly watched the turn in
| the street which he might, or might
not, have passed. All, there he was.
! just as he left her. walking briskIy-
1 With . sign OF relief Constance was
about TO turn away when a woman
stepped out from the hotel door. ard
coming quickly down the steps, ap-
| nrOac hed her husband. What could
I she want OF him. she q Stranger or
! was IL some one else down the street
! she was coming 10 greet3 No, il was
/ Mr. Hamilton. Constance was breath
/ less now with interest and curiosity.
The woman was evidently a stranger
I n Grovedsle, young and pretty. II the
distance did not lend undue enchaut-
raent. and she greeted her husband IS
I 4 she knew him well-better than her
I husband knew her. for he stepped back
a pace or two as though surprised OF
not wei pleased. There appeared 70
I be hut few words between them. and
I then the woman with slower step re-
turned 10 the hotel, and Mr.. Hamilton
I turned the corner, but not until his
wife, remembering her object in COM
ing 10 the tower. shrank back until he
( was out OF sight.
The fulhlment of her design did not,
I however, seem TO have given Mrs.
I Hamilton unmitigated satisfaction. for
l she sank into q seat beside the tele-
scope while her thoughts few back
( ward TO the beginning Of her married
/ life, slowly reviewing the years until
now-yezrs Of mystery, every one Of
them It's entity impressed her at this
moment as never before.
Eight years ago when a girl Of p
I she married NaDe Hamilton. How well
l she rec0llected the first time she met
him! She. the niece Of the wealthy
/ nill-owner. Mr.. Carter. who had but
I lately come TO Grovedale: he soon 70
have an interest in the same business,
/ though he did not know it then.
She remembered that the young peo-
I pie Of the village had planned 10 climb
one Of the Peaks, the ostensible OBJ
J jet being blueberries. but the real
/ one 8 frolic: and the newcomers were
1 invited. Er. Hamilton was, undoubt-
I edly, the nandsomest man of the party,
while Constance Carter was undenia-
I bly, the prettiest girl. Being both
I 81 AllL LA-G-- A&SAlaAE4 Win VII
| lsge matters. they naturally drifted
apart from the others. and in the
| course Of TIE day came TO know much
more Of each other than the rest.
Constance learned that he came from
Central New York. that he was an only
son. and his mother widow.
I suspect there was never a more
devoted couple than mother and l." he
said, laughing, as ne shipped the heads
Of the thistles with his climbing-staff
and she replied:
I don't wonder at your devotion. I
saw your mother at church last Sun
day. She was in the Ellis pew, was
she not ,"
Yes" he said. his face lighting UP
with pleasure, apparently, at her praise
OF his mother.
Such beautiful milk-white hair. and
yet she does not look DID," said Con-
stance. recalling to mind the elegant,
Gark-robed. slender lady who presented
so great contrast to fussy Mrs. Ellis.
Mother is only as. but she has known
much SORROW" said her son, and then
they talked of other things.
In a year from their first meeting
they were married. but this was six
months after Nane's mother died, so
Constance never suffered jealousy or
estraugement as sometimes happens on
account of a mother-in-law; and she al
ways remembered the sad. gentle wom-
an who might. had she lived. been a
real mother to her.
Nane's mysterious journeys be-
gan the spring after their marriage, and
they took place always in May. How
well she recollected her own chagrin at
not being invited to accompany him.
she. almost a bride. TO be left while he
went alone on his trip,
Worst of all, he never told her where
he was going, nor his object in going.
and from that time until now il had
been a mystery. Among the townspeo-
pie they were looked upon as business
trips TO Boston. but she herself knew
that he went elsewhere. And he stayed
from home two weeks. once he left her
quite i'll, though out OF danger, the
physician assured him. Another time
she asked him TO take her with him
and he refused Always there was an
air Of secrecy. a grave abstraction. an
intangible difference in his manner, as
If called about an irksome business.
Meanwhile, Clare and Perley were
added 10 their home. and they had been
happy through the eight years of their
married life despite the mystery of his
yearly trips. For she trusted him. She
was sure that he loved her; but each