Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1906-06-29
NE 20. 1906.

ufty. You are merely SchOOlbOy.
Her eyes trtveliug over his face with
a kind OF soft compassion. "Your life
is beginning"
"With a tolerable accumulation Of
experience to start FROM" says Sc
verne. Mine years ago. when first
went to Woolwlch. looked upon my
self. can assure you. as a finished
Chesterfield in matters Of worldly wis
dom. and now, after spending the three
last years in India. too. to be told
coolly that am only schoolboy stillr'
after spending the three last years
in India" repeats Daphne. STOPPING
down and with one finger tracing out
kind Of Chinese pagoda upon the
sand. "You must have been young
enough. in all conscience, when you
went awayl And you have never re-
turned to England since"
"Neyer I am in the act of return.
ing at this moment"
"Not very hurriedlyT
swell, no. l wanted to look up an
cid school friend who has married and
buried himself in Brittany. That de
layed me a fortnight between Paris
and st. Malo."
"Then?a
''Then Murray reminded me Of my
duty. The traveller is here at con
venient point for visiting the Channel
Islands. You know the rest"
"And the lady who wrote that letter
has not seen you for three years,
theny cries Daphne. sweeping out the
pagoda with touch. and raising her
eyes abruptly to Severne's. "She will
find you altered. Though you ex.
changed photographs every week. you
could not keep a face fresh and living
before you through the changes OF
three years.
1t is a home thrust, the like Of which
can only be given under one or two
conditions: absolute knowledge or alb.
solute ignorance Of the conventionall-
ties. Sir John throws a quick look at
Daphne's face, at the serious, truth.
telling eyes, the lips from which nc
word Of char or other wit of the
period has ever flowed. and comes to
the sudden resolution. then and there,
of enlightening her as to his engage
ment
"Yes. we shall find each other
changed, Mrs. Chester, in things, per-
has@~ssthet don't come within the
scope Of photography" He takes up
a handful Of small pebbles, and. as he
talks. aims one after another at some
imaginary target on the margin of
the water "You see, we had known
each other just six weeks, and we
were children-Miss Hardcastle, at
least, was a child-when-when was
ordered to India. We spoke in our
haste, and suppose shall have the
interest now of finding out how far
our speaking led us wrong"
And for one long minute Daphne
Chester is silent.
Her heart is dead, no doubt, on that
point; her belief in personal happiness
shattered. The only feeling she can
possibly entertain toward Sir John Sc
verne is gratitude-just what she felt
for equity old DR.. de Garlot. when he
had brought Paul safely through the
measles.
II shall have more faith in my own
eleverness for the future" so at
length she speaks, in her matter-of-
fact. quiet voice. when first picked
up that letter l thought to myself it
was from your sweet-frOm some one
you cared more than common for. You
must be longing to get back to Eng
land, Sir John. After three years OF
separation, the hours must pass heay-
lily that keep you apart"
SWELL" answers Severne, discharg-
ing his last shot with vigor at the i'm
aginary target, 1--WE are not romantic
people. either of US; that is the fact.
Miss Hardcastle isl suppose if had
to sum up her characteristics in one
word should be forced to say-pre-
pare yourself. Mrs Chester, a cold
shock is in store for you-that Miss
Hardeastle is the least bit in the world
a ble-stoeking.
"a Ablue-stocking~ exclaims Daphne.
with Ia bitter. sharp sense of her own
efidencies, and with a vision, grand,
epic~homicidal. rising before her.
"The term is old-fashioned, says
Sir John. "And still with feminine
learning increasing at its present rate,
l don't know that we can well afford
to do without it."
sN is a very awful term cries
Daphne. II have heard my aunts
speak of Airs. Trimmer, Miss Por-
teri"
IND Mrs. Hannah Morel All, the
modern blue-stoclling is cast upon q
diffyrent pattern. exhibits diverging
Manifestations. as she would say. in
the language of the tribe. The modern
bluestocking acknowledges few things
that cannot be weighed in the balance
or observed in the spectroscope"
II think said Daphne, forgetting
politeness in the pIentitude Of her sin
certify, that 1 would much rather not
. EbHle dtluoo AhS AAlou1Ah bAuN79NNNhT
ing"
Miss Hardcastle will inevitably
come across you" returns Seyerne,
looking amused. In couple of days,
Tomorrow. perhaps. Miss Hardcastle
and party of her friends will arrive
in Jersey on a yachting expedition"
aKeep her away keep her away
from Fief-de-la Refine! Never let my
ignorance be placed side by side with
the science OF such paragOn. This
was Daphues first thought. perhaps 1
should say the first rush of wordless
emotion from which thought springs.
One second later, and is Miss Hard
castle tall or short?" she asks, her
voice so excellently schooled that her
companions dull masculine perceptions
detect in it no cOnstraint Has she
black eyes or blue, dark hair or
blonde"
after the lapse of three years it is
difficult to speak accurately about
shades of color" he remarks, watching
--not the faded photograph of the wo-
man he is to wed-but the flushed and
living face of this daughter of Heth.