Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-01-11
Fiction


Maggie, dear, have had a letter
from your Uncle Walter today began
Mrs. Monckton, as soon as the coy
meal which always awaited her
daughters return was concluded and
the tray placed outside for the maid
to carry down. 'He writes from their
house in Milbourn. He seems to have
made better thing of farming out
there than your poor father ever did
at home. l gather from what he
says that he must be quite a wealthy
man by this time"
Maggie stretched out her hand for
the closely written pages or thin pa
per, for she and her mother had no
reserves from each other.
He does, indeed, seem well en-.
dowed with this worlds goods" she
remarked as she folded up tie letter
and lay back in her chair lingering it
thoughtfully. do you note, mother,
that my uncle speaks OF sending
young Walter-that is the nephew he
has adopted, is it not?-home to an
English university? nhdeed, he seems
to have already done so. l wondA
if this colonial cousin will come and
see us2 He is cousin, suppose pr
Hardly, he is only your uncles
nephew by marriage, no blood refa-
ton. Your Aunt Mary is as devoted
to him as If he were her own son.
No, dear, | shouldn OF rninx ms youth
would take sufficient interest in us
to wish to introduce himself. Indeed.
your uncle may not have mentioned
his English relations to his nephew at
all You remember he did not offer
to assist me when your father died,
cumstances."
And yet he writes kindly enough,
mother, and he is certainly compli-
mentary In what he says about the
photograph of me you were weak
enough to send him."
Mrs Monckton laughed softly.
He fioes not say a bit too much. /
am sure" she returned, with a glance
of admiring satisfaction at her
daughter.
The months slipped by, and Madge
had been for some time a student at
the Slade school, when an unac,
countable thing happened to her.
She began to be haunted by a face
not real flesh and blood individual
but a dream face" as she termed it
to he,rself-and more than this, MAT
ter of Fact Maggie" as Miss Action
was wont to call her, took to day
dreaming. 1t was the strong, clean
cut face of young man that so per-
sistentfy presented itself to her mind.
She could not remember that she had
ever really seen such a one, or any
photograph, or picture in the least re-
sembling 1t. but quite involuntarily
all of her waking and sleeping dreams
conferred round this face, and at
length she grew quite worried and
secretly ashamed. Not even to her
mother could she speak of this odd
fancy of hers.
What was my twin brother like,
mother ?" she asked one day. ''The
baby brother who died when we were
2 years old-what do you think he
might have been like now had he
lived?''
''He was small and dark like me.
He never could have grown to be in
the least like your father or like you,
Mays. He had neat little features
and dark brown eyes-nearly black.
Why, my dear, I have told you this
often before"
Eyes, but l am curions. | like 60
hear about him. Then you do not
think that he would ever have had
strong, face that looks as if it be-
lcnged to big MANI"
Certainly not. What an idea.
never saw twins less alike than you
two were''
There is no help for me in that d.
rection," said Maggie to herself. 1T
is well am going on this trip with
Mary Acton-exercise and fresh
scenes will, l hope, drive this nom
sense out of my head"
The long summer vacation was ap-
preaching, and in August Maggie and
her mother were to pay a oong
promised visit to Devonsn1re friend,
but, to begin with, Miss Acton had
prevailed upon Maggie 10 become her
companion on cycling tour along the
Sussex coast for week or two. At
first Maggie demurred-she could not
leave her mother alone, she said, but
Mrs Monckton herself overruied this
objection. The weather was warm,
she insisted, Maggie was looking pale
ard run down, and both girls needed
bracing up after their hard work She
would make herself perfectly happy.
So their plans were arranged, stop
ping places marked on the map. and
the girls were to start early in the fol
lowing week, putting up for the week
end at ap retty Sussex parsonage, the
home of an uncle of Mary's, who hal
given them a warm invitation.
The travellers were bowling along a
broad, white road skirting the wooded
foot of some downs about noon. when
a mans bicycle SKINNED past them