Oxford Democrat., 1906-02-20

of today, doubting that they wou:o
show forth rs heroic, as debOaair, gay
and tragic as he. He was the legend.
ary hero of her childhood. She remem,
bered her mothers stories Of him per
haps more clearly than she remember
ed her mother, and one Of the Older
sisters had known him in Paris and
had talked of him at great length, CIV
Ing the flavor of his dandyism and his
beauty at first hand to his young rela-
tive.
In the library hung small full
length drawing Of Georges, done In
color by Miss Betty's grandmother
and this she carried to her own room
and studied long and ardently until
sometimes the man himself seemed to
stand before her.
Miss Betty had an impression that
her grandmother's art Of portraiiure
would have been more successful with
the profile than the full face" Never
theless, nothing could be more clearly
Indicated than that the hair Of NJ
Meilhac was very yellow and his short,
huge lapeled waistcOat white, striped
with scarlet. An enormous cravat
covered his chin; the heavy collar of
his yellow coat rose behind his ears,
while its tails fell to his ankles. and
the tight trousers Of white and yellow
stripes were tied with white ribbons
about the middle Of the calf. He wore
white stockings and gold buckled yel-
low shoes and on the back Of his head
jauntily cooked black hat. Miss
Betty innocently wondered why his
letters did not speak Of Petion, OF
Vergniaud or Of Dumoriez, since In
the historical novels which she read
the heros lot was inevitably linked
with that Of every one Of Importance
In his generation. Yet Georges ap-
peared to have been unacQuainted
with these personages, RObespierre
being the only name OF consequence
mentioned In his letters, and then 1t
appeared in much the same fashion
practiced by her father in alluding to
the governor Of the state, who had the
misfortune to be unpopular with Mr..
Carewe. But this did not dim her
great-uncles luster in Miss Betty's
eyes or lessen for her the pathetic
romance Of the smile he wore.
Beholding this smile, one remember
ed the end to which his light footsteps
had led him, and 1t was unavoidable TO
picture him left lying in the empty
street behind the heels Of the flying
crowd, carefully forming that same
smile on his lips and taking much
pride In passing with some small. Gym
ical speech, murmured to himself, con-
cerning the inutility Of gentleman's
getting shot by his friends for merely
being present to applaud them. So,
fancying him thus with his yellow hair,
bis scarlet striped waistcOat anu his
tragedy, the young girl felt share OF
family greatness or ut least OF pictur'
esqueness descend to her, and she
smiled sadly back upon the smile III
the picture and dreamed about Its orig
inal night after night.
Whether or no another figure, that or
dark young man IN Il white hat, with
q white kitten etching his wrist Ia red.
found place in lcr dreams ut this period
II is impossible 10 determine. She lid
not see him again. 1t Is quite another
thing, hazardous to venture, to state
that he did not see her. At all events.
1t Is certain that many people VINO had
never behcld her we're talking Of her;
that Roucn WAS full of contention con-
cerning her beauty and her gift OF nu-
sic, for n song can be heard through
an open window. And how did 1t hap
pen that Crailey Gray knew that 1t
was Miss Carewc's habit to stroll in her
garden for half an hour or so each
evening before retiring and that she
went to mass every morning soon aft
er sunrise: Crailey Gray never rose
at or near sunrise in his life. though
he sometimes beheld it from another
point Of view. as the end Of the even
ing. 1t appears that some one must
have told him.
One night when the moon lay white
on the trees and housetops Miss Betty
paused In her evening promenade and
seated herself upon bench on the
borders of the garden. wrought upon
by the tender incentive to sighs and
melancholy which youth in loneliness
finds in n lovcliness of the earth. for
what reason she could not have told.
since she was without care or sorrow
that she knew except the French reyo-
luton, yet tears shOne upon the long
lashes. She shook them OF and looked
up with n sudden odd consciousness.
The next second she sprang TO her feet
with a gasp and chokel outcry. her
hands pressed to her breast.
rrO BE CONTINUED