The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1907-12-16
A Late Learned Secret.
Original J

I'll MusAO.anI- = D3Cuc.Gr OF forty,
AZ 10 O'Clock al n.g..t went IN three
p r Of stairs. opened The door Or his
renteI room and a. he entered heaved
. dep s:ch. II was heard by Lydia
Nu:ttr. tie iludlady's daughter. aged
twe..tv who wondered what caused
= IILf she. t0D. been forty instead
Or twenty. without having followed The
course dictated by uatUre-matinc and
rearing children-She would have IN
dc~S;ood that if translated into words
the SCH would say:
Oh. this lonely room
FL Nu,loliand had in his youth ch0s-
en athletic sports with which 10 beg1.le
his leisure hours lie was mans
man rather than a G.ris man. He re-
meiabered pair Of bright eyes beam
Ing upon him when he had won the
champion cup for single souls. They
and the smile that accompanied them
were then no more to him than a
passing Whit OF vio!ets. Now. as be
entered Ills lonely room. he remembered
that the girl he had failed to claim
WIS the wife. and mother OF children.
Of the man he had beaten in the race.
lie had won the cup. which he had SO
dearly priced. leaving for his antag-
oniSt the girl. whom he had considered
merely one Of a million. Now the cup
was in vault with other trinkets; the
girl was the light OF household
He remembered another whom he
| had played with in Il double game of
tennis. an eXecrable player. but a soft
voiced beauty; how he had saved the
game by his skill and activity: how
! she had received the prize-a silver
| mounted racket-from his hands. with
| bushes that told him she would have
| gladly taken him instead.
These and others with whom be had
| feared to become entangled contribut-
/ ed their part in that deep drawn sigh.
SO unintelligible to Lydia Nutter. He
was no longer the companion OF young
/
period and had not mated.
What troubled you last night. Mr..
Mulholland as you went INTO your
room?" asked Lydia the next morning
as the bachelor went out to get his
lonely breakfast.
Il troubled? What do you mean?"
You drew such a sad sigh
AS Eli looked into her sympathetic
eyes something OF two decades before
came back 10 nim. Was il too late
10 save what remained of his life from
a loneliness intensified with each pass
! ing year? AS quickly as the thought
came il was banished. Had he stood
still for twenty years while others haC
grown old? He turned to pass ou
I without reply. How could he tel
this girl, who when he was hel
age was scarcely born, that he hat
wasted his opportunities. and. though
he had gained the world, it was worth
less: that which he had sefiShl!
thought he wished for himself wheI
attained had shriveled in his hands
since he had no wife or children to be
stow it upon?
When you feel that way again
you" said Lydia.
There was Il wistful look in his eye
! as he closed the door
That night he sat in the readin:
room of his club pretending to rea'
the newspapers. while he was watch
ing the clock. He wished to go to tn
. house where he roomed, but he woul'
go neither too late nor too early-no
after Lydia had gone to bed. not s.
early that he would seem to have com
to be with her. for that was his in
tention. He chose half past 0 as tb
hour most likely TO conceal it and. aft
er two hours watching the clock. lief
the club. Lydia was in the sittin
room with her mother. the mOthe
reading, Lydia at some fancy work.
I'm in rather early tonight" b
said to Lydia There was nothing dc
ing at the club. I've brought som
playing cards. Would you mind
game"
Again the smile that greeted him re
: minded him of the face that had beam
ed upon him when he had been a
athletic victor. Then it had been az
companied by the flush of victory, til
plaudits of thousands Now it Wa
bestowed upon lonely soul hungerin
for sympathy.
They sat down TO a game ostensibl
| of cards, really TO one of love. Lydi
had admired the stalwart middle age
man whose hair was beginning to turf
but had not dreamed OF being the wifi
! OF one she regarded SO great E
clutched at what he regarded stra
10 save him from a desolate old ag'
Neither believed 1t possible to win til