The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1909-07-13

do YOU ANOW 1OO hAN hN 6EOAnAN UT
THE LONGEST wHILE?"
sand, his eyes on Lisa, whose small
gray form seemed to blend and be
come a part of the 1.-THE gray she was
riding.
He admired her immensely, this step
daughter of his aunt, and suddenly 1t
seemed to him that mortal man could
ask for nothing better than Lisa for
a wife, and life in this out Of the wa
but aristocratic and exclusive, self sat
isfled old town.
And Lisa was pretty. Not girl he
had ever known could compare with
her in beauty, not to mention certain
rare grace of manner and an unusual.
dainty wit.
She had money and lineage, too,
back of her, and Seth Eckles was old
enough and wise enough to know the
value of such things.
IF silence is golden" she interrupt
ed quizzically, "then your burden must
indeed be heavy. Do you know you
haven't spoken for the longest whileY'
81 was-thinking," he stammered
guilty, ashamed that anything so
sordid as family and money could for
an instant have associated themselves
in his mind with the girl herself. 1t
was Lisa that he wanted.
How later Lisa exclaimed with the
booming of the sunset gun on the ole
fort across the channel. "If you but
knew it, Seth, we're five miles from
home. Then there's dinner and dress
ing, and l can't under any circum-
stances allow a guest to disgrace him
self by arriving tardily at function
in his honor We've got to run for it. :"
She wheeled and led off, Seth fol-
lowing and keeping up as best he
could, but undaunted by the distance
between them. Was there not the
dance at the clubhouse yet before his
train at midnight? At any rate, it was
a chance.
And Seth made the best Of it. The
long galleries were bowers Of palms
and remote from the ballroom, and
there, with the tide pummeling at the
pier and tossing up sheets Of spray.
Seth told his story.
He was young and handsome and
adept, and he pleaded his case we'll
so well that he and Lisa in the white
radiance of a big moon and with the
simmer of water about them ex-
changed vows, convinced that each
was intended for the other. That was
the way life looked that night, but, Of
course, 1t would be the same year
hence when Lisa should be eighteen
and the engagement made public.
Then Seth, fresh from law school,
established himself in New York.
There was no tiresome, weary wait
ing for clients From the very first
luck held his hand. and business trou-
bles, growing like hyenas at the doors
Of even older men, from him stood
aloof.
Besides, he had full measure Of
amusements and pleasure. Friends he
made everywhere. His hearty laugh
and genial disposition kept him in de-
mand.
Life was SO satisfactory and success
so easy that he was already well spoil
ed before be met Laura Norton, who
was Lisa's exact opposite. Before he
knew it be had forgotten his pledge to
Lisa aud was formally engaged to
Laura, the engagement being speedily
followed by marriage.
0f
gloom when he stood truly aghast at
what he had done In every conceiv-
able light and with all honesty he ar
gued the matter, convincing himself
finally that he had nothing to regret.
Lisa was young and susceptible. Prob
ably she was already consoled.
In any case a mans maturer judg-
ment was to be respected, no matter
at what cost And, too, he greatly adj
mired bis wife, her easy adaptability,
her cleverness, her accomplishments
Besides, they were congenial Her
ambitions fully equaled his, and her
penchant for politics was a factor IN
his career, pushing him into places he
knew he could not have reached alone
For time honors seemed absolutely
heaped upon him. He could scarcely
keep step with fortunes pace, so fast
and furiously did she mount. But,
once started on the ladder, he contin-
ued to climb, even long after his wife's
death and when his hair had grayed
and Lisa was but misty dream. And
1,,oix c+iIl hold hfs hand
He was in the running for governor,
making, the press said, phenomenal
campaign. Men spoke of him as the
brilliant light, the strong man Of his
time. Everywhere he was made much
of, and 1t was at a reception for him
in the old clubhouse at the end Of the
pier that sleeping memory awoke.
Could it be possible that he was
awaken Only an hour ago it might
have been that he last saw the cool
green Of the ballroom, the long bowers
of palms with lights twinkling among
the black green foliage, the surf beat
ing at the. pier and the white foam