Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1910-01-14
CHAPTER 1.

clouds, the Thames shimmered family
under the starIess sky, and the outlines
n the great trees in the pleasure gar
dens doomed black and vague in the
semi. darkness. The quaint, fantastic
music of the band rose above the hum
Of voices that proceeded from the nu-
uerous groups of indistinctly seen peo-
nile gathered round little handicapped
tables. drinking coffee or wandering by
twos and threes at remoter distances.
The music and the darkness made
idvllic a scene which in the daytime was
hard and unpoetic enough. The Thames
does not look particularly beautiful as
it flows past Nottingham gardens, and
the people who assemble there are, for
the most part, absorbed in the most
petty cares and despicable ambitions.
Two men sat almost side by side, but
each alone and almost unaware of the
others presence Each viewed his sur
roundings from an opposite standpoint
To Aubrey Montresor, a young and
briefess barrister, it was the surface
plamor that appealed To him this
night was treat afforded him by the
hospitality of a more fortunate friend,
a Young man who had barely attained
his majority.
The other spectator was an older man,
and one of totally different caliber He
would have laughed, albeit with some
what enviable laugh, if any one had
told him that there now existed a man
of five and twenty who could look upon
visit to these gardens or any other
gardens as a treat. He had wealth
which placed all the pleasures of life at
his disposal, and he pinned for the one
thing which his wealth could not pro-
cure him.
A man some twenty yards distant
struck match. STOPPING forward a
little to shelter the flames while he
lighted his cigarette from it the glare
Lit up the face of woman who sat be-
side him, and for an instant the woman's
face, turned in the direction of the two
solitary men, stood out clear and strik-
ing against the surrounding blackness.
In that instant Alick Langrishe recog-
nized it as the face he desired most of
all things on earth to see
Upon Aubrey Montresor also the face
flashed with startling effect He had
never seen it before, but as it stood out
soft, featureIess darkness. it impressed
itself on him as the most beautiful he
had ever seen. He could not have de-
scribed a single feature, he did not
know what was the color of eyes or hair,
but he was convinced that whenever or
wherever he should see that beautiful
face again he would know it. The
thought flashed through his mind even
, ha 1lo1 -
darkness, and almost simultaneously a
faint gasp close at hand fell on his ear.
and a mans voice murmured in indie
scribable accents of mingled bewilder-
ment and relief
"Denzilial"
For a moment Aubrey sat still His
heart was, to his own surprise. beating
quickly as if something of strange i'm
port had happened to him And yet he
did not delude himself with the idea
that he had ever seen that lovely face
before or that he should ever see it
again. Although he was and-twen-
ty-an emotional period of life-he was
not conscious of any cause for emotion.
1t must, he told himself, have been
something in the voice of the man near
him that had stirred him.
Why should Montresor have taken it
for granted that it had been brought
to his neighbours lips by the sight of
that suddenly illuminated face? He did
not himself know. The fact remained
that he did take it for granted, and he
was quite prepared for the speakers
next move, which was to rise suddenly
as If to go and accost the lady. But
h. h. I
addressed by two ladies who, with their
attendant cavalier, were looking for a
table at which to drink their coffee
"Mr Langrishei" cried a girls fresh
voice, 'Is this the way you keep your
promise of meeting us hereH"
Us it the way you keep your promise
OF looking out for me ?" returned Lang
rlshe coolly. Il must leave you now, for
see an acquaintance over there with
whom it is positively necessary that l
should speak at once"
Montresor peered after him into the
gloom in the endeavor to watch his
movements when he reached the group
out of which the wonderful face had for
a moment flashed but he had disap-
Peared into the dusk, and could not be
distinguished from any other figure.
~@ShbACSoI WbuIu nave llkeu 10 Use dtSO
and compel the owner of the face 70
reveal herself, but he had no desire to
come into contact with the other man,
whom he already vaguely and unreason-
ably felt to be rival and vas begin
ming to dislike accordingly Moreover,
he certainly had himself no previous &C
quaintance with the lady to justify him
IN thrustng himself upon her. So he
sat still
Denzilia!" 1t was a curious name!
one he had never heard before. And
yet it suddenly seemed TO him that he
had heard it before When? Where?
lie racked his brains in vain for answer.
Presently his young friend joined him,
and, finging himself in a chair beside
hlm, exclaimed in pleasant boyish tones:
"Awfully sorry, old chap, to have left
you alone so long, but knew you
wouldn't mind!"
=. His companion made no pretence of
listening to his talk. He kept his eyes