The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-02-02

BY M. C0RBETT-SEYMoUR.

CnarleS DanfOrQ s TrlenQS agreed
unanimously hat he was making
himself ridiculous. He had fallen in
love simply from seeing her in a
crowded concert room once during
the brief, bright, London season! sim
ply from listening to the pleasant
tone as her voice as she talked with
a lady and gentleman, much older
than herself, who were her COM
panions.
Now love-so-called-and young
Danford were not quite unknown to
each other. He had twice proposed
and been rejected; he had once been
engaged for a period Of three weeks,
at the end of which the girl threw
him over for the sake Of a mar old
enough to be her father.
The the young fellow registered
something resembling a vow that he
would have nothing to say to women
except the elderly.
@.Stow lido, dear fellow!" said
Stewart, his special chum, when
Charlie tried to tell the oft-told tale
of his experiences. Everybody knows
all about it, and how you are never
going to marry any one. Talk Of
something else"
Yet here he was, declaring he
would WOO and wed a girl whose
name he had never heard-and per-
haps never would hear. Even Rod
ney Stewart was inclined to have done
with him., and told him plainly that
he was a fool.
There ensued some GOODNESS be-
tween the two young men; they got
over it and were friends again, but
for weeks it left Charlie free to wan
der here and there, in the hope Of
coming across that charming young
woman of the concert room.
Some people say the world is small,
and we are forever seeing those we
least expected to see. But this par
ticular young man was not of that
opinion.
London is fairly large; and wan
dering in the Park, in Regent Street,
and other places where ladies con-
gregate, he was fain to admit that
nothing short of a miracle would eff
feet a meeting with that fair-haired,
brown-eyed maiden, who had I'M
knowingly made captive his heart.
And yet-for such is the logged
ness of some human beings-he per-
severed, il his search.
Sometimes his heart bounded with
in him as he fancied he :iiscerned a
figure like that Of the unknown; then,
with the discovery of the mistake, his
hopes went down very considerably
below ero
y In dne course came July. London
began to empty itself after the
fifteenth, and, like other young men
who have opportunities, Danford &C
cepted several country house invita-
tions.
Nowhere did Fate put him in the
way of the unknown; the girls he
met found him chilly and unapprecia-
tive, and the elder women pitied his
depression, trying to discover its
cause.
Charlie, however, was not CON-
municative. Stewart was his only
c%onfidant, and Stewart had gone to
Norway. So beyond vague assertions
that life was not worth living, he said
nothing about the change which had
come over him-once so light-hearted
q fellow.
/ 1t was just the time when people
who love travelling start here and
there in search of health or variety.
This particular young man was phys
] ically sound enough, but he resolved
to cross the Channel, like the rest;
in one or another pleasure resort, he
might see the lady whom he wanted
to see.
1t is scarcely necessary to say that
Danford had plenty of money. Work.
If such had been an obligation, would
have quickly taken all the seuti.
mental nonsense out of him; but the
blessedness of something to do" was
unknown to him.
AS economic arrangements did moi
form part Of his program. young Dan
ford put up at one of the most eX
pensive hotels in Ostende when the
mail-boat landed him there, lost q
little money at the Kursaal and then
went on to Brussels.
He found the bright city charming
He ran against an old acquaintance
who introduced him at the Legation
and that Of course led to a good dea,
of visiting among the British resi-
dents. So Charles spirits rose
little, though he did not forget the
"raison d'etre" of his continental trip
nor forget the sweetness Of a certain
musical voice, nor the beauty of fail
hair combined with eyes of a lustrou:
sherry-brown.
Indeed, he was constantly thinking
of the girl, sometimes even dreaming
of her; and as he did not know hel
rightful name, he bestowed on hel
that of "Trovata," which seems tt
suggest his secret conviction, that pa
thence and perseverance will accom-
plish all things, wen the indins
i(without any clue) of a lost youns
lady.
And he did find her; but not il
the little Belgian capital. Returning
to his native land by way of Paris