Evening star., 1912-11-17

SELF was quite enough to go on for the pres
ent.
THEY saw each other every day for a
week, and almost every day he found
himself mentioning some incident from the
past of Jimmy Sylvester: which, once it was
said, Convinced him as if it had been a real
act of memory. He told her that he was
from Ohio; that his mother had come from
a we'll known New England family, while his
father had been a country preacher. Little,
inconsequential things about Jimmy Syl-
vesters childhood sprang, as if instinctvely,
from his lips. He told of a visit the family
had made to Dakota when he was eight
years old, and of how his inexperienced
mother, with himself and a sleighful of little
cousins, had been caught in a blizzard. He
had had to lead the horse, feeling his path
by means of the railway tracks beside the
road. The fingers of his right hand had been
frozen, and ever since it had been susceptible
to the cold. As he spoke he could feel the
blood in his fingers tingling.
Sometimes when he was telling her stories
like that he would find Mrs. Beldon's eyes
fixed on him with a strange, inscrutable ex-
preston that always made him determined
to convince her, in spite of herself. Once or
twice. on the other hand, he almost felt like
clusion that she did not mean to lose sight
OF him. There was nothing conceted about
him. He was not fatuous enough to suppose
that Mrs. Beldon had conceived any special
liking for him; but he did know that she was
keenly interested in watching him.
At the end of ten days he was much better
He was able to walk almost a mile, he could
dress himself almost entirely, and he was
chatting under his stay in the hospital. He
told the doctor frankly that he must leave,
that he was poor man and had to 60 home
to his own country and make some more
money. Holding his breath, he asked for
his bill. 1t was not excessive. He found
that he would have eight hundred dollars
left That would take him home and give
him few pennies to spare while he was
looking about for something to do.
THAT afternoon he announced his depart
l ure to Mrs. Beldon. "Dear lady, he
said, Il am leaving tomorrow, and the only
agreeable memory | shall have of the place
will be yourself
Don't say memory" she protested.
"You will surely come to see me in New
York, and we can start series OF memories
that shall all be pleasant.
"You must recolleCt that | am a soldier of
fortune, and you are queen OF leisure, he
told her. we Sila n be IN the same orbit.
1--WE may be, if you choose she said
frankly.
Jimmy Sylvester was not ungallant, and
besides he liked Mrs. Beldon. "Thank you
very much III be glad indeed to call on
you" he said.
Il have written to Aunt Clara about you.
She and my dear devil child and Angela
Give will all want to see Mr.. Jimmy Sylves-
ter, the only man who ever fell down a cliff
and came back to tell us what it was like.
When do you sail?'
"On Saturday, from Cherbourg.'
"But it is on Saturday that go, and from
Cherbourgl' she cried.
Jimmy Sylvester felt a throb of irritation.
Had she really got her passage engaged, or
was she going on that day just because he
said he was, and because she wanted to
strengthen their acquaintanceship and have
him under her eyes more completely. He
did not like it. Somehow, he wanted to be-
gin his life in New York without any ties,
however slight. His plan had been to sign
himself on the ship as ]. Sylvester, to keep
away from the other passengers, and then
slip into New York, and, losing himself
among the crowd, proceed to find himself.
He did not want to sit beside Mrs. Beldon
in steamer chair and be introduced to the
casual acquaintance she would be sure to
make. For all he knew, the real Jimmy Syl-
vester Gf he were not the real one) might be
on board, and might begin to tell Mrs. Bel