The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-07-09

- Dy D an
n0uneemsnt that be was aboft 70 ~
turn 70 America.
. The return voyage seemed endless to.
Edgerton, 20 eager was be to meet his
fancee and the little girl to whom he
was to be q father. He pictured him
self taking his ease IN his own house,
surrounded by his family. The loneli-
9 Of q bachelor life in a foreign
country was now to be q thing Of the.
past.
Edgerton was the first passenger to.
step ashore at San Francisco, and
within an hour after landing he was.
speeding eastward on q railway train.
The day and hour Of his arrival was
known to Mrs. Pomeroy, and Edger-
ton expected that she would meet him
at the station. His impatience to see
her caused him to hope that she would,
but his aversion to the public witness
Ing their meeting caused him to hope
that she would not.
She did not appear. Calling a con-
veyance, he drove t o her home. A
maid opened the door for him, and 30
sure was he that his fiancee would do
so that he came near throwing his
arms around the maid. He was ush-
cred into a drawing room somewhat
dimly lighted, but there was no one
there. In a few minutes, hearing a
light step IN the staircase, he ap-
preached the door and stood waiting.
A woman entered the room. and he
caught her in his arms. .-
She submitted to the embrace, but
did not return 1t.
You are as you were when we part
ed" he said in a disappointed tone:
You were then without warmth. and
you are without 1t now. l wonder how
you could have been true to me all
these years."
Standing of from her, he was aston
ished to e n who looked not a day
older than when he had left her.
upon my word" he exclaimed Joy.
fully, you have not changed in the
least! 1t is marvellous how you have
retained your youth. I feel almost too
old for you"
Now for the first time the lady ven-
tured to speak, but she spoke not as
a widow of mature age; she was rath-
er q coy young girl. She haltingly told
him that he said what he did In order
to flatter her, whereupon he vowed
that he spoke the truth, and he en-
braced her again.
And now" he said, releasing her,
where is baby2 l must see her ut
once"
You forget that baby is no longer
baby; she is a schoolgirl"
where is she?"
why, she is at school,"
AT school! Not here to welcome
her papa? But she will return pres
ently?"
"She Is at a boarding school some
distance from here" This was said
~falteringly as a falsehood would be
spoken.
Surely you are deceiving me. 1t
cannot be that
clara is well; nothing has happened
to her."
CLARA? ?"
"Of course. Have you forgotten that
her name and mine are the same?"
"Oh! l have always been accustom-
ed to think Of her as baby For my
life l cannot understand how you can
have preserved your youth. Are you
sure that 10 rouge
Not a particle.
Surely by this time you should
have a few faint lines around your
eyes. l see no trace Of age whatso.
ever. Your lips m as red as they
were when l last kissed them"
And he kissed them again.
But why" he continued, do you
welcome me in this dim light?"
perhaps when you see me in, a
brighter u you may see what age
has done for me-"
As she spoke lights were turned on
from another part of the house. and q
woman entered the. drawing room
whom Edgerton did not remember to
have seen before.
my mother" said Clara Pomeroy.
Happy to meet you, madam" said
Edgerton, bowling. Then, turning to
Clara: "Your mother! Why. I suppos-
ed your mother
"Hugh" said the lady who had en-
tered.
Edgerton started. He looked again
at Clara's mother, and there came to
him a feeling that he had made .
grave mistake. He turned from her to
the daughter Under the brighter light
he saw that she could not be more
than twenty. Turning again to the
mother, he recognized his nancee Of
sixteen years ago turned into q woman
who, though not quite forty, looked at
least fifty. Her hair was white, her
skin vas wrinkled, her neck under her
chin was shriveled.
IL am Clara" she said, land that il
BABY When you went away l did
not believe that on your return I would
be a 1T age for yon. I look older than
I am, but no man Of your age should
be tied to a woman Of mine. Clara so