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The Two
By BOOTH TARKINGTON,
Author of "The Gentleman from Indlnnn" and "Monsieur ncaucalre"
Copyrltfhl. 1002. by
T)0
CIIAPTKK I.
T was long ago, In tlio days
when men siulifil Iiimi tliev'
CfTIiJ'i'fl fl'll III lilV'l. wll.m iiiimI.. .I..,..,.
LftJ&H ..i..i 'Win- 11.1111-
lJ (Ml by (in, (. mid liiuii, mill
llll tlllllL'L'. till). llWlPMll l.f uili.hililK
gliding about; In that mellow time so
long ago when the young wen- roman
tic and summer was ro-ses and wine,
old (,'arewe brought his lovely daughter
homo from the convent to wreck the
hearts of the youth of Kouen.
That was not a far Journey; only an
afternoon's drive through the woods
and by the river In an April long ago,
Miss Hetty's harp carefully strapped
behind the great lumbering carriage,
her guitar on the front seal hnlf buried
under a mound of bouquets and oddly
Hhaped little bundles, farewell gifts of
lier comrades and the good sisters. In
her left hand she clutched a small laco
handkerchief, with which she now and i
then touched her eyes, brimmed with
the parting from Sister Cecilia, Sister
Mary Bazllede, the old stone steps uud
atl the girls, but for every tjme that
she lifted the dainty kerchief to brush
away the edge of a tear she took a deep
breath of the western woodland air
jiud smiled at least twice, for the years
of strict Inclosure within St. Mary's
walls and still gardens were finished
and done with, and at last Uie many
colored world flashed and dauced In n
mystery before her. This mystery was
brilliant to the convent girl because It
contained men. She was eager to be
hold It.
They rumbled Into town nfter sunset
In the fair twilight, the dogs barking
before them, and every one would Uavo
been surprised to know that Tom Van
revel, instead of Mr. Cralley Gray, was
the flrst to see her. By the merest ac
cident Tom was strolling near the Ca
rewe place at the time, and when the
carriage, swung Into tho gates, with
rattle and clink and clouds of dust at
the finish, it was not too soon lost be
hind tho shrubbery and trees for Tom
to catch something more than n
glimpse of a gray skirt behind a mound
of flowers and of a charming face with
parted lips and dark eyes beneath the
scuttle of an enormous bouuet. It hap
penedperhaps It Is more accurate to (
May tuat Tom tuougnt it unppeneu
Hint she was Just clearing riway her
veil when he turned to look. She blush
ed suddenly so much was not to be
mistaken and the eyes that met his
were remarkable for other reasons than
1he sheer loveliness of them, In that,
oven In the one flash of them ho
caught, they meant so many things at
mo time. But, above all, these eyes
were fully conscious of Tom Vanrevel.
Without realizing what lie did Mr.
Vaurevel stopped short. He had been
swinging a walking stick, which, de
scribing a brief arc, remained poised
halfway In Its descent. Thero was
only that one glance between them, and
the carriage disappeared, leaving a
scout of "spring flowers in the air.
The young man was left standing on
the wooden pavement in the midst of
a great loneliness, yet enveloped in the
afterglow, his soul roseate, his being
quavering, his expression, like his cane,
Instantaneously arrested. With such
promptitude and finish was he disposed
of that had Miss Carewe been aware
of his name and the condition wrought
' In him by tho single stroke she could
have sought only tho terse Richard of
England for a like executive ability:
"'Off with his head! So much for Van
revel!" She had lifted a slender hand to tho
fluttering veil, a hand in a white glovo
.with a small lace gauntlet at the wrist.
Tills gesture was tho final divinity of
the radiant vision which remained with
tho dazed young man as ho went down
tho street, and ll may have been three
quarters of an hour later when tho
background of the picture became vlv
id to him a carefully dressed gentle
man with heavy brows and a band
Homo high nose, who sat Htitlly upright
beside the girl, his very bright eyes
quite as conscious of tho stricken pe
destrian as wero.hers; vastly different,
however, In this that they glittered
nay, almost bristled with hostility,
whilo every polished button of his bluo
coat seemed to reflect their malignan
cy and to dart little echoing shafts of
ivenom at Mr. Vnnrovel.
Tom was dismayed by the acuteness
of his perception that a man who does
not speak to you has no right to havo
a daughter like the lady in tho car
riage, and, the moment of tills realiza
tion occurring as ho sat making a poor
pretense to eat Ids evening meal at the
Notion House, ho dropped his fork rat
tllug upon his plate and leaned back,
staring at nothing, .a proceeding of
.which his tablo mate, Mr. William Cum
tilings, the edjtor of the. Rouen Jour
cc
Vanrevels
S. S. McClure Co.
nal. was too busy over his river bass
to take note.
"Have you hoard what's now in
town?" asked Cummings presently,
looking up.
"No," said Tom truthfully, for lie had
i-een what was new, but not heard It.
"Old Carewe's brought his daughter
home. Kanchon Iflireaud was with
her at St. Mary's until last year, and
Fanchon says she's not only a great
beauty, but a great dear."
"Ah!" rejoined the other with master
ly Indifference. "Dare say dare say."
"No wonder you're not Interested,"
Bald Cummings cheerfully, returning
to the discussion of his bass. "The old
villain will take precious good caro
you don't come near her."
Mr. Vaurevel already possessed a
profound conviction to the same effect.
Robert Mcilhac Carewe was kuown
not only as tho wealthiest citizen of
Rouen, but also as Its heartiest and
most steadfast hater; and, although
there were only 3,000 or (5,000 Inhabit
ants, neither was a small distinction,
for Rouen was ranked in those easy
days as a wealthy town, even as It was
called an old town, proud of Its age
and Its riches and bitter in its politics,
of course. The French had built a fort
there soon after La Salle's last voyage
and, as Cralley Gray said, had settled
Uie place, and had then been settled
themselves by the pioneer mllltin. Aft
er tho Revolution, Carolinians and Vir
ginians had come by way of Tennes
see and Kentucky, while the adventur
ous countrymen from Connecticut,
traveling thither to sell, remained to
buy nnd then sell when the country
was in its teens. In course of time tho
little trading post of the northwest ter
ritory had grown to be the leading cen
ter of elegance and culture in the Ohio
valley at least they said so in Rouen.
Robert Carewe was Rouen's magnate,
commercially and socially and, until
un upstart young lawyer named Vau
revel struck Into his power with a
broadnx, politically. Tho wharfs were
Carewe's; tho warehouses that stood by
the river and the line of packets which
plied upon it were his. Half the town
was his, and In Rouen tills meant that
he was possessed of the middle Justice,
the high nnd the low. Ills mother was
a Frenchwoman, nnd in those days,
when to go abroad was a ponderous
nnd venturesome undertaking, the fact
that he had spent most of his youth In
tho French capital wrought u certain
glamour about him, for to the Ameri
can Paris was Europe, and It lay shim
mering on tho far horizon of every
imagination, a golden city.
Mr. Carewe lived In an old fashioned
house on the broad, quiet, shady street
which bore his name. Thero wasa
wide lawn In front, shadowy under
elm and locust trees nnd bounded by
thick shrubberies. A long garden, fair
with roses and hollyhocks, lay outside
the library windows an old time gar
den, with fine gravel paths and green
arbors, drowsed over In summer time
by tho bees, while overhead the locust
rasped his rusty cadences the livelong
day, nnd a faraway sounding love note
from the high branches brought to
mind the line, like an old refrain:
Tho volco of tho turtlo was hoard In tho
land.
Between the garden and the carriage
gates there was a fountain where a
bronze boy with the dropsy (but not
minding It) lived In a perpetual bath
from a green goblet held over his head.
Near by a stone sundial gleamed
against a clump of lilac bushes, and It
was upon this spot thntt'tho white kit
ten Introduced Thomas Vanrevel to
Miss Cnrowe.
Upon the morning after her arrival,
having finished her pianoforte practice,
touched her harp twice and nrpeggloed
the "Spanish Fandango" on her guitar,
Miss Betty read two paragraphs' of
"Gilbert" (for she was profoundly de
termined to pursue her tnsks with dil
igence), but, tho open windows dis
closing a world nil sunshine and green
leaves, she threw tho book nsido with
a good conscience and danced out to
the garden. There, coming upon a
fuzzy white ball rolling Into Itself
spirally on n lazy pathwny, she pounc
ed nt It, whereupon tho thing uncurled
with lightning swiftness nnd fled,
moro llko a streak than a kitten, down
tho drive, through tho open gates and
into tho street, Miss Betty In full cry.
Across tho way thero chanced to bo
strolling a young Indy In blue, ac
companied by a gentiomnn whoso lei
surely gait gave no ludlcntlon of the
maneuvering bo had done to hasten
their walk Into Its present direction.
Ho was apparently thirty or thirty-one,
tall, very straight, dark, Btnooth shnved,
his eyes keen, deep set and thoughtful,
and his high white hat, white satin
r&
cravat and careful collar were evidence
of an elaboration of toilet somewhat
unusual In Rouen for the morning.
Also he was carrying a pair of white
gloves in his hand and dangled n slen
der ebony cane from his wrist. Tho
flying kitten headed toward the couple
when, with a celerity only to be ac
counted for on the theory that his eye
had been fixed on the Carewe gateway
for some time previous to this sudden
apparition, the gentleman leaped In
front of the fugitive.
The kitten nttempted n dodge to pass;
the gentleman was there before It. The
kitten feinted; the gentleman was al
together too much on the spot. Imme
diately, and Just as Miss Carewe, flush
ed and glowing, ran Into the street, the
small animal doubled, evaded Miss Bet
ty's frantic clutch, re-entered the gate
way and attempted n disappearance
Into the Mine bushes Instead of going
around them, only to And Itself, for a
fatal two seconds, In dillleultles with
the close set thicket of stems.
In regard to the extraordinary agility
of which the pursuing gentleman was
capable, It Is enough to say that he
caught the cut. Ho emerged from tho
Mines holding It In one hand, his gloves
and white hat In the other, and present
ed himself before Miss Betty with a
breathlessness not entirely attributable
to his exertions.
For a moment, as she came running
toward him and he met her flashing
look, bright with laughter and recogni
tion and haste, he stammered. A thrill
nothing less than delirious sent the
blood up behind his brown cheeks, for
he saw that she, too, knew that this
was tho second time their eyes had
met.
Ho could not speak at once, but
when he could, "Permit me. madam,"
he said solemnly, offering the captive,
"to restore your kitten."
An agitated kitten should not be de
tained by clasping Its waist, and al
ready the conqueror was paying for
his victory. There ensued a final out
rageous squirm of despair. Two fran
tic claws, extended, drew one long red
mark across the stranger's wrist and
another down the back of his hand to
the knuckles. They were good, hearty
scratches, and the blood followed the
artist's lines rapidly, but of this tho
young man took no note, for be knew
that he was about to hear Miss Ca
rewe's voice for the flrst time.
"They say the best way to hold
them," he observd, "is by the scruff
of the neck."
Beholding bis wounds, suffered In
her cause, she gave a pitying cry that
made his heart leap with the richness
and sweetness of it. Cntchlng tho
kitten from him, she dropped it to tho
ground In such wise as to prove na
ture's foresight most kind in cushion
ing tho feet of cats.
"Ah, I didn't want It that much!"
"A cat In tho hand Is worth two
nightingales in the bush,"' he said bold
ly aud laughed. "I would shed moro
blood than that!"
Miss Betty blushed like a southern
dawn and started back from him.
From the convent but yesterday and
she had taken n man's hand In both of
hers!
It was to this tableau that the lady
In blue entered, following the hunt
through the gates, where she stopped
with a discomposed countenance. At
once, however, she advanced and, with
a cry of greeting, enveloped Miss Bet
ty In a brief embrace, to the relief of
the latter's confusion. It was Fanchon
Bareaud, now two years emancipated
from St. Mary's and far gone In taf
feta. With her lusterful light hair,
absent blue eyes and her gentle voice,
as small and pretty as her face and
figure, It was not too difficult to Justify
Cralley Gray's characterization of her
as one of those winsome baggages who
had made an air of feminine helpless
ness the fashion of the day.
"I'm so glad glad!" cxolulmed Bet
ty. "You were Just coming to see me,
weren't you? My father Is In the li
brary. Let mo"
Miss Bareaud drew back. "No, no,"
she interrupted hastily and with evi
dent perturbation; "I we must be on i
our way Immediately." She throw a
glance at the gentleman, which let him
know that she now comprehended Ills
gloves nnd why their stroll had treud
ed toward Carewe street. "Come at
once," she commanded him quickly in
nn undertone.
"But now that you'ro here," said
Miss Betty, wondering very much why
ho was not presented to her, "won't
you wait nnd let mo gather n nosegny
for you? Our panslos and violets"
"I could help," the gentleman sug
gested, with the look of a lame dog at
Miss Bareaud. "I have been consid
ered useful about a garden."
"Fool!" Betty did not hear the word
that camo from Miss Bnrcaud's closed
teeth, though she was mightily sur
prised nt the visible agitation of her
schoolmate, for the latter's face was
pale and excited. And Miss Carewe's
amazemcut was complete when Fan
chon, without moro words, cavalierly
seized tho gentleman's arm ana moved
toward the street with him as rapidly
as his perceptiblo reluctance to leave
permitted. But at the gate Miss Ba
reaud turned nnd called back over her
shoulder, as If remembering tho neces
Blty of offering an excuse for so re
markable a proceeding: "I shall como
again very soon. Just now we aro
upon nn errand of great Importance.
Good dayl"
Miss Betty wnved her hand, stnrlng
after them, her eyes large with won
der. She compressed her lips tightly.
"Hrrnnd!" This was the friend of
childhood's happy hour, nnd they had
not met In two years!
"Errand!" She ran to the hedge. ,
along the top of which u high white
hnt was now seen perambulating. She
pressed down a loose branch and called
In a tender voice to the stranger whom
Fanchon I mil chosen should rcmnln
nameless:
l Jo J
" didn't mint it that much!"
"Be sure to put some salve on your
band!"
He made n bow which Just mlKscd
being too low, but did miss It.
"It is there .lready," he said and,
losing his t'ourr.tfe after the bow, made
his speech with tio palpable a gasp be-,
fore the last word that the dullest per
son In the world could havo seen thnt
he meant It.
Miss Betty disappeared.
There was a rigidity of expression
about the gentle mouth of Fanchon
Bareaud, which her companion did not
enjoy, as they went on their wny, each
preserving an uneasy silence, until nt
her own door bIio turned sharply upon
him. "Tom Vanrevel, I thought you
were the steadiest and now you've
proved yourself the craziest soul In
Rouen!" she burst out. "And I couldn't
Bay worse!"
" by didn't you present mo to her?"
asked Vanrevel.
"Because I thought a man of your
gallantry might prefer not to face a
shotgun in tho presence of ladles!"
"Pooh!"
"Pooh!" mimicked Miss Barenud.
'You can 'pooh' as much as you like,
but If he had seen us from the win
dow" She covered her face with her
hands for a moment, then dropped
them and smiled upon him. "I under
stand perfectly to what I owe tho
pleasure of a stroll with you this morn
ing, and your casual insistence on tho
shadiuess of Carewe street!" lie laugh
ed nervously, but her smile vanished,
nnd sho continued: "Keep nway, Tom.
She Is beautiful, and at St. Mary's I
always thought she had spirit nnd wit
too. I only hope Cralley won't seo her
before the wedding! But It Isn't safe
for you. Go along, now, and usk Cral
ley please to come nt Jl this afternoon."
This message from Mr. Gray's be
trothed was not all tho 111 starred Tom
conveyed to his friend. Mr. Vanrevel
was ordinarily esteemed a person of
great reserve and discretion; neverthe
less thero was one man to whom ho
told everything, nnd from whom he
had no secrets. He spent the noon hour
in feeble attempts to describe to Cral
ley Gray tho outward appearance of
Miss Elizabeth Carewe how she ran
like a young Diana, what one felt upon
hearing her voice, and he presented in
himself an example exhibiting some
thing of tho cost of looking in her eyes.
Ills conversation was more or, less In
coherent, but the effect of it was com
plete. CHAPTER II.
D
!OES thero exist an incredulous
or jealous denizen of another
portion of our country who,
knowing that the room in the
ms
wooden cupola over Mr. Carewe's li
brary was commonly alluded to by
Rouen as the "tower chamber," will
prove himself so scctlonnlly prejudiced
as to deny thnt tho town was a verita
ble hotbed of literary Interest or that'
Sir Walter Scott was ill appreciated
there? , Some of the men looked sly aud
others grinned at mention of this apart
ment, but the romantic wero not lack
ing who spoke of It In whispers how
tho lights sometimes shone there nil
uiKiiL iuuk nun iuL- guiiiicmcii urovo ,
away, white faced, In tho dawn. Tho
cupola, rising above tho library, over-1
looked the garden, and the house, savo
for that, was of a single story, with a
tow veranda running tho length of Its
front. The windows of the library nnd
of a row of bedrooms, one of which
was Miss Betty's, lined tho veranda
steamboat fashion, tho inner doors of .
these rooms nil opening upon a long
linll which bisected the house. Tho
stairway leading to tho room In tho
cupola rose In the library Itself, whllo
tho bisecting halt afforded tho only ac
cess to tho library; hence tho gossips,
well acquainted with tho geography of
tho place, conferred seriously together
upon what effect Miss Betty's homo
coming would have In this connection,
for any one going to the stairway mu.-st
needs pass her door, and, what was
more to the point, a party of .gentlemen
descending late from the niysterlom
turret might not be so quiet as they In
tended aud the young lady sulllclently
disturbed to inquire of her father what
entertainment he provided that should
keep his guests until 4 In tho morning.
But at present It was with the op
posite end of the house that the town
was occupied, for there workmen were
hammering aud sawing and painting
all day long, finishing the addition Mr.
Carewe was building for his daugh
ter's debut. This hammering disturbed
Miss Betty, who had become almost as
busy with tho French revolution as
with her inanlua maker, for she had
found In her father's library many
books not for convent shelves, and she
had become a Gtrondlu.
She found memoirs, histories and
tales of that delectable period, and for
a week there was no meal In that house
to which she sat down earlier than half
an hour late. She hud a rightful prop
erly Interest In tho revolution, her own
great-uncle having been one of those
who suffered, not, however, under tho
guillotine, for to Georges Mellliac ap
pertained the rare distinction of death
by accident on the day when the busi
nesslike young Bonaparte played upon
the mob with his cannon,
Thero were some yellow letters of
this great-uncle's In a box which had
belonged to her grandmother, a rich
discovery for Miss Betty, who rend anil
reread them with eager and excited
eyes, living more In Paris with Georges
and his friends than In Rouen with her
father. Indeed, sho had little else to
do. Mr. Carewe was no comrade for
her, by far the reverse. She seldom
saw him, except at the table, when ho
sat with averted eyes and talked to her
very little, and, while making elaborate
preparation for her Introduction to his
friends (such was his phrase), he treat
ed her with a perfunctory civility
which made her wonder If her advent
was altogether welcome to him, but
wnen she noticed that his hair looked
darker Jinn usual about every fourth
day t.h began to understand why ho
appeared ungrateful to her for growing
up. He went out a great deal, though
no visitors came to the house, for It
was kuown that Mr. Carewe desired to
present his daughter to no one until ho
presented her to all. Fanchon Bareaud,
Indeed, made one hurried anil embar
rassed call, evading Miss Betty's refer
ence to the chevalier of the kitten with
a dexterity too nimble to be thought
unintentional. Miss Carewe was for
bidden to return her friend's visit until
nfter her debut, and Mr. Carewe ex
plained that there were always somo
worthless young men hanging about
Bnrcaud's, where, ho did not add, they
Interfered with a worthy old one who
desired to honor Function's older sister,
Virginia, wllli his attentions.
Tills was no great hardship for Miss
Betty, as, since plunging into tho rev
olution with her great-uncle, she hnd
tost some curiosity concerning tho men
of today, doubting that they would
show forth as heroic, as debonair, gay
aud tragic as lie. Ho was tho legend
ary hero of her childhood. Sho remem
bered her mother's stories-of him per
haps more clearly than she remember
ed her mother, and one of the older
sisters had kuown him In Paris and
had talked of lilm at great length, giv
ing the flavor of his dandyism aud bin
beauty at flrst hand to his young rela
tive. In the library hung n small full
length drawing of Georges, dono In
color by Miss Betty's grandmother,
and this she carried to her own room
and studied long and ardently until
sometimes the man himself seemed to
stand before her.
(To b Continued )
To Cure a Cold In One Day.
Take Laxutivo Bromo quiiiino tab
lots. Druggists refund money if it
fails to cure. K. W. Grove's signnturo
is on each box. 2ft conts.
The Government
fi! Canada
Gives Absolutely
FREE
to every cottier
I60 Acres
of Land la
WESTERN
GANADA
Land ndjolnlnsr this can be pur
chased from railway and land
companies at from Jfl.00 to SlO.OO
per aero.
On this land this year has been
Eroduced upwards of twiyity-flvo
ushols of wheat to the aero.
It Is also tho best of erazlnsrland
and for mixed farming It has no
superior on tho continent.
Splendid climate, low Uxts,
railway convenient, schools anil ,
churches close at hand,
Wrlto for "aMi Oonturr Canada"
anit low ruilvcnr rnteu tu Supt. o( Im
migration, Ottawa, Canndai or to tua
folTonintr authorized (Jan. Got, Anent
W. V. Bonnolt, 801 N.Y. Llfo Bldg., Omaha, Nek.
Mention thU paper.
XMWa
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