1TEH3 EE
vnHaBaaMBn
. . ri hi I, sr
i.
TfR miwA imnn th nu afn'n liffhr heart.
I edly as she gathered great fragrant clusfrs
I of them. For ihe w young, and all life lay
w ni I before her. and her flcart iu full of dreama.
and her head of ambitions. But when her
quirk ear caught th sound of a man's ap
proaching f-rtfteft. a faint shadow fell serosa
the brightness of her face, snd a vague trouble
crept Into her eyes, horn of the knowledge that her grating
of today would be d.ffTert from the greeting of other day.
To the ms.n. however. the little, unaccustomed touch of grav
ity seemed only to lend an added charm to tha childlike
beauty of her face. ,
"Iramlng again?" he asked, with a little, half tender,
half quizzical smile. Then, as she lifted her eyes to hla he
added, with an Impuisivess rars In him. "Dear, do veu
ever, among your dreams, dream of how much I love y-ui
Do you guess sometimes how life means just a time to maka
7cu happy, and dath only a time to lose you? Do you know,
I ttle girl, that f'r ma this great world holds Just you only
you? Can you understand yet a love that "
Tha rosea fell suddenly unheeded to her feet, and she
rut out her hands with a ha'f frightened gesture.
" Ah, don't." ahe whispered; "don't say it!"
"Why not?" he questioned gently, "since you must al-
"eady know It? I ask so little only for the right to love
11 and taks cara of ynu. to te;ich you whst you are too
oung yet to know ail that love may mean. Dear, have
1 only dreamed that your ey s have told me you cared O!
not a great deal. I know, but Just a little?"
Her hands dropped to her sides, and her eyes wandered
past the garden of roses to the bare purple moor beyond
" Yes." sha said slowly, at last. " I do care for you
a great deal more, I think, than for any one else In the
world, and not any leas today than yesterday, or all other
jesterdays, only I care for ether things for the other thing
more."
He smiled down on her serious youthfulnees.
" Tou dear little st.iee struck mortal:" he said. "And Is
that the only obstacle between us?"
" It la an obstacle." she affirmed, and he recognised with
a swift pang a new quality In her voice, a certain suggestive
silliness In her attitude, the stillness that spells purpose.
" I suppose," she went on dreamily, " we all come into
the world with some one great want, the need to express
ourselves in some one particular way. And the failures In
life are those who never Tarn to voice that want"
"Or who voice a wrong ona." he amended.
" Ah, but." she took him up swiftly, " I know that thla
Is right. I feel It deep down In my heart It's like a voice
that keeps saying Insistently, 'Oo! Oo! Go!'"
"Its all very sudden," ha suggested. "Are you"
"O. I know!" sha Interrupted. "But I've always wantea
to do It. you know, and then it came to me all in a flash
at the last that I must Tet that doesn't necessarily muks
I any less true, does It? Truth cornea to ua all differently.
To me it came that way."
His heart, as he looked down on her, waa heavy wtthln
him. heavy with fear for her. Tet what could he aay to her,
tc this child of the radiant eyea. across whose young life the
shadow of a distant fame had fallen? He wanted only to
father her Into hla arma and hold her there, away from
he battle and the struggle and the bitterness of life, but he
is wise enouge 10 Know 11 wouiu avail numing. i(,
to know It
owing It he made one effort
And you think that the stage will satisfy you will
fill your life?" he questioned.
" Is not work enough to fill one's life?" ahe questioned
back.
" It may be, for aome women. Not, I think, for you.
Child, are you sure of yourself? Have you counted the coat?
Is It Indeed to be fame and only fame?"
"O:" she cried, "I can't bear to hurt you, Hilary, and
et I must go."
"Then, if you must marry me first .Dear, it isn't the
life one would choose for you. It isn't the life any man
would choose for the woman he loves. It la too hard a one.
But give me at least the right to protect you, the right to
nht your battles for you. the kind of battles. I mean, that
no woman should need to fight for herself. Let me make
the path as smooth for you aa I can. I am, aa you know,
rich, and " ... : .'.
But ahe shook her head.
"One cannot aerve two masters," she said, with a wis
dom beyond her yeara. " One must give oneself, one's whole
aelf. if one meana to succeed. And I "
She looked away again beyond the tangled rose garden to
the distant redden'ng horizon, and onoe more her eyes grew
rbdlant. and a dreamy smile hovered round her red, young
Hps. She had skipped, as Is youth's way, the hard and
thorny path leading to success, and In Imagination the goal
was already hers.
To the man watching ber In alienee, there came an odd
Intuition, born, perhaps, of bia fifteen yeara superiority.
A MAIDEN
i.
HE great civil war waa raging. Royalist and
a? R I roundhead each In the belief that be waa bat
1 I tllng for the right were leaping like famished
H I woivea, at one another's throats.
Tiuinga ot a royalist victory naa just
reached Elmltlgh hall, and. to celebrate the
eve t. Sir Geoffrey Mars ton heedless of the
strict Injunctions of hla doctor bad ordered
a second bottle of wine to be brought to him.
"The king! Ood bless him! And confusion to bis ene
mies!" And the old man drained his glasa
"O. father!"
Glancing round, he beheld Laura, the elder of his daugh
ters a bonny maid oi 10 standing In the doorway.
"Drinking wine again! Truly I am ashamed of you."
The old gentleman began to fidget in his high backed
chair. " But tbe occasion, sweet heart" quoth ha, " the
occasion! His majesty"
" 1 know. I beard your toast But drinking his majesty's
health will assuredly not improve your own."
She carefully refilled his glass; then, suddenly, placing
tbe bottle behind her back, she broke Into a merry laugh.
" No more tonight my dear!" quoth ahe. " Au revolr "
In spite of himself. Sir Geoffrey smiled. "Come back,
you rogue!" he cried. "Come back!"
But she was gone; and with a sigh he resigned himself
to the inevitable.
A royalist to the tips of her dainty fingers was Laura
rston. Nevertheless, ber gladness at the news of victory
s not wholly unalloyed. For was it not bought at the cost
many precious lives! the life, mayhap, of Philip Wlnram!
No romantic, girlish fancy held her- beneath its spell. Her
li ve for the man to whom she was betrothed was deep, nn
swerving a love that would end only with her lire.
Rejoining ber father ahe nestled at his feet before the
great log fire; then, glancing up Into his face: " Father,
when, think you. will this cruel war be over?'
" Ere long. I 'hope, sweet heart Perchance before the
year is out"
"God grant It!" ahe murmured.
" And then." he went on, smoothing her fair silken hair,
" I suppose I must lose the treasure I value most Tou love
the lad. Laura?"
" Why. yea. of course.
Next to my father be la the
noblest man In England."
"NobJest fiddlesticks! A harebrained cavalier! Well,
wtdl. I will not tease yon. Philip Is a good lad. But," he
added. " wers he the best man that ever buckled on sword
ha would still be unworthy of the hand of Laura "
" Hush!" she cried, placing her fingers upon his lipa. As
she did so her sister, the dark haired Winnie, entered.
At sight of ber Laura spraag to ber feet Winnie's faoe
was ashen, and there was a tremor In her voice, as she said:
" Philip Winram Is here. Be not alarmed. He Is wounded,
but I think, only silghtly. Tbe doctor Is with him."
Laura's face paled a Uttle. " Take ma to him." aha said,
simply.
Upon a couch In aa adjoining room lay Philip Wlnram.
his doublet torn and muddled, a blood stained bandage acov-
ring the bullet bole In hla shoulder.
'Tie but a scratch, dearest" be said, " tbe veriest trifle.
I have lost a Uttle btood that la alt Have they told you bow
' happened?"
She shook ber bead.
" I have been robbed." be cried, with sudden excitement
" robbed of tbe king's letter. Tbe scoundrel was disgulaed as
i eavalUr. Heavens! If I bad only strength to sit say
uorsc: tie miot as u ae wouia nee. out uun venuv
forced him bach.
Huah. dear one. bush." she said softly. " Do not grieve
about H. His majeaty will hold you blamaieea."
. Nay. I have failed la say anlaatoa. and hla majesty's
perhaps of his great love, that some day ahe would come
back to him some day. when ahe had learned that the best
thing in life often lies nearest; that the greatest human neen
l' not succs. but love.
With a 3-ep drawn sigh, a sigh of Infinite aspirations,
fhe came beck st list from her dreamland.
" Poor Hilary:" she said softly.
Why poor?" he questioned.
" Because you have no vocation to fill your life."
" But I have." he objected. t
8he opened her eyea. her wonderful eyea, whose color
wa aa the changing color of the aeaa.
Y V s 1 ' if '.. great, cold loneliness a loneliness that sometimes before had I aj
" U I 1 1 made Itself felt, but that ahe had always been able to throw I .""Sk
"My vocation Is to love you.
"That is hardly a vocation." ahe smiled.
" It la enough for me," he answered quietly,
' And. some
day-
" iome day?" she echoed.
" It may be enough for you, too."
She stirred uneasily, and again that faint shadow fell
across her face, that vague trouble crept into her eyes. It
was aa though some dim prfmonitlon of the ill awaiting her
out yonder In the great world had come to her. But she
shook it off Impatiently.
" No, no," ahe cried. " It never will be. Forget me,
Hilary. Don't ever think that I I want to live and to do.
I don't want to be Just absorbed abaorbed by love and all
the commonplaceness of every day things. I want 'she
stretched out her rounded young arma towards the crimson
tinted moora " I want life."
"And life la love," he finished scftly; "the best of Ufa.
that is."
" Not for me," she answered ewlftly, with all the self
sufficiency of youth.
"Dear." he said, and his voice and the words he sprke
came back to her afterwards across long years of silence
afterwards, when she had learned too late their truth. " deai.
there is Just one thing I would say to you. Oo; and ail
good go with you. Live your own life, and win the success
that I know awaits you. Work your hardest and give your
whole self, your self that is so dear "a sudden tenderness
stole into the gravity of his voice" to your vocation. But
I ever It fails you. if ever a time comes when you realize
that success and fame and honor are not all. but only a part
Bf life. If ever you grow tired, and stretch out these little
hands for the gift you tare nothing for today, then remem-'
ber. it Is yours, my Iris yours for all time and eternity."
"Don't." she whispered unsteadily. " O. Hilary, you
you make me afraid afraid of myself of whether, after all,
I have chosen the better part "
" Don't be afraid, little one. I think you have not chosen
at all yet Tou are too young to choose. Tou are only ex
perimenting." "And you?"
" I shall wait until your experimenting la over."
" Do you care so very much?" she asked wistfully.
He put a band under her chin, and, lifting her face,
looked down Into ber troubled eyea
AMP A
cause must therefore suffer. I would give my sword hand
to regain his letter!"
So saying, he closed bis eyes and sank back wearily upon
the pillows.
In obedience to a signal from the portly and rubicund
doctor, who was standing near, Laura softly followed him
from the room, leaving her lover In care of Winnie.
"Will he die?" she asked, her voice trembling a little, as
they stood together In the spacious hallway.
" Die! My dear young lady, he will be fit for duty In a
week or so a raonthat the farthest"
Briefly, then, he acquainted her with the circumstances
attending her lover's misadventure, which were these: Tbe
moon, he said, had already risen when the report of firearms
came to the ear of Atkin. the porter of the lodge. Hastening
out he had almost reached the gate when he perceived a
horseman galloping past a royalist apparently. Judging By
his plumed beaver and flowing cavalier lock a So soon aa he
bwaa out of hearing, Atkin quickly walked In the opposite
direction, and ere long discovered, lying In a wayside ditch,
the unconscious form of Philip Wlnram. AS speedily aa
might be, he carried the stricken man to the lodge, and there
proceeded to bandage the wound, having meanwhile sent his
little son for the doctor.
" I gather." concluded the man of medicine, " that Master
Wlnram had received Imperative orders to carry with all
possible dispatch the king's letter to the general (whose
name I have forgotten) commanding his majesty's forces
quartered at Hat ton. As you perceived Just now, tbe loes or
that letter is troubling him grievously. His mind. I need
scarcely say, must be diverted from the matter, for, albeit
the wound is not a dangerous one, constant brooding may
bring on a fever."
I will do all I can," said Laura: but her heart sank
because of the doctor's concluding worda
II.
The knowledge that he was a traitor did not trouble
Richard Orgill overmuch. Indeed, In the matter of ethlos his
conscience if be ever possessed such a thing wss exceed
ingly elastic.
For many months. In the role of a royalist he bad sup
plied the king's enemies with Information. Afterwards, fear
ing that hla treachery was on the eve of being discovered, he
discarded his plumed beaver, cropped his poll, and Joined tbe
roundheads, certain of whom found In him an excellent toot
Tonight, aa he galloped past the gates of Elmlelgh hall,
he was in high good humor. A stranger to remorse, be gave
no thought to the man whom he had left bleeding In the
wayside ditch. "Egad!" he chuckled, "a good night's
work!" And In fancy he could hear the chink of tha golden
guineaa he would receive on the morrow la exchange for
Charles Stuart's letter.
But fortune proved unkind. His horse fell lame, and be
tween him and hla journey's end lay many a mile. What
was to be done? And he glanced about him despairingly.
Whatever the cost a horse he must have, anJ that quickly.
Suddenly It came to him that some little way ahead was a
tavorn the White Hart where possibly be m.ght be able te
obtain a remount -
But he was doomed to disappointment, The only horse
lr the stable of the White Hart was la a f irry plight having
that same dy failen elck wtth a fever. s? said mine host as
be shrewdie- eyed the black haired, frovntng stranger.
"Come, my friend." quoth Orgill.. Im&aUeatly. " what of
your neighbors? Have they no horses?" '
The other scratched his head, and then: "To tie sure,"
be drawls , " Farmer Ridley has a fine 4 ycai old "
' Eating hla bead off In the stable, I warrant?" inter
rupted Orgill. producing an apparently- well lined puree.
The landlord's smalt deep set ey-s twinkled at the alght
o the gold. and. beckoning the hontler, who was standing
near, be prooeeded to give him tbe needful Instructlona
OrglU generous whenever it served his purpose tueaed
MO
O
3 O
"It will
understand
be many years, little girl, I think,
bow much," he answered quietly."
II.
HE rose slowly from her chair, and the great man
rose, too, and his eyes were pitiful. For he had
told her a" hard thing perhaps the hardest thing
In life, and, though she was facing it with the
courage and "self-restraint ten years of strenuous
work bad taught her, yet he knew that to ber it
spelled an end more bitter than death. So his grip on the
daintily gloved hand she held out to him said much that his
lips left unsaid, since he was very human, in spite of his
greatness.
" Thank you. doctor." she said, a little unsteadily.
Then she turned away, and a moment later she had
crossed the sunshiny pavement and stepped into the walling
carriage.
" Home, please." she said.
USE,
a guinea to tbe fellow, who, deftly catching it slipped it Into
his pocket with a grin. "Another when you return with the
borse," And so saying be entered the common room of the
tavern.
The minutes sped on, until at length he became alive to
the fact that he had been dozing. The fire had burned low,
and, springing to his feet he hastened from the room and
summoned the landlord. The hostler had not yet returned,
and mine host was profuse in his apologies. With an oath
Orgill atrode out into tha darkness and the driving rain. He
liatened. and to his relief heard the rhythmical hoof beats
of a galloping horse. On the threshold of the tavern he Im
patiently awaited the arrival of the horseman, doubting not
that he waa the hostler. But presently, to his chagrin and
disquietude, he perceived by the light thrown from the door
way that he rider was not the man he looked for but a
cavalier.
Returning to the room he resumed his seat and, to pre
pare for a possible emergency, examined the priming of hla
pistol and loosened his sword In the scabbard. But one thing
he did not do. Ignorant of the fact that his wig waa awry,
he omitted to adjust it
A step sounded in the hallway; then, with a careless
swing of bis shapely shoulders, the newcomer entered the
room.
The rakish, white plumed beaver, the Jeweled sword hilt
balf bidden by the rich purple cloak; the riding boots adorned
with silver spurs all these Orgill noted In a glance. Where
upon, "Bah!" be said to himself, "a boy, and a popinjay to
boot!"
Fair haired, blue eyed, with a complexion pure and fresh
as that of a country maiden, the youth made a pleasing
picture aa. smiling and debonair, he gave the other greeting.
"A foul night, sir. for a ride," yuoth Orgill, rising to hla
feet " Tet 'fore God, I envy you."
"Envy me. Indeed!" rejoined the youth, pleasantly.
"And, prithee, why? Because of my wet cloak, that Is like
to become wetter ere my Journey Is at an end?"
" Pooh, sir) That Is but a small mater. I envy you be
cause you are a fully equipped cavalier. For myself, I am
without a horse, and a cavalier without a horse Is like a
rapier without a point of little use." And thereupon hs
acquainted the stranger of his mishap, finishing bis recital
by heartily cursing the absent hostler for his tardiness.
After a brief pause. " Pardon me, sir," said be; " are you
a Charlton of Charlton manor?"
" Nay. Neither a Charlton nor a Balnbrldge, tho' Bain
bridge I would fain be called."
" I am highly pleased to make your acquaintance. Master
Balnbrldge." said Orgill, with a bow. " Dick Calvert at
your service."
The youth returned the bow In silence.
"Do you travel far tonight T continued Orgill.
"To Hatton."
" I perceive. A recruit for his majesty. Good luck t'ye,
Master BaJnbridge!" JiaNIng his tankard. " May your
sword never fall you in th htxir of need
"I thank you, sir," said Itilnbrldge, modestly. "Having
long wished to serve the king, I resolved this day to Join th
royalist force now at Hatton, and as my father refused his
consent "
"Tou cams without It! Bravo, my lad! Tou are made
of the rljfht stuff. With that good sword of yours you will
yet carve your way to fortune."
To the youth's reply be gave but little heed, for It had
suddenly occurred to him thitt cloee st hand was a horse
doubtless a good one already saddled and bridled. Why
tarry longer? And as he asked hlnmeif the question he Set
tbe tankard upon the table, and for a second or two stood
la the attitude of listening. "Hark!" said he, "there is a
horseman upon the road Mayhap 'tis that cursed hostler."
" Tou have sharp tars, M-i.'ttr Calvert I bear naught
but the rain and the whiillr.g of the wind."
Without replying. Orgill (to giv him his true name)
atrode towards tU door. As he did so he became aware that
before you
VaTV"- . , ..' I '?Ttf CVP
And, though her face waa white her voice waa perfjetly
steady.
But. once there, she turned Into the little study, where she
had known so much of Joy, and. locking the door, lived out
her hour of agony alone.
Thla then, was to be the end, the end of all her dreama
snd ambitions, this horrible thing that ahe hardly dared to
rame even to herself. In thought she went back over the
eirs that had begun with bitter poverty and unceasing
struggle, and en.ied. She threw out her hands with a sudden,
bitter cry.
" Blind! Blind! O. Ood. I can't bear it!"
And the fame, and the wealth, and the things of thla
world that she had gathered around her seemed suddenly
tc slip from her like a cloak, and leave her shivering in a
great, cold loneliness a loneliness that sometimes before had
made Itself felt, but that she had always been able to throw
off or to call by some other name. Now she knew that she
could never throw It off again, never call It by any other
name, that it was hers for all the long. long, empty yeara that
stretched. before her; for fate had taken her work from her,
and she had nothing else, no tie in all the world beside.
"Three months!" she whispered at last "Only three
months, and then darkness!"
And on her soul the darkness had already fallen, aa she
cowered In the grip of an ironical fate that, out of all other
possible nights, had chosen Just this one to strike her down
this night that she had dreamed of ten years ago among
the rosea and worked for ever alnce.
She put up her hands to ber bead, and puahed back the
heavy, waving hair.
" But I must not think now. There will be time enough
afterwarda Tonight " Then suddenly her hands fell to
her lap. " O, Ood." she moaned, " tonight I I shall not
need to act, only to remember."
It was over at last the play that all New Tork bad talked
atwavd ritealily .
of and anticipated for months beforehand, and the woman
whose magnetic spell had held the densely packed house in
the thrilled silence only genius may compass, lay, her head
fallen forward on her arms, every line, every curve of the
supple, nerveless figure echoing the despair of those last
tragic, unfinished words.
Then, as the curtain slowly descended, through the
By Wo
his ruse waa "omed to fail, for here was Balnbrldge cloee
upon his heels.
" Tou are right after all. Master Calvert." said the young
cavalier, quietly, as they stood by the threshold of the outer
door. " Here comee 'your horse." And, sure enough, there
waa the hostler riding in from the roadway.
Mine hoet now appeared, and five minutes later Orgill.
flinging the servant the promised guinea, sprang into the
saddle and hastened to overtake Bainbridge, who was already
upon ths highroad.
The converse of the two men as they rode together In the
moonlight for the most part waa one aided.
In front of the tall sign post they drew rein. " Here we
part." said Orgill. "Tour way lies to the left: mine "
He paused, for Balnbrldge's pistol was leveled at his
bead.
" Tour way. my friend, lies to the left also. Move hand
or foot and I pull the trigger!"
Orgill laughed a trifle uneasily. "And this be a Joke, 'tis
a sorry one." And as he spoke his right hand stole down
wards towards his pistol. " Come, young sir, what means
it?"
" It means that you are my prisoner "
The word died on his Hps. Orgill' s arm had suddenly
straightened, there was a flash, a report and the bullet
whistled harmlessly ovtr Balnbridge's head.
Orgill. swinging his horse to the rightabout drove In the
spurs; the animal reared, then broke into a gallop.
Bainbridge made no attempt to follow horse and rider
seemed like a piece of statuary. Suddenly raising pistol be
fired. "Mi.-ii:" he cried, despairingly, his gasa riveted on
the fleeing horseman.
For a space Orgill kept bla aeat then, nodding like a
drowsy man, he sank slowly forward and rolled from the
SHdile. Instantly the horse came to a standstill, and, tossing
his head, glanced around, as In wonder, at his late rider, who
lay motionless, one foot entangled In the stirrup.
" My God." cried Bainbridge. " I have killed him." And
he cast down his pistol as though It had scorched him. As
he did so he heard the rapid beat of horseboofs and J'ngllng
of accoutermerts. and. glancing up the Hatton road, beheld
a troop of ciiviliers advancing at a gallop.
Dismounting h threw the reins across the horse's neck
and walked towards the motionless figure upon the road.
But ere he r- ahd It he turned and. utterly unnerved, faoed
the horsemen i-hrlnklngly, as If be feared they were about to
ride him down.
" What Is this?" cried the foremost Capt Landon by
name reining in his horse with a Jerk. " What have we
here?" glancing at the prostrate figure. "Fore Ood!" said
he. "'tis a cavalier!" Turning hla gasa upon Bainbridge,
" Sir. your explanation!"
With twltihlng lips the youth essayed to speak, but no
words followed.
The other eyed him with a deepening suspicion, and a de
gree of contempt He turned to one of the troopers. " Ark
wright" said he, " arras that man:" And he pointed sternly
towards r'!!ri.rldge, who. Ilka a person but balf awake, forth
una h ir.'it'J over his sword and remaining plstoL
"Now, sir." demanded Landon. "what Is your name?
And who Is the man you have shot?"
Thereupon Balnbrldge found his voice.
" He Is a roundhead In disguise. He has stolen tbe king's
letter. Search him, I pray you."
III.
In the best room of ths farmhouse where he had taken
up bis quarters sal Gen. Sloane, ruddy faoed and genial. s
soldier every inch of him.
" What a handsome boy!" be said to himself, as be fixed
his eyes upon Balnbrldge, who stood before him, nervously
fingering his beaver. Aloud he said: "I hsve beard of your
exploit. Master Bainbridge. (Pray be seated). Also, Capt
Landon has handed me his majesty's letter. Tbe enan who
shot Cornet Winram. and whom you so cleverly outwitted.
, could never throw It off again, never call It by any other 'iW
silence there came the sound of her own name, ca-.ieht up and
echoed on everv side, till It swelled to one deep thr atr.l cull.
But across the darkness of her mind it Ml rnmf anlngly.
She did not know she had reached her goal, the gnpi of 'nose
tar oft days among the roses, did not know t!ixt h,r dream
of then was tonight a reality. She did not know anvthlng.
except the one bitter fact that her h. art w is It. kf n.
Mechanically, as the curtain rose again, and like one making
a desperate effort at self-control, she gn to her, feet, and
her eyea. burning, despairing, striok n, seeming to hold the
only life In the white drwnness of er face, looked out Into
the hopeless, emrty futu-ity. For - moment she swaved
unsteadily, then, with a low. half articulate cry. the cry of
a soul that has touched the nethermost depths and reached
Its pain limit, she turned, and moved slowly away.
" By Jove." sil l the youneer of two men seated In the
stalls, "she's magninVf nt ! I'm glad you brought me along:
That last call was as fine a piece of acting as one need live
to see."
But the elder man said nothing. He. and he alone In
ah that vast audience, knew the truth-knew that to her w
had been reality, not acting.
On the satin coverlet lay a pile of morning papers, but
the woman whom today they one and ail hailed as a genius
lay with her face to the wall, unheeding, uncaring. She had
not read them, had not read anything but the slip of paper
crushed in her hand.
" Dear." It ran. " you were right that day long ago among
the rosea and I was wrong. I only understood tonight For
you. my Iris, are a genius, and geniuses do not belong to
themselvea This is Just a line of farewell and congratulation,
for you will believe, will you not? that I do congratulate you
with all my heart. And now good-by. The old restlessmss
is on me again, and I am of? tomorrow. But. dear, remem
ber always that I would come from the ends of the earth
to serve you. If ever you should need me. Tours always.
" Hilary St. John."
And the Irony of It ate deeper and ever deeper into ner
heart
III.
HE ood anions the roses once more, but she aa
not sing as she gathered them; only, when rhe
sound of a familiar, unexpected footstep fell upon
her ears, her fac grew suddenly radiant with a
radiance it had never known before.
"Dearest" he whispered, and his arms were
round her as he spoke. " what must you have thought of me?
But I only knew It six weeks ago saw it In a scrap of two
year old newspaper, and started within an hour. But the
time has seemed an eternlt;-. Dear oe "-the old tender
ring had come back into his voice" you did not think I had
willfully failed you failed you In your hour of need?"
"O. no." she whispered: "not that never that:"
" I have been picturing you here ever since I knew it
alone and in darkness, and the hours have been heiL Dear
heart, you used to tell me I was second only to your wtr.
Tou will come to me now? Tou will let me try in some little
measure to make up to you?" , .
She drew sway from him with a little Inarticulate sound,
balf laugh, half aob.
"And you you came from the other side of the world to
ask me, a poor, maimed "
"To ask the woman I love." he corrected gently.
"Listen first." she said. "I never played again after the
night you saw me and wrote that" letter."
"Poor little girl:" he murmured tenderly.
" Was It so
sudden as that?"
" No. They -g-ave me three months, but I could not play.
I could only think of you, and how you had loved me. Some
how I never understood, never valued It until the loneliness
and the darkness came to me. And then you had given me
ax- much, and I I had nothing to give you. except that three
months. It was a sort of offering, you see, and so, I came
down here tae next day and staid here for over a year. It
was O, Hilary "she stretched out her hands to him, and
be drew her back into the ahelter of his arms "It waa just
belli And then I went back to New Tork. and they operated
oi. me. They said It waa tne complete rest that had done
It made the operation possible. I mean. But I don't know.
Even -specialist make mistakes sometimes, and Dr. Grant
made one that time. Hilary, I I can see today aa well aa
you."
He looked away, and hla arma fell from her. He would'
not have been human If he had not suffered Intensely st
that moment But he turned to her at last. . .
" Thank God, dear!" he said, quietly. " But why are you
here then?"
" O, Hilary," she cried, " don't you understand? I doa't
want work, or success, or fame, or any of those things. I
want "
" Tes?" be questioned.
She put up her arms and drew bis face down to ber own
" Just you," she whispered.
X Ciroslbiie
proves to be Richard Orgill, the notorious renegade. Poor
Wlnram! I trust bis wound Is not a serious one. He lies at
Elmlelgh hall, I understand. Tomorrow I will ride over there.
He will be pleased to hear what has happened.
" And now. Master Balnbrldge," he went on, " permit me
to congratulate and thank you for the signal service you have
rendered to our cause. I trust you will Join ua I can offer
you a oornetcy: there Is a vacancy Just now in Capt London's
troop."
"I thank you. sir," said Bainbridge, In a low voice; "but
I cannot accept your offer."
' Judging by the expression on the general's face, this was
hardly the answer be expected.
" I am sorry." he said. " We need such men as you. Will
nothing tempt you?" '
"Nothing, sir."
" Remember, there is a brilliant career open to you. His
majesty deep! te what his enemies may say never forgets
those who have served him well."
"Again, sir, I thank you; but I cannot alter my decision."
" Well. well, so be It. And now we will drink his majes
ty's health." From the floor he lifted to the table x small
hamper of rare old wine. " I have here " he began, and
then he stopped suddenly. For ss he raised the lid. out from
the hamper sprang a mouse. Instantly, with a fa i ret scream,
Bainbridge rose to his feet; then sat down again, and lay
back with closed eyes. ,
"By heaven! 'Tie a woman." muttered the general,
amazement and consternation depicted on his weather beaten
face, as. with nervous fingers, he began to unfasten the cloak
at the neck.
The girl's bosom softly rose and fell, the blue eyes slowly
unclosed, whereon tbe general, turning away, hastened to
pour some wine into a cup.
" Forgive me," he said. and. though be knew It not jhls
voice had softened. " I was thoughtless. I ought to have
known that you were weary, hungry perchance." He
paused; and in silence the girl took e cup from his hand.
Her secret she knew, was a -ecret no longer. His voles
and manner told her as much. "General." she began, faller
Ingtly. " you spoke Just now of Elmlelgh hall." Sha paused
"Tbat Is my home." she added, and tbe long lashes fell upon
her cheeks.
"Tour home!" he cried. In sheer bewilderment "Then
you are"
" Sir Geoffrey Ma rston 's daughter." The old soldier
bowed. " I am betrothed to Philip Winram."
" My child." be said kindly, " your secret is safe with me.
Cornet Wlnram shall he told tomorrow of the capture of Of
glll by a cavalry picket"
And now. In haste to go. Jura gratefully but firmly
declined his offer of refreshment and an escort And so once
more she rode through the moonlight. Meanwhile tbe gen
eral, alttlng over his wine, drank several toasts. And the
first was not "The King!" but "Mistress Laura Marston!"
Not until a twelvemonth after bis wedding day did Philip
Wlnram learn the truth concerning the recovery ot the king's
letter.
" And so. sweet heart." be said at I ngth. " 'twas for my
sake you faced all those perils?"
"Nay. sir." said she; for tbe kings sake."
"Happy king!" snd be laughed good humoredly. Then
softly he said, hie arm stealing around her waist " My I xavt.
true bear led little woman!"
" Brave!" she cried. " Nsy. dear, I was a coward I wss
afraid of the darkness, and of that poor wretch. Orgill. And.
O, Philip, that horrid mouse!"
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