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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1905)
MAGGI es alTTLJE. ROMANCE, . KSrSiS?: rRADY there. Hold up, I nay,' shouted an omnibus conductor as Uip forward plunge of the horses marly Jerked n young woman, who wan alighting from thp vehicle, off the atcp. " Hope you aren't hurt, nnssie?" he added civilly to his fare, while a tall young man, w ho hud previously d. si -ended, stepped back again into thp muddy road, and half extended his arm. " Thanks, I am all right." replied thp Klrl. In a cherry, businesslike tone, an she Jumped lightly on to the pave ment, and, raising his hut with a alight smile, the tall man withdrew his arm. and we nt his way. "Olrls In the old country seem as well able to take care of the-nisely a those over yonder." he soliloquized as he swung up Exhibition road; he was well and care fully dressed, but the deep red brown hue of hla close shaven, well cut fare, and his light swinging tread and broad shoulders betrayed an open air life, while the dark gray eyes, as they glineed quietly from side to side, were keenly observant. He did not. however, appear to notice that the way of his late omnibus companion was the same as hi .own. and that she had followed him down the road, till glancing at an opposite building his quirk eye caught si,-hl of In r entering an open gateway. ' Humph! an art student I tnlgl.t have guessed as much. She was carrying painting tools I noted." he said to himself, again awak en, d to tnomentitiy Interest In the girl, but the next moment he turned Into the Natural History museum and forgot all about her. " Whose Is this face. Maggie?" asked a fellow student as she turned over the pages of her friend's notebook dur ing the luni'hi nn hour. " Whit a good fare It Is a strong, reliable face I call It, and such a finely poised head. Io you know the man?" Maggie Molirk'on glanced at the op-n book. There were sketches of heads and faces, figures and limbs, all over every page of It. belonging to nil sorts and conditions of men. women, and children In every conceivable position, but the one Indicated hy her friend's fingers differed from tin iii all. It was the head and fare of a young man. by no means ordinary looking. " Know him? O, no!" she returned, gazing thoughtfully nt thp sketch. " But you are right, it Is a good face. I wonder where I saw It!" " Don't you remember? Will, Maggie, you are a queer Kill, to meet a man of this type, draw his likeness, for It is a likeness I am sure, and then forget w here you saw him," I mghed thp other. " I don't see anything queer about the matter," re turned Maggie, In a matter of fact tone. " You know my h'hit of sketching any fare that strikes me wherever I h'.iy see it. It has heroine mrch'inical. I think. 1 don't in to notice the personality of the people J draw. They ,i st get snap shotted on to my mind, so to speak, and my :i iers srem to reproduce them. I seldom remember any thing about It afterwards." "Well. I should have remembi red him, anyway!" I ugheil Miss Aeton, as she closed the dumpy, little, nvaa covered book. Maggie opened her notebook again that evening as she t by the (Inside In the pretty homelike living room which she shared with her mother, and after a few, moments' i ..isid, ration took a sheet of paper, and rapidly made a : ti er an 1 more llnlshed drawing of the head her friend had notici d. " it Is worth preserving." she thought as she placed It 'i a portfolio among some others, and then dismissed the incident from her mind. It was fur Maggie's sako that Mrs. Moncklon had let her pretty cottage In the country and lived in thne rooms in Ixindon. The twp were alone in the world and had but each other to live for. Maggie's artistic talent mUBt be trained and the tiny income left to them was not sufficient to meet me expenses of a residence in town, to pay art school fees, and at the same time keep the little home In the country, " Any place will be home to me where we can be together, my child," aald the brave little mother, and a cozy and pretty home she had contrived to make on thu ulry third floor of an old house in a West End square. Country friends kept them supplied with flowers, and the small domain was as fresh and daintily kept as had been tea Devonshire cottage. Maggie looked forward to becom-'(lr- an efficient bread winner and going back to Devonshire before long. She had already worked for a year In the Kensington training bcIioo), and was contemplating some classes at the Blade. She worked hard, and had' already begun to !( A confidence In her growing powers. She was quite aware that she had talent of a marketable value, and her love for her art grew with the power of execution. ' You'll make your mark and your fortune, too, at no distant day, Mags," said Miss Acton, as she watched her friend's strong and rapid fingers. " The wav In which you sketched those children by the round pond with a few atrokes of your pencil was masterly. They are Just life like, black and white editors would go wild over them. Have you tried to sell ony of your work yet?" Maggie shook her head. " I am In no hurry." she said. " I want to learn all I can while I am about it. I am not ready to start money making yet." " Perhaps you are right. You know the power Is there when ybu want it," returned her friend with a little sigh, for she had learned enough to feel that her owi. talent was of an Inferior and less marketable quality, whilst the necessity of earning a livelihood was In her case more imperative. " Maggie, dear, I have had a letter from your Uncle Walter today," began Mrs. Monekton, as soon as the cozy meal which always awaited her daughter's return was concluded, and the tray placed outside for the maid to carry down. " He writes from their town house In Mel bourne. He seems to have made a better thln- oT f.iruiln.T out there than your poor father ever dll at home. I rrather from what he says that he must be quite a weil'hy man by this time." Maggie stretched out her hand for the closely written pages of thin paper, for she and her mother had n. reserves from each other. "lie does indeed seem well endowed with tills woild's goods," she remarked as she folded up the letter, and lay buck In her chair fingering It thoughtfully. " Do you nolo, mother, that my uncle speuks of sending young Walter that Is the nephew he has adopted. Is It not? home to an English university? Indeed, he seems to hav-i already done so. I wonder If this colonial cousin will come and ee us. He Is a cousin, I suppose?" "Hardly, he Is only your uncle's nephew by marriage no blood relation. Your Aimt Mary Is as devotid to him as If he were her own son. No, dear, I should not think this youth would take sufficient Interest In us to wish t Introduce himself. Indeed, your uncle may not have men tioned his English relations to his nephew at all. You remember he did not offer to assist me when your father died, though he must have known our circumstances." " And yet he writes kindly enough, mother, and he Is c- rtilnly complimentary In what he says about th.' photo graph of me you were weak enough to send him." Mrs. Monekton laughed softly. " He docs not siy a bit Servants Become Duchesses I'I'ID, one may Imagine, is never happier I than when linking lives and bridging social Q I gulfs. Columns could be filled with stories Sp? I of maids of low degree whom Cupid has raised to coronets and wealth; Indend, in his during moods he has more than once offered a crown In exchange for a lowly maiden's hand, as when he made Peter the Great fall a victim to the bright eyes of Martha Skavrouska, the peasant's daughter, and placed her by his side on the throne of Hussla us Catherine the empress. Sir Henry l'arkes. three tlnus premier of N w South Wales, married his cook; John Crossley, founder qf the millionaire family of Halifax carpet weavers, had for wife (and an excellent spouse, too) Martha Turner, maid of all work; Thomas Coutts, the millionaire banker, mar liid his brother's servant: uml Cobbett and Kobert I'hll l.ps (brother of the poet) both mated with servants, the latter after walling sixty years for her. Nearly seventy years ago George, fifth earl of Sussex, made a countess of Catherine Stephens, daughter of a carver and glider, who as dowager coc.;,:ss long survived her husband. The first earl of Craven offered a coronet to Miss Lou ise Itrunton, daughter of a iro"iniiul actor and manager, one of t ight children, whe- was brought up amid the pov erty and hardships Ins-parable from a strolling actor's life a century ago; Miss Kurren. who became countess of Derby, was the daughter of a poor Cork apothecary and spent her early yiars, after her father's death, in extreme poverty; Miss Mary, ltolton, the daughter of obscure par ents who lived In lxmg Acre, found a husband In the second Lord Thu"1ow. son of the famous lord chancellor, and became the mother of the third lord; while, to give but one more out of 'many similar romances, Aurora dt I.lvry, who first made Voltaire's acquaintance as a " pr girl, as . meanly clad as a beggar," wore a coronet aa Marchioness de Qouvernet for many years before she died. tf i'"';""1 -1 "' -m. ii II II 11 II m KX-.-m .nr IWll III 1 .1 ID I I II II 1 II III.... t. 1 HI ! I II If r I I Mi t Ail V V: vV ' " u s - , A'V C ft : ;; -Mf -h-.A f:'l ' - ; 1" ' too much. I am sure," mic leiiinnu. with a glince of admiring satisfaction at her daughter. The months slipped by, and Madge had been fir some time a student at the Slade school, when an unaccountable thing happened to her; she began to be haunted by a face not a real, flesh and blood Individual, but a "driani far.'," as she termed It to herself and more than this, " Matter of Fact Maggie." as Miss Aeton was wont to call her. t ink to day dreaming. It was the strong, clean cut face of a young man that so persistently presented It si If to her mind. She could not remember that she had ever really seen such a one. or any photograph or picture In the hast rcsi mbling It, but quite involuntarily all her waking and Bleeping dreams centered round this face, and at VnjMh she grew quite worried and secretly ashamed: not even to her mother could she speak of this odd fancy of hers. " What was my twin brother like, mother?" she asked one day; " the baby brother who died when we were 2 years old what do you think he might have been like now had he lived?" " He was small and dark like me. He never could have grown to be In the least like your father or like you. M.iga. He had neat little features, and dark brown eys nearly black. Why, my dear. I have told you this of'pn lief re." ' Yes, but I am curious, I like to hear about hlni. Tlcn you do not think that he would ever have had a strong, square face that looks as If It belongi d to a big man?" "Certainly not. What tin Idea. I never saw twins less alike than you two were." "There Is no help for me In that direction." s:ld Maggie to htrself. It is well 1 Hm going on this trip witii Mary Acton exercise and fresh scenes will, I hope, drive this nonsense out of my head." The long summer vacation was approaching, and In August Maggie ami her"notln r were to pay a lonz prom ised visit to a Devonshire friend, but to begin with. Ml.ss Acton had prevailed upon Maggie to become her com panion on a cycling tour along the Sussex coast for a week or two. At first Maggie demurred she could not leave her mother alone, she said, but Mrs. Monekton hi rself over ruled this objection. The weather was warm, she Insist d, Maggie was looking pale and run down, in! both girls needed bracing up after their hard work. She would im.k. herself perfectly happy. So their plans were arranged. Beder the TSoy maker. ACOCK crew, and In the east, far over the diSert. a faint streak of sliver, like a gleaming sword, cut through the darkness. Hider the toymaker rose from the r ol cov ered floor, rolled up his sleeping mat, pul it away with his straw pillow, and. stoop ing, crept through the door of bis clay hovel. ' Turning his face toward the silver Streak the old man knelt on the bare ground, prostrated hlmsilf with forehead to earth, and murmured the dibreak prayer of the pious M'Uklll. When he arose' Itubr s gray beard and the tip of Ids long nose were ornamented with whltcy brown Kiy tlatt dust. There was duat. too, on his faded blae cotton gown nnd Ids yel!ow turban. Iiu' li was holy dust evi.'i m e tei all whom i might concern that the true believer had said the daybreak prayer. And Ueder care fully fori bore to wipe St off. A solitary old man. p.eiier tl ty maker. He l ad burled his wlf . ami ha no desire for another. His children, too, lay In the cemetery out there In the desert beyond the cultivated fields; all his children except Hassan, the youngest son, w ho was a dragoman in Cairo. And, alas. Hassan had proved a s. rpent a toot h. He had sworn by the ro hi t H at never would he marry until lie bad e. Tiled for his father pinsms e no ig'i t . e nab'e Iteder to make the I llgriniage to M. 1 1 a the one absorbing hope and desire of the old man's life. But youth Is wuvward, and with despicable turpitude Hasban had taken a wife. So all Hassan .old ! do for Ins i - relit was to carry his toys to the dmliis ill Cairo the little came ls, and eh phsnts, and pelicans, and buffaloes, and other .1 a stopping places marked on the map, and the rrlrH were to start early' in the following week, putting up for the week end at a pretty Sussex parsonage, the ho.nc of an uncle of Mary's, who had given them a warm Invitation. The friends were capital compan'nni nnd heartily fond of each other, though In person and character totally dis similar. Maggie, tall, fair, and strikinirly handsome, look, d the picture of healthy English glrlhed a.'.d had an air of quiet Independence and' self-reliance, which sat well upon her. whilst Mary was small and delicate looking, with a clever, sensitive Utile dark face. Roth were good riders, and they thoroughly enjoyed the freedom -.pi novelty of their out of door life, putting up each night t homely wayside Inns such as their limited purses could afford. The weather was Ideal and the country as lovely as only English country can be In July, and they seemed to themselves to have been going on with this kind of life for quite a long time when they stnrted on the day's Journey that was to bring them to their week end tryst. The travelers were bowling along a broad, white road skirting the wooded foot of some downs about noon, when a man's bicycle skimmed past them, the rider of which tarew them a keen glance as he went by. He stopped his machine a little ahead, and, dismounting, wheeled It back to meet them. " I think this belongs to one of you ladles," he re marked in a full, deep voice, holding up a' sketch book, which Maggie recognized as her own. " It was lying In the road a mile or two back, and I noted as I passed that one of you carries a similar book." The young man pulled off his tweed cap as he spoke, and stood bareheaded. "Thank you; yes. It is mine. I am so much obliged to you." said Maggie heartily, stretching out her hand for the book. Ib r eyes met his as she did so, and then In a moment the white road seemed to rise up and strike her and the hills and trees to dance mockingly, for here, the dark gray eyes looking Into her own, was the face of her dreams! The sketch book fill from the hand which had scarcely grasped II. and. as the young man stooped to recover It, Maggie, conscious that Mary's curious eyes were upon her, made a supreme effort to pull herself together. She had mechanic ..lly t aught at her bicycle to steady herself, but it swayed liene.it h her hand. quaint flguns di f ly fashione d by Ibde r's crooked lingers out of Nile mud that wondrous Nile mud which builds houses, fertilizes the land, and gives II f to f very thing in Egypt. Heder di spiscd tii, Cairo d. alers as rob bers, for the price thi y paid for his tos was scarcely sufficient to keep body nnd soul togitlur. Nevertheless the old man's ( es w en fixed un Mecca. Having finished his br tikfast of millet bread and dried date s. Jteder lay en the floor of his hut an I lead a chapti r of the Koran. Then, closing the hook with a sigh, he stepped towards the darki st e-orncr of his abode. Moving the refds and pulling aside a straw mat that lay beneath them, he scraped away the earth and lifted from a bolt a mnu'll vessel of day. It was liiavy. and there was a Joyous gleam In the old man s eyes as he gently shook It. Money.' Turning the treasure out on to a grimy handkerchief, Beder eagerly proceeded to count his store, w hich consisti d mostly of nickel coins, ranging in value from a mlllieme (a '.nth of a cent) to a pkistre. Th. re wtre also some silver pjtces, and three or four gold ones. Counting the money rcvtren'.ly bark Into the Jar. the eld man's foul w as tlU d m it h a glorious vision of the pilgrimage roughly a Jour ney ef a thousand milts by land and sea. So absorb! d w as In that he failed to hear a fitnt. si! ilthy s . p on the ground out-sid- fa bd to si e a swarthy face that appeared cautiously at one of the shape lets hobs which did service for window s and fail'-d to fee a pair of gleaming eyes t'.x. d c,,vit..u-dy on the little clay J ir. " A "ah! Ge d Is G. d ar.d Mahomet is his p-ophe t. Tin piastre more." mur mured It. der, the toy maker, Joyously, " And then to Mecca!" The sun was up, naked Arab children were running about, und women with full pitchers polsi d on their In ads wi re com ing from the will as Hub r sallied out. past the dense gnen arris of sugar cane and the fit Ida of maize, to bid good morn ing to his friend Glafar. Glafar, a brow n faced Nllot, was plow ing, turning the furrow with the primitive Wooden lnipliiuint drawn by oxen that was employed In the days of the Phara ohs A true believer, C-lafar, wearing, like Be di r. dust on his forehead from the daybreak prayers. He, too, cherished Impassioned dreams of Mecca. But thu poverty of the fellaheen la extreme, and for poor Giafar the pilgrimage could only be f.ind vision. ." Sin Ik Mustapha pulb d my tooth out this morning," said Glafar. " It is hung on the door of the mosque, so the evil genie that gave me toothache will curse me no more." " Allah be praised," said lb di r, " I am 70 years old, and have never suffered toothache." "Ah! then you sleep well?" observed Glafar. "Alas! no. My slumbers are troubled with 111 dreams, and for many nights I have beard the screaming of kites." Giafar looked sorry In fact, almost an noy td. After some further talk, Glafar re sumed his plowing, while liedi r went away, down to the Inundation hollows, and, gathering some wet clay, sat down on a sand bank and began to mold his toy s. The tun rose higher and light r, and at noon, w hen Giafar prepared to go up to the village to hi dinner, lied, r was klill " I fear you are not well," remarked the stranger, as he once more extended the little volume towards her. " It Is warm and perhaps you have ridden fast up this hill." " O, no, I am quite well, It was only my awkwardness," replied Maggie Incoherently, and without looking at him. " May I can I be of any use?" he continued, address ing himself to Mary. "I would advise your resting for a few minutes, and whin you round the next corner you will meet the sea breeze." " Thank you so much. Yes, I think we will take your advice and rest on this shady bank; we have not much farther to go." There was a brisk finality In Mary's tone which he dared not disregard, and again raising his' cap he walked off reluctantly. The girls wheeled their machines to the side of the road, and, seating themselves on the bank, watched the tall, retreating figure striding at the side of his bicycle till the brow of the hill hid him from sight. " How well he walks, I fancy he must be a soldier," remarked Mary, and she noted, too, that he never once looked back. Maggie's thoughts were In a state of chaos, but she was silent, and after resting a few minutes, Mary proposed that they should continue their Journey. " We had better walk up the remainder of this hill then." said Maggie, wishing to gain a little 'time and so avoid overtaking tti' stranger, and the two plodded on till the top of the hill was reached. A few yards farther the road turned abruptly and a dellclously cool breeze blew In their faces, salt from the near neighborhood of fne sea. "How lovely!" exclaimed both the girls at once as they remounted and spun leisurely ulong the smooth, level road. Early In t!.e afternoon they came In sight of their destination. " What a pair of dusty wayfarers we look," laughed Mary, as they turned Into the open gate of the parsonage. " I trust our bags have arrived, or we shall cut sorry figures in my aunt's drawing room; riot that she will mind," she addfd. "And there they are at the door to welcome us!" As the old canon and his wife came forward to welcome their guests the girls saw to their dismay a flannel clad figure run forward to take their machines. "David! you here!" exclaimed Mary. " Even so, Mary, and not only David but his Jonathan," laughed the youth. "Here. Jack, lazy fellow, come and show yourself," and then Maggie had another shock, for in fhe tall figure that emerged from a low window near, both girls recognized the stranger they had parted from a few hours before. "This Is my chum. Jack Wilton, Miss Monekton and Mary." went on David; " but I say, what does this mean, you young folks seem to know each other already." -By f. Raymond Couison. pcrchfd on the sand heap. Glafar called to him, but hi did not answer. Giafar approucht d quietly. No, there was nothing wrong. The yuu was hot. and I!i ite r, with bis tos and his cla lying be-sid - hiiii. had faih n ash i p Gin far smile cl and softly stole uway. Half an hour later a wandering Uiitli-h tourist tumbled upon tin slumbi l ing te ) -maker, and gazi d W illi much mteiest e.n the quaint little animals made of Nile clay. Stirring IScder up with his stick, he n b eted half a d Zen l. 's and said. "'How much?" Wide awake in an Instant. Heder .arose, salaamed -duply, aid hi ill "Three piastres." That was four times the pi ice the di aler paid in Cairo. The tourist threw d- wn a c in. " Knp the change," be said, caiclessly, ar.d passed on. He little dreamed what th it coin meant to Hi di r. It was a ten piastit piece! "Allah il Allah!" murmured Heder. " It Is a miracle. My ten piastres!" Ai d with a great Joy In hla t yes he rose und wi nt home. Tomorrow be would start fur Mecca! Creeping through the narrow door In o bis hut, the old man hastttud to the corner while bit tieuktite lay. I'u.lit j up the mat and removing the loose earth be disclosed the Jar. Then tie staggered baik with a white fact. The Jar Was empty. Two days later Heele r was found by a neighbor lying on the floor of bis hut, babbling di llriously. "Tomorrow 1 am ge it g ! i Hart the p.lgriniage !" Hut tie d. ..ut ii if ir I ad g t the start. And Giafar. tilled with tin icsta-y of the True Hehever. was many miles off on his way to Mecca. a a a a a a a a a a a " W e met on the road nil hour or two nmv Mr Wilton did us a k.nd service, th.it's all. Mr Aston." aald Mngglc, In her atati lb at manner, and Dnvid. w hose acquaintance she had made In London, was Immediately on hla best behavior. ' Maggie, by this time had herself well In hand, and It was only by a little gravity of manner that her surprise and d.smny Fhowei! themselves, but she could never after wards recall the In. ais she spi nt In t.ie pretty Pusarx parsonage without wondering how she had managed to get through Miem, and all the time speak and move and behave In so natural a manner so that only Mary detected that she was nit quite oer blithe self. The bags had arrived and had been placed In their rooms, so that the gitls were able to appear smart and trim. " How Is It you did not recognize your cousin's friend, Mary?" Maggie asked when they were nlone for a moment, " How should 1 know him, my dear, when 1 have never seen him before. I only knew David had a friend. Jack Wilton, to whom he is absurdly devoted hut at the anme time I set m to have n vague remembrance of his face." Maggie was more successful than she had hoped In shaking off her uncomfortable associations with her fel low gin st during the iM tiing, and was to all appearances iier bright, natural self. Nevertheless, sin- was never for a moment unconscious of Mr. Wilton's presi nee, and she had a strange conviction that he. In a measure, shared her feelings. She knew that, even when talking to others, not a word or movement of hers esrapid him. Mary was at the piano at the further end of the room, and Maggie, seated at the window near her hostess, was turning over a bonk of photographic views, when the gentlemen entered. David and his father Joined Mary, but Mr. Wilton came straight to Maggie's corner, and took possession of the broad, low window scat at her side. " Miss Monekton," he began in a low tone, " I have a confession to make to you. one that concerns us both. Have I your permission to do so?" "Certainly," riturmd the glti, wonderlngly, "but 1 cannot Imagine what you can have to tell me, considering we have never met until today." "I daresay not. but to begin with, when Aeton Intro durid us he only told you half my name. You see he has known me as Jack Wilton for so long, hut bv the desire of nn uncle in Australia who has adopted me, I now add the surname of Monekton to my own. Walter Is my second name." Maggie started, but she was hi ynnd being affected by surprise now " Then you are Walter Monekton!" ahe exclaimed. " And your cousin, if you are good enough to admit the relationship, which is not perhaps a rial one; hut we are closely connected through our mutual Vncle Walter. You will perhaps have heard of me from him." " Yes, iml.id. My mother had a letter from him lately In which he apokc nf you as being in England. You are at Oxford then with Mr. Acton? How Is It we have seen notoing of you?" " Ilccaiise I lost your mother's address which t brought home with me. and have only Just obtain' d It again. Do you know your face gave me the clew when we met this morning. My father has a photograph of you which Is lifelike, and I have so looked forward to meeting and claiming you as one of the family. Wl'1 ""ii accept me as a cousin?" The young man's fare was ,-o earnest and cordial aa he stretched his hand towards her that Maggie could not refuse to place hers within it. " Indeed, I will, and gladly." returned Maggie, feeling her heart warm towards this simple, manly, stalwart young colonial. " It will be a real delight to me to have a cousin. I have never had a brother ever since I can remember." "Thin I may come and see Aunt Maggie? Your mother has always been 'Aunt Maggie' to me!" " Y'cs, of course, she'll be so happy to receive you, Mr. " " Not ' Mr. anything, please," Interrupted the young man. "I am only Jack!" " Well then Jack, nnd I am Maggie, you know." " Nay, you are Margaret to me. I have nlwiys thought of you as Margaret, and It suits you best. You are stately, you see, my cousin, nnd ' Maggie ' Is not dignified enough." " So be It," replied Maggie, rising aa the mualc stopped. " We must tell our friends, you know," she whispered. There was a chorus of surprised exclamations and congratulations during the few minutes before good nights were exchanged. " It is quite a little romance," said Mrs. Acton, giving Maggie a motherly kiss. " And It Is one which will not end here," nodded wise Mary to herself as she ascended the stairs. Maggie was conscious of a warm glow at her heart as slip still felt the close lingering pressure of Jack's hand on her own, nnd recalled thp happy shining of his gray eyes as they had hidden each other good night. " I am sure I shall like him," she thought, "and how pleased mother will be." Jack always Insisted that he und Maggie had fallen in love with each cither at first sight he was still unaware .if her fancy about her dream face, hut thla little mystery was shortly to be solved in quite a natural manner. A few months before tileir wedding she waa looking over a portfolio of her own sketches, with Jack as usual at her elbow, w hen siie came upon a lifelike sketch of Jack himself, with her own initials and a date of nearly two years ago in the corner. Jack saw it at the anme moment as she did. " How on earth did you get hold of this?" he exclaimed, holding up the picture and staring at It In a bewildered manner. Maggie did not reply at once. Ihke a flash the Incident came back to her mind, and she remembered, too, where she had first seen him " Wtiit, wait a moment and I will explain It all, Jack!" she said breathlessly, und then laughing iiirtl blushing; a little she told him how It was her habit to make rough sketches of any fare that struck her fancy, and how aa i-in had s.it opposite to him in an omnibus one morning she had surreptitiously transferred him to her sketch book, and how It had unconsciously become Impressed on her memory by the drawing she had made from It. " I remember that morning, too," exclaimed Jack; "and you weie the girl who nearly fell off the omnibus step. O, Margaret! you looked so demure aa you bent over your book that I could not get a fair look at you, but tin re was something about you that brought back a memory of home even then, and I've often thought of that girl since. iKaiiing. If I was half In love with your photograph before I saw you, you were half in love with our sketch of me, so we are still quits, and do you know, 1 m sure my father sent me to England as muchJo marry you as to take my degree at Oxford!" Mixed Marriages ;n Japan. N her pleasant little book, "An English Girl In Japan." Mrs. Ella M. Hart I!, inn tt re marks that mixed marriugts In Japan are on rare occasions a success, but this Is not generally the case, especially If the wife be the foreigner. She proceeds: "I was much Inn re steil In a European woman I knew who had married a Japanese oltiocr. The) been for the we re a we ll matched coupl". and had it not husband's mother all might have been well. Hut 111 Japan mot her-ln-la w wife is still iiitiniy in subjection to her who makes tin- most of this authority, In some case-s reducing her son's w ife to a sort of uppc-r serv ant. In the' present Instance, us long a h. r husband re mained at borne his wife was able to do much us she phased. When, however, the war broke nut and he Joined his regiment in China, the ini.tlier-ln law e-iit'riiy r.gilnid the upper band. The unfortunate daughter hail to abandon In T European customs, adopt Japanese dress for herself and her child, sit on the Moor, and live principally on Japane se food. Nor was this nil. Inning her husbaiiel a absence the elder woman absolute ly forbade her victim to accept any Invitation or to receive- any visitors exce pt her Jupane se relations ami a few of t'.e-ir frie-nds. " 1 managed, however, to gam admittance one day, and fuund my friend miserable, shivering v.r a wretched char coal ' hibatehl.' and without a single book or paper to distract he-r thoughts from In r uiixnty as to her husband's safety. Ro great was the motlo r-bi-l iw 's power and In lluence that the western woman did not dare to disobey, but bad to submit in slh-nci until her husband's return home, when, I am glad to say, life ours mure became bear able to he r. "The case- Is different w In n It is the wife who I the Japanese. To begin with, no Japanese woman of gentle birth would ever think of marrying a foreigner. She would consider it a mesalliance of thu worst description." 3 Mi