AN OLD SONG

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 347, 1 January 1903, Page 8

AN OLD SONG

If Mr*, mmt ». Haadjw

J £I€S FKAJSIEB wet XS years ef ftf• L whsa the marmrt Silas Hepkiati • wb« *T when he. died, leaving kif iole k«ir to all hia wealth. Strictly speaking, it-woojd.' be mere correct te •ay that be bad married her; ah* had ■mall volition i» tha matter. It had never occurred to her to regard Mr. Hopkins aa a possible suitor. Almost aa'*ol*iji her father, his hair ', nearly a« fray, he had been the fa* miliar friend of tha fatally over siaea aha could tea timber. Aa a chUd ahe aat oa hb) knee, sad he brought her **ye and candy; as a young lady ha kept her supplied irtth fiowe rt sad snatinee ticket*: The Frexiere were well eff enough la hate all the necessaries and many •f the luxuries of lite, bat they could •at afford superfluities. Mr. Fresler era* a director of the Bull Dog Security hsak, ia which also his moderate fortune waa invested; hariaf implicit oonfidenee ia the baisk, he had aot hesitated to trust all his eggs therein. t It was tha old story of a bank area* ■Went and treasures- speculatinf with like money of the depositors, and when >4ks consequent crash came Mr. Frazier waa- overwhelmed, not only because of his personal less, but by a eruebinf Ciase ef respemsihfltty for the lessee aataiaed by others. He argued that aa a director he should hare detected dad prevented dishonesty before It on<a'!ed ruin-* . This was why the shock killed him; aot instantly, sines ho lingered for days - afterwards, but the aaws brought oa a paralytic stroke frost which he never entirely rallied. Alice was away, visiting' a wealthy rotative at a fashionable seaside re* oort, when the calamity befell. It was Hopkins who sent the dispatch aaaoonc: ng her father's illness; Mr. Hopkins who with hip coupe met her at the railway station whea she hurried home. if-^fStgi Alice fouad her father tormented by anxiety, which amounted to anguish, about his wife and daughter. His life was insured for a trilling sum, so small that it was impossible they •ould lire on it even after his death; meanwhile he was helpless and beakrapt. • •Then it was that Mr. Hopkins asked Alice to he his wife, saying, simply, that he had lored her for years, hut sever thought to tell her so. Now he ventured to beg that in her time of need she would give him the right to pt pride for her and hers. And, without waiting for Alice to answer, he assured her father that to do so would be the greatest happiness which he could ask. Oh, the look of ineffable relief which on:ne into the face of the dying man! ' He did not ask if his daughter were willing, but, bracing himself to a final, effort, took her hand and laid it in that of his friend. "God bless you both," he murmured, and then, with a smile oh his, lips, went out into the Great • - Hereafter*. After this it was more than ever Mr. Hopkins who did everything. Alios . felt herself bound hand and foot; ai- , though the bonds were of softest silk, .. they were strong as steel. s - How could she tell them about Dick? , Dick, -who loved her, and whom ahe ' loved dearly, but who had nothing but . his youth and strength, his manly .-■ beauty end his pay as ensign ia the \ United States navy? Dick, for wkom she had promised to wait a lifetime, if need be, and who had sailed away oa a three-years* cruise the day before Mr. Hopkins* telegram came. There was a naval station near the watering place where Alice was rieittag, and the officers of the men-o'-war f n port were coming and going continual ;y. As one H the prettiest girls at the Cape, Alica had been one of the belles of the season. She and Richard Hsrvfe had fallen in love with each ether, after tha inconsequent meaner of young things who take no thought ; of t he future. They had settled it that f hey were to be married whea Dick got his "step;" meanwhile ht wag taper* - form prodigies of valor, aad it Weald be happiness to be engaged. There were moments whea Alias fell Impelled to teli Mr. Hopkins the story and throw herself upon his magaaalgsity, which she felt sura would aot fail, feat refrained for the asks of her •aetfcer. Crashed aad brokea-hearted, •Ire. ft eater had hut oaa Joy left, tha satdafacwoa which the took ia her daughter's engagement to Ma. Mop* ftiae, Whea it came to the fwiat, Alice islt that she must suffer anxthiag ***aer than deprive her of that. * £**• ***«*• to Dick aad waited fete«v - Li** *" M,lW ' »•» «•**** oeiaf swaaaaty more tkaa aa iaeekereat ap> C far advice. Weeks passed, briagM !?.! *&' t* 4 *"•• •***•«•-* her. m\t Utterly that it hat beea geatral. «* wtdertssad aft *« fiftfa that Wm

Eraiier was tha only child of well-to- ► parents. She let Mr. HopkiaSen<l her mother t the wedding day, and resigned herfteif to the inevitable. It was on her pwrriage mora that the expected let* Ear came: ' "I am deeply grieved ts hear of your lose Kd sympathise wltfi you and your mother. justice, to yourself, since you ask my Beunsel, I must advise you to-accept your wealthy suitor; spoor tevll like ma canaet expect to count. "May you have all tbo happiness you oetares. "ttacerely yours, f "R. 8. HARVIaV Alice read the note twice, seeing faly the sarcasm, and not the pain between the lines. It .stung her to the Quick, yet she felt relief that he had accepted the situation so quietly. Then she burned the note and set herself steadfastly to forget the writer. The majority of women, are like cats, ia that they purr to : the hand which Strokes them gently and accept life's aream graciously. Mr. Hopkins adored hie young wife aad rejoiced to gretify her every Whim. Moreover, Alice hsd slways teea fond of him, and to her surprise ahe found herself by ao means unhap* fy. It woujd be too much to say that ahe ceased to remember Dick, but that young man was thousands of miles •way. and the thinking did no harm, eren though, during the Spanish war, ahe searched the newspapers for news of him, and felt a little thrill of pride and pleasure when she saw that Ensign Richard SjCott. Harvie had been: promoted to a Jieutenantcy for distinguished gallantry in action. She could not guess that Dick, pierced to the core by what he considered her meraenary course, had made up his mind to let her see that the loss had been here. That was shortly before Mr. Hopkins was taken, ill—a long and serious illness—and Alice's wifely anxiety drove everything else out of her mind. Her husband's death was a genuine grief to her, all the greater because she felt that in return for his whole heart she had given him so little of her own. She missed him eTen more than she had done her father, and fell into a sort of apathy which lasted un- j ta she was roused by the discovery that her mother's health was failing; "It is nothing serious," the doctors told her. "She need" change of air rather than medicine. Take her to .. Old Point Comfort. This climate is deadly at this time of year." The change did good to both mother and daughter. Alice soon found herself taking more than a languid inter : est in life. The proximity of Portsmouth, with its navy yard, made naval uniforms a frequent sight, and revived old memories. _ It wa« scarcely a surprise to her when, as she entered the hotel parlor one evening after dinner, she tfotihd herself face to fece with Dick Harvle. Involuntarily she. extended both hands. "Oh. Dick!" she exclaimed, and recovered her self-possession almost instantly, feeling the chill of his manner. Mr. Harvie barely touched her-hand with one of his; the other arm rested in a aling. "Mrs. Hopkins?" he said, coolly. "This ie aa unexpected pleasure." Alice shrank into herself, like a sea anemone, but she managed to ask, politely: "You have been wounded ?" "Only a trifle. My ship and I are both in dock for repairs. Excuse - me," and he left her to join a group at the further end of the room. Thereafter, although they saw each other almost every day, their intercourse was of the scantiest. Alice was persuaded that Dick wished to avoid her, and kept carefully out of his way. This was not difficult. All the other women lionized him ,ea a hero, and Alice, as befitted her widow's, weeds, held herself aloof from gay company. She had no idea that the old wound rankled still in her lover's heart, that he shunned her as a burnt child dreada " the fire. "He despises me too much to notice me," she told herself, bitterly, and devoted herself more tenderly to her mother. A week went by thus; then fate led Dick Harvie past the door of the music room, where he hesrd a wellremembered voice in song. He paused behind the heavy.portiere in time to hear Alice sing the last line of "Annie Laurie." ''How beautifully you sing those Scotch ballads,'* said one admiring voice. "Pray don't stop,".eooed saother. , "You know''Auld Robin Grey,' do you not, Mrs. Hopkins ?" asked the accompanist, a musician ia the pay of the hotel. "Pray sing it for us; it is eo edmirably adapted to your voice," aad she played the prelude without" waiting for yea or nay. -'" ' There was a little tremor in Alice's voice as she begsa, or at least Dick fancied so, but as she sang it disap- - peered, and she held' her little audience spellbound. Dick, listening behind the curtain, scarcely breathed while the thrilling tones rehearsed the pathetic tale of filial self-sacrifice. It moved him to the depths, end his eyes were moist ss she sang the last verse: "I gang like a ahaist, end I carena to spia; I saurna think o' Jamie, tor that wad he a ' sin; :'■'. But I'll do my best a gude wife to he, For auld Robin Gray Is a kind mon to ate." As the song ended, with a half sob which was the perfection of artistic finish, there waa a murmur of applause and earnest requests for more. But Alice excused herself, smilingly; She hsd already left her mother too long. j p As she passed through the portiere, on her wsy out, her eyes cast down to fcide the tesrs which were ready to fftartr s hand was laid on her arm, and •he lifted her lashes to meet Dick's •yes with the old leve-look ia them grhich she knew so well. "Was that really aad truly the way ftf it, Alice?" he whispered. And Alice could only sob, under her wreath: "08. Dick!"