LITERATURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7723, 27 January 1905, Page 4

LITERATURE.

mariued in- haste. The little rfock on the mantelshelf ginc a lUtl® duck by -ay ot warnine that it meant to stuU. Lap- , -tain ttat. rson looked at H reproachfull". Only ten o'clock to be ■< still a nran roust Iw fres.li m the "morning, and the Captain laid aside the book of poems which he had wn reading aloud, and rose to go. Amelia put down her work, and rose, too, smiling. • • '|Vs is an amine: siry, l-rea, she said. •• An anniversary ? " repo&ted the Captain wonderingly. •• Yes. Don't you know ? Ah, but . men always (orget. It is, left to us women " •* As anniversary," said the Cap- - 'tain again. " Aou mean •' \'bb, X mean " she mocked him affectionately. " I mean that ten years ago to-night we became engaged ! " •• 'lVn >eara ugo ! " sai<J. thfc Captain. •; i\u years ago at ten o'clock exuc'Vy. Wait a m,iniite ( , that clock'll let go *lll just a minute, and thenit becomes iny duty to kiss you in honour of the occasion." ll* stood laughingly with his arms around her sh«uHers until the chime began, tlKn kissed her ami held her olt from hhn for surveyal. "Bless *iy heart," said, he, "you haven't ehangid a Ml thait 1 can see; same dark eyes, same dark ha»r, sania girl altogether. And yet —you are different., too. There's more 91 the woman about you, somehow.' "And small womier," cried Amelia. " I'm going on my dear l>oy. 1 was twenty-soven then and now—l heetilate to name it ! " ' " Ami I was thirty then, and now —I feel hesitation myself ! " cried the Captain. " Forty ? Goodness, what a chilly sound iti has t " He looked again into the eyes of his lady love, and bade her goodnight, and went away, but the chilly fcvling was stil/1 with him and it followed him int* the hall, and stanted with him down the street of the little American town. The Captain set a glowing cigar Ijetwwr hfs teeth and stuffed Iris hands well down 'into his potfets. " Thirty-seven," pail he, " and forty ! Autumnal both of tlroin. Suggestive of the sere and yellow. Rless my heart ! Bless my hear! ! " He tramped on through the frostv air, and as he went he thought. Thirty Beven! Thirty-seven! Thirlysevan ! The number rang in his ear with an odd psreistence. Thirty-se>r-en and immariieH. Thirty-s.even, and cut ofT hy liar engigwirnf. to him from all chance of marrying anolhei man. Thirty-sov«n, and dependent stfll upon her father for every biti she at a, for every .ft itch she "wore whereas, by right, she should j.e de Pemdra» upon him—him, tl:e Capta-n who swore he loved her, for tlus. and other things. _ The Captain reeled unl.T tho.'hocl of tho revelation, and caine ti] against the wall of a building foi support. Dear, oh, dear, what acm > he was, and if he had never coiik . boma to him before ! He had lefl Sis sweet and charming Amelia o Ims to wither into oki iiutiJonhood ir her father's house, and why ? A t first he had not been able to .sup port her as she had oeen sjpporto: .at hone : hut later—in these pas: cars ol s prosperity—simpl' tfceause he had been so «t ease, anr FO selfishly comfortable in thai' existing relations, and the need, ii honour, for a change iin those ivla ' u.° n8 „ d simply never occui-cd t ( him. Bah, it had an evil taste ! "It shall not go on ! " cried thi opening his ejvs, whichi 1,, had cfosed upon a reeling' world. "I shall be stopped at once ! Bravely said ! He felt a rush o returning self-respect as the word: fell from Iris lips, although his plan: were of the vaguest ; but as In straightened himself to go on, the glitter uf a brass tabtot against tho stones of the building caught his eyeChrist Church.—The Reverend Roland W. Towajid, Hector," R ran. > That was Us friend "Twwaixt, surely. And Towand was a. minister, ai.d it was the dutv of ministers to marry people. The Captain {looked around him. There was the rectory next door, connecting with the church. The Captain walked in at the gate, up the steps and rang tho bell. The woman who answered was sorry to say tliat Mr Toward was not m. He had .dined out with the Reverend Mr WisKart. The Captain consiritod his watch. " Twenty minutes after ten. He could catch hwn there. Toward and Wishart always sat late over their theological discussions. Moreover, Wishart lived not far from Amelia Anderton. The Capta'in boarded a car that came clanging along, and ' .wesit back the way ne had come. He found Wishart peacefully occupied with n pipe and a pile of sermon paper.

. Aht Captain, good-evening," he . said. " Toward ? Yes, certainly. He l«t here an hour ago ; was going to step in s&mewhere on the way down; Martins I believe—>had some errand concerning a bazaar. Do you know, f., SUSl ** t „ a growing attachment there. Eh ? Ha ! ha ! ha ! ,^ ut L'aptuin could not stop to u r * rV rt s factious inmgincs Ue tad a « atUachment of h's own to see about-one h ? T1 K' n S' on <P"ite long enough. He took the address of the »i^n^ lß .'i, l,oar<lo<l a cal '' and "cnt oft tZ v , to ™' Tho abode of the ilartinH was in dark.ess. Towatd must Have gone. „n»Hi h 'i C .\ Pt l in 3too<l on the steps, jwablo to think for a moment what he wanted to do, a cor came «w4ing alcn*, bound In the direction of his own home. The idea of telephoning the lteverend Mr Toward occurred io hint. Hailing die car, he Boon arrived at tho big flat where he lived, and in the hall office he called up Toward I*- telephone. Hello, Toward,-' he ealled. "Hello . hello ! hello—well, w hv d'dn't you speak up plainer? I couldn't hear you.. I say. Toward, I want you. Don't go to bed vet awhile. Uot your boots eIT ? Well put em on again. I'll call for vou in fifteen minutes. Want you to do something for me. Eh ? Oh, nothing much. Or, rather, it-it is s o m<£ thiijg. Of course, only 1 can't explain hore. Put on your boots; thereHi a good follow," and ringing off hastily, he ascended the stairs to his own apartments. Closing the door, he looked about , with an eye which wag trying to adjust itsolf to the viewpoint of a _jkoman-a bride. As he came up the street, he had had grave doubts of thos« apartments of his, but now that he came to examine theui—reallyv he must tip the servants tomorrow. Everything was in the daintiestnf order, and the kitchen .was simply shining. It was lucky, in a way, tltaO; his cook went home overnight, and that he got his own coffee in the morning. It would give , more time for adjustment, and [irevent anything like awkwardness The kitchen clock called him back to tho flying moments. Toward weuld be asleep in hais chair. It lacked only a quarter I Q twelve ! The Captain fled into his bedroom brushed his hair violently, rushed out into the h a IJ-way to send for a conveyance, and then into thedraw-Jngi-room, where stood an immense, mahogany secretin're. Th c Captain' unlocked a drawer, and rummaged until he found a img_ a plain gold acal, with his family crest and seal upon it. "Heavy for a woman," he muttered •* nut she won t mind". Any.way it will have to do." reactd Ca [he a 8 h ° the " ,'B'rfh ,° n e " rth is it? " he cried. ' ,h. marriage, or death ? " the Captain (To be continued.)