LITERATURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7806, 26 April 1905, Page 4

LITERATURE.

PV £'BASKET OP ROSES, r & v 'qbief. unpretentious bouse was IsAunHer sixteen. Montague-street, and 1-JtHle or no notice was taken ol it ££tt.,Utt crowds -of people who thronggHa "the busy thoroughfares » f ManeSfsile; «n enterprising town In South *£ Australia^ F A darkened room, plainly, but comllrnished ; abed, by the sido Spi which stood a sweet-faced nars- £ <« watching with a trained, Ks*t} ConpasWoaaM. ldok, the pale gLfcffl of the nnconsciouß man who lay **there; on a chair, with his hand up--Bj»»J*B4>aUeat'» 1«M« pols*. «»t «' Pywing nHdi&.l man. who, with bis jNfeHIM e>f. Wok in every juowweut i pf ihe poer sunerer. ?' Such whs U»e niisc en scene of the wcH nigh a tragedy, whicu &ma*-t*4og enacted on that particular alteraooßJew .hours 4jcfore, f David EraKttUie ftad been iu the best of health, py«il (ull vigour of manhood—he was Sjbut thirty yours of age—and now so pfJfttW vital force remained in tbat frame that it was doubtful he would live till the morning. S'Buddonly the lips vl tbe unconsci-m-iJfoß'tman were seen to move. tefSf.* :l 4#t«ra V Laura <," he murium 01, IgjpMl at the words a strange look gjjlfattMd. over the doctor's face as be gpacta ; 4toWß and'listened. fife. 1 ' Again, in a voice scarcely mora |E,.than a whisper, came the words, |g&# Laura, my daring." 'thereupon, having gently laid on I ggfthe coverlet the hand he had bewa i hofctinf, res* front the chair ami |£s,. wftttied" lo the window, lie stood Rtyihero with bis face buried la his #' bands, and the nur.se could see that 0 fee was greatly agitated, howEpSttrter, put it-down to the fact of the gT-jdose friendship with David Jsrskjne, supposed that cool practipVUenee, though he was he must naturfcel the Miihien calamity which oVertoken' his friend. iiS;r"Vben bo returned to his.sea* by bedside she 'noticed that be-.was fe *ery pale. In the .course of half an Kr-iiour, mack teh tits'relief of the silent ?£* jnatcbers. signs were observed that sm» ***> r charge was returning to couy Baousnes*. and soon afterwords he K-epened his ejes. Mf? £* he caught'sight of the doctor 2*. be snuled faintly. •••Ah, you, Char"i he. gasped. . '•' Where am 1 ? " .".¥oa»ve Had a hasty spill, cW Wj man, and must be Quiet for a bit," S -he answered his friend. "And n„w jfe* tnust kave you for a few hours, Wj/tpvb V shall return later." §jjff* Jfe <iad.*been Two years on Marie-, having come straight out from Country, but such uphill did he find tho building up a te,fce that even then he was aerioueiy considering an offer which

Mi recently been mads to him of an wristantahip \o a. leading specialist Itt'LomWb. < £K3k iaifcred Ins ' ■ cosy surgery and '' down in a large easy ' chair, and as ho latf. there the light »«**« * shaded reading laiup fell full iti on hja face, 4l j, *gtod deeply, and it was evi- ■ dent from the pained expression on countenance, an expression so : "'foreign to those handsome features,

"My God I .11 it should be the i t 2** *" y muttcred passionately, as patod ate hand over hjs foretajadj ;• Ll*" 1 she'could not play s«eH a double game. So i I cannot - Wrere it."

Sto-- ."»«, as if an idea had suddenly f E "<»wrred to him, he jumped up, and K£rw*oteg to a writing tabic at the other of die room be opened « drawE~ *-"* d took a therefrom. p **• Bstnrnmg to his chair beside tho ho sat down again, and holdf- ipg the portrait in front of him for jp '' tome time ho seemed to study cvev feature or the. face there portrayed. g<; ' *No ! " he said decisively, "1 shall fcfl».«i not doubt you.. God forgive me for »■ harbouring such a base thought," Jj ' and he slipped the photograph into Wl his pocket. A few minutes later he went to pay *• his promised visit to his fi;end. ij- J He remained some little time with -"*. the invalid, then, having seen him ',., coraforlajda for the night, and huvrf "ioji given the nurse her lino 1 instruc- * *~i tivas, ha took, his departure. , * ,As be neat downstairs he met ono. ", of the nurses carrying a basket of eJtfluisitg roses, and he stopped to looK at some of the blooms. "' These are for Mr Krsklne," said the woman. " They came this afternoon."

Then, just at that instant, ho caught sight of an envelope attached '. to tho basket, bearing the words, "' With food Jove from Laura." and •> . as.fce looked at the familiar hand- , .writing his eyes seemed glued to the • apofc " What was tha't he saw ? Then Ms- feurs had not been groundless," ' fee thought, and with on effort he said, " Oh, yea, they arc very pretty," and made his way down to the „. door. 7,, ■ It was with a sickening sensation at bis heart that he walked home- < , .wards that night, and by the time * * he had reached his rooms lie had made up his mind to accept the London appointment, » » • » 11 •" I should advise you to soe Gre- -■* -, yille." °* Scarcelj a day passed that theso «." words «ere not addressed by one ucr?v. eon or another, with the result that ?W y ttae .welMnrnishcd waiting and con--t sidling tooin.s at 496, Hurley-street, >' were sebloui empty—a fitting tesli-~-j. lnony to the skill and repute of Dr. ■./' Charles GrevUlo> to whom they belonged. TOelve years had come and gone-. . " Since ha left Xustralia for London, in order to take up his posilian as assistant to the late Dr. , the ■ famous throat specialist, and when his principal died he had succeede.l to his practice—a practice which was "■»' becoming every year more and more lucrative I I A great favourite with nil his nuinf ly a matter of surprise that he still jW' remained a single man. and if any *■ of his friends ventured to mention the & subject to him they were usually mot li wfth a shake of the head, or drew SjL forth suoh a remark as " 1 have no Sjf. -time for such things." NotwithEJ£ standing his (ive-aHd-Xor(y years, and Eg *'she fact that here and there his.hnir Hp streaked with grey, he was still Hj* a strikingly handsome man, and were, the women who would Wv have been proud to bear his name. W'* t f On a certain morning, early in DeLg tanner, when, in London, the lighl' of day was- a't a minimum, he was at his wiitirts table in his P* well-appointed consulting room, engaged in loosing over Hie nun.e-. of tho various persons with whom he had booked appointments for that Bay. jl [ on the Hs» was Madame • ~ ?ViHu»r, Ihe famous sieger, who; had, g_. recently taken-London by storm ' '*

(. n the next uionenl a tall, beautifully , dressed woman was admitted to his presence. Their eyes met. , " You, Laura ! " ho oxcliimcd. > At the sight of him her face had grown pale, but she quickly recover- ' ed herself and extended her hand. " "'yes, il is I, but—l—had no idea that you were the renowned Dr. GreifiUe..'i < The touch of her hand scut the 1 blood cursing through his veins with . furious energy. | '•' But what is the meaning of this ? " hw asked, taking up the visiting card which lay on the table. She smiled, •' Well, that is my card," she replied. | " What ! You are the celebrated |Singw whose name is in everybody's mouth ? " She nodded. " Hut sit down," ho continued, as he drew up a chair for her. " lam jOnly beginning to realise that it is yeu. Ah ! 1 Ijpg jour pardon ! 1 forgot that you had called to sea 'me professionally," and he sat down in his usual place beside the table. I " Yes, 1 believe 1 did, Dr. Orejvillc," and she emphasised the words "■ but 1 have made np my mind that the consultation can wait." '•Which means, he interposed, "that ou have faith in Dr. Greville, but not in Charlie Greville, 1 suppose?" " X 0.,. certainly not," she replio:!. " I am glad of that," he said, •"for I consider it a feather : in my cap to havo my advice sought by a distinguished person." " Oh, ridiculous nonsense, Charlie —I may call you Charlie, mayn't 1? know you are just as famous as I am. Let us talk of Mm old [days," *. "He pressed his hand over his brow. "Yes, those' dear old days," -he aid. "Who would have thought that the girl who used to sing at charity concerts ;n Marievillc would one day make a name for herself ? " " And who would ever have fancied," she put in, " that the young struggffing doctor in Marievillu would one day become a leading authority in Loßdon ? " down at the red coals. WOKm S For several minutes 'there was silence, broken only by the measured tick, tick of the clock. Then he returned to his place beside her, and she observed that tho expression on his face had changed. •' Yes, Laura," he said earnestly, l"wcr-at least I—have been fortunate in many ways-, but—" he hesitated, I" But what '.' " she asked. " Oh nothing ! " he answered somc- ■ what abruptly lit an altered voice, as if he suddenly deisred to _ change the subiect. " By the way, I do believe I have a programme of one of 'your concerts in my pocket." As he pulled out a bundle of letter's and papers some of them fell to the floor, and amongst them was a photograph, which lay; there face upjpermost. He bent down and hastily snatched it up but it was too late. " Laura," he usked '•' did you see that ? " but the question was superfluous. The deep crimson on her checks told him so. " Yes, Charlie," she answered in a low voice. " Do you know what that means?" She made no reply. " I dare say," he went on, " I am mad to speak to you thus, for it was all an accident this—this happening. I have not seen or heard anything of Dave for years, but ho .used to be my friend, and—" but ho Igot n» further. t, " What do you mean ? " she asked quickly, looking up at him. " w 'hy, David Erskine and you were engaged, were you not?" "No ! Xover ! What riiade vou th'ink that ? "■ At her words a gleam of hope flashed through his mind. " Do you remenkbor when he came by a'.severe bicycle accident?" "Yes, perfectly," she replied. •' Well,when he was lying in a private hospital at 16, Montague-street, you sent him a baeket of flowersroses they were—with a ticket bearing the words, ' With love from Laura.' so naturally 1 thought—" " What ! I sent him flowers ? " she exclaimed in amazement. '■' Oh I sie it all now ! What did I say a short time ago about arriving at iiasty conclusions ? Why, I used to send flowers every second day to an old uncle ef mine who was' laid up for many months as 16, Jlontacue street." " And his name was ? " asked the doctor quickly. "Alexander Erskine," she replied slowly. He scaic-ly realised what, her answer meant to him, and for a few moments he sdt with his face buried m his Hands

At fast he looked up " But, Erskine-David. Erskinc loved you. I am sure of that ; in fact he raved about you when he was "- Ir*!™ * at '" was hcr r «P'J'Jticn you were not engaged ? ftd y.u not like him ? ' JLUS*' Wm '" answered, Z P £hJ was somd ono whom I liked better."_Georee Kathven, in M.A.P. ««ugo