LITERATURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7822, 15 May 1905, Page 4

LITERATURE.

THE DIFFICULT* OF HUGH CHESTER. On a long chair, in the coolest of garments, with a glass of something' refreshing at his elbow, Hugh (Chester fay, puffing cigar smoke from his lips "as he dreamily gazed away from Iho shade of Wis cool veranda into the luxuriant tropical vegetation that bounded the small clearing in which' his house stood on the high mountains above Colombo. /Hugh' was a successful coffee-plant-er, and ho had not become that without energy and hard work, and it was only during this hour of heat, when man and beast must rest if they would live, that he allowed himself to dream, even of the letters of Ihe young girl "who was now on her way • toCoylon to marry him.

' The one he held in His hand ran as follows :

" Pear Old Hugh,—After all lam coming out by the ' Palawan * Instead of the ' Somali,' which will get me out a fortnight sooner than jfipu bargained for. I hope yon will not be sorry ; if you arc. you will have to disguise your feelings, for I shall have started by the. time you have ,g|ot* this. The reason I have changed my adamantine mind is that I Kaxe arranged to go out with my ~ oW friend,. Kathleen Bertram, who

,juusi gw oy uiai Doat 10 join ner lather. He will meet her at Colom-Ibtt-ana take her on tp Calcutta. We, v snail both be under the care of the C&ptata, so you need not be anxious how I shall behave. " You funny old thfag ! Why should you think I might not love you when I Baw you? If you only Knew, what a dull miserable life you were taking 'me from here ! You may be sure I should find anyone , charming after the loving, kindness of my step-mother. And then, if you saw my clothes,! Father has been qutte generous. I suppose he is so delighted fti get rid of the element of,.djßCord; tand is anxious at the last to make up for the years of miserHness. Well, you know he really has been miserly, and I have ne-

vet had even decent clothes to wear before. You may imagine, therefore, hflw :. much I love you already for procuring me freedom and clothes, and even some fun, I hope. " I'm. sorry my photo will not be

■™"j ui uuiu io sena you, But 1 hope you wHI Enow me. If I should chance to miss you I will go straight to the house of your friend, Mrs GrinJey. That will be all right, I suppose ? I am tremendously excil- * ed. No time for more.—Your ever . , loving. Kit.' 1

*t It was more like the letter of a p child going away on her first visit " ( ■ . Utaa that of a woman coming Across the ocean to marry the man '<•' OI her choice, and Hugh could not \ repress a feeling- of di'snjppointcmnjt thai there was no hint of anything; i deeper, but he checked a sigh, and f-,' % asj* half aloud;: *"Hx>w rediculous to expect her to t . me, whom she has not ■ „ seen since she was a child of nine I" And a. .smile came to his face as he conjured up the image of his prettj;.,little hot-tempered cousin throwing* her doll at his head because he had suggested that her treatment o{

it ! Stes rather drastic for a loving t mother. Shomehow he Had always fcit an " affectionate interest in the untraini ed, motherless girl, so easy to lead, *~ *S5l""" Impossible, to drive ; and when her" father married again, and

she was. packed off to a 'boardingschool, he began a desultory correspondence with her, partly to cheer hqr and encourage her l 0 work, and partly to >cheat himself into the be„lief that he, the lonely ono without father,' mother, sister, or brother, had home tics in that England to which! .heart still turned. A"' 1 lonely man of thirty, finding his pleasure in his work, and old beyond hjs years by reason of his early struggle with the world, he had, after long delicbferatfon, and in reply to miserable letters describing her constant, with her stepmother, . written her an offer of marriage, which she hod accepted without a moment's hesitation 1 . There was no need for delay, Just the time for her. to get the necessary outfit, and she started immediately. Truth to say, his heart sank, at times at the thought of his bold stroke for happiness, and he wondered whether he had dona wisely. It was ten years since he had seen her, and beyond her school-girl letters, lie Knew no tiling of what she had grown' into! Suppose she should find it impossible to love him ? This was thjr thought that troubled Mm the most. There would be no sweet period 1 'of courtship in which he might teach her to love him ; she, a mere child, would be straightway plunged into the cares and responsibilities of married life. Then in the great stilljness of the' mid-day, whon all the world seems sleeping, a thought came to him which made him start up with unwonted animation. " Bravo : The very thing • 111 go and_ join her steamer, under an assumed name, at Aden, and make love to ,her till we reach Coloiribo. I'll so' about it at once." And lie summoned Mb bearer, and began to give him thV necessary instructions about hi*) clothes. trader all his gravity and stai.lness. Hugh.Chester was at heart Still youthful and romantic, and the £ flavour of adventure and romance i i ajbout the idea recommended it strongly to him, therefore it was with a light heart that he boanlel the steamer at Colomnbo, a wesK later, to meet the Palawan at Aden. The first evening that he took his seat, under the name of Hugh Chichester, at the dining-table in the huge electric-lighted saloon of the great liner, he let his eyes wander curiously among the guests, wondering in an amused manner if he would be able to pick out his fiancee in the crowd of ladies present: for beyond a vague remembrance of a child with a shock head of brown hair and rather light eyes, either Woe or grey, heKad no idea of her personal appearance, and he coultl _; picture tow himself what she might .'•j hare become as a woman. . At ..iMtaSStJ eyes rested on the jprl seated on' his left, and a wish was immediately formed thit it * Wight be she. She was tall and slender, with tho * pleasing slenderness of a girl's lialfp developed figure. Her face, fair and gt~ delicately tinted, was lighted by a M pair of largo grey eyes, with" sweeps Epj- inj; lashes, that added a mysterious fe'rf depth to their colour ; while* the dark j pfcji*- .brown of her wavy hair gave a dis- * - Unction to her appearance«tfiat was jp- a charm in itself, *a Hugh, however, sternly told hini- &» sell that there was only one person £j to fall in love with, and u' e must Si,r {eel no interest in anyone till be ys was sure it was the right one. jjGj Nevertheless, his heart gave a %&*■ *&**& oi Joy when, as she rose from g-» the table, tho card thai had marked &■ • her place-fell to the ground, and he Up.',-' -TWtf <flj ft, -'-'Miss JJurton," Hoivev-

er, to make sure, he approached tl:e 'captain and questioned him. | '■' Why, yes," he replied, " that i Miss Burton. She is under my care till we reach Colombo, whore, lb-, lieve, she is to meet thtf man she is going to marry. Lucky man. 1 say. I wisJT her friend were more like her : 'pon my word, 1 shall be glad to hand that young lady over to ihcr father ! "

After this it did not take Hugh long to get an introduction to her, and before tiftfe next day was over | they were well on the way to become friends. "The more he saw of her the more deeply Hugh fell in love with her. and thje more the piquancy of the position struck him the more he congratulated himself on his luckly inspiration. As the days flow by he could see that she was far from disliking him, but he was convinced she was too unversed in these matters to see whether their friendly intercourse was leading them ; and 'he pictured his awakening to her the true state of the case at the same inie he should reveal to her that he washer real flaitcec and no stranger. Despite, however, their intimate ooling, ho was aHways met by an invincible reserve whenever he tried to ask her about her homo relations and her future in India. He 'felt it was the one thing that made her perfect. The childish outspoken'ncss in her letters was for him 'alone ; for others there was a digrii'fied reticence.. (To bo continued.)