THE STORY TELLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 48, 15 February 1908, Page 3

THE STORY TELLER.

TH£ PHOTOIaph. IBy Herbert Mi^ou.; irt, Llieeiliaiu was mfenaiug altcr-U..-..M ... m the drawiuMuui, »ueu the u..», ~. lur fiancees p.« y Wia lrokl . n ■ 11.-, .-aid llrs. HaMrv auddeu'.v, """ i : lur her »ccoudiß ' ami some »ertwl . uver f or thc -.., uo.» aid Jlr. .\tu-u, tIIJOJ , !lia niu.oi uuc on Aloud*)! ! ji « tueetkam was too, surprised to be uisu'rei. Had one bfeu Du a«r guara. •ut; viouia have sinilet pfeasantly, repiioi uoUcbaUntly, U% v e ry much. 1 oe.ieve, and passed onto inquire allecnoiuieiy alter Jlrs. |tanl. U ry's baby. lakeu completely abaci, sk, merely cv ciaiuie.i, with-open-eyeo woiider: ■ AliAor tide! I newr knew " .i... tneu, perhaps 1 sfkuidn't 11.1.C cau ji...inuig about a. ilui ytr. .Sewiuu -vuiued to tie enjoying uuusclt so luu.u tuat 1 made sure he would lia.e lull! j ou. 11 ..js useless to pati ih' matter jff now. lour pairs eyee— sjxc all iemijnue—»er« ciosely uau'tung her. »»uere did you see ainn!" "be was in a motor coming up Highgate iim. I was going uo>vu m a tram; 01 course, he uiuut bcc.uic. It was tne iamsous car. There were onl' lAMlauu and Air. .Ncwloa in ii.- " .\u chauueur!' inquired one horrined listener. "On, ul course, theix wai the chaufleur, out lie sat in trou- 1 didn't reck. on mm.'

"liighgate UiU," »ak lri=, = hortly, "» not tue tind of mil coe . ;i .r; to walk. up-' 1 J but that did not se\ik : x matter-* at least, not lor hex.' in 0 .juestio* were still unanswered.'. \Vh;- was Alt IQ -Newton in the neigabeuW ,i of Hillgate Hill at all. Aio, -■ uy wasfie ascending it in the Lbdsons' utotor-car, lete-a tele with the undeniably pretty AUlly Dodson: i The Abernethy Ko*iwb-t« the Dodoous and Cheetaams lljth V-side, k, a •elect suburban thoroutht..- Ko oae in it keeps less than tit, ,t> \ants, probably half-a-dozen (at the u»«t) rise to three. The Uudsons aJ e : h. c nly people that attain to the luxury of owning a motor-car. 1 That ttx, kept at * local garage, u alluce tie pride and envy ot all other lhabitlnts of the road; to tne CheethtT, inneed, it is a veritable thorn in tUßasshTJ The CUeetham girls—there is bouncer one than Iri, at college—have publicly given out that their lather, Major (Lneetham, is too devoted to homfa e veJ to take to molbnng. To his int'i-p Lersonal discomfort, the Majoi 1 ;a.Je to hire a horse about once eve:*, ■_ ;V jo months in order to give artistic.' ; iSimilitude to the statement. J | that f. long, but every word of it is "jie. K. You understand jfi iri s Che-t----b.iu f r\ljbJitrZ\n\ jearut-' :t ' her lover •""* wen wita the J>>- on girl in tn motor. /hat night Alfred .Newton came, as Jffiul. to thefcbeethams' house. Iris rerevived him iMlly. After urumming a f little with on tire elbow of the sofa bluntly »lnt was "1 Alfred," s'le pouted, " that to be any secrets b>> tneen us.^^H My i have non>-" "Uh. have. You rever told me abouX ride in the Delsons' motor-car.'' ( lie laJgbcd. I "WliJ told ycu!" ".Never mind!; 'ou were sceS, that'* quite sfifncient.lai'i there's a ireadful lot of i-ossip ab'liut it. I must ay I uo think ft fast." \ -fait! Why their cuauffeuA'rircs tin: tifiug at the'pace 01 a heaMi N Uut tbcrcJyou're aoft in the mood ■ wiug tei;i-< I. What ct »e did you heaK •• vlu'.y— who »as ihc other <Bpant of tit ear!" V "•/% I say, di n't be jealous! yherc no ca use- Shall I tel you how it, aU aflnHftto'i*-" "It you promise to tetl ore >it ausolute truth." "**"■

"Of course! There's nothing to keep back. Well, Miss Dodoon drove into town to bring her father out. She often does that, I believe, on fine days. Dodson's office is next door to mine in J-eadenhall Street." "indeed!" " 1 can't help it, oi course, but it is ii-\t door; there's no getting over that. 1 had knocked off business tor the day. and came out ot the building en route lor the railway station. There was the Hvd-ou's car standing by the side of the kerb. Milly Dodson in it, and her father on the pavement talking to her. I bow.'d, and was passing on, when he caught me by the arm. 'Sewton,' he »aid. • bow would you like to drive home iiijjHXcarr Milly nas come to fetch me, but rvt an important board meeting ou, and can't possibly leave for an hour and a half at' the earliest. Do jump in—there's a good fellow—and take my place.' Well, of course, it isn't every day one gets the chance of a spin in a motor. I jumped in and—that's all." Irt looked stonily in front of her without speaking a word. " Haven't you anything to say 1" he asked.

•t'uly this! Suppose the chauffeur had been alone in the car, would vou have got in!" " Certainly I Look here, Iris, you're most absurdly jealous. There's not the ■■lightest ground for it. i can't thinkhow you can petribly be so small." "Small? U' He was really angry now. "Yes, smaU and petty In tne extreme." There was no reply Irom Iris, sate team galore.

They were still falling when, half .in hour earlier than Uiiul, Alfred took his unhappy leave. Subsequently, in the privacy of her room, Iris dried her eyes, and prooeedod to the concoction ol""a scheme of revenge. He had accused her of smallness and pettiness. From any man the accusation would have been insulting; from a lover, who ought to say nothing but what was pleasant, it was positively hateful. Was Alfred's ow n nature so big and onerous tV" he could afford tii launch these unt e charges at her? Had he not a taiL at anv rate, of the jcalou-y which he ol dHared was -Jcvonline her: Ah. that was it. .'he mu-t make hiai j<'al"ii-. Not only make him icahm-. nut make him admit hi- jealousy! Th n pea.-c would be re-established'between them, and the sun would shine oimv more. .Now, how was the thine to \« worked?

Tlw idea came with morning light. ago, before uer engagement io Alfred, there had Veu anotlier aspirant tn her hand—a distant cousin of hers. >ed Morris by name. Ned, although a nice boy, had one of those hopeless artistic temperament, that fall short of artistic fulfilment; lie never succeeded in anything, was Usually iu debt, an I, of ...iir-e. wholly impo-ible ~- ~ ],„.. lend. Alfred, a practical Im-iiic*- mm without any arti-ti.- leaning-, naturallv di-.pi-.-d bin. utterly.

In ham broupnT Ned liim-elt now up <m the tieM would have lieen lovely, leu that -il.i-1 was impossible; he was. in ,1 <!'.t.,:u part of the world, and had not li-n heard ol for month-. However. she (■■iil'l. ami would, do the next l>est lliin-. In a drawer upstairs lull of o.Uand end, there was a large photograph "I Ne,|. taken in costume, on an occasion when he and she were acting in «,ni«amateur theatricals. Once Alfred had exprced a dislike to the photograph (Inhaled '■ to see a fellow make such in absolute guv of luWlfi, an ,i *„,,_ these were the early daya 0 f the en pgement, of course—had prompt Iv ban i*hej it to obscurity. Sow, she would resurrect it. *|„. would place it in the very centre of the drawing-room mantelpiece, where Alfred would be sure to see ir»t once. She pie. lured his dispuat a« his eves fell on it She would lei him (hink that, since last evening's estrangement her heart hid been turning; fondly to .Ned. and that that was the reason of the pictures ,u-j. uen resurrection. Then, of course. l,i, jealousy would blaze forth. She would awu.se him of smallness and pettiness. After the first ,1 10 , K „f surprise \. e would *nrren,Jer and plead her for-ire- »'»>. TTiere would lie tender words of reconciliation. -e.i1.,1 l,v kiss,.,, and ell would lie as W'fort, t |ie likeness that hid worked the oracle beinjr packed -ip--l»ir. again like a disgraced ,1,11.1 Itv Id a.m. \e,l\ photograph, .leaned with bread-crumbs, occupied the tocnior I"*" 1 in t li'.inina-r.ioiii inanltd•belt. If na. three ..'.J.,, L th.. same afternoon. "A gentleman In- ,',ii:.-,| to -... yoi. "-Vot sfr. NVwtOllV 11.T •!-,..llfdlfr harped on the cue string

"No, Miss! .\ gentleman A'\y never seen WJore. I\c a-ked run! into the drawing-room. / / "But didn't he give yftu/hw name.*' 1 "No, Miss, ne wouTan'JN /But lie looked quite the geutleni&fl,/ Aliw, or 1 shouldn't, of course, hare to' nira '"" Iris flew to her roofflf to tidy n * r ua ir. Person. wEo gave no £mes were usually after subscriptions, /but whoever the mysterious visitor might I*- nothing was to be gained by apnfearing dowdy in his presence. She'hadß suspicion, too, that it might be a *'ri(Snd «* Alfred's with an olive brunch. She turned u« jr«wing-room handle and entered. Aj»i»a- was standing on tne hearth-rue "frill his back to her, keenly content; • :tiug Ned's photograph on the mantel-s: If/Tlie figure swerved round, and she isfed—Ned Morris himsell. )n her surprise -he f He came f big, bronzed has c ">ed!" "Comeback?" " Vc. I'm back. Don't look bo startled! I'm ftr too much sunburnt to be a ghost."/ / '• But—iouf—never—wrote." "Not fb a living soul. I wanted to take you all by surprise. Iris, how you've gVcwn!" "N(H«ase!'' "Oh, bit vou're inches higher, or is 't the h*»ej*' It's good to be home again, good to come back and tind such a welcon*/ nwaiting one. AU the way here I was/ tainking—how would Iris receive ni.lt How would she look upon oue w/>, fcve years ago, dared to love her ? rfutt I was shown into this room, and Vttsttl staring me in the (ace, was that lli photograph of mine. I almost weat ufwn on my knees wiih gratitude; the Belief wag so tremendous." I "Ned, you don't think " "Think! 1 know. Who could lwe kept the photograph in that place of honour for five long years but you, Iris! And why! Doi't blush! It was the nicest way of keeping me in mini, wasn't it! It's a beast of a photo, but how much it has meant to you all these years I Don't speak! bet me finish first! Now I can speak with perfect confidence. Iris, you know in the old days how I loved you?" "Stop!'' - Why, what's the matter!" "Oh,can't you see!" She held up her left hand. " I'm engaged, have been for nearly two years, now. It's—Alfred Newton." Ned's next behaviour was truly astonishing. Instead of quivering like a dog under the huh, he fluug himself into a chair, and fairlv rocked with laughter. "Yes, I knew that." "Knew!" "Alfred told me himself an hour or two_ago. We met one another in the CSly, had a wh—cup of coffee together I was only joking just now. The idea came when Psaw that beastly photograph up there. Did I ever look such a fool as that picture represents me? Oh, by the way. Alfred gave me a note for you. He was going to post it; but thought it would save time if I brought it, as 1 was coming here. Better read it. JVn't mind me!" /is did read it—promptly. Her face beamed. A darling note! Alfred must have ransacked the dictionary for words of contrition. The storm was over; the sun shone again. .Neil was standing at the mantel-shelf. Suddenly he seized the photograph, and t»re it across. ""It's all right, Irw. I'll give you another likeness of me—a recent one. I'm going to put this in the fire. I shouldn't like my wife to see it." "Your wife!" " Yi-s she's waiting in a hansom at the mrner. May I bring her in*"