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Show I .itHE BIRTHDAY OF ELAINE, Sho was not ehrlslvned Elnine; John f I irge called her thai'- The conduct of I arcnts In the matter he had not hesl- 1 1 j atcd to describe as abominable, ami ' ' hen her mother pointed out thut the ! jamc she had given was her own and I icr mother's? before her, he argued that, . C the family had such a skeleton in the I ( 1 upboard It was time to bury it, and i hat tho sins of the grandmother should j- jot be visited well, he 'spoke dlsre-pectfully dlsre-pectfully of grandmothers. ! Besides, she shai-ed the name with the ook, probably with many cooks. I ' "How can you face the prospect," he nd cried, "of calling your child's name nd being filled with the horror of the , )oc king of many cooks?" i So, at the time when her frocks were I lowly creeping dow'n to her ankles. ' ohn Farge came back from over seas 'nd named her Elaine: "Blaine the fair; bpP "lalne the lovable; Elaine the Illy Maid " For her skin was white as I ream, and she was slim and graceful ' s any old-time Dryad who danced to I he pipe of Pan. 1 She had early declared her intention tovcr to marry. Friends male friends j -had not been wanting who described uch .sentiments as cruel; others, older ) ien. as ridiculous. But Elaine said she : ould much rather bo ridiculous than Lb 1 married, and let the matter go at I- hat Only her mother smiled, oecause he had not forgotten the time when I ho was a maid herself; and her father I ughed. and went fishing with Elaine. 1 1 ' nd watched her cast a fly with the I 'ghtest and Hthest of rods, and. when irr basket grew heavier than his own, J , lid that. If even the cold-blooded fish Ue.l to please her, what would the hen do? ' There can only be experienced keen I ' 'egret at the necessity of turning from lainf for a moment to consider Lord 1 I Edenbridge. It was on her eighteenth f! birthday that he waff giving some de-I de-I alls of his family history to John Farge 1 nd Bertie In the orchard. His lord-I lord-I , hip ordered his conversation with an I I iry Irresponsibility that his friends I i Jlled delightful and his creditors, when hey sought him on matters of business, x.ispprating. 1 He had driven over early that after-1 after-1 loon to ring joy-bells he said so on j lie occasion of the birthday of Elaine U ( nd a chance remark of John.Farge's """Z ad called forth an effort of memory . rom the noble lord at which Bertie was rl ' bvlously bored. Pie was loathed Lord Edenbridge from tiieir first meeting, fi nd if he could not at once assign a , fiollve for his dislike, he was soon to iscover one that was allsufficleni. jU 1 1 "My wife died a few years after our Ui ' narriage." sighed his lordship Jphn fc!j ("'U'Se nodded. It was so obviously the 'ij i-st thing sho could have done. "My lr aughter ran away with my game-ceper. game-ceper. He could keep game. I don't I HilK he can keep my daughter." ! "You haven't Inquired ?" asked Bertie, i "I have not wished to Intrude on their ! ilvacy and er domestic bliss. I pre- iunie the bliss. I v "If she Is the wife of a good man " gan John Farge. tf i "It Is better than being the daughter .,jl f a than being my daughter," said 1 ord Edenbridge, laughing softly. "May j i e, but I think she liked me, though I L 4 , as her father. It is not fashionable lli;e your parents nowadays. ij ("Was she your only child?" queried n ' (, al'sre' 1110 re from a sense of politeness u $ lan InteresL yJJ j "I had a son." - j, "Ho Is dead?" Jj don't know. He married a charm-1 charm-1 ri ft; lady an actress. She has had sev-iJllit sev-iJllit ral husbands, all, I believe, happily Pj' vlng." ft "T.ertle yawned widely and got up from '(1 Is chair. It was from his more cx-I cx-I lted position that he could see Elaine . ''P'111"!? the gate of the orchard. He (inrrled through the trees to meet her. F i I "Don't come In, Elaine," he said; i )i!'F;denbr'Uec iH tere, talking to John il'riarse Cme fr a walk; none of your , J ,if.uests will be here for an hour yet." If K s, Elaine hesitated for a moment. S CI "F&n't we carry off Mr, Farge?" J ilRTo walk In the meadows with John 1 i, 'V'arge was to read in the book of NTa-I NTa-I jl Au c and learn her secrets. Elaine It trcely acknowledged to herself the larm of his companionship. ' U ',8 "Ire's a11 rleJU," said Bertie; "he's j ,; 2tpming the family history of the Eden-. Eden-. i HVldges He could write a book about lirlfiT on,y !l u'oulllr-,t be fit for publica-1 publica-1 Jion " 550 Lhey wandered in the mead-irdjr.s. mead-irdjr.s. ciuhlcen and twenty-one. And i 1 fil01'110 chattered gayly and looked very ' fl,lnd80'Me as an olllccr of the King's Ml'iV1 shou,d do- Kut Elaine often f V. ifl'irjo. htm and thought of John Farge, 't vj itr his square, solemn face and deep if Wict Ir a merry party at dinner ftTfL11' 1 l'c-1,nS. -Tohn Farge made a little thdiy speech, ending It with a few SilWjCS o Pelr" 150 !'ad found in his heart 1 i"r,d written down, but which may not ! ' rn Klvrn although they were very 'j ( j "uiiLuui, ana J-jiaine remembers them ' (US ihlc day. Bertie contributed chatter i 1 sBat. If not witty, was always bright j-H'nd never ill-natured; and several ' 3Wroune' ladies temporarily lost their ".-arls to the handsome middy; while (i Krd Edenbridge forgot to be cynical HK Ut1'1 niad0 a vor' ?Oil dinner. Elaine H next her father at tho head of the H' 1 cSr)c very l)Ioilsjei1 antl nappy. Only J :IFr mothf'1 was glad and sorry, happy i A ''ld unhappy, for it Is part of the trag-'51- ly of niotharhood that children cannot hi Uwiy.s br children. , S. t It was an hour after'dlnner when Ber-came Ber-came to John Farge In tho smoklnc-V smoklnc-V iom. ij'r'Come out, Farge," said ho. "I'm raw'lrod oC talking to a gang of girls and ' r f laine a lost." ' j V "Lost!" j "Oh, keep cool l" urged Bertie. "Eden-VJc "Eden-VJc rldgc Is lost, too." 3lJonn Forse said nothing, but followed H'trMrrtI lnl th0 ai'den- 'lii rWi,ats it mean?" demanded that 1 bung gentleman, as they entered the j,1., chard, having avoided the rest of the Hd&'W'- ''1isavr Edenbridge talking to ITflalne just as v.-c finished dinner, and dVLfey've been as thick as thieves ever Mfncc. Now they've vanished clean j, :-ne; I've looked In every part of the J' ounds." It was not from lack of ft . terest that John Farge did not reply JPb may, however, have been but a trick tit 5 tne fading light that made his face t ok -c-ry write. "I say." continued W irtle, "you don't think she's likely to tfi-t ? No: that would be Impossible" 'rftij"! do not think Elaine would care for 0J nFrd Edenbridge in that way," said r.-'ihrge. . 'F-a l "0 course nt! She never could stand t )m- ire'8 beon a heast, and he's fifty C,, . Its absurd to think for a minuto i , Bertie broke off sharply and gripped HiL i ,nn Tfsa'a arm as If he would crush Hlet "Look"' he gasped. l? iiiFor a moment there was Eilcnce, tho M'nJiT0 faring before them In blank ; 3,nazement. Then Farge drew Bertie L ;! vay V(o "it lB Vt right to play the' spy," he said quietly. "Let us go back to the others." It was a strange picture they had seen, clouded by the dusk, but plainly vlslbie Lord Edenbridge holding the hands of Elaine, and' she, even no they watched, raising her face to his and kissing him. From the window of his bedroom, a few minutes later, John Farge saw Elaine and Lord Edenbridge cross tjie lawn and enter the house. He felt stunned; Incapable of the effort of realizing real-izing the event and its consequences, caring only to be alone for the luxury of silence and relief from the Intolerable strain of sorrow that must be hidden. But, as he loaned out of the window, Elaine came on the terrace below, looking look-ing about her as if seeking some one. For a moment ho watched her silently; then, although his mind had been fixed not 1? speak with her again that night, he called softly "Elaine! Elaine!" She looked up quickly. "Why. what are you doing up there?" she cried. "Come down at once!" So, realizing that his mind, with the great renunciation it had achieved, was but a poor thing, John Farge went down. "I am the happiest girl In the world tonight," said Elaine, uh they sat to-, gether on the terrace. "Every one Is so good to me!" "More presents?" queried Farge. "Oh, a wonderftthprcsent the best of them all!" Gloom settled more deeply on John Farge. His own present was Included In "them all." His voice was mournful when he said he was glad. "You will understand In a minute," said Elaine, quick to notice his trouble. "I have a story to tell." "Who gave you this wonderful thing whatever It is? Who has made you so happy?" "Lord Edenbridge," answered Elaine. "Umph!" grunted John Farge. "I believe you are sorry I am happy. I thing you're cross." . "Not a bit. "Won't you get on with the story?" "You've heard of Lord Edenbrldge's dauglijer, who ran away with one of the gamekeepers on his estate a few miles from here? Well, she's living In the village, awfully poor, because her husband died a year after they were married. I found out who she was a little time ago, and what do you think I've done?" "Heaven knows!" cried Farge; adding, add-ing, more softly, "it's sure to be something some-thing heaven would know." "I told Lord Edenbridge all about it; took him to the village after dinner din-ner this evening I chose my birthday birth-day purposely and he has promised, as her husband Is dead, to forgive his daughter and put her In her right place again." Xot a muscle of John Farge's square face had moved: there must be more to hear. "So, after a birthday feasting, the queen liberated a prisoner." said he. The queen nodded gleefully. "And what did you say to his lordship lord-ship when he was so kind?" "Shan't tell," raid the queen, saucily. sau-cily. "I thanked him." "In the orchard." added John Farge. Up jumped Elaine. "You saw?" she cried. Then, before be-fore he could speak, "I don't care if you did. He was a dear, and I'll never hear a word said against him." She sat down again, and there was silence for a moment. Suddenly Elaine, who had been thinking, broke out: "If you saw and didn't know you thought Oh, no, you couldn't have thought that?" "But if I did think that?" "I should never care for any man well enough to kiss him because I cared for him," announced Elaine, with conviction. "Such a thing has beon done." suggested sug-gested John Farge, thoughtfully. He had risen, and was leaning with his elbow on the parapet, looking down on Elaine, lying back In her chair. "You're sure never?" he asked, presently. There was certainly a momentary hesitation and John Farge noticed It before she answered. She had Incautiously In-cautiously looked up. He was looking down. But Elaine said again, "I'm quite sure never!" Next morning, as Elaine was lending lend-ing her garden, she was thinking of certain matters and singing softly tho while. His lordship had gone to town, and with him his daughter. Elaine was not to be Lady Edenbridge. Well, she sang none th& less happily for that. And Bertie had departed to join his ship, not to return for many months. She liked Bertie, and would be glad to fee him again. John Fnrge, too, had gone, and Elaine stopped singing when she thought of that. But he was coming back; just three days long they would be, but only days, after all. And Elaine went on singing. sing-ing. Harold Ohlson In the Sketch, |