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Show me 01 seeing ner. m mignti favorab e circumstances, have dined her uncle 8 house in Portman b as luck would have it he had undertaken to conduct an evening class on both nights of her stay ia town. So he wrote very affectionate answer, promising that nothing short of an earthquake should prevent him from appoaSg at Lord and he at once set to work to ar-range ar-range a plot for the deception of Mr. Straightway, On the day before that on which he had promised to moet his intended Tom told his vicar that he was passing the night with a very old friend, who had just come home from India, in his rooms near Jermyn street. This, it must be said, was perfectly true, and of course Mr. Straightway could offer no valid ob- jechon, as Baxter had done all his work for the day. The next dav, however Tom slunk oil to a telegraph office and in guilty haste dispatched a wire to the effect that he was suffering from a severe se-vere attack of lumbago, but would, if possible, return in the evening, By H o'clock lie was at Lord's. The mere sight of the ground was so welcome to him that he was determined to spend as much time there as he possibly could. Ho knew, of course, that he would be certain to meet any number of his old friends, and that the whole proceeding was extremely risky, but he consoled himself with the thought that, as Mr. Straightway rarely, if ever, went into society of any sort, ho was not at nil likely to hear anything about it. So he ensconced himself in tho pavilion and awaited the beginning of tho play with i pleasurable impatience. Tho Heathcotos 1 were all enthusiastic cricketers, and ho counted on their appearance by 12 o'clock at tho latest. s.ii.1 in somewhat quavering ncveut, 'Lave hhu to me, papa. I must see him' alone." Tom pulled himself together with a jevk. opened his heavy eyes, and found himself confronted by Miss Alice Ileathcote, who stood with flushed cheeks and indignant expression at the door of the drag. "Are you awake, sir?"' siie inquired, with elaborate sternness. "Awake! ye; why not, dear?" stammered stam-mered Mr. Baxter. 'Then what, is the meaning of this! You leave me hours ago and say you don't feel well, and here I find you souud asleep when ttw play is over for the day. and wo have been sending all over tlm ground for you. And in your shirl sleeves, too!" "Good gracious! 1 l.g your pardon. 1 forgot." And, blushing scarlet, the curate cur-ate huddled on his coat. . "And they all say that you are drunk," she continued, with a half sob. "Oh, Tom, it's shameful!" "Drunk!" cried Mr. Baxter, indignantly. indignant-ly. "I should like to meet anybody who says that I'm drunk! Let me explain, darling. I'll come out now." And then ho caught sight of his vicar again and shrank back. "Is that mau never going?" go-ing?" "What man?" asked Misa Alice, with is-.pat::?o. "H;::!!y, Tcir, you must be mad today." i "Why, the clergyman, Alice, dear; do you know who he is?" "Of course I do; it's Mr, Grayson, a vicar somewhere in Yorkshire, an old college friend of papa's; they haven't met for twenty years. I'm sure he's not an alarming person in fact, the only strange thing about him is that about twenty people have mistaken him for your man Mr. straightway, you know. Are they at all alike?" "Y'es, they are rather," gaied Tom, scarcely knowing whether he stood on his head or heels. "Come and introduce him to me, darting. I'll make it all right with your father." And he did; but it will bo some time before he hears tho last of that cricket match. London Truth. pathetic butler. "Won t you nave some lunch, sir? Nobody will know." Tom smiled in his misery at the idea. After all, why shouldn't he? "Well, Binus, I really think I will." And the trusty servitor disappeared to return with a huge plateful of cold pie, a bottle of champagne and some strawberries. straw-berries. ' "Thank ye, Binus," same Tom. gratefully; grate-fully; "now go away and don't come back till the clergyman has gone. Whew! llow hot it is!" It was hot aud no mistake. On a scorching day the interior of a drag with the windows shut is about as agreeable a i resting place as the Black Hole. Tom could lut let the blinds down, so he I drank a tumbler of iced champagne, which made him much warmer than before, be-fore, though it inspired him to smile at his position. His stiff collar was growing grow-ing limp, and his' heavy black garments began to grow insupportable. "Wonder if I darp to take my coat off'" he asked himself. Tho mental answer was "Yes." and he proceeded to do so. Then he felt better, finished the plate of pie, and had another tumbler of the champagne. "I feel half inclined to go out and face him," reflected Tom, but his heart failed. He piled the dust cloaks, coats and umbrellas in one corner, and tried to make himself comfortable. Presently, Pres-ently, however, tho match was resumed, and then his real suffering began. Tom had never endured such torture. Loud applause frequeltly broko upon his ears; I shouts of "Well hit!" "Well bowled!" "Well caught!" and, sometimes, more maddening even thau these sounds, there was a deep hush of suspense in ihe noit.y crow d, or a distinctly audible sigh of relief, re-lief, which told his practiced ears that some exciting crisis of the game had come or gone. He vainly peered over the half drawn blind to catch a glimpse of the players; he could, however, see nothing but a forest for-est of black hats and variegated sunshades. sun-shades. Binng returned not Tom dared not quit his hiding place, and despair once more possessed his soul. "Suppose I'm here for the afternoon. Holy Moses, how appallingly hot it is!" (Heat is apt to relax re-lax the propriety even of a curate's language.) lan-guage.) "Wish I dared to take some more of my clothes off!" And then his eye fell on the champagne bottle, which was nearly half full. "Well, I can have another drink, at all events!" And again his troubles seemed less. He stretched himself out as well as he could, for be was a big man and the ppare was small, and by degrees he Hni3hed the Itottlo. "If only 1 had a weed," ho reflected; "haven't smoked for months, it seems years." And growing bold even to recklessness, reckless-ness, he limited in tho pockets of the other men's overcoats till he found a cigar case. When he had lit a cigar he felt comparatively at ease. It, was very hot, ho thought, but a peaceful feeling stole over him; the hum of the crowd grew fainter and fainter; the shouts of aunlause more distant: even the hammering ham-mering or sucks and muDreiias on me drag, within six inches of his head, ceased to annoy him. Ho . pulled at bis cigar less energetically; soon it fell from his lips, and the Kev. Thomas Baxter slept as peacefully as a child. He was awakened by a rough shake and shout in his ear of "Hi, wake up!" Returning to semi-consciousness he indistinctly in-distinctly heard exclamations of ."Shameful!" ."Shame-ful!" "Disgusting!" "Who would have thought it!" And then a familiar voice n university; match. I .Rev. Tliomas Blister was a curat '.Lnuwulw, energetic type, which, nnitelT for the church, is turned out frequently by our universities and schools.. He was a big, broad Hered young man, who, besides dis- himself greatly both on the Luidia the cricket field, had taken "electable degree, for 1. was by .B, afraid of hard work of on j de-..ion de-..ion Such men often make capital L and Tom was hardly less ener-:. ener-:. j his paiish work than ho had vin very different spheres of action Eaton and Oxford. But there were it, to Mr. Baxter's endurance; he dan occasional holiday, and this was only point upon which he and his jr tj,e Rev. Septimus Straightway, re'not entirely agreed. ; lie Kev. Septimus was an earnest j and took a severe and gloomy w ot the pleasures of life. He worked ribly hard in an East End parish; w nothing and cared less about out-oports-or, in fact, abort any form imiiscment; aud fully expected his ate to follow unhesitatingly in the remely narrow and steep path up icb he led them. Hence it came to s that Mr. Straightway experienced tiderable difficulty in rinding curates er his own heart; the young men were itimially leaving him for less arduous is, and the vicar's opinion of human are ia general, and of the younger leration of curates in particular, stead-grew stead-grew worse. In Tom Baxter, how-i, how-i, lie really thought he possessed a isurc, and the danger of working a ling horse to death never so much as red into his head. t Tom did his very best to satisfy . Straightway "s requirements, for ho Ily respected tho man and valued im-nsely im-nsely his good opinion, but, as has airly ai-rly been indicated, he could not help 'ing that his superior would enter .a !e more into his own harmless liking occasional relief, and sympathize li his passion for rowing and all that connected with athletics. U Hie time I write of the cricket sea-i sea-i was in full swing; but Tom's duties i not only prevented hiin from play-; play-; in a single match, but even from king on at one for a few hours from : roof of the pavilion at Lord's. More-;r More-;r the university cricket mutch, in ilchhe took an absorbing interest, was t approaching, and hd was sorely . ublwl by the dread that ho might not able to see it., This fear haunted him , yand night;'-it- worried him during, visiting and mission work, spoilt his t aud occasionally obtruded itself The match commenced in due course, j but upon its varying fortunes it is not necessary to dwell. Tho Heathcotes also urrived, and Tom at once took up a position posi-tion on the drag by the side of MissAlicc, the warmth of whose greeting speedily bari)ied all fears and qualms of con-8cL.,co con-8cL.,co from his breast. Nothing, in fact, could have been more perfect than Mr, Baxter's happiness up to the luncheon lunch-eon interval. His stentorian "well hit" or well bowled" could be heard a hundred hun-dred yards away; he chipped his hands, stamped and waved his hat like the veriest veri-est schoolboy, and. meanwhile he was unremitting in his attention to the girl of his heart. Two o'clock struck. The bell rang for lunch, aud the occupants of Mr. Ileathcoto's draz prepared for. tho substantial meal which forms so prominent promi-nent a feature of the two great matches at Lord's. Tom by no means despised creature comforts. Mr. Straightway's curates were expected, at all events when with him and on duty, to follow their vicar's example in asceticism, so a good lunch was very acceptable .to him. He had supplied Alice's wants, and was in the act of lifting to his mouth a piece of salmon, when suddenly he turned pale, his .jaw fell, his eyes dilated, and the piece of salmon," accompanied by the fork, fell unheeded to the ground. It was too true. Beside the very next drag, talking to a gentleman on the box seat, stood a tall, lean man, in clerical attire, whoso figure was horribly familiar to the guilty curate. He could not be mistaken, it was Mr. Septimus Straightway, Straight-way, though what could have brought the reverend gentleman to Lord's was beyoud Tom's imagination. The vicar -had his back turned, and evidently did not suspect his curate's proximity. Instant In-stant flight was the only hope. - "Good gracious, Tom!" cried Miss Alice, "what on' earth is the matter? You look as white" as a sheet!" V "I don't feel very well, dear. Excuse me one minute," stammered Mr. Baxter. And he rose hurriedly, upsetting his plate, and jumped to the ground. Just us he reached terra Anna he saw the clergyman shaking hands with his friend on the box seat; he was turning toward Mr. Heathcotes drag; in another second detection would follow. Tom glanced hurriedly round; the door of tho drag 'was open and no one was looking. He accordingly plunged in head foremost, shut the door, and to make assurance doubly sure, pulled up the wooden blind. Then he breathed more freely. But what on earth would the Heathcotes think? A confederate was absolutely necessary. The Heathcotes' family butler, Mr.Binns, was an old friend of Tom's, and might be relied upon. Baxter espied Binns opening a bottle of champagne, and attracted at-tracted his attention as noiselessly as possible. "Binns!" he whispered, in great agitation, agita-tion, "please say to Miss Alice that I am not well, and that I have gone to take a walk, to bathe my head-say anything, Biuns-but for' mercy's sake don t e her .know that I'm in here. , Don t let anybody know. You won't, will you? he continued, piteously. . Mr. Binns thought that Tom was off his head, but his impassive face betrayed D0"c"erKy , sir. Any other message?" No' that will do-and, Binns, come back here at. once; I want you to do something else." "Yessir." The message caused some little surprise sur-prise and much sympathy. V "Poor fellow!" said Miss Alice; it aU comes from working so hard in those terrible slums, and never taking a hoh- dl,VVhen Binni' returned Torn asked him the same agitated whisper: . Did you notice a tall, thin gentleman -a Clergyman-standing beside the next drag just now?" "Y'es, sir." ,., -"Do you see him now.' . r ..yes, sir," said Binns; also wh.sper- ine, "he's a-standing close by. -Good gracious!" murmured Tom. ..LSerefcomeandteUmewhenher S And Tom pulled up the other wooden bld half way. and cowered on the floo iand move utU fC'Sn personage was absent for no .thVS-gover old Cambridge times. I never waited on SSutf-W thecuratein despair. "Of course, omm was at ? r lasXatherere Cambridge, k h MIlie of Prov,-oMfnend. Prov,-oMfnend. How" , J t" vL kno v 1 mi stop herettll & ,WSoTrtau.lr. dr.- said the svni- tin him in the pulpit. . Even the absent nded Mr. Straightway at' length noil no-il that his curate's mind was' ill at c. and one day lie went so far as to lure lu-re the cause. Tom stammered out lethins about being out of sorts, and iiured to hint that he thought & day's : lay would do him good. U'lien I was your age, Mr. Baxter, I sr wanted a holiday," replied the tere vicar; "but you are certainly not Ling well. Let me sea. today is the Ii of June. In about a fortnight I k I can arrange a day for you. Sav 12th of July." '-'an't it be managed a week sooner?" lid Tom, desperately, for the uni-Mty uni-Mty match was fixed for the 4th. Quite impossible, I fear," said the sr, decisively, for he was a terrible "met with his curates. So, with a eof liia hand, be dismissed the sub-Md sub-Md Tom knew that further appeal useless. 't's rather too bad," grumbled Mr. wr.us he walked homo to his humble '"gs. "But it is no use talking to 1 Mut cricket; ho doesn't know a bat a ball." And with a heaw heart I !"W to resign himself to tho inevi-if. inevi-if. it two days later a circumstance oo-:ii oo-:ii which entirely routed Torn' vlr-:s vlr-:s "solutions. A letter arrived at "wend gentleman's lodgings which touched in the following terms: ' illl- T nEACOTK HIX, LOAUSU1RE. ,,' l01i-W(! are actually coming to town! wto days, though; and wo am going to hi fn atch- Uncl8 ),na ot a dra8 of eouvsa I Bhall never forgive " JMi don t come and see me; on Wednesday '0,'" 8' Essex to stay witU theChil- tun in our only chance of meetinjj. Do B'nb:e haste. Yours lovingly, Alice. ,rm foregoing it may be gathered Alice Ileathcote and Mr. Tom ' w 'ere on tolerablv intimate terms, fatter of fact they had been en-1 en-1 'or six months, during which time W very rarely met. Baxter's pro-tr pro-tr "cll off, and he had a very rich Ml 'hose possessions was . an . , fatuily living, destined in the 'w Tom and his bride. But the - "as a stern and conscientious gen- i :-and he was determined, before nniteiy agreed to give Tom tho va-.hen va-.hen it occurred to see what 0U!S gentleman was made of, And ;ri hy Baxter had been sent to th ' TSl'tway in the East End, re worked so hard in the parish, and j.'. 7M 80 desperately anxious to . wgh m his rjcar's opinion. J , lm read the letter his first im- unclerical though it may appear, rail!"?- StronS language. But h .(h w '"mself and fell to thinking ! dnt'T.ar'&,:a means ot escaping from les. a fresh appeal to Mr. aiway he knew to be hopeless. ortily tio djd not on,7 lo9k nctet as a frivolous waste of fime, jofJs a strong adTocate of the celi-;a celi-;a S 6 clerEy. , Moreover, by merely ai a o Tom might offend i to f"8 he certainly could not " under the circumstances. ! 38 nothing for it then but a pious 'itl although Tom's conscience ; aim the idea of deceiving his ,' trusted him implicitly, h ' ,,V ra&te up his mind to dusp--4- or to dcy himself the pleas- |