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Show cups I blush to think of the) people I married, mar-ried, the old friends I buried, and the characters I took away. But he would have news, and what was I to do? Much of my information seemed to afford him matter for astonishment, and often he ejaculated, "You don't tell me sol" as I conveyed some specially startling piece of news. However, the time for departure came at last, and my mind was torn with conflicting con-flicting desires to escape detection and to ascertain his identity. "You'll come and see usl" he said cordially, cor-dially, as we parted. "Yes, certainly," I replied; "but where are you putting up now?" "Oh, the same old quarters," he returned. re-turned. "What is the best way to get there?" I asked, as a last hope. "You can't do bettor than take a cab," ho said, and we parted never to meet again. True Flag. added, as I hesitated for an insfant between be-tween my desire to have more of my companion and my disinclination to dino under false pretences; "you know they'll be awfully disappointed if they hear I have met you and let you off without a long talk and I join them to-morrow." 1 felt constrained to consent against my better judgment and added, in a playfully solicitous manner, "And how are they all? "Oh, they are all tiptop all except the colonel, after a pause and with a slightly subdued air; "I don't think he has ever quite got over that affair." "Ah," I rejoined, shaking my head sympathetically, "one doesn't got over that sort of thing in a day; but the others?" "What others?" he said bluntly. ' 1 hesitated, and rejoined vaguely; "Were there not some others?" Ho pondered heavily for a few seconds sec-onds before replying, "Yes, I believe there were some others, but they made no difference." I wns just murmuring, "Very likely not," when he turnd to me abruptly and said, "1 hope you don't thiuk he came badly out of that business?" His hund seemed to relax its pressure on my arm, as if he was preparing himself him-self for some censure or coldness on my part. I felt touched by this little proof of his sensitiveness to my good opinion, and pressed his fingers as I rejoinud warmly, "I nover heard any one speak otherwise than highly of his conduct in the matter." mat-ter." He stopped and said shortly: "Why, who know3 anything about it? I thought you and I had it all to ourselves." our-selves." "Yes, yes," I faltered, and added, in-consequontly, in-consequontly, "you know you have been away for some timo.old follow." It did not seem to fit in very well; but he accepted it as an argument, and said: "There is something in that, but don't lot people talk about it I know he relies re-lies upon you and me." Thoro was something so touching in the reliance of this unknown that a glow of sympathetic affection warmed my heart, and 1 resolved on the spot that his confidence should not be misplaced. Come what might, the secret of that old man's life should never be botrayed by me. Others might make it a subject of club gossip or tea table tittle tattle, but no word of mine should add one drop to the cup of bitterness that had been placed at his lips. There are passages in the lives of all of us which we would wish to have buried in oblivion the thoughtless follies of youth, the unworthy un-worthy ambitions of manhood, and the selfish jealousies of old age. Who is there that can stand up and say there is no episode in his life ho would not have expunged, forgotten or condoned? We had turned into a restaurant for a bit of dinner, and those thoughts passed through my mind as we ate onr fish. My companion pondered sadly for a few seconds, sec-onds, and then, shaking himself together as though to throw off an unpleasant train of thought, said, more easily, "Now, tell mo about yourself, your wife and family." Bef oro I had timo to reflect upon what might be the result of my disclosure I blurted out the simple truth, "I have no wjfe." Ho looked intensely surprised as he said: "My dear fellow I am very sorry. I nover heard " He paused inquiringly, and again I blurted out, "I never had one." A look of extreme pain spread over his face as ho heard this. Ho leunod across the tablo, and laying his hand on mine said, with infinite sympathy: "I seo it all. I ought not to have asked you. Forgive me, old fellow, and forget that I have said those words." I ga ve him a clammy hand and turned away lest he should detect the conscious guiltiness of my face. I had become confirmed in a suspicion that had been gradually dawning upon my mind that 1 had nover set eyes upon my host before be-fore that day, and that I had been carried car-ried away by some inerplicable chance resemblance to some remote acquaintance acquaint-ance and by his own apparent cordial recognition of inysolf. There were no blinking tho facts, however. Everybody that he mentioned was a total stranger to me, while every incident that 1 mentioned men-tioned with a view to drawing him out seemed to find his mind a blank. My sole object now was to extricate myself from my false position without detection. I got absolutely and hopelessly hope-lessly involved in fable and falsehood, and after having thus lightly taken away thogood name of the suppositious mother of my children a sort of despair took possession pos-session of me, and a wild desire to avoid exposure or explanation at any cost. The dinner was good, the wino excellent, excel-lent, and my host geniality itself. We wd drank'freelv "and '" A VERY OLD FRIEND. i I had just come out of the postoffice, when I caught sight of a face that seemed familiar to me. It was that of a man of about iny own age, with bronzed features feat-ures and a somewhat attenuated figure. As I was trying to recall whon and whore I had seen him before, our eyes mot, and 1 immediately perceived that our recognition recog-nition had been mutual; for he came toward to-ward me with a frauk expression of pleasure and held out his hand, saying, "Hello, old fellow, who'd have thought cf seeing you here?" I don't know why he said this, and of course 1 don't attempt at-tempt to dofond it, but it is a style of address affected by some men who are as profoundly astonished if they meet you in a restaurant as if they had run across you in the mines of Siberia. I felt a little bit annoyed at his want of originality; however 1 smiled pleasantly pleasant-ly and said as I shook hands, "Well, if you come to that, who'd have thought of seeing you here?" We stood opposite oach other for a few seconds; 1 simpering somewhat emptily at the nature of our greeting and struggling strug-gling to recall his name; and he with his head slightly on one Bide and an expression ex-pression of courteously suppressed amusement amuse-ment on his face, as if my presence on the stops of the postoffice was one of those inexplicable freaks of chance for which it is hopeless to seek to assign any reasonable law. 1 gavo him a few seconds to digest his astonishment, aud then, feeling that the silence was becoming be-coming a littlo embarrassing, I said in-consequently, in-consequently, "Well, what havo you been doing all this timej" "Well," he replied, "I've been iu Australia, you know." "Oh, nhl" I ejaculated, as if it had for a moment slipped my memory; "why, you went there" and I hesitated, hesi-tated, as though calculating the exact day of his departure. "Three years ago," he put in shortly, "and quite long enough, too." I ran over in my mind my acquaintance cf three years ago, but could recall no trace of a recollection of my new companion; com-panion; so, to gain time and to gather fresh information, I asked, "And what sort of atime havo you had?" "Oh, much about the same as before," he answered, with a slightly puzzled nir. 1 candidly admit that the sensible thing for me to have done would have been to own up and admit that I had forgotten my friend's personality. Un- fortunately, I am ono of those painfully constituted people who shrink with nervous nerv-ous horror from anything in tho nature of an explanation, and, in addition, I felt that I had gone too far to cry off without with-out some appearance of sincerity, Besides, Be-sides, he seemed to congratulate himself so warmly upon what he insisted upon looking on as our providential meeting that my lips were sealed and I felt confirmed con-firmed in the idea that if I let things lide a little longer his name would recur re-cur to my mind. He had slipped his arm through mine as we walked up town, with an easy senBe of good fellowship, and said: "Of course you'll dine with me this evening. Js ow, i?c't yoa eay ya are eneaged," he |