A Kiss in the Dark.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 54, 31 August 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

A Kiss in the Dark.

♦ The first etioi' was a distinctly human one, feminine, particularly — that of nol being satisfied with a good thing aud letting well enough alone, "well enough" being in this case a first lieutenant of more than ordinary attractions. There are very few women who are satisfied when only one man is the captive of their oharms ; they prefer a dozen soiipirants to one, even if they are themselves enamoured of the one The name of the gallant soloier whoee good fortune it was to have obtained for his promised own the winsome daughter of Captain Foster, was Appleton ; his fortune was his own good sabre and his pay of 125d015. a month ; his character the full ideal of an officer and a gentleman ; as for his appearance, it was all that even Hiss Foster, who might have had the pick of some seven or eight others, could desire. The only expose to be found for the first enor is that Miss Foster was very young, rather spoiled, and not in the habit of being denied anything upon wbioh she set her rather uncertain little heart. Therefore, when a very stubborn second lieutenant by the name of Baxe let her distinctly see that he was Hot to be captivated by charms that had allured everyone else, she determined that his pride should be humbled in the dust, even in the alkali dust of the plains. This was the said first error. What she should have done, as seen in the light of future events, was to have been happy in the complete possession of such a map -«a Appleton, and have let all others drift with their ottn particular current of life. But then— she was just eighteen, and the regiment had made much of her. Now, Appleton was not a jealous man ;• even if he had been, it is doubtful if he would have suspected what was going on in the mind of his pretty sweetheart, for she was something of a flirt, and quite able to have two strings to her bow. She certainly gave all <he time that he had any right to claim to Appleton, even more, perhaps, and impressed him with the idea that he was the sun of her universe, which, indeed, was the case, only there were also a large number of more or less bright moons and small stars •which competed with his glory. For Kitty was not untruthful in the least. She was in love with Appleton, and if she had not been, wouldnever have made him think so ; the trouble was that she -was just a little in love, as well, with a goodly number of others. And how could she have helped it P They were all so awfully nice to her, and seemed so fond of her. All except Saxe. He did not appear to care in the least, and was devoted to no one and nothing except - his commanding . officer and his troop. Miss Foster was piqued, and meant to " get even." Which was quite right, according to her lights. The second error was unconscious. The commanding officer committed it when he sent Appleton off on a month's special duty, and thereby left Kitty like a kite without a string, very likely to spring out of its proper course and land on some unexpected obstruction. Kitty cried a little and was dreadfully sorry when Appleton left; she watched the ambulance, with tearful eyes^ until it was almobt out of sight ; but as soon as it began to grow smaller, she turned about,- as It would be bad luck to look until the last. Her eyes were very dewy, and were exactly the kind that look well in that State. When she wheeled around, she came almost face to face with Saxe, and only raised her lashes long enough to give him a glance of such delightfully bewitching Borrow, that any other man would have tried to console her then and there, and ran as fast as_ she could into the house. Saxe went on his way with a new admiration for Kitty, whom he had always considered a Very_ heartless child. He was glad to see that'she was capable of loving some one to the extent of crying over his departure. He did not wish he were the lucky man, however ; that stage was yet to come. The third error was very serious, and it was the usually unerring Saxe who oomjnitted it. He deluded himself with the ' fallacy that fire will not burn if you put on the asbestos gloves of indifference when you handle it. He felt sorry for poor, bereaved little Kitty, and conceived it J» be his duty to go over and console her. If it had been * disagreeable duty he would not have shunned it, but it was not a disagreeable duty. In the moonlight before tatoo, he went to sympathise with Miss Foster. That was the error. When he left he was glad that he had listened to the promptings of conscience, it had seemed to do the girl so much good. She was really a far more earnest and womanly little person than he had supposed, not as shallow as one would imagine. She was bearing up against her troubles bravely, and he admired her for it. After he had left, Kitty went np to her room and sat in her window looking out upon the .parade-ground and smiled and counted one point, very muoh as if she had been playing whist. She did not forget Appleton i " she cried again when she went to bed, and took his picture to put under her pillow, and lay awake for a half- hour thinking about him, but when she dropped ofi! to sleep it was with a distinct; under-conscious-ness of triumph instead of loss. She went af her 'part in perfect cold blood and played it well. Seeing that Saxe - to greatly impressed by the constancy and affection, she determined to act that role for a time at least. Her natural paleness was increased the next morning by a black frock, usually despised for its simplicity, and whioh made her blonde hair, drawn baok in loose coils, full of a golden light. . She looked at herself and was pleased. Several of her hopeless admirers came to her porch during -guard-mounting, with the hope^ that' they might see her, bnt she kept •within doors until her watchful eyes descried the approaching form of Lieutenant Saxe. With a weary and lintless air she went on the porch and sat on the steps, with her ohm in" her hand and a pensive look that • was not tiubeooming/ The bait caught the fish. Saxe had not come past with (he intention of being again a consoler of distressed beauty, but— well, he stopped, just for •moment, and spent the morning with Kitty in sweet and low converse. She grew a little more cheerful at about the third hour, but not to au unseemly degree. „ Of course she had not the bad taste to •.mourn the loss of one man to the very face of another ; it was only in her manner that her sorrows were observable.. She spoke of books, and chapel, and sewing, was very domestic in a mild way, and never became so interested in her game as to forget her lines. It was a master-stroke for her to decline Saxe'B invitation to go to the hop with him that night, and she realised it. At 12 o'olook she excused herself to write a letter to catch the afternoon stage, and the man went away with the firm conviction that there was at least one faitUful woman. He thought- Appleton a lucky dog, but went •no further. As for Kitty's letter, it was quite a model of frankness, so far as the telling of facts was concerned. A woman can write a letter or- tell a story,, all the tenth, in which no f aot or .phrase may be omitted, bnt with the position of a word, or the changing of a punctuation mark, or even with telling the whole thing too openly, she can convey an impression very different from the real matter ; nor does this count as dishonesty, either. Kitty was not given, to analysing her sentiments aloud; she considered it destructive of the feminine ohai-m of inconsequence. ~ Nothing had happened that Appleton was not made.aoquunted with, and yet he was entirely ignopint of all he should have known. Saxe persisted in his error, malting it many-fold, and in time Miss Foster came to the conclusion that the mantle of fortune was, threadbare and would soon become transparent, so stye threw.it away altogether. Saxe naked her to go to the next fortnightly hop, but she told him, with only a -due -amount of regret fa her tones, that he had been forestalled. It could not possibly have been jealousy which made Saxe gloomy for the rest af the day, but Kitty was pleaded to put that construction upon it, and chuckled. One day bhe told him that he was very like Appleton in appearance. "Do you know, if it were a dark night, I oouldu't tellyou apart," she said, and Saxe was undecided whether to be charmed with the comparison or otherwise. But he reemed to go just so far and no farther. Kitty could not understand this, aud was restive. . She begun to fear it was becoming a sort of Platonio friendship, and that was a thing she scorned, being convinced that onty strong-minded and'unattractive women could indulge jn it. As the time of Appleton's return drew near, she strained every nerve— without apparent' anxiety, however — to make Saxe commit himself. He would not, and she marvelled. It waa quite beyond her conception of human motives that one man should be so loyal to another as to hesitate to make love to a friend's promised wife. She feared she was losing his- allegiance* ««>d in her f ear took severalialse steps. In faot, she began to make love to Saxe when Saxe would not make love to her. Under ordinary circumstances he would have drawn off at this, but he was past seeing any fault in the girl whom he had censured so severely once. It was quite too soon for Kitty that Appleton came back, but she did not let him guess this from har manner. Now, the fourth error was one whioh seemed t3 have no direct connection with the matter. It was the digging of a posthole in tho wrong place. And the fifth error was again Miss Foster's. Of the three dances which she gave to Saxe, she sat ont two in a corner half hidden by a garrison flag. Either a woman thinks a ' man a very b«d dancer* or eke the has an object in view when she sits out a dance with hint. 'Bitty had «n ob/eat in -view. There were just twochanoes for her to accompliih ■ that object, and 'the setrherself to the tank with a will. !'Her tactics were - admirable. '- First she leaned -Jbick with a • dejected and wistful air^inswering only in monosyllables. ' Saxe asked her what her trouble might be," and she ahbok Tier head

with a sigh ; he insisted upon knowing, ani at last she threw airide all restraint, urn (ompUined that being eugiiged was not a alljpleaaant. " Onu ain't see enough of thi — people — onelikee." The hesitation sai( what her words did 'not. Saxe suggeste< that if one were really in love, there khoul< not be -any ■ other person worth seeing Kitty's "Tee 1 ! was dubious. "Aren't yott in love, v Kitty?" he asked Be had never called her by that nami before. Another uncertain "Yes." "Besides, I oan't see that you are unde: any restraint." "You don't know." " It seems to me that Appleton givea yoi a great deal of freedom." " Oh, he tells me I may do as I like ; h< means to be generous, but — I don't know Now, for instance, I told him I wanted U walk baok from the hop with you. Yoi hadn't asked me, but I meant to ask you HaJooked hurt, and said something about his having only just come home. He gavi me permission, however, of course." " Then may I take you baok?" Saxe wai beside himself. ."No." "Why not?" "Because." " I fanoy I understand ; you don't wanl to hurt him." " Yes." " But if he didn't know ?" " How could it be helped?" " I'm officer of the day, to-night." Thei he stopped himself. "Well?" " That's all." " What had that to do with the matter? ' "Nothing." " Yes it had," and Kitty raised her darkblue eyes to his with more in their passionate look than a hundred words could have said, Saxef orgot his determination and plimgoc on. "May I meet you at one o'clock, then, after I've visited the guard?" Kitty nodded and hung her head. "But this is not fail to Appleton. If we are to do this you must end everything with him and marry me. Will you ?" A long pau»e ; Kitty seemed to be thinking. The waltz was nearly ended j yes, the last notes were wailing now— if she could put off the answer for a moment! "Will you?" insisted Saxe. Anothei pause. Appleton was making his way towards them ; he did not like the look ol things. ' ' Kitty, will you ?' ' repeated Saxe. "I must think," she answered. ' "I'll tell you at one o'clock." The smile ahe gave him as she muttered this below her breath was assurance enough. Both were viotoriously happy. Kitty told Appleton that she feared Saxe was badly in love with her, and chatted on so happily that he regained his wavering faith. Kitty went home and waited until one o'clock. She planned her revenge with delight. Saxe should be thrown over so calmly that his stiff pride would never recover. He oould not resent it, it was he who had been treacherous, not she. At one o'clock she threw a shawl' over her light gown and crept downstairs. She was a little inclined to turn back. Thing* were assuming a serious aspect. If she should bo caught, it would be bad. Outside, t-he waited in the corner .of the house and heard the approaching footsteps and'the olaukiug of .the sabre of the officer of the day. His figure loomed up out of the darkness quite oloee to her ; he hesitated and looked up at her window ; then, as his glance fell, he seemed to see the muffled figure in the corner. He strode towards it. " Harry," she whispered. A pause. "Yes," was answered, also in a whisper. He came to her and took her in his arms without a word. He was too uncertain' to speak. ; >Kittyi.whispered,again. "I thought you mightn't oome, after all." . "But I did." " Yes." Kitty, with her head resting on his shoulder, waited for him to ask for his answer, but he said nothing. This was awkward, she could not begin herself. " Yon look enough like Fred, in the dark, to be his brother." "Yes?" " If your voice were not so unlike his, I should say it T«s he." "Really?" "Good gracious! Oan't you say anything except in monosyllables P" "What is there to say?" Kitty was desperate; what could .he mean ? Again ahe forgot herself and reversed the order of things. " You might kiss me, at least, I think." "Shall I?" " Shall you? What a question," and she turned up her face to him. "And now I must go, Kitty, dear. Oh, Kitty, Kitty," he whispered, huskily. She drew baok. " What is the matter?" But he was walking away. "Don't you want your answer?" she ran after him saying. "Not now; not to-night." She turned and crept into the house. Then she knew what she had done. Chilled by the night air and trembling with fright, she stood in the middle of the floor and looked straight ahead, seeing all her mistake and the shamefulness of it as she had not before. To acoomplish a revenge, she had come to this : she had thrown herself into a man's arms almost unasked. And the man had acted curiously. Small wonder. She sank upon the floor and sat for hours with her head hanging down. Then she undressed and went to. bed, but lay awake until morning. Bhe thought of Appleton now, and how she had betrayed him, and she loved him more than ever she had before. It was a hard straggle between shame and inborn frankness, but sh« determined at last to tell him the truth in the morning, and let him do as he liked, throw her over if he wished ; but then he would not, she was sure of that. Only her old role of dispenser of favours and privileges would be ended ; it would be he who would play the magnanimous henceforth. If only Bhe could have back the crimson rose she had pinned in Saxe's coat. If he were to wear it the next day Appleton would recognise it as one of the bunch he had given her, and remember that he had told her that red roses meant love. She L worried and marvelled that she should have rushed headlong into. suoh disgrace. She was one of those women whose tears oome easily, but she had been too frightened and ashamed to cry; at last, at reveille, she sobbed away her griefs and slept. After guard-mounting she went into the garden -with a scarlet face. She saw Appleton coming np the walk, and paled with f eai of what she had to tell him. She dropped her eyes and fingered a flower nervousl) until he stood beside her. "Oh, good morning, Fred," she said, cheerily. " Good morning, Kitty." A silence ; Kitty bit her lip and pulled a< the flower. " Well, why don't yon saj something?" she enquired, petulantly. "I've nothing to say." She glanced up and caw a red rose pinneo to his coat— a orushed and wilted red rose, She caught hold of his arm to steady her< self. He let her hand lie on his sleeve. "I only came to ask if y6u had an] message for Saxe. He fell into a post-hole that was in the wrong place, just as he wai starting to visit the guard. The fall brok< his leg, and I took his sword to make th< rounds for him. He seemed worried about something as I left, but I didn't understand at the time. Ido now. So do yon, I fanoy Shall I give him the rose that was meant fo: him, or do you want it baok ?" He un< finned it and handed it to her. She crushed the petals nntil a red stall trickled between her fingers. Appleton watched her and lingered for i while. , " Have you any message ? I thin! he expects one. You have none? No — yoi must not say you hate him ; and you mus not try to explain. That is all, Kitty Pretty, faithless little Kitty. Good-bye, an it ,is good-bye for always, too "— Sai FmncUco Argonaut.