The Argosy — page 380: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ad Ree eee — — — A Love Story. 357 Well, it is interesting,” said Ferrers. ‘‘ The more so, perhaps, because it reminds me of a girl whom I once knew. Perhaps [’ll tell you about her some day. Meanwhile I’ll light another of these cigars of yours, and we’ll have the yarn about the next ball.” “Very well,” replied Talboys. ‘“ But the next is a different sort of ball, as you will see, if you look at it.” * Yes, Isee,” said Ferrers. ‘‘It hasseamsround it.” And then he fell to musing on certain blue eyes and golden hair and a slender figure, which a few short years ago had caused him much pain and suffering and heartache—not willingly, heaven knows, but still it was hard to bear and had taken long to cure. He wondered where she was now, and what she had been doing all this time, and whether she had changed her name. But his thoughts were interrupted by Talboys, who continued his story as follows : A year afterwards I was down in Yorkshire playing cricket for the Rambling Rovers against a local team, and we had just got two of our adversaries out, when a big, well-built Yorkshireman walked up to the wicket, looking very much as if he meant making runs, I thought I had seen him before, somewhere, and, after searching my memory for a few moments, recognised in him my old friend the Guardsman. ‘Thiscircumstance carried me back to the days of which I have been telling you, and I began to speculate as to whether he was yet married to my blue-eyed partner ; and whether she was as lovable now as then; and whether they pulled well together ; and whether he was kind to her; and At that moment he hit a ball hard to square leg where I was musing instead of fielding ; it caught me on the temple almost before I had time to see it, and down I dropped insensible. When I recovered consciousness I found myself in a darkened room, but my memory was a blank. There was the dim, indistinct figure of a man standing near me, who, hearing me mutter ‘‘ Where am I?” came and bent over the bed on which [ lay, peered into my eyes attentively for a few moments, and then ejaculated, with a sigh of relief: ‘‘ Thank Heaven!” Then he told me, in a gentle voice, that I had been very ill for more than a fortnight; that the doctors had been doubtful as to whether I should ever again recover consciousness ; that if I had died he would have been unhappy for life, since he was the author of the accident ; but that now it was clear the crisis was over, and that I was in his house and should be well taken care of. Well taken care of I was. My strength began to return so rapidly that within a week I was strong enough to be dressed, put into a chair, and wheeled into the next room. Arrived there, the Guardsman, who appeared to me hardly ever to have been absent from my bedside, said that having some little VOL. XLIII. AA COmicooolkks ) (CO