"O wife!" he cried, "let us forget we are old; let us forget we are disillusioned of life; let us try to be boy and girl again." The woman shivered with a powerful, vague emotion, but she did not look at him. "O Esther, I'm tired of life!" the man went on. "I'm tired of my children. I'm tired of you. Do you know what I mean?" The woman looked into his eyes a moment, and said in a low voice: "No, Charles." But the man knew she meant yes. The touch of her hand grew cold. "I'm tired of it all. I want to feel again the wonder and mystery of life. It's all gone. The love we have now is good and sweet and true; that of the old time was sweeter. It was so marvelous. I trembled when I kissed you, dear. I don't now. It had more of truth, of pure, unconscious passion, and less of habit. Oh, teach me to forget!" He crept nearer to her, and laid his head in her lap. His face was knotted with his passion and pain. The wife and mother sighed, and looked down at his hair, which was getting white. "Well, Charles!" she said, and caressingly buried her fingers in his hair. "I'll try to forget for your sake." He could not understand her. He did not try. He lay with closed eyes, tired, purposeless. The sweet sea wind touched his cheek, white with the indoor pallor of the desk worker. The sound of the sea exalted him. The beautiful clouds above him carried him back to boyhood. There were tears on his face as he looked up at her. "I'm forgetting!" he said, with a smile of exultation. But the woman looked away at the violet-shadowed sails, afar on the changeful purple of the sea, and her throat choked with pain. THE END ----------------------------------------------------------------------- D. APPLETON AND COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. BY A. CONAN DOYLE. Uniform edition. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50 per volume. UNCLE BERNAC. A Romance of the Empire. Illustrated. This brilliant historical romance pictures Napoleon's threatened invasion of England when his forces were encamped at Boulogne. The story abounds in dramatic incidents, and the adventures of the hero will be followed with intense interest by a multitude of readers. RODNEY STONE. Illustrated. "A remarkable book, worthy of the pen that gave us 'The White Company,' 'Micah Clarke,' and other notable romances."--London Daily News. "A notable and very brilliant work of genius."--London Speaker. "'Rodney Stone' is, in our judgment, distinctly the best of Dr. Conan Doyle's novels.... There are few descriptions in fiction that can vie with that race upon the Brighton road."--London Times. THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD. A Romance of the Life of a Typical Napoleonic Soldier. Illustrated. "The brigadier is brave, resolute, amorous, loyal, chivalrous; never was a foe more ardent in battle, more clement in victory, or more ready at need.... Gallantry, humor, martial gayety, moving incident, make up a really delightful book."--London Times.