A FAMILY ELOPEMENT by H. G. Wells. A FAMILY ELOPEMENT. "'Your wife does not notice our being together?' asked Miss Hawkins. "'I think not,' said Mr. Gebitis. "'She is talking to that theosophist.' The theosophist was a slender young man from India, but his hair might have come from the Sudan. Mrs. Gebitis was a lady with intellectual features of a Roman type, and a shallow desire for profundity. She was clearly very much interested in what the Hindu had to say. So Miss Hawkins turned again to Gebitis. "'I said I cannot go on like this,' said Gebitis. "'Speak lower,' said Miss Hawkins. "'I cannot go on like this, dearest,' said Gebitis, trying to put as much tender passion as possible into a horse whisper. "'What can we do?' said Miss Hawkins. "'So much as we dare do. Flight,' said Gebitis. "'Let us get out of all this into a sunnier climb.' "'Hush! They are coming to ask me to sing,' said Miss Hawkins. "'Presently. Wait.' Mr. Gebitis yielded her up at this crisis with the best grace he could, and went and propped himself against a wall where he could watch her profile. "'She is awfully clever,' said the refined young gentleman to the left of him, to his friend. "'And virtuous,' said his friend. "'But that's a mistake. She really ought to do something just a little cheerful, you know. People are not going to run after singers just because they sing, you know.' "'She knows that,' said the refined young gentleman. "'She's clever enough. There will be an exploit.' "'Good heavens!' said Gebitis under his breath. "'Such motives in my sweet little mini. I can't stand this.' And he hastily sought a vacant piece of wall elsewhere. "'It is sweet to be with you again,' he whispered to her presently, with a sense of infinite relief. "'And now, dearest, frankly, will you, dare you, come with me? If you knew, dearest, how I have longed for you, how my soul craves. So,' very loud, "'I had a very jolly time indeed.' The latter inane sentence because somebody had loomed up just behind Miss Hawkins' chair. "'Gone now,' said Gebitis. "'Tell me, dearest, quickly. Whisper. Dare you?' Pause. "'For you,' whispered Miss Hawkins very softly, looking down. Gebitis took that as an affirmative. "'My darling, my own. The warmth will show. I mean to say, do you find the room hot? What disconcerts you now?' "'I caught Mrs. Gebitis' eye just then. I think she wants to go home. That theosophist has left her.' Now qualified observers state that a man who means to run away from his wife, even if that wife have features Roman rather than beautiful, and a tendency to theosophy, suffers considerable twinges of compunction. Gebitis certainly did. Even if one's marriage is chiefly a success from the mercenary point of view, a habit of mutual consideration grows insensibly out of the necessity of a common life. "'It was a very successful affair,