at this time but never suspected that there was serious in his then the doctor discovered that he was suffering from a form of the of which took away his senses for a time and left him very weak he was thought to be however when just six weeks after he bad last parted with he was seized with a sudden attack of heart and never regained consciousness remained ignorant of his illness and did not even see the heavy of the announcement of his death until bass came home that evening look here he said excitedly s dead he held up the newspaper on the first column of which was printed in heavy block type z i c death op sudden passing of s distinguished son to heart failure at the in washington recent attack of from which he was thought to be recovering proves notable phases of a remarkable career looked at it in blank amazement dead she exclaimed there it is in the paper returned bass his tone being that of one who is a very interesting piece of news he died at ten o clock this morning l chapter ix took the paper with but ill concealed trembling and went into the adjoining room there she stood by the front window and looked at it again a sickening sensation of dread holding her as though in a trance he is dead was all that her mind could for the time and as she stood there the voice of bass the fact to in the adjoining room sounded in her ears yes he is dead she heard him say and once again she tried to get some conception of what it meant to her but her mind seemed a blank a moment later mrs joined her she had heard bass s announcement and had seen leave the room but her trouble with over the had caused her to be careful of any display of emotion no conception of the real state of affairs ever having crossed her mind she was only interested in seeing how would take this sudden of her hopes isn t it too bad she said with real sorrow to think that he should have to die just when he was going to do so much for you � for us all she expecting some word of agreement but remained dumb i wouldn t feel badly continued mrs it can t be helped he meant to do a good deal but you mustn t think of that now it s over and it can t be helped you know she paused again and still remained motionless d l and mute mis seeing how useless her words were that wished to be alone and she went away still stood there and now as the real s of the news began to itself into thought she began to realize the wretchedness of her position its helplessness she went into her bedroom and sat down upon the side of the bed from which position she saw a very pale face staring at her from out of the small mirror she looked at it could that really be her own countenance i ll have to go away she thought and began with the courage of despair to wonder what refuge would be open to her in the mean time the evening meal was announced and to maintain appearances she went out and joined the family the of her part was very difficult to sustain observed her subdued condition without the depth of emotion which it covered bass was too much interested in his own affairs to pay particular attention to anybody during the day that followed pondered over the difficulties of her position and wondered what she should do money she had it was true but no friends no experience no place to go she bad always lived with her family she began to feel unaccountable of spirit nameless and fears seemed to surround and haunt her once when she arose in the morning she felt an desire to cry and frequently thereafter this feeling would seize upon her at the most times mrs began to note her moods and one afternoon she resolved to question her daughter now you must tell me what s the matter with you she said quietly you must tell mother everything to whom confession had seemed impossible i z i c under the sympathetic of her mother broke down at last and made the fatal confession mrs stood there too dumb with misery to give vent to a word oh she said at last a great wave of self accusation sweeping over her it is all my fault i might have known but we ll do what we can she broke down and sobbed aloud after a time she went back to the washing she had to do and stood over her tub and crying the tears ran down her cheeks and dropped into the once in a while she stopped and tried to dry her eyes with her apron but they soon filled again now that the first shock had passed there came the vivid consciousness of ever present danger what would do if he learned the truth he had often said that if ever one of his daughters should act like some of those he knew he would turn her out of doors she should not stay under my roof i he had exclaimed i m so afraid of your father mrs often said to in this period i don t know what he ll say perhaps i d better go away suggested her daughter no she said he needn t know just yet wait awhile but in her heart of hearts she knew that the evil day could not be long postponed one day when her own suspense had reached such a pitch that it could no longer be endured mrs sent away with the children hoping to be 