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a time and he doesn t come to see her nor seem to care where she is nor what she does there was an strain in this of the case that struck mr forcibly he replied that the law was seldom understood by married women and that he would try to show just what it did and did not provide for then he went on to tell her that a husband could be made to support his wife but that each instance would be considered on its own merits by the judge before whom it was brought the amount she is to receive from her husband must depend entirely he said in closing on his ability but this man hasn t any said mrs hasn t any what any ability in that case supposing it to be strictly true smiled the squire he would probably be sent to an asylum and she could get a divorce cried joyfully m m that does not follow replied mr it depends on a variety of circumstances a wife s opinion of her husband s ability might not agree with that of a in i am sure to come down to the case in point that mr is a long way from an at the mention of s name caught her breath mr she exclaimed yes you are mrs i believe there was a riddle here that could not be solved for the moment by the young head in which it had been placed i don t understand said she what my husband has to do with this matter it was the lawyer s turn to be surprised i thought he said that you wanted a divorce gathered up her dress and rose to her feet it seemed as if some awful danger hung over her head and over s and over the baby s wanted a divorce she what did squire mean the squire rose also much perplexed were you not speaking of yourself he asked of myself you thought wanted why what a frightful idea no indeed it will be a long time before you ever see me here on an errand like that i was asking for a friend of mine who lives in another city i should think if you knew mr at all you would know i couldn t be talking of him why you gave me such a shock i hardly know what to do quite overcome mrs sat down again to compose her nerves while squire made the best apology he could command it was very unusual he said for a woman to ask advice on such a matter for a third person he then inquired if the friend for whom the information was sought lived in that state and on finding that her legal residence was he l s young fa s said that made a difference for the laws of the states differed materially by the time he had taken down several books and read a number of aloud mrs came to the conclusion that law was a very thing and that she certainly had not the head to understand it so she told the lawyer she would have to go and that she was very much obliged and when she had paid the small fee he asked she went home and told what she had done you are very kind said her cousin but i looked into all that before i left i couldn t get a divorce unless he actually deserted me and i don t think he could be induced to do that at present it is i who have deserted him perhaps i could get a part of his income made over to me by applying to the court but it would cause a public scandal and if mamma heard of it to say nothing of the hundreds of people i have associated with it would kill me with shame there s nothing to be done but endure my punishment i would give anything if i didn t have to go back to him though s sympathy was so thoroughly aroused that she set her little head to work in hopes at least to the trouble of her friend was perfectly willing that should stay at his house for the baby s love for her went straight to his most susceptible spot he did not know anything about and was unlikely ever to meet him it looked easy enough to invent a story about having to go to some foreign place where the climate was not suitable for his wife and of leaving her with the during his absence and this is exactly what did she conscience by saying it was a perfectly harmless young fa and that the case was a desperate one if it ever was exposed she felt sure would say she had done entirely right no member of the society of ever argued with than this young woman it was delightful for to have this home provided for her and she was not the one to refuse to accept it on the terms offered she wrote occasional letters to mr and sometimes he answered them but the burden of her communications was advice for him to keep away which he followed several times in the next year he sent her small sums of money which she needed too much to refuse in fact all went on as smoothly as life on a steamer that has lost its bearings and is headed directly for a rocky shore chapter xviii he must be a that winter business at did not go to suit it was true as frank had said that the big fish in this business were bound to eat up the small ones when master was a little over a year old there came a series of that nearly made his papa came home one evening pale and and told that he did not know whether he

was worth a dollar in the world or not if i were to pay frank the money i owe him said he i do not think i would have enough left to buy a breakfast to morrow morning everything has j young fa s wrong three or four thousand dollars more might enable me to get out of my scrape but having nothing what can i do was not as much distressed as her husband except on his account business had no meaning for her the entire arrangement by which men bought and sold and realized profits was as great a mystery in her eyes as the trick ever performed by a eat your supper she said to him confidently and look on the bright side it will come out all right i m sure but could not muster an appetite i don t care so much for myself said he but it will be hard for you and if i have to come down and go to work for some one are not high these days probably we shall have to break up our home and go to some city and board this was something definite in the way of unpleasant possibilities and it came home to mrs in a way she did not like it would mean not only a loss of her pleasant surroundings but it would fall heavily on toward whom had assumed the of a protector anything was better than to send back to t c tender of her hateful her brains to see whether she could not suggest something i would use every cent there is left if it would get me out of the scrape she told frank has enough money and even if you lost it he would never know the difference he made a gesture of intense if i should lose that money and be unable t pay it i don t know what i should do s suicide perhaps i have never faced a man that i owed and asked him to wait for his money and i simply could not do it there is no disgrace equal to that no the sum i owe frank must be kept at all even if i go down in the crash with a woman s argument she met this i should think to hear you talk that you cared more for frank than for your own wife and child he took his risk when he lent you the money and if it s lost that s his affair you say it may save you and if you don t take it and you lose everything i don t see how you can pretend to love us so much my dear he exclaimed let me try to make it plain to you that that i have of frank s is his it is not mine i only have the right to use it it would be almost yes quite as if i stole the amount if i put it where there was a risk of when my own capital is used up if i must rob people i will take a pistol and go out on the highway where there are strangers instead of picking the pockets of my friends she thought him very foolish in his view of the matter and for some time she tried to have him see the way it seemed to her if you lose this money and you say you don t think you will if you take it they can t arrest you can they but if you go to rob people in the street you can be put in jail i should think that was proof enough of the difference despairing of conveying his ideas to one who reasoned on such narrow premises lost his temper for the first time in a year or more he said he should do what he thought right and that would have to take whatever he found himself able to give hit fa s when this thing came to a head he had done hi best to make a fortune and if he had failed she must share his ill luck with him he was not going to become a for the sake of putting on appearances and when the only answer his wife made to this was to cry he got up and went down to the office again to pore over the hateful figures that annoyed him instead of getting the sleep of which he stood in the greatest need told of what had occurred and that lady agreed that it would be very foolish for a man to sacrifice the comfort of his family merely to pay such a paltry sum as to a man who had no more need of it than he had of three coats at once mrs had however a good deal of the wisdom of the serpent and she advised her friend not to let a quarrel grow out of the difference of opinion between herself and her husband she knew well enough to understand that soft words would go much farther with him than hard ones by these suggestions so far as to receive well when he returned and so impressed him by her gentleness and sweetness that he resolved to make every effort to save her in the morning there came another letter from the great produce buying house of co urging him to his of their proposal and offering as an to allow him to enter the firm with only cash the balance of the being taken in his notes of hand a death in the had removed one of their most men and was assured that he could fill the place to the acceptance of the other members was in a terrible he could not young fa s sec any choice between accepting this offer and of winding up his affairs and seeking a things had altered

since he went into business it was no longer easy for a young man with hardly a cent of capital to get a as near as he could reckon he was worth less than a thousand dollars after paying what he owed three weeks before he could count easily he wished he had to advise with whose judgment would be and honest while he sat in his office despairing of coming to any correct decision the door opened and mrs entered she had come down town on an errand for and seized at this very straw in the extremity of his distress you re not in any hurry he said when she had done her errand and i want to talk to you about another matter indicated her to hear anything he wished to say and took a chair near him looking quite charming in her spring hat and gown a hat and gown that had been paid for by the way out of his purse though he did not imagine that to be the fact then proceeded to tell her of his troubles and of the offer he had had from combined with the proposal of mr to advance him the money he needed she heard him quietly waiting till he had finished and then spoke her mind you are very honorable i am sure said she i am afraid there are few men equally so it is an expression often used that a husband and father owes more to his wife and children than to any one else you seem to have the opportunity to pay every one that you owe and thus satisfy your conscience and at fa s the same time get a in a large concern where you are sure to do well there does not seem to be much to hesitate about he had this in his mind a hundred times but somehow it was now made clearer i think you are right he said with brightening countenance and i shall send immediately to mr asking if his offer still holds good then they talked for some minutes about frank whom mrs had never seen and she expressed the opinion that a friend like him was worth having there were many rich young men in the world but very few indeed so generous and thoughtful she developed a surprising interest in mr asking what he was like in appearance and a dozen other questions that after the manner of men found it difficult to answer so he is young rich and good she exclaimed at last he must be a worth knowing a sudden vision of a night at s rooms with half men and women about the board with one in particular leaning on his own shoulder as the feast struck in upon and gave him a could he accept so great a favor from one who had led him into that terrible mistake if knew it would be all over between them but on the other hand the money that frank was to lend was really for s use and that of her child one thing would in a measure the other it would not do to be always frank for that thoughtless net it was long past now and ought to be buried why was it always coming up like the ghost of a murdered person to annoy him yes he said he is rich and he is certainly gen young s i will write to him at once and please my nothing to my wife about my speaking of this to yon she might think i should not have troubled you with it s back was toward the door and the whole of the last three sentences were distinctly heard by a young man who had entered no lest a person in fact than mr frank himself that s bad very bad he in a way while sprang up and grasped his hand a man who has secrets from his wife is going the wrong way but i beg your pardon the last exclamation was caused by s indicating that a lady was present mrs let me present to you my friend mr rose and greeted mr with heightened color the first thought of that gentleman in relation to her was that she was a very charming person u and now said frank keeping up the air of with which he had opened the conversation permit me to make a most inquiry i overheard you say as i entered the office that some one was both rich and generous as the individual must be a genuine in these days i want to know if you will furnish me with his name which i promise if you desire to keep a profound secret looked at and looked at him the situation was so funny that both broke into laughter do you really desire to know asked i can show you a portrait of the person i was speaking of nothing would please me better young fa s frank astonished at the merriment his question had caused very well said fa turning the face of his guest to a little mirror that hung in a corner there he is looked at his reflection and then turned to the others ah but this is a joke he said no said seriously it was of you i was speaking and to explain further i will say that i was telling mrs about the offer mr made and which he has repeated on yet more favorable terms in this morning s mail mr did not remember ever to have heard of mrs he wondered why that lady had been the of this confidence especially after the he had overheard that she should not communicate the matter to mrs he looked at again in a quick searching way that she did not fail to understand she knew she was placed in a position of suspicion and

hastened to ask mr to help her out of it i have been him to accept both your offer and that of mr she said i think you may understand my interest in the case a little better when mr tells you that i am own cousin to his wife was rather sorry and rather glad to hear this he had been building up a little romance around the pair that this shivered to it was for that he was sorry as he had a great love for the romantic and he had long considered an altogether too slow old but on the other hand as the statement of mrs gave the impression that she young and were on no particularly close terms that left the gate open for the exercise of his own why you are almost cousins yourselves said pausing to consider you are cousin to frank and so is she you must have heard mrs speak of the he added to mr oh yes frank had heard of the they lived at he believed well mrs before her marriage was miss now you know all about it mrs said she ought to return to the house but she added that she would like to know before she left the office that the matter of co was settled was pleased with her business like manner and promptly said that as far as he was concerned there was nothing in the way explained to him in a word the new proposition of mr i am only sorry you are not to want the whole smiled frank i had rather lend it to you than any one else i know then you will settle up here and go into the new york firm asked pausing with her hand on the door bowed it seemed the best thing and yet he dreaded so great a change and i shall not tell no i will tell her myself she will have to leave you see and i want to present it to her in the best light mrs went her way and the two men sat down to talk matters over it did not require long to come to a complete understanding was to pay the young fa s he owed with the interest and take a check for for which he was to give security on his new stock mr need not learn that this money was borrowed of course it was no business of his where it came from did not care to have his future partner know of his recent losses and how badly they had crippled him it might not give mr an exalted idea of his capacity and yet there was nothing but bad luck in it a large house could stand such losses while a small one could not it was a good thing that he was going out of business alone combination and were the order of the day and no one could stand against them the letter accepting the proposition of the new york house was sent forthwith as urged that in such cases might prove dangerous as long as the thing was decided on the sooner it was arranged the better then the two friends went up to mr s to dinner where having been by that her cousin was in town received him pleasantly frank was in the best of spirits determined to make an impression upon mrs the baby was brought forth in the arms of that lady which gave him an opportunity to say a great many complimentary things to both of them after dinner got his wife alone upstairs and explained the full meaning of the course he had taken to his joy she expressed her entire satisfaction and said she would be glad to move away from so long as it was to a place in or near the metropolis you will be prosperous and happy and and i will get along nicely she added i am glad you have got over your prejudice against letting frank help you how soon do you suppose we shall move young fa s he told her that he was going the very next day to to see mr and that he would be able to answer all such questions when he returned he communicated the successful result of this interview to mr as he talked with that gentleman at the gate before leaving for the office frank was going to stay a little longer at the house as he intended to leave town that afternoon but before they parted it was agreed that a check for should be sent to mr s address at new york that evening it was for the purpose of saying a little more to the fair that mr lingered on the of the cottage they had become good friends in a short space of time shall you go to new york with your cousins he asked you ought not to desert them at such a time for they will have absolutely no acquaintances there at first answered that she presumed she should go her husband she said was not likely to return for some time and seemed to hate to part with her how long since you saw mr asked bending his bold eyes upon his companion four or five months and you do not expect him at present no it may be a year or two mr took out a silk handkerchief and the dust from his boots if had a wife he said thoughtfully she would go where i went ah said but those south american countries are so if she could not go would not he answered young but what am i talking about i am a hopeless bachelor how can i tell what i should do if i were married she saw that he was affected by her charms and she liked the sensation it had been dull enough at nor wood

the lord knew why have you never married she inquired you must have been in love he looked her straight in the eyes and told the lie with beautiful earnestness never mrs came to join them and the conversation took on a different turn he promised to come to new york and see them when they got settled an hour later he gave a kiss to the baby tossed a compliment or two to and lifted his hat courteously to mrs at the gate will i visit them at new york he muttered to himself will i visit them well i should think i chapter xix coming home unexpectedly before the summer was far advanced the had removed to new york and were settled in a house in it was easier to get a habitation on that side of the river at a reasonable price than on the other and it was not more than forty minutes ride from the office of co using the bridge and pro that nothing in the car system was out of order mn stayed with them and there was no change young s in their household except that an ordinary servant took the place of mrs who could on no account be persuaded to make the journey the difference in the table was at once perceptible to but he did not say much about it he did not see how it could be helped and in fact he now had things of much more importance to occupy his mind the business of co was so different from that to which he was accustomed that all of his energies were bent on attending to their affairs he left home early in the morning and did not return before seven at night and sometimes much later for a while who did not like the long day without him came over to the city to lunch with her husband but he was in such haste and the where he liked to take her were so far from his office that he advised her to give this up this left her with only the baby and mrs to amuse her and in a short time she got into the habit of going out with to spend the sight seeing sometimes even attending es at the theatres did not intend to neglect but the boy seemed quite well and could enjoy himself playing with his blocks or tin horses on the dining room floor with close by the expense of a nurse girl was not one that would be likely to favor he would have asked what the child needed more than his mother and and it would not have been easy to answer the question mrs knew that her husband was morally certain never to be in the house before half past six at the earliest and she was careful not to stay out beyond that hour so it went on for weeks she and going out nearly every day for some hours and none the wiser he would have young fa a fit had he suspected that his boy was left so much in the sole charge of a not over intelligent servant who had beside other matters to attend to there were other things that followed as a matter of course it was necessary for to caution not to mention the fact of her before mr and the in deceit thus established gave the girl an advantage that she was not slow to perceive she her work in a way that she would not have dared do otherwise she got more evenings out than had ever fallen to her share and if her temper happened to get aroused she made speeches to her mistress such as no servant is usually permitted to make and retain her position was to all these things as his only business in the house was to eat and sleep and spend an hour playing with the baby if his breakfast was on the table at the right time he did not mind because it was a very light one for he was anxious to get across the east river if his dinner was not what it should be he recollected that he came at uncertain hours he made it up by a substantial lunch at noon taken with other members of the firm at which the condition of the market was the topic of conversation whenever asked him to take her to a place of amusement he pleaded weariness and on the few occasions when he yielded to her entreaties he fell asleep in his place and only got fairly awake when he was roused by the crowd he seemed to care nothing now for pleasure except that of increasing the of his firm if he sat down after dinner to talk for an hour when the child had been put to sleep his always drifted to the volume of trade or the v s of eats or cheese as his wife took not the remotest interest in those things it was very dull for both and nobody objected when he yawned and said he guessed bed was the place for him at the end of three months passed in this way came home one evening with a dark frown on his face a large failure had just been announced that would cause a heavy loss to the so large in fact as to make it doubtful whether the new partner had cleared a single dollar in the time he had been connected with them owing such a large sum as he did this occurrence was one calculated to worry exceedingly hardly a of dinner he got into a private room and to her his troubles now if mrs had been the kind of wife a would like to she would of course have assured her husband that her fullest sympathy and love were his in this emergency she would have

told him that there were small in the domestic arrangements of his house that she could make she would have led him into views of the future by reminding him that such a failure was of very unusual occurrence and that the profits of the next quarter would probably far more than the loss of this one in short although he might have argued to show that she was wrong and have shaken his head at her he would have ended by deciding that a true wife was the best gift of heaven to man and have gained courage from the knowledge that whatever else was lost this fair creature would press her lips to his with equal joy whether ht were prince or bat mrs was not that kind of a wife young s to put my private opinion on record i might add that she is not alone among wives in this particular we must in every possible way he said to her in closing a few blows like this and i should be not only but with the heavy debt i assumed on going into the firm s pretty mouth was drawn down i don t see how we can spend any less than we do she replied i have nothing at all now we never go anywhere to spend a dollar it is necessary to eat and to have clothes that will cover us and that is all we have had in his distress did not choose his words if you don t have it to spend you won t spend it he replied with a snap i ve not got it and that s all there is to say i ve been giving you a month and all you ll get after this is while i m in debt and paying a heavy interest and the concern not making a cent i can t do any better the young wife began to cry it was getting to be a great habit of hers to weep whenever anything went wrong i simply can t supply the table and clothe on a month after the rent is paid she sobbed if you were not the most cruel man in the world you would not think of asking your family to live like pigs she had put him so thoroughly out of temper that he his brain to think of things that would be disagreeable to her it would cost less to supply your table he said if there were fewer people to eat here i think your cousin mrs might cut her visit a little short unless she chooses to pay her board and i have young s heard of people as poor as we where the woman did her own work the idea of parting with oppressed worse even than that of the cook why she exclaimed in great indignation what do you suppose i should do here all day long without a soul to speak to and you over in that new york office from sunrise to sunset if it had not been for i should have died of loneliness in this place where there is no one i ever saw before she is as good as she can be to stay with me and i will never tell her to leave as for do you think the a week that we pay her is going to ruin you i never heard you talk like this even in the first weeks of our marriage when you were running a little bit of a store in a country town the more they discussed the subject the farther they got from an agreement cross words were exchanged freely and s nervous disposition came out of the ordeal a thousand times worse than it went in he ended by repeating that he should give her just a hundred dollars a month and no more until he could see what the next quarter brought forth and how about my she sobbed you promised me one this winter as faithfully as you could promise anything you get one if you can he retorted savagely you won t get it from me i ll tell you that a woman who has no more sense than you ought to wear common clothes a little longer an ordinary will look well enough when you come to look at me through the bars of a s prison now out of this grew a good many things none of them to the best interests of the wedded ao fa couple whose life i am attempting to describe had become so thoroughly angry at his wife on account of what he considered her unreasonable attitude that mrs could not help noticing his altered his good mornings when he entered the breakfast room were enough and at night even his with had grown subdued while he hardly spoke to at all there came a crash one day when he returned unexpectedly in the middle of the afternoon to change his clothes for a trip he was obliged to take and found no one in but and the baby where s mrs he demanded roughly as he entered the kitchen gone out and mrs gone out with her you don t mean to say he exclaimed that they have left alone vi there was an in this expression that might have awakened a less woman than miss o what do ye think is going to happen to him she retorted it s not the time he s bin left with me an he s got did not mean to get into a debate with this woman and he contented himself with inquiring when his wife would return faith it s not can answer that said with a toss of her head i suppose she comes in she likes the same as other folks looked at his watch it was half past two he could take a later train

than he intended as he did not to i his boy in charge of this ignorant fa s t f ant taking with him into the parlor he got down on the floor with him and attempted to amuse child thinking must return very soon he had no idea she had gone ay farther than to one of the stores in the vicinity and his only criticism was that she ought to have taken with her or asked to remain in the house during her absence but hours passed by and the clock struck six before either of them came by that time he was in a state on frenzy well you are home early i exclaimed as she saw her husband yes i am he replied between his shut teeth and it s very lucky i came for otherwise i should never have known the way you neglect your poor child gave him an imploring glance indicating that she wished he would say no more while mrs was present but he had been up his feeling too long to stop now a nice mother you are he continued leaving this little fellow to a kitchen girl while you the streets from noon till night oh i don t care who hears me any one who doesn t like what i say needn t stay where i am not the first time it has happened either me if it occurs again i ll find a remedy just remember that her never failing resource came to and she began to cry mrs wisely went out of the room though she resented inwardly the attack that had been made on her presence as soon as she was gone grasped his wife roughly by the arm and asked her what she meant by her conduct said with distorted features you are me young fa yon j i ought to hurt you he exclaimed when i am worried to death over my business when you should be doing everything you can to make things easier for me you leave your child to a servant girl and stroll through the streets for hours at a time is it not enough to drive a man wild you know the only thing i care for in this world is that boy and you treat him as if he were some stranger s child in whom you had not the least interest i shivered as though it were instead of october be careful what you say she answered with chattering lips if is the only thing you care for you cannot want any more of me i when a quarrel has begun between married people there is no telling where it will end each of them thinks it necessary to go on saying the most dreadful things until one so far reasonable limits that the other is outraged beyond repair you are quite welcome to go any time you see fit said but while you do remain you will attend to some of your duties you have your done for you and you shall not neglect my child mrs heard him with a rebellious heart take care she answered the tears still falling you say i may go at any time look out i don t take you at your word and if i do go i shall take with me a man so cruel as you are to his wife b not to be trusted with his child s lips curled in a pronounced sneer go he repeated you where would you go why you couldn t earn a shilling a week don t be an idiot young s stung by these words could not help firing back her shot also there are people who have a better opinion of me than you she said if i wanted to leave you to morrow i can get more than you have ever given me and not have to listen to such language as you use either it was absolutely to him to hear the way in which she made this statement some one had offered to support her his his wife i and she repeated the offer to him as if it was one that might be accepted there is only one way in which you could secure such a very honorable position as the one you mention j w he replied bitterly am i to understand that you have seriously considered such an offer in spite of all she could do could not keep back the flood that ran down her face don t know what i shall do she said you may drive me to anything if business goes a little wrong at the office you come home as cross as a and act as if i was the one to blame we had not been married a week before you began to show your terrible temper and every little while it breaks out again to day you have gone further than ever my arm is black and blue where you pinched it now i will tell you once for all that i will not live with a man who is going to vent all his spite on me and insult me besides in the presence of my friends no i won t i ll go out in the street and beg first and if i can t get my bread that way i will try another and if i go to the bad it will be your fault all this was said between of sobbing that shook the slight young frame was greatly young fa tt s affected by the exhibition he his pride enough to put his arms around his wife though for a long time she him and to say that he had no intention of driving her away and that he did not mean it when he said was the only thing he loved all he wanted was to feel that she

did not neglect the child perhaps he had been unreasonable it was true that business made him very nervous and irritable if would only say that she would not leave without a more intelligent attendant he would be satisfied an hour later when they had made up asked to tell him who had dared insult her with such a proposition as the one she had quoted and when she begged him not to say any more about it he added that it was better on the whole he did not know for he would certainly kill the man if he ever met him they went out to dinner together where they found that mrs had eaten with and had gone to put him to bed as the air of summer is sweeter after a so the atmosphere of the residence seemed clearer when with another kiss for off to get his train chapter xx will it be best it was true that some one had made the offer to mrs that she quoted to her husband on the occasion referred to in the preceding chapter and it will not take the reader long to guess that the man was mr frank young fa s could say things that would have been offensive in the mouth of almost any other person in such a way as to resentment or at least greatly it on one of the visits which he made to expressed apprehension as to her husband s success in business oh well cousin he replied if ever has to put you on short allowance you know where to come i have more money than i ve any use for and you shall take a dip into it whenever you say the word as a matter of fact was by no means the extremely generous person that this speech might make him appear he had a pronounced business instinct which made him get a pro for every dollar invested either in direct cash or in some other equally valuable in his eyes he spent considerable money in and would stop at nothing to attain that on which he once set his mind might have known had she understood his character better that he would demand a heavy interest on any sum he ever lent her but she chose to take the best view of his offer though her cheek a little at the time she thanked him saying he was very thoughtful and that if she ever got into a tight place she would let him know at the present moment however it is doubtful if she could have drawn very much on her cousin s good nature unless it had been in behalf of a third party had not been all of this time without seeing mrs for whom he had conceived a violent affection not being willing to trust mrs with his secret he had contrived a correspondence with the object of his hopes and had yo fa tt s already met him several times in out of the way places where she could listen to his delightful conversation without her reputation too deeply with the skill of a he had allowed her plenty of line and had won a high place in her regard by the politeness of his the evening of the quarrel between and his wife found mrs much alarmed for her future she had received an intimation that her presence in the house was not agreeable to the proprietor although assured her that she and had parted the best of friends and that he had all of the hateful things he had said in his anger began to wish that she had another string to her bow in case the solitary one broke the next time she met she confided to him a part of the truth concerning her married relations she admitted having deceived him in saying that her husband was in south america and completely won his sympathy by the slight glimpse she allowed him of her unhappy connection with the house of you ought to get a divorce from such a man as that said frank no she said there is no way and if there were i should dread the disgrace above all things they were sitting at a table in a private room and the meal had just been disposed of looked at the neglected wife wondering how far he dare go at present although she had given him these stolen there had been nothing otherwise in her conduct and he knew that a false step too soon might lose him everything young s you have no suspicion he said slowly that he ib to you she answered with an impatient shake of her head on the contrary she began and then stopped short a deep blush her features she tried to go on with what she had begun to say but could not find suitable words do you mean said frank that you would not care much if he were you cannot have a great deal of love left for him she indicated by a motion that he was right and then a shiver passed over her frame she did not like to think of nor to speak of him he was the most disagreeable thing in her recollection with her eyes on the carpet she beat a faint with her foot and leaned lovingly toward her he whispered forgive me for such unpleasant thoughts but i like you so well that everything about you interests me i want to know the whole of the story you have been so kind as to tell me in part you know i am your friend that i would not willingly say or do anything to wound you he had taken her hand in his and the pressure was very agreeable to her in her loneliness she was the opinions of society in coming to dine with him in this secret

way and it was only a little more for her to permit him to touch her palm friends were not plenty enough to justify her in offending the few she had i was afraid she murmured presently that you d like me less when you understood the truth when you knew that i had been deceiving you no he answered quickly you had a right t your secret a frenchman said that language ft young fa s was given us so that we might the better conceal thoughts and he was quite correct she raised her eyes timidly to his and is that what you do with your language she asked a sometimes he admitted gravely certainly i have done so when talking with people who do not interest me about things which are not their business it is very different however with those for whom i have an affection in that case the full truth is the right thing don t you think so she dropping her glance again and for minute there was no sound in the room but the of the clock on the mantel tell me he said suddenly the clasp he had kept on her hand how much do you care about me her head sank until her chin rested on the bosom of her dress no he continued fearing to let her speak just yet you need not tell me it is hardly fair considering that you are in name at least the wife of another man i have been hoping that you would learn to like me as well as if you had no tie of that kind i led a lonely life until i met you it is you and you alone who brought me to new york who keeps me here that is no secret to you this has gone on for months we have met often and yet this is the first day i have dared even to take your hand in mine you know how dearly i have desired to make you something nearer how hard it is to me that this barrier has existed whose only use is to separate us must this condition continue or is there a greater happiness for me in u future young fa a was a good deal longer in saying this than the reader is in the sentences at each period he paused to observe the effect of his words on the young wife and when he found that they had not offended her he drew nearer to her and whispered his closer to her ear she felt his warm breath on her neck the attraction that he had for women thrilled her frame as it never had been thrilled before but though she remained passive even when he placed an arm about her and touched his lips to her cheek there was a horrible fear of a great danger present above all the rest i value your friendship very highly mr she managed to articulate when he had resumed his ordinary position it is all the more to me now that i find it unaffected by the confession i have thought it my duty to make he drew an impatient breath friendship is not enough my dear girl he replied i am a man with no other with plenty of means and without a place i can call my home to be sure there is my mother s house but i am as much out of tune in it as a bull in a china shop i have a of rooms too furnished as well as anybody s and situated in a pleasant locality but with two homes i have none it takes more than four walls and a lot of furniture to make a home it takes affection the presence of those we love i have no skill in telling what i want but if you would come to boston and take that of rooms so that i could be with he paused in the midst of the sentence for mrs had risen and was beginning nervously to pull o her gloves young fa tt s he uttered an exclamation rising also i have wondered said the woman in a very low tone after taking a deep inspiration if that sort of proposition might not be after all at the base of the kind things you have done and said i tried not to harbor the thought for you seemed so innocent of wrong intent and you were so long in making advances i am not finding any fault with you mr i do not suppose it is easy for a man to make such a suggestion in a more delicate way no matter how neatly the thought is concealed its will stand forth in spite of the covering you wish me to be your mistress well i must decline my only regret is that in doing so i shall at the same time lose a friendship that i have esteemed very very highly for it will be impossible for us to meet again s face flushed with mortification and disappointment he felt that his cause was in a bad way the calm manner in which mrs spoke was apparently fatal to his hopes had she sobbed gone into called him a bad and cruel man then he would have known how to treat her he would have waited until her excitement had exhausted her powers of resistance and when she was as weak as a mouse he would have told her how thoroughly she him her head would have lain on his shoulder within fifteen minutes and she would have left him with a feeling that she had done him a great injustice he was not used to the sort of reception that gave him however he determined to retreat in as good order as possible and trust to another day to repair his shattered fortunes it was evident

any one she had a to the father s favor other things being equal believed s story and though he had a slight suspicion that she was not over fond of a husband from whom she was willing to be separated so young s long he did not think a great deal about it she behaved well enough when in his presence and she was not the only woman in the world who was not in love with her mate as long as mr and she were content he did not see how it was any business of his must send her money for she always dressed might have understood this better had he known that every dollar spent on her clothes came during the first year out of his own pocket and after that but i am getting ahead a little too far in my story twice when had violent attacks of illness stayed at the house for days nursing him with the deepest devotion she did not seem to require rest or sleep and the boy was content with no one else when his pain was the greatest could have fallen on his knees to her at those times her devotion to the sick child made her a saint in his eyes once when s life hung on a thread she came into his room to tell him that a change for the better had taken place and that his idol was sleeping peacefully his eyes were filled with tears and his voice choked as he tried to thank her taking both her hands in his he drew her lips toward his and would have kissed her had she permitted him in the manner she resisted the caress and glided back to the sick chamber he went to give the glad news to and found her asleep to be sure she was worn out but he contrasted the two women to the disadvantage of his wife had done enough to be worn out too and it was she who had come to tell him that his son would live this occurrence as much as anything drew him away from he used t compare her with young fa s and say to himself how much better mother the latter would have made he got into the habit of staying in a good deal in the evening and raised no objection when said she guessed if he didn t mind she would go over to s for a little while was well again and used to think it the height of bliss to the little fellow and see him drop off to sleep when the child was in the latest magazines or the things in literature would occupy the father s mind till he grew sleepy he did not room with his wife now as a general thing and sometimes he had to ask her in the morning what time she came home i don t know exactly she used to say i got to talking with and never noticed the clock she is so that she likes me to stay as late as i can that made it all right with had better be with than with any other woman he knew he was glad to encourage such an intimacy used to see frank once in a while frank called at his rooms to talk with him on business and social topics and liked him as well as ever he still had frank s money though he paid the interest promptly and the principal had on the whole grown in size according to the figures on the books of co mrs spent some of her evenings at s but it never happened that dropped in when she was there as far as knew those two people had never seen each other more than two or three times in their lives it was not strange that frank found new york more agreeable than boston he required a good deal of excitement and the was certainly the s young fa place of the two when it came to that line of amusements under the general head of when does mrs s husband intend to return to america asked one evening at the dinner table of his wife it seems to me they are having a rather long separation glanced at him quickly to see if there was any hidden meaning in his inquiry no there was none and she drew a little sigh of relief he doesn t seem to say anything about it she answered she read me his last letter and he seemed quite contented where he was he must be a queer fellow observed i don t see how a man can be content for years away from a woman like her there are some wives that a fellow might consider himself lucky to be so far from but not a sweet girl like the strangest thing to me is that she stands it looked at him again could he be drawing she dismissed the thought as soon as it was formed was not one to when he had anything to say it was apt to come out like a bullet from a gun doesn t care for men she said simply and as she uttered the words her cheek grew like fire in spite of her efforts what did she marry one for then he out oh these modern marriages they make me wild people marry nowadays just as they buy a ticket for a theatre and if they don t happen to fancy their seat they go out between the acts i d like to know what the world is coming to now i d a dollar that mrs is not so contented at the long absence of y fa s a her husband as she wants you to think there is a species of pride that will make a woman suffer a great deal in

poor child i she said i know you have company for i heard you whispering who is it and why are you so agitated your hands are like ice and you are trembling like a leaf the hope that mrs had not heard to which she had clung like a drowning man to a mrs she could only cry in a faint voice oh and fall weeping on the other s wait my dear don t get excited take your time said soothingly whatever your trouble is i will help you share it i am so glad i came over this morning i had you on my mind all night my dreams were filled with you was not in the least prepared for this visit and did not know what to say she had never young fa jt on s calling before afternoon and had not imagined that it was she at the door when she heard the knock she feared to speak lest in trying to make things right with her friend she might get herself into a worse she remained silent so long that mrs began to ask questions who slept with you last night i know that must have something to do with the matter mrs gave a gasp was there anything that could save her secret now no one slept with me she replied as if her tongue was partly i didn t want to tell you for fear you would think it foolish but i have a a t to out her slender income thought she saw it all now had hesitated to tell her in the pride of her poverty well it was nothing to mind nothing at all she was about to say so when mrs upset the whole kettle by her next statement i i wanted the money you know she went on and he will pay well very well indeed he she could get no farther the hold she had had upon her mrs rose with a look of horror on her face a man she exclaimed a man and you were in that chamber together i heard you whispering with him i tell me the truth j the poor woman rose and stretched out her hands don t be so hard you are not right he was in the next room not in mine i thought it was some one for him who knocked for i did not expect a so early no you accuse me j young s believe me i if you lose faith in me i have nothing left mrs thought rapidly she did not wish to believe wrong of this woman but neither did sh wish to be deceived tell me who that man is she said in an imperative tone ah i you can guess was the blushing reply but he has the further room oh believe me m suddenly a light seemed to dawn on the it is mr she cried well well you needn t act so frightened about it and you didn t mean that i should know i poor little girl she folded in her arms again is he to stay long i know it must be unpleasant for you there don t say another word i ll keep let me know after this when he s at home and i ll never disturb you i wouldn t meet him for a diamond i only came to see if you would go to the theatre this afternoon but another day will do the best thing for me is to get out as i couldn t possibly use him decent if he should come into the room come over by and by if you can and send me a note next time when the coast is clear she kissed her friend warmly not waiting for her to reply and made a hasty exit and mrs stood looking at the door through which she had vanished wondering at the miracle that had saved her from what looked like a pit opening at her feet young s chapter an unpleasant situation for a long time the game of mutual deception went on in this manner mrs deceiving her husband and mrs deceiving her wanted to tell that had returned from south america saying to that this might make things easier in case he should come to learn that was in the city but begged her above all things to do nothing of the kind she pretended that mr only came at intervals and that she endured him merely for the pecuniary assistance he had begun to give her it might be weeks at a time she said that he would be absent and she did not want to know or think anything about the matter having been so near detection once mrs was on her guard after that day and months went by before anything more came to arouse s suspicions all this time she was getting used to telling her husband things that were and became in fact a most accomplished and smooth she and got along together without much though his temper depended a good deal on the state of the hay and grain market they were not companions in the way that marriage is supposed to make people but they did not quarrel seriously was willing to get most of her amusement with and he was quite willing she should y s with the day was divided into four parts he attended to business till six o clock played with till eight or nine read till half past ten or eleven and slept soundly in his own room till morning spent most of her and some of her evenings at s flat when was not at hers often she took with her frequently when there was a e the two women attended it was little more in her life than a of necessities mrs came to see the once in awhile

before the time that was expected to dinner and as soon as she was around the corner he took out his latch key and went in again we shall have everything our own way now he cried to we have only to reckon one of us to go where we like mrs loved this man with her whole soul she would never have sacrificed so much for him had it not been for the deep affection that had moved her heart his wealth had little to do with it she took of what he offered her only enough to support the bare of existence he would have given her aa young s elegant house richly furnished she accepted merely the cheap flat with its ordinary furniture he her to wear diamonds on her fingers and the finest clothing she persuaded him that such a course would only lead to the discovery of their secret she loved him deeply tenderly the contrast which his devotion presented with the conduct of her legal mate was most pronounced i wouldn t get into trouble for anything in the world she replied thoughtfully how could it do that he asked she doesn t have any too much fun with that money man of hers supposing we go to an occasional play and to a supper or two at a private who is it going to harm and it will be such a god send to us if the devil himself should walk in and say to me what are you doing with these women i should only have to say allow me to present my cousin mrs my mother s sister s daughter and would rise with equal grace to add and my cousin mrs my father s sister s child why there s absolutely no flaw in it and this is the way it came about that mrs accompanied her cousin and her cousin s to all sorts of places where they were seen by all sorts of people who formed all sorts of conclusions the regard that frank had for was too strong to be wholly concealed even in s presence in the private dining rooms to which they went she could not fail to perceive the delicacy of his touch when he took off her cloak or helped her on with it the gentleness of his voice when he addressed her the attention that he paid when she was speaking it all came in such a order that did not young s mind it she was glad that had found so good a friend and that frank had apparently changed so much for the better she was quite prepared to hear without what he told her once when they had gone to mrs s door with her and he was pretending to seek his own room in an opposite direction i wouldn t like you to say so to her but if mrs ever gets a divorce from that worthless fellow who has ruined her life i shall ask her to marry me i wish she could was the reply can t you find out if there isn t a way she hates him and there is no reason why she should cling to such a worse than useless marriage as hers it s an unpleasant situation for both of us mused frank she can t help knowing how much i care for her and yet i am not in a position to say anything walked on for a short time thoughtfully don t they give for desertion she presently u not when the husband comes and the flat with his wife every few weeks i m afraid mrs looked up eagerly oh but that s nothing she said he has a room there but she paused for the rich blood had her cheeks you mean said frank slowly that she is not living with him as his wife fm sure she isn t said earnestly so am i he replied darkly if i thought she was i d go up there and land him in the back yard with a broken neck yes i will see what the law can do i will consult my own attorney to morrow un fa tt s ma in the meantime she mustn t know anything about it she is very high minded and might resent such interference in her affairs thought frank very honorable it was romantic to be loved in that way by a man who held his in such esteem that he would not speak a word that might lower her in her own eyes she was glad to have the opportunity of helping on that ideal match when the chain should drop from her friend s neck why does she allow him to come there at all asked it would be better if she refused him entrance she would be glad to if she could afford it explained with the utmost frankness hasn t a cent of her own and i suppose the little sums he leaves her come handy frank seemed lost in thought for some seconds he said at last i wish you would help me to solve this matter i am sure no lawyer would expect to a get a divorce for a woman while her husband dwells ever so little in the same apartment one can t explain such things to a judge she must absolutely refuse to let him come there mrs eyed him i d be glad to help you to help you both said she if i had the money i have given her as much as i could but not enough to support her i don t have that amount to spare addressed her earnestly you haven t the money and i didn t suppose yon had i didn t mean that i meant that could furnish it myself if there was any way to satisfy her that the ought to take

it fa tt s it was a straw and grasped at it she wanted very much to see freed from how do you mean she asked couldn t i give you the money and you let i mean mrs have it pretending it was your own shook her head she knows my affairs too well and beside she has had so much from me already that it troubles her a great deal well then said frank positively there is only one other way i must hire that room which has occupied and pay a liberal price for it the listener had a momentary attack of real fright what was it that frank had said i looked the ground over one day for myself he went on rapidly not wishing to let her speak too soon u there is an entrance to that room from the she can bar the middle door up with five inch plank if she chooses with the money i pay her for that room she can retain her flat till till i can gain the right through the law to tear the down could not agree off hand to this proposition and frank did not suppose she would when he advanced it it was enough for that day that she did not give utterance to any violent opposition she simply shook her head with the air of one who does not with the views she hears well said as they reached the corner that led toward her residence you know my views at any rate i am ready to do anything that is reasonable to relieve her of her present and after that i will make her my own if she will let me when you think it over by yourself you may find some better way young fa s all i ask is that in whatever you say to her you not compromise me could hardly wait till he was out of sight before bursting into a hearty laugh the words he had spoken to his cousin appealed to his sense of humor when he came to think them over still he did care a great deal for and he had no intention of doing anything to lose her the friendship of mrs he was in constant fear that would learn of his presence in that house and that in the flood of indignation which would sweep over her she would withdraw herself permanently from s society thought about her friend s nearly the whole of the night and could arrive at no solution better than the one frank had proposed the more she thought about it the less it seemed frank had certainly changed a great deal he was not the sort of man he used to be the ended by going to mrs the next day and her to let mr s room to some one else but who would hire it asked for her work by s explanation there are very few women who could afford to pay as much as i would have to ask that is true said but there are plenty of men you could board up that middle door and let them use the outer one exclusively rose to inspect the premises in question and her friend followed her yes i could do that said mrs the next thing though is to find the perhaps mr would know of some on w suggested mrs bowed assent young s i ask him to day said he has promised to meet me here at half past two when came at half past two she found mr there before her it was not uncommon now for him to her at these and her suspicions were absolutely i ve found a tenant for my room were the words with which mrs greeted her cousin she wore a bright smile on her face as she said it mr says he will take it himself although this was exactly what mrs expected the would come to she was rather surprised to find them so quickly completed i have been intending to make a change for a long time explained frank and that room suits me to perfection why look here he led them into the chamber how could it be more you will have to fire these traps out though he added to mrs kicking a pair of his own shoes under the bed and tossing one of his discarded into the closet she said she would pack them up and send them to without delay and everybody seemed suddenly with a spirit of joy frank would have given a few hundred to have been able to kiss on the spot but he knew that would never do he said he would move his things in before the evening was over and in honor of the event he persuaded the ladies to go out with him to a little lunch at a nice cabinet a short distance away after had gone through the pretence of moving into a room which he had occupied for the past five months noticed at her next call that the promised carpenter work had not been done on middle doorway young s i ve sent for the man but he is very busy explained there s a bolt and a curtain though for the present mrs was lost in thought for a moment i don t believe i d put anything more up she said he will know about it and it will look as if you suspected him perhaps you are right murmured mrs chapter why did you tell me lies might have gone on in the way he was living until old age had he continued to enjoy the bliss of ignorance his life was neither very happy nor unhappy as far as business was concerned it worried him less now that his transactions were in the hundred thousands than when they were in the minor figures

he had fallen into a certain in regard to profits and losses there seemed little probability that he would ever be able to get enough out of co to pay the debt he owed except by retiring from the firm but on the other hand the security was reckoned good and he could easily have obtained the amount elsewhere had looked like a very big fish to the small merchant in but in this vast of new york it was not much compared with the gigantic and whose were altogether he drew enough from the safe to make him comfortable and saw his apparent balance go up and down a column of in a climate it waa yo fa tt s work playing with reading and then bed with him and nothing else his wife reckoned for very little in his existence he hardly thought it interesting now even to quarrel with her except when he felt unusually cross or something out of the ordinary annoyed him about the household matters there are said to be something like three of people in this world and why should have run upon the particular one of them who could arouse him from his and stir up all that was hateful in him is a mystery he was taking a journey on business connected with his firm in the summer following the events in the preceding chapter when he fell into conversation with a man who occupied the seat with him in the car and by that odd sort of fate which leads travellers on common ground he happened to mention his name and occupation well that s odd said his companion my wife is a cousin of yours my name is eyed the man with a certain surprise he had formed a not very favorable opinion of mr although he had never seen him before when did you return from south america he asked in the most natural way for he had never doubted his wife s numerous to that locality in connection with s solitary condition mr looked oddly at his i never was in south america in my life he replied never in south america repeated you ve been out that way somewhere haven t you for the past few years not that i am aware of my home is in you must be thinking of some other person young s no was thinking of no other person he was thinking of this person and wondering who was responsible for the report he had so often heard i had an idea that you were out of the country he said your wife was at my house for a long time you know and isn t she there now asked mr almost rose from his seat in the extremity of his astonishment didn t this man know any more about his wife than that why of course she isn t he exclaimed she left us nearly a year ago mr seemed to take only a languid interest in this disclosure i never see her or hear from her he explained we didn t seem as well as we thought and she chose to go her own way hated to exhibit his surprise but there was no way he could conceal it you never hear from her he repeated acting as if he could not credit it you never write to her or get letters shook his head never he said we both made a mistake and separation was the easiest way out of it she thought i had money and i supposed her father was rich she wanted a style of living that i could not give her i did not tell her to go and it was not my place to ask her to return the eyelids of the commission merchant he wondered how it would seem to have his living somewhere away from him without his knowing where or what she was doing it came over him suddenly how much he really loved his young fa s wife for the thought of losing her made him faint and giddy his contempt for increased and he was glad when he reached the station where he was to leave the train the air of the street was grateful after breathing the same atmosphere with such a cur but the more he thought about it the more nervous he grew if mrs had left her husband because she was dissatisfied with the income he allowed her how had she it he was sure her father s estate was when he died her mother was on the charity of another child unless he had been it took money to live in a world like this whenever he had seen he had noticed that she had not the appearance of being poverty stricken she occupied a flat and had food and clothing at somebody s expense whose it was not easy to connect her with anything but he determined to have this question answered and without much more delay associated with her too intimately to have doubts hanging over so important a matter that night when he reached home his wife was out that was not strange enough to him skilled in the art of lying from long experience told him that had been put to bed by his mother before she left the house and that she had left word that she would spend the rest of the evening at mrs s went into the child s room and kissed the little fellow in his sleep how like an angel he looked with his hair falling over his white forehead for half an hour the father sat by the content with the sight then he went into the parlor took up a magazine cut the leaves and tried to read young s between him and the pages there came a hundred things that kept him from knowing what was printed there over the

crept other pictures not at all agreeable supposing was not the kind of woman she ought to be and that too innocent to suspect such evil had been with her all this time putting her purity so close to the soiled life of her companion they had been the dearest of friends if he found cause to suspect anything wrong they must be separated without delay his wife would be slow to believe anything against and it might not be easy to prove his case even it the circumstances were doubtful in their character but he would investigate the matter fully he would not run the risk of having continue to go about with a woman on whom the least breath of suspicion might rest it was nearly twelve when mrs entered the house she came in noiselessly as was her wont thinking that if he had returned he would be asleep and she must not disturb him as she slipped toward her room he called her why do you creep in like that he demanded have you been doing something you are ashamed of now during his long wait he had planned to open the conversation in the and most manner her soft and cat like steps this resolution and scattered it to the winds entered the parlor with cheeks what is it now she asked grain dropped again he had been told a hundred times that he was in the habit of coming home cross whenever the market went the wrong way and she hardly have said young s anything more to him she had indeed not chosen the expression because she thought he would find it agreeable he had hurt her and she took the first weapon that came to hand to strike him in return no it s not grain this time he replied with clear cutting tones it s something else that s fallen a good deal heavier look out you re not buried under it why have you been telling me all these lies about the color in mrs s face left it and she stood there very white before her judge where had he heard anything about and what had he learned has she had any letters from south america lately he asked with sarcasm took a chair she was becoming too weak to stand how do i know she said perhaps by using she could compel him to reveal the exact amount of his information she doesn t tell me everything she does the husband paused an instant did you believe mr was out of this country all this time he asked or did you and she make that story up together to deceive me knew that the south american were false this much was evident wanted to get out of the trouble herself and yet she dreaded getting into it she could easily see that the tendency was toward making him unwilling the women should continue associates you say the things when you get started he answered knitting her brows what makes you young s think he isn t there you would believe any person sooner than your wife first tell me what made you suppose he was said you have talked to me about it fifty times have spoken of letters from him and of his intention to remain an indefinite period if she has told you such things she is not the kind of woman i want my wife going to see for i met mr to day and he told me he had never seen south america or any other foreign country and that he had made his home in ever since left him the situation of the young wife was certainly embarrassing if absolutely forbade her to associate with mrs she would lose the part of her existence it was better to take all the blame on herself than to have him get such a bad opinion of had been so long acquiring the science of deceit that the simple truth was well nigh impossible to her she regarded mr as a man to to to blind the eyes of his wrath had better descend on her than on her friend you are so quick and so unreasonable sometimes she explained that i don t know what to say to you when first came to our house i wasn t very well it was the summer you know after was born and it did me a great deal of good to have her there you were gone all day as you are now and i was for some one to talk to and be with she had left her husband for good though she didn t tell me for a long time and i thought you would wonder that he never came to see her she didn t like to say anything to you about it and so i just thought would tell you a lie i said to finish her sentence young fa the harsh expression brought the tears to s oh stop he cried if you are able to tell your husband as bald a lie as that and stick to it for years making up new ones to help it out you ought to stand the exposure without acting like a baby she tried her best to check the flow but it could not be done immediately you are awful she sobbed why haven t i given it the right name he asked what do you call telling a thing that s not so and sticking to it month after month with detail and circumstance you wouldn t say it was the truth would you and what isn t the truth is a lie doesn t sound pretty does it mrs blew her nose and dug her handkerchief into her eyes no it doesn t she assented and you ought not to use a word like that to the mother of your child she

threw in as sailors throw oil on the raging waves but the act had an effect opposite to the one intended how can you bring the name of that pure into a matter like this he retorted would you like him to know that his mother is a i wouldn t like him to know she sobbed that his father calls me everything he can think of whenever he happens to come home cross and ugly have i called you anything you are not said he sharply i depend on your own admission began to her dress in her nervous ness wanting something to keep her fingers busy young fa s i didn t think it would do any harm she stammered you are not like other men you won t listen to reason never knew what i told you she was in a great deal of trouble and i was very sorry for her she pulled off her and somehow the sight of her arms and neck began to him you re pretty intimate there said he will you tell me what she is living on and don t say it s money from for he never with her in any way had touched the most dangerous part of the ground he was but the sight of the beauty before him caused a lowering of his voice and a of the disagreeable element in his tone quite unconscious of the cause was fully of the effect and she lost most of her fear leaning over to her boots she spoke in her usual voice she has relations who help her i understand and then she lets a room or two which pays the rent she doesn t have much just the necessities heard her vaguely he was looking at her with the eyes of a lover how sweet and like she was it was a long time since he had seen her so closely he was like one who comes upon a treasure hidden away in a forgotten place i didn t mean to be cross he said in a low tone only it isn t nice to learn that one s wife doesn t tell him the truth don t do it again let me know everything no matter what for when a man loses confidence in his wife s word it is a terrible blow he came over and kissed her something he had not tor months delighted to have escaped the young fa s threatening danger so easily she returned his embrace and in a few moments they wore no appearance of having been so recently engaged in throwing unpleasant expressions at each other as soon as left the house in the morning hastened to her friend to tell her what had happened she had to ring three times before she got an answer and with her ear to the she certainly heard a door open and shut in the apartment explained to her afterwards that she had thrown a few things into a closet to make the bedroom look more tidy you re a darling girl to do all that for me she said when she heard the story and you feel quite sure that his suspicions are completely now yes indeed smiled prettily he was as sweet to me this morning as one could ask why it was like a piece of our over again chapter xxiv a bath another winter passed during which the most important event that occurred to the characters in our story was the sudden death of mrs she expired at her sister s house in boston without the least warning there having been nothing to indicate that she was in a delicate state of health mrs the invalid to whose care she had devoted herself for the past few years was as is so often the case to her faithful attendant mourned her mother sincerely and returned from the funeral with a feeling young s that and were more to her now than they had ever been she spent a good deal of her time as formerly with mrs for it was lonely at her own house all day when was not there and in the evening it was his custom to sit and read and he was not much company for his wife he raised no objection when she proposed to run over to s for a little while and generally was sound asleep when she returned frank still devoted considerable of his time to his sweetheart and took innumerable with them as well as attended many theatrical performances in their company the longer was kept in ignorance of these things the safer they seemed and if he ever should discover it why what great harm could result it was all perfectly respectable said to herself no one would be likely to accuse of and frank behaved nicely the were good ones and the plays entirely proper heavens what would have become of them all if they had not happened to get into this way of amusing themselves it was the salvation of keeping her as it did from that husband it made the days much brighter for and frank who had not she feared always chosen the best of companions seemed a wholly changed man the lawyer whom he had consulted told him that if remained entirely away from his wife for another year he would try to get a divorce for her on the ground of non support then she and frank would marry and everything be like the ending of a child s tory but the plans of and men we are assured bv young fa s the poet gang aft one of the partners in co in a thoughtless moment happened to remark to mr that he had seen mrs f at the theatre the previous evening with mr he had no idea that he was revealing any secret and mentioned the circumstance merely

in the way of ordinary conversation that was a good play at the union square last night he said he was reading a notice of it in the and as the paper was in front of his face he did not see the expression that crossed s at his next sentence i noticed that mrs seemed very much taken up with it the husband who was writing at his desk put down his pen abruptly he wondered why had gone to a theatre without mentioning the circumstance to him he detested anything that of if she wanted to see a play she knew he would not object it was getting to be too much of a habit with her to act in a way however he did not intend to let mr hardy guess this and he replied in an ordinary tone that his wife liked the performance very well that mrs is a cousin or hers isn t she pursued mr hardy he knew s face having seen her at the office more than once yes i thought so he added as mr made an affirmative reply a very good looking young widow she is too i wonder if there is anything definite between her and mr had the broad sheet of the been lowered at that moment mr hardy would certainly have noticed a very peculiar expression on the face of his partner but his eyes were now buried in the financial column young s knew in an instant that s conduct had in some way given rise to the that mr hardy made she must hare acted like a widow like a woman free to marry and in the company of frank at that had never seen these two people together three times in his life he had not known that they were on terms of the least intimacy a great seemed to open at his feet as he considered the simple statement he had just heard he had a cue that he must follow up if there was anything like close friendship between a man like and a woman who was another s wife he would not have going to visit her again to be found in frank s society was in itself sufficient to cast a grave doubt on the character of any woman tried to go on with the letter he had begun but he made poor work of it and mr hardy who had turned his paper again so as to read the page opened his mouth once more i ve always taken mr for a confirmed bachelor he said until within the past year or so he s got the reputation i know of being a pretty gay boy the first time i saw him at the theatre with mrs and your wife i was a little surprised i remember pointing them out to mrs hardy and remarking upon the matter then when it continued to go on and we saw them so often she said mrs hardy said i tell you paul that couple must be engaged we go to the theatre a good deal you know and afterwards to some just as we did before we were married and seeing them frequently at both places made us a little inquisitive i promised to ask you a long time ago but somehow i forgot it mrs young s hardy said it must be something of the kind for as mrs is always along like a sort of for her friend there couldn t be any by george he s gone the last exclamation was caused by a lowering of the newspaper and a discovery that mr had left the room mr hardy indulged in a quiet laugh at his own expense supposing that his partner had been called away by some pressing emergency in the pause between the joints of his had picked up his hat and coat and walked out of doors without taking the trouble to announce his departure to any one he was as near insane at that moment as a man could well be and know the way to forty second street he met people of his acquaintance and passed without to their bows or greetings he did not take any kind of conveyance but walked on and on neither seeing nor hearing any of the sights or sounds of the city he did not know what he intended to do when he got to the end of his journey he had a dim idea that he ought to be at his that there was danger to be met there it was something as if he had heard that a fire had caught between the and might the entire edifice unless attended to with it is a long walk from the vicinity of park place to forty second street and before had accomplished half of it his mind grew slightly clearer disgrace that was it he knew frank thoroughly if that fellow had been going about with he could have had but one purpose in view if he had been going with her as mr hardy for a year or more he had accomplished his intent long very long young fa ago and his had gone to places of amusement with them to theatres and seen by a thousand people as well as one the shame upon his head sly hiding her acts from him in that like way she had of late she had assisted this notorious in his i and her husband had gone on suspecting nothing playing with his innocent child reading his books and magazines and going to bed with the wife still out of the house oh it was beautiful men were in the awaiting trial for murder who had not half this provocation he would see and then he would see frank if the wealthy young gave him one insolent word he would break every bone in his face damn him

and his money to take an innocent woman like and drag her around with him and his where fools might suspect even her purity it was fearful the lovers must have been very shrewd not to arouse the least glimmer of the truth in her mind they must they must they must stopped in the middle of the street a horrible thing had crept into his brain he saw the shadow of a black and apparition across his own threshold how was he to say which of these two women was and which was the guilty one hi a voice at his elbow inquired if he were ill he saw that quite a number of people had stopped to look at him in a crowded city it takes but a minute to make a street himself to reply that nothing was the matter and turned the corner which was that of and twenty fifth young fa wc street he could not go home now if he were to enter his house at this time no one could say what might there were stairs at his side that led into a and he saw the words bath staring at him descending the steps he his name took a ticket and entered a room this place was as good as another for the present it would give him time to think in a few moments he was seated in the hot room there were other men there but he did not know them he tried to reason but he could not whichever theory he must accept it was not a sweet morsel to swallow in either case could he ever respect again if it was she who had been imposed upon she was too simple to make a safe wife for any man if she had been the cunning one and had been blinded that would settle it all of course if they had acted as covers for each other both guilty that would be quite the same could either of them know so little of the world as to be in such a manner it did not seem possible and the master thought came and crowded out the rest if was the mistress of frank what ought he to do how could he blame such a man for himself of that opportunity if it came in his way if a pretty wife chose to her marriage vows was it to be expected a would advise her to the contrary it was certainly on whom the blame should fall ought he to go home and kill her no he would be hanged if he did he would wait till he felt sure he was cool enough to dismiss her with the few words that his righteous indignation o young s dictated he would tell her to go to the devil to seek the class of women to which she belonged and then he would take away with him and try to forget the unworthy mother that was the way for a sensible man to act murder was in such cases except among the of or the drunken of he would not let add anything to the injury she had already done him and he had no relish for a term behind the thick walls of a jail he would wait wait till he was perfectly certain he could control his temper and could meet her as she ought to be met the came to take him into the rubbing room stretched on the marble with the heavy hands of the attendant his flesh said to himself a hundred times that this was what he would do he had got to thinking of only one possibility out of the three which he had at first taken up must be s had only acted as a blind for them a knowing one he had no doubt whatever her flat had been their convenient place of meeting had begun this when she told him the falsehood about s going to south america how had he been so long he should have known that a wife who could calmly lie to her husband was capable of yet greater please turn over sir said the well she would see before she died what became of such wives her path would descend easily into the for her wealthy lover would tire of her as soon as her charms began to fade recalled s expressions long before i could take her and love her for weeks perhaps for months she may grow ill tempered she will young grow old her hair will turn gray her rounded curves will disappear on her face wrinkles will come marriage the very word me and after that what was the next step downward always downward a few years of misery and then a frightful death in that day she would know that her husband hard as was his lot had not the worst of this bargain to which she had forced him he would still be a citizen regarded with honor by his fellow men when the wagon that bore her remains took its way with galloping horses to the s field now if you will stand up sir the attendant placed him under the shower bath which was much colder than he usually wanted it but to day he never gave the matter a thought his mind was too excited for him to know much about the man rubbed him down and dried every drop of moisture from his skin then he was shown to a couch where he lay for an hour until some one suggested that it was time to dress when he got out on the street again he felt much better he looked at his watch and saw that it was noon should he go home now no he was not yet quite calm enough he had resolved not to enter his house until he could speak to

as as a judge on the bench so he took a long walk over twenty third street to the river and up a avenue and down again after that he went into a theatre and passed three hours and then feeling slightly faint he got a lunch at a it was now past six and he walked slowly in the direction of his home his home never could it be his home again how happy he had been there and now it was all ended young fa tt s the pain of this reflection warned him that he was not yet in a condition to his wife he strolled up avenue and beyond till he saw the river in front of him then he strolled back again through other streets at last he entered his dwelling unless things were very different from usual would not be at home at that hour it was ten o clock he would go up and wait for her and talk to her in an ordinary voice when she came back then he would pack the things he wanted and take them away with that very night yes that was what he would da chapter xxv i know you have been true he went in without much noise for he did not care to meet the servant if he could avoid it the parlor was empty as he turned up the low gas jet in the he would go in a minute to see poor worse than boy he uttered a sob that no amount of resistance could quite choke down and immediately there came a low voice from the chamber beyond is that you it was she was in bed when he reached her door saw by the bright light burning there that she had a very white face and was undoubtedly ill i m so glad you ve come she whispered i ve been terribly sick all day stayed quite late with me and did all she could but there was no use in their sitting up oh have i got to go through all that again n young fa wc she had her handkerchief to her eyes when he en and she did not remove it she was crying in a subdued key so utterly wretched that she would not have believed that anything could add to her distress fail when one tries to describe the anguish that the unhappy husband the which he had for his offspring the that surrounded in his estimation all this was met in its path through the waters by the gigantic of doubt if his wife was faithful he could fall on his knees and worship her if she was the revelation she had given only made her more infamous in his sight there was a collision that nearly wrecked the frail craft but the ship still floated on the crest of the waves he wanted so dearly to believe in her that he was willing to catch at any hope but he must have that awful question settled and at once he could not it for an hour you were at the theatre last night was the only answer he made her she paused in her sobs behind the handkerchief and stole a look at him her heart sank when she saw his face yes she replied softly with frank i went with and frank we happened to meet him and he came along mr caught his breath once in your life try to speak the truth he answered in a low voice i know it is not easy for you but do the best you can you see i know all about it it is not only last night that you have been with but fifty other nights you have been with young him to the theatre to and you know as well as i where else i found it out to day now i am going to pack my things and get out of this house tonight with my child that will leave you free to go to him with his i took the handkerchief from her eyes and sat up in the bed for a moment she put both her hands to her temples with the action of one partly stunned then she got her feet on the floor and strode toward her husband how do you dare speak like that to me sha cried with the utmost ferocity the astonished man saw a heavy bronze lamp seized from a table and swung above his head he knew that his life was not worth a penny should it descend it was not a pleasant position to be placed on the physically before this slender figure in its but there was a greater thing than this in that pose of hers there was every sign of outraged innocence explain to me then he answered what you have been doing in his company why have you been to theatres and to with him night after night and never mentioned a word of it to me went slowly back to the bed and sat down on the edge of it she still kept a grasp on the weapon she had taken though she let its weight rest again on the table her gray eyes were like coals and her nostrils were red as blood a tremor ran over her frame but her voice was firm what have i been doing she replied i have been going to places of amusement why have i gone with mr and because you never have asked me to go with you why have young fa tt s i not told you because i do not consider it any of business they are respectable people and we have all behaved ourselves you say you have made some great discoveries kindly tell me what they are but be careful she raised the lamp again from the table it is not necessary

that you should add inventions of your own he shifted uneasily in his chair put that thing down he said shortly don t intend to break my skull with it and you may as well let it alone she smiled don t i she echoed i would break the skull of any man who would offer such an insult to ma as you did a moment ago and refuse to take it back what gives you a right to outrage my feelings all the privileges your marriage brought you have been kept sacred but they do not include such conduct as you have been guilty of this night he had not been in her presence five minutes but he believed that whatever she had done she was yet he believed that her babe was his child he was impatient with her for the long deceit she had for the risks she had run of her good name for her reckless association with a man of frank s stamp these things he meant to tell her in the future but the load that had been removed from his mind made them seem of comparatively little moment very well he said in a tone i take back what i about you you hav been careless and you have done your reputation an injury but i am only too glad to think you personally pure now it is your plain duty y fa s to tell me the whole story as there is certainly somewhere if it is not yours it is s frank is a without the least conscience i assure you i know him thoroughly if he has not been spending the past year seeking to ruin you it is because he has found another victim let us have no more i want the whole truth but even then she had no idea of giving it to him she did not realize the dreadful condition in which things had been but a moment earlier in which they still were and would be until his mind was set at rest you want too much she retorted you had better go to them and try to get the facts in the same way you tried with me beginning with an insult i consider frank a gentleman and a lady i have accompanied them to several places and he has always acted with the utmost courtesy there is simply nothing to cause all this rage on your part you have said things to me to night that i can never forgive i have borne you one child but i will not bear you another no as true as my name is the man caught her and stopped her words with his hands are you insane he gasped do you think she replied firmly as soon as he would let her speak that i am going to bear children when you question their he seemed choking as he heard her i don t question it he exclaimed i know you have been true to me i was mad when i said anything else but i am equally sure that you are deceived in relation to frank and how would you like to learn that they had been using you as a cover for you owe it to me and to y fa tt s your child and to your dead mother to have this thing to the bottom the mention of her mother was the one thing that could have moved mrs she broke down completely and burst into tears if we find that there is good cause to suspect them said gently you will consent to give up won t you that is all i ask oh you never will find that she sobbed you don t know her as i do but it s no wonder you talk of others after what you said of your own wife don t allude to that again he begged i take you at your word but frank is too deep a for your innocent head he knew if you did not that it would subject you to suspicion for him to be seen at with you and your husband never there but he cares for nothing except his own pleasure was thinking of her mother perhaps she had not been entirely right in this business she would never go out with in the party again that was certain it was easier to make this resolve however than to tell it to her husband she shrank from appearing like a punished child who had to promise not to repeat its fault is not a bad woman she i could swear it she has a good for nothing husband and she means to get a divorce from him mr likes her and when she is free he will marry her that s all there is to it he has been very kind to her to us both if it makes talk of course i won t go out with him but i don t see how it can when he is my own cousin and if i don t go can t go either and perhaps it will break it all up she looked so that he could not help young s ing her word to the full but he did not believe in theory of s alleged intentions frank marry never he either had or hoped to gain s place in a way it was two hours later before the finished talking finally they went to bed under a patched up a sort of that would do for the present at least it had been a hard time for them both but the failure of to tell the important fact that hired a room of mrs left the door open for another similar affair when learned some days later that mrs could not go out with him and again he lost his temper give my regards to

he said to her and ask him if he has heard from lately he won t need the other name mil understand just ask him he last heard from chapter xxvi what made you marry mamma had been feeling very tender toward b s wife during the past few days the reaction that had followed the terrible misunderstanding had had its natural consequence he thought many hours together of the awful suspicions that clouded his mind of the great gulf that had arisen between him and and of the happy sweeping away of the object of his terror she had been foolish to allow a man like frank to impose upon her but her own conduct had been undoubtedly pure as for mrs she might or might not be a virtuous woman young s she had no business with a husband living to act in such a way as to lead people to suppose her single determined to gradually lead away from her friend feeling that was not the best companion for so a girl as he still believed his wife to be notwithstanding the falsehood in which he had detected her he thought he could manage by taking her to places of entertainment himself and by asking her to remain in the house evenings to her from mrs without creating ill feeling he had about as take a as to go to the average theatre having become attached to the quiet of his parlor after the of the day but he endured several evenings at the play so that might be satisfied on the odd nights he sat and talked with her though he would have enjoyed much more the reading of a newspaper or book he was willing to sacrifice a little to make her future conduct another thing mr did and this on the very day after he had the interview with his wife detailed in the preceding chapter he went to a professional to borrow the sum which he owed when he obtained it he engaged an attorney to pay the amount and secure the note that frank held so that he would not have to meet the individual toward whom he now had only the bitterest sentiments one evening came home with a light heart to show that he and were no longer in business relations with each other it was the very day that mrs had summoned courage to tell mr that her husband objected to having her seen in his society and on which he had given that and to her astonishing reply ask him if he has heard from he ll under young fa s it did not need the sarcastic laugh with which frank uttered these words to distress the young wife to the utmost she had never had an instant s jealousy of since her marriage and the thought that there could be another woman in the case was enough to send the blood out of her cheeks in a wave what do you mean she stammered faintly ask him retorted he thinks i am not good enough to associate with you make him tell you a chapter from his own experience mrs who had long ago heard the story of mr s relations with the boston woman wore a look of the greatest consternation she would have given anything could she have spared this pain he doesn t mean anything she exclaimed at the same time darting a glance of entreaty at her lover what is the use of making things any worse than they are tell her you were only joking she added to the request by don t you see how seriously she is taking it but absolutely refused to be he was in an ugly temper his money had been repaid to him that morning through a third party indicating the state of s feelings towards him and he had been growing all day let me tell my own stories he said firmly k i do mean something if mrs asks her husband and he refuses to tell her she can come back to me and i promise to give her the information he must have been disagreeable enough to her when he attacked us all i want him to remember is the old that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones mrs was in despair her well meant scheme young fa tt s j i had failed and she feared to make another attempt lest she should him to say even more i don t believe my husband lives in that kind of a glass house said with rising indignation i understand what you intimate and i know he is not that kind of a man it was a very pretty sight thought this little wife under the lash herself defending the honor of the man who had administered the blow throw the stone and see he smiled grimly ask him when he heard from make him think you know and he will let out the whole truth i ll say you mean of boston that will be enough he ll fall into the trap and if he doesn t i ll keep my word if there is anything you don t find out from him i ll tell it to you you needn t take my word alone either there are plenty to me so when mr came whistling into his apartment that evening and with a happy smile shook the note he had obtained from in his wife s face she responded by to him that unpleasant she had thought for an hour after she reached home that she would the whole matter frank was angry at and in a mood to invent tales or to any little affair that had occurred hated to hear things to her husband s she had almost rather be kept in ignorance than learn that he had done anything very wrong but when she

got home the poison began to penetrate her veins she could think of nothing but that disagreeable word who could its owner be there must be yo fa tt s thing to it for frank had told her to try the effect of those magic on her husband and he would not have done that unless he believed their sound would awaken unpleasant memories could there be at this present moment some woman with whom shared his embraces no impossible he was always at home in the evening and his days were taken up with the business of co but it was evident that there was or had been at some time a what a disgusting name knew she should hate any one bearing that disagreeable she must she would ask the meaning of this unpleasant riddle yes she said in reference to the note which he showed her i m glad you ve got it again and now i want you to tell me her voice trembled as she reached the question if you know any woman by the name of they were equally pale as she finished the sentence frank told you to ask me replied hoarsely that statement is not an answer she replied in a low voice a dangerous look came into the husband s eyes what do you think of a fellow of that description he muttered after trying his best to cast reflections on the character of my wife by making the public believe it is she who him to theatres and without her husband s knowledge he wants to make trouble between you and me i ve tried to keep from giving him a piece of my mind but i shall do it now if he with my affairs again he ll be sorry that s all i young s sat opposite to him in a chair which seemed much too large for her now will you tell me what i asked you she said persistently he started and a wild look came into his face why there s not much to tell he replied i presume he has made it out already as bad as he could she shook her head he has told me nothing yet but he says he will if you refuse looked very ugly as he heard this statement very well then let him said he if it has got to the point that you go to men and to such men to get information about your husband why keep on we ll see how you come out it was the old kind of quarrel neither had any patience neither was ready to put into the scale that slight portion of love that would have tipped the beam the right way after a little more talk of the same kind refused to say another word the language of both had grown very warm and their tones were high enough to be heard in the kitchen but they gave no thought to that was no stranger to the matrimonial of this kind that had gone on for so long what was of more importance however neither of them thought of the little who was playing with his toys in the next room with the door wide open papa he said after supper when was holding him in his lap what made you marry mamma who was passing through the room to reach her chamber stopped as if shot the husband and wife looked at each other like people over whom some great catastrophe suddenly revealed is hanging y fa tt s don t see pursued the what made you marry mamma or what made her marry you you don t seem to like each other when you come home i hear you both scolding folks that like each other don t do that to save his life could not reply a tear started in spite of him and rolled down his face took a step toward her husband and in a second more she had flung herself on her knees with her arms around him and the baby and was sobbing i do love your papa she cried as soon as she could control her voice oh i do love him it is he the utterance was almost choked in its who does not love me the boy strangely calm in the presence of his agitated parents turned to his father as if to hear his reply mamma is wrong she does not mean what she says drew the sad faces together telling them to kiss and not quarrel any more when this was accomplished for neither of the parents dreamed of exhibiting further feeling before him he said he was ready to be put in his bed and laid him there with the usual good night from the little arms at the final moment of departure sat sewing on something for when her husband rejoined her he went to her side took the cloth from her lap and kissed her sorry that even for a brief half hour he had forgotten the great need of using gentleness toward his wife i am going to tell you all about it all about he said earnestly young s el oh then it is true i she cried with a gasp he hesitated a moment it happened very long ago he said when he proceeded it gave me the most i ever had in my life i have wished a thousand times i had come to you at once and confessed everything but i was too great a coward frank led me into it and as he has aroused your suspicions you shall know the whole truth the wife shook with apprehension she almost wished she had let the matter drop in the first place but her curiosity was too great now to bid him cease it was when we had not been married long he was going to lend me

that money you know and he seemed awfully obliging he lived in rooms on street and he got up a supper in my honor i never thought of there being anything strange about it and when i found that there were women in the party i couldn t very well make a fuss they were a rather hard crowd that s the truth i got to drinking too much more because i wanted to drown my shame than anything else and the affair became a regular in the morning when i woke up i saw that we were all there still after the others had gone i told frank my opinion of his conduct and he made light of my indignation i went home to you wishing i were dead it would not have taken much to have made me commit suicide on the way that is all there was to it i have never seen any of those people since a crept slowly through mrs s frame as she listened she knew nothing of this sort of thing and the revelation seemed to her too to be believe young s and who she asked was oh she was one of the women who came each of the men brought a companion and frank invited two extra girls to make the couples complete had you never seen her before had not calculated on this there was another and a darker chapter that he had not supposed would have to be now don t be unreasonable he said unreasonable echoed astonished i certainly have a right to know the husband leaned back in his chair h twice and then answered that he had seen miss before that night but he added also that it was before his marriage tell me all about those previous meetings said mrs they were before i was married i tell you replied that makes no difference he stared at her do you maintain said he that i have no right to keep to myself what i did before i married before i was even engaged to you that is preposterous mrs would not agree with him is this girl s character good she inquired well hardly m and you knew her well enough to meet her more than once being aware of that fact do you imagine i would have married a man who did such things if i had known it at the time ther was an absence of the tears that ordinarily ac young s strong emotion in his wife and was struck with the fact that he had encountered a force of new and uncertain strength in her character perhaps not if you had known it thin he admitted but this was years and years ago i was free to do what i liked were you she replied supposing the case were reversed and it was i he drew a long breath of distress you don t mean to claim that the case would be identical he said precisely he moved his chair and struck one knee with his palm there is no sense said he in such a theory there never was and never will be the same rule for women and men it is idle to discuss it i was drawn into that drunken the thought of which has caused me agony but i ll swear to you if you wish me to that since our marriage since our engagement i have been true to you her calmness surprised him she acted as if they were talking of some ordinary matter i was nevertheless said she i married you thinking you a good man and you were a bad one i repeat were the case reversed you would not live with me another hour after hearing the confession of my sin i shall not take such a course on account of that child in the next room but i feel to night that the date makes little difference to me that if it had happened since our marriage it would be only a trifle less horrible and you are the man who my cousin mr because he took me with a lady friend of mine to a public theatre and a respectable young fa tt s we never got drunk together never had companions on those occasions no one can come to you and say ask your wife when she last saw one of her old arose to leave the room had a fearful feeling of uneasiness he thought he had a little rather on the whole that she had broken into tears and reproaches of a more violent character what could he do or say to lessen her grief he was glad after all that he had told his story for now he had nothing to apprehend from s he could not undo the old fault which he still thought took too seriously how he wished he could were sins as gross in men as in women he went to bed and fell asleep with this question still in his mind chapter the act of a mrs did not wholly cease visiting her friend mrs notwithstanding all the trouble their acquaintance had caused she thought it quite enough if she stopped going out of doors in her company when frank was of the party it could not disgrace if she merely went to s to pass an afternoon even if was also there as he generally was frank talked occasionally of the divorce that was to get from but nothing seemed to toward that end the truth was that this idea of a divorce and a subsequent marriage was only a pleasant fiction of s designed to young fa s calm any scruples that might arise in the mind of his cousin he was content with his present condition and had no mind to exchange it for one more irksome his liking for was very strong but he did not

think the ceremony of a marriage would make it any pleasanter to live with her if anything should happen to cause a it was much easier to pack a trunk and call a cab than to spend a year or two waiting the decision of a judge not to mention such things as counsel and and was she also content by no means she loved frank with all her heart and yet she never was satisfied for a single hour from the time she became his unmarried wife her existence up to that time was miserable enough and at first she welcomed anything to vary the dull old round would have made a good wife to the right man to be a mistress was not her proper difficulties seemed to her the husband the law had given her had proved himself worse than none at all this man who had crept into her heart when he had no right there had caused her to all the moral obligations she had been educated to respect she felt that hers was an entirely hopeless case the brightest hours in her life were those that passed with her and still she felt that even this companionship was a source of danger had she been strong enough she would have told mrs the truth leaving her to take such action as she thought wise wh n a woman has but one real friend in the world t is not pleasant to that one let the future take care of its own troubles the present had enough for her o yo fa tt s the next act in the drama for mr came about three months after his confession to of the circumstances of the at s he had expected to be out of town all night but had changed his mind late and returned home about ten o clock he went into s room to kiss the boy in his sleep and found to his distress that the little fellow was tossing uneasily in a feverish condition is ill he said going to find a servant his head is very hot did you hear mrs say anything about it replied that the child had not acted very well all day but had not specially complained he had not eaten much and had asked to be early felt a at the ends of his fingers as if he ought to some one did she give him any medicine he asked i don t think so do you know where she has gone no sir the father put on his things and went out of doors what sort of a mother did call herself he must find her they must have a doctor and nurse he would go over to mrs s flat in the first place and see if by any possibility she were there as he walked along he struggled to suppress his anger this was not a time when he could tell his wife how indignant her conduct made him another life now depended on hers another existence was liable to be injured by any pain that she felt no matter what she did he must endure it with as little protest as possible he resolved that when he found her he would use the language though his heart was ready to burst with a push on the electric at the en yo fa trance of the apartment house where dwelt he put his ear to the speaking what is it tt was not a woman s voice i wish to see mrs she has gone out when will she return before long probably slowly it dawned on s brain where he had heard that voice before unless there were two men in the world who spoke exactly like each other it was frank at the end of that turned away sick and faint for the most terrible of all suspicions had thrust itself upon him the green eyed monster so often driven out had made its once more in his brain mrs was not at her home and frank was there was he spending the evening alone not at all likely who then was his companion who who but the missing wife and mother another of the building came at this juncture and opened the door muttering something about having forgotten his key entered after the man he crept slowly to the pausing many times in the ascent now he was as weak as a child again he was strong as a lion anon the perspiration broke out upon him until his was as wet as if taken from a tub then the muscles on his arm hardened like steel and he could have an ox with his bare fist at the end of his climb when he stood before the door of mrs s apartment he was ready for anything he had enough left to tap lightly on the young s he wanted to make the occupants think it was returning without a question the door was flung open from the inside entered closing the door behind him he not only closed it but drew the bolt he did not mean his prey should escape him nor that he should be able to summon witnesses or people who might interfere frank s astonishment was extreme he could not understand how this man should be there nor what gave that awful look to his white face the first words explained all want my wife you ve got a d d queer way of stating it replied who was at least no coward but to relieve your mind at once let me say she is not here excited to the inmost core preserved a wonderful outward calmness i shall not take your word he said i intend to search these rooms and if you try to leave before i have finished i will throw you out of a window laughed he would have

uttered the same laugh had been holding a revolver to his head your threats are unnecessary he answered i should never think of leaving you here alone as i am responsible for the articles you see about you when you find that your wife is not one of them you will i presume kindly take your leave he turned to the opposite side of the room and dropping into a chair took up an evening paper which he had put down when he heard the tap on the door nothing more could well be conceived for a few seconds gazed at him young s then he went through the chambers with the of a police officer who he has a thief and he found nothing of what he sought there is a room behind that curtain he said u and it is locked i wish to enter it laid down his paper languidly i beg your pardon he said in the tone of one who has not heard distinctly i wish to enter that further room raising his voice mr shook his head slowly quite impossible for what reason because and the answer came very slowly indeed because that room is mine strode forward i believe he muttered between his teeth my wife is in that room if you do not it or give me the key i shall break in the door the other man elevated his eyebrows as if surprised a devilish strange idea and not exactly complimentary to my pretty cousin he replied however it would be a pity to break such a nice door i think you will find a key on the mantel two minutes later came back from that room also convinced now that he had been making a foolish search but why was living here in this flat if everything was as it should be he had seen frank s clothing in the farther room garments that he recognized it was evident that he was at home there and of course knew this if she was not there to night that was no proof that she ah i what will satisfy jealousy when it is once aroused young s well you didn t find her did you said quietly s eyes were the strength that had come to him had given place again to extreme weakness i did not he answered if i had you would not now be sitting there asking me the question as true as there s a god on high i would have your brains on this carpet made a gesture of you say such disagreeable things he replied his companion did not seem to hear him for a long time he went on my wife has visited mrs against my desire i did not absolutely forbid it though there was something that told me i should but had i imagined that you were living under this roof i should have made my command imperative you are a whose contact is injurious to any decent woman how far this has gone i do not know but i shall find out and i tell you frank if you have done anything to disgrace me or to the good name of my wife i will settle the account with you as soon as the fact comes to my knowledge mr bowed with a distant of irony have you any explanation or defence to make demanded explanation defence certainly not to you the husband strove to master his emotions which were becoming will you tell me why you have a room here laughed for the same reason that you have yours on street because it is my residence young fa wc s a sharp pain shot through the eyelids of the you are fully aware he said that such a course leaves my wife and her cousin open to suspicion you know that the result may be the breaking up of a home and the ruin of more than one reputation now i have this to tell you no matter what has or may happen you must give up coming here mr rose from this chair and seated himself on the arm of it my rent is promptly paid always said he really a matter of this kind should be between me and my landlady not when it affects my wife and her relations mr seemed to grow more interested i may be very he said but i cannot see how my place of living can affect mrs you do not deny that she comes here the door that led into the hall opened noiselessly at this moment and entered the room no but i do deny that i have any control of her actions now let s be sensible just for a moment my cousin is your wife her cousin mrs is to all and purposes mine the of the statement struck but his main desire was to clear and this assertion if true seemed to do that mrs he responded has a husband yes practically no you thought your wife was here with me well she wasn t if you don t want her here why don t you keep her away as for me and my affairs they are not your business s back was toward the door and he had no knowledge of mrs s on the other f young s hand saw her plainly he had been nursing for the past ten minutes a desire to hurt the feelings of some one and the blow fell on the woman who had been sacrificed on the altar of his lust satisfied that his wife was not the mistress of this man mr s thoughts to his sick child and he started to leave the house as he turned his eyes encountered the shrinking form of mrs with her hand raised toward him in an attitude of entreaty take me with you she cried take me with you don

t leave me here with him her anguish was evidently intense she would have fallen at his feet in her had he permitted her it was plain that she had been a listener to s exposure of the relation she held toward him was very sorry for her but he shrank from the suggestion she made take you home with me he repeated take you to my house you i will help you to get some place were you can find an honest living but after what i have learned to night i could do no more came across the room and laid his hand on s arm don t make a fool of yourself he exclaimed roughly you re mine as much as if a hundred had married us laws are not the only things that hold people together this fellow came here in a rage because he thought his wife here alone with me he found she wasn t and in explaining matters i stumbled on the truth you never saw me he added to rushing into people s apartments and asking if my wife was hidden there when you intimate that this lady is not good enough to enter door remember i young y s did not wish to get into another argument he wanted to get home where little needed his attentions take me away from here pleaded as he crossed the threshold take me somewhere anywhere away from this man tears were running down both her cheeks her hair was in her distress her voice was very low and to an exquisite touch of pathos but had no time to linger he regretted every minute his jealousy had kept him from the bedside of his boy is very sick he explained i was looking for and i must return home at once to morrow if you will send to the office no no she pleaded struggling with the arms that held her to night don t leave me here i closed the door behind him and the sobbing voice was heard no more chapter dead for a mrs was at home when her husband arrived she had been with mrs in search of a physician and had been detained at his office as she did not expect home that night and as she did not care to say anything of her fears to she had gone for to consult her in relation to a doctor without leaving any word with her domestic in relation to the matter she did not believe ill but young s she knew his temperature was too high his appetite light and that he was extremely restless when mr reached the house he found dr awaiting the return of from a store whither she had gone with a it was with painfully mixed feelings that stood by the bedside of his boy listening to the voices of the doctor and alternately it seemed as if everything he cared for in this world was at stake now he was not sure his wife was faithful he could not tell but his child had a fatal illness and he must conceal both these fears on account of the delicate condition of the mother in these days there were two lives to consider if had been true to him his regard for her child was hardly less than that for the one now tossing on the sick bed it would not do to excite her he must suppress his apprehensions from fear of the effect on his future heir and he must believe true yes he would believe it until positive evidence came to the contrary she had been reckless in with and his mistress but personally he could not conceive her stained nevertheless the doubts would with terrible force like the repeated of an earthquake the doctor gave the child his first dose of medicine left particular directions and went away bidding them call him at once on any alteration of any of the symptoms for the worse had no idea of seeking rest that night and his wife refused to accept his suggestion that she lie down she was alarmed this time and could not have slept had she tried it had troubled her exceedingly when she discovered s condition because was away now that he bad yo fa tt she relied wholly on his judgment but she did not like to leave him she took a chair and drew it close to his and together they watched each rise and fall of the little bosom you don t think he s very very sick do you she whispered she knew that her husband s brow was dark but she ascribed that to his over the child she had no idea that he had recently been to mrs s flat and learned that frank had a room there and she would have been more surprised than he to hear of his subsequent discovery i i don t know replied after that the conversation ceased and except for a necessary word now and then neither spoke until nearly daylight at that time awoke and looked so badly that was roused and sent for the doctor another examination more medicine wise looks on the physician s part and similar phenomena known to all who have ever had anything to do with such cases followed was very and rejected the offers of both his parents to hold him although he insisted that he wanted to be taken up won t you let papa take you asked the boy had always been very partial to him no no replied the little fellow he wants mamma holding out her hands to him the boy did not reply to this suggestion in words but he drew away as if to the idea shall i call asked his mother and this was received even more the doctor said the child ought to get up for a little while as

a change of position would be but young s it was evident that would not let any one in the house touch him without a struggle what do you want inquired bending the child i want aunt straightened himself up with a jerk the blood rushed to his brain and made him dizzy whom does he speak of asked dr if it is any one you can get easily you had best do so the less he is agitated the better knowing nothing of what tortured her husband mrs turned to him shall i run over for her it will only take fire minutes no he answered abruptly the doctor saw that something not plain to him was the matter and said no more on that point they managed with a good deal of and not without a flow of tears to get the boy into his father s arms while his bed was being changed at last dr with renewed to be sure and call him if anything occurred and with a promise to come back at noon anyway left the house if you know of any person the boy likes who can come and help you take care of him you ought to send at once were his last words he will not be able to be left alone for several days at least and you and your wife will have to take some rest before long had not failed to note the peculiarly savage tone with which her husband had declined her suggestion that she should go for mrs she knew he did not like to have her associate intimately with though he had not positively forbidden it she said nothing however till when after another nap yo fa tt s awoke and began again to sob over and over that he wanted his aunt won t you let me go for her asked finally was always very fond of her you know and she would make the best nurse we could get i know you don t like her very well but this is a special case she would come i m sure last night when she went with me to the doctor s she was almost as much distressed as i last night did not want to think of last night how could those hands touch his innocent boy he shook his head impatiently and began to pace the room trying to think what he ought to do mrs was a guilty woman undoubtedly his wife knew all about her had helped to shield her in them he could not allow her to enter his door it would be her great offence oh papa again for the tenth time i want aunt turned to his wife for god s sake he exclaimed with a man s why doesn t some one go for that woman joyfully started to get her hat no not you he cried how strangely he acted but he had been out of his bed all night and worried extremely over his ed son mrs did not think his conduct meant anything unusual what shall i tell her asked the domestic appearing at the door wait a minute and i will write a note he had no doubt that knew what was going n at mrs s everybody in new york knew it young s probably had known it for months everybody ex him going to a desk he wrote these lines sealed and handed them to u mrs is ill he cries for you continually the doctor thinks you can do him a great deal of good i told you last night i did not wish you to enter my house but this is an emergency come if you will and do what you can for him do not think however that this exception in any way the stand i am compelled to take toward you a f when mrs received this note she was alone in her apartments had gone out early after an unpleasant night and morning during which had passed most of the time in tears she told to say that she would be over immediately and went to her dressing case to remove as far as possible the traces of suffering from her face then she wrote a brief note to explaining the cause of her absence and went out when she came into mr s presence he bowed with cold formality as soon as he could he persuaded his wife to go to her chamber and take the sleep she needed saying he would follow her example in a short time he wanted the two women together as little as possible it was a most disagreeable necessity that had brought mrs there and he meant to reduce the pain to the lowest possible compass in the arms of his new nurse and when dr next came he was please to see this new assistant but the disease was not taking the course young s he had hoped and he answered the father s with a very grave countenance the boy acted as if in a partial stupor from which it was not easy to rouse him even temporarily the physician did not leave the house all that afternoon and when it was nearly sunset he told that no skill on earth could save the life of his child the father listened to the medical terms that rolled from the doctor s tongue he understood but on thing the terrible fact that this child in whom his life was bound up was slowly but surely dying they stood by the bedside in which lay mrs weeping mr with dry eyes you had best call the mother suggested the doctor quietly it is a matter of only a few minutes now beckoned him into the next room and told him of his wife s situation urn replied the man in that case perhaps it is safer to let

her finish her sleep then when she break it to her as gently as you can heart broken the father returned to s chamber and watched the gradual of the brightest light that had ever shone along his pathway his despair was so great that he seemed stony to those who looked at him there are where the ordinary tokens of sorrow fail utterly to bring relief i will break it to if you wish said mrs timidly when all was over the tears had not ceased to course down her cheeks he did not care now it could make no difference he had wondered in what terms he could convey the news tortured as he was yes he said she might tell her mrs did not awake for several hours and young fa wc when she heard what had happened she sobbed bitterly for a long time she lay in s arms soothed by her cousin but the tears of the women continued to mingle at midnight exhausted with her grief and previous labors fell asleep again by s side nature was bound to assert itself as for he could not yet resign himself to slumber though he tried several times to do so he walked about his rooms after everybody else had retired going in and out of the chamber where the dead child lay and still without visible tokens of the loss he had sustained at about one o clock there was a knock at the door that sounded loud in the complete stillness that surrounded it he went to the door and flung it open frank stood there more or less under the influence of liquor he had followed some of the building and ascended to the fourth floor where the lived tell i want her he said in a rather thick voice all the outrage of the intrusion all the shame of the message came over but he restrained himself mrs has gone to bed he said she is very tired i should not like to call her realized little except that he was being in his desires and he responded in a louder voice that he wanted by g d and he proposed to have her i ve been alone in that d d flat all the evening said he and i m d d sick of it you tell her to get up and come along it s none of your business what i do by g d young had passed the threshold and it seemed to that his insulted the still form that lay in the room beyond catching the intruder suddenly by the shoulders he rushed him out of the apartment and down half a dozen stairs if you know what s good for you go he said in a harsh whisper had been perfectly sober he could have seen by the dangerous light in the drawn face above him that he had best obey the but the liquor he had taken weakened his powers of observation and reason had taken several steps back toward his own door when frank began to follow him at the top of the flight the foremost man paused did you hear me he asked quietly in a perfect rage started toward him striking a wild blow at the air as he pressed forward then in some way difficult to account for he lost his balance so completely that he fell over the it was all a matter of four seconds and heard the body strike with force on the floor forty feet below the commission merchant turned and saw that his door was still open he waited a few moments to learn whether the fall had aroused any other of the house as it did not seem to have done so he entered his apartment went to a and fell asleep upon it the that was summoned by the five hours later decided that death was he also reported that deceased had been drinking and had met with his fate from an accident to which ther yo fa tt s was no witness when mr was told of this during the morning he merely elevated his eyebrows and remarked indeed but when learned of her lover s death she went into fainting fits and for days it was a question whether she would survive the shock chapter for their child s sake has since said more than once that he lived the five months that ensued in a everything was colored with a heavy tinge of gray the loss of his child would have been in itself sufficient to have given him a severe strain had there been nothing else to bear him down he had literally worshipped no shadow of the grave had crossed the dreams he knew the bright castles he had with the little fellow as their central figure it all came upon him with hardly any warning and at a time too when there were other things only less painful to keep them company he went about the business of co in much the old way his partners believed that he was recovering very well from his he bought and sold grain took orders on commission gave advice to customers just as before at night he went home with a set face climbing the familiar stairs over the of which he had unmoved seen frank fall to his death he entered his apartment said good evening to his wife ate his upper took up his newspaper read an hour or two young s and went to bed wearing the external appearance of a man who has nothing special on his mind did not know exactly what to think of him she remembered how calmly he carried himself at the funeral how collected he was when she was with her grief she knew he had loved the child and she could not understand his reserve finding that he continued as like as

he began she into melancholy and a great deal which was very bad for her health and for the child that was yet to be born into that household it was this child that made continue to treat his wife with respect it was this that made him refrain from any allusion to what he had discovered in mrs s apartment that night when he learned that claimed her as his mistress he could not discuss that matter with his wife without the well being of another whose existence was the only thing he lived to no provocation could have induced him to speak an impatient word to her while her nerves were connected so intimately with tho growing existence he had not enough deceit in him to pretend a deep affection that he did not feel but h treated kindly and waited for the time when he could his trouble to her with no danger except to herself ten days after s funeral mrs was able to leave the house and she did not wish even had he asked it to remain longer than was necessary she knew without a word from him on the subject that he had said nothing to his wife in relation to what he had learned about her would not treated her in that polite manner if she knew doubly a widow though she had a husband young s and alone in the world might have gone to the end of her natural career had not voluntarily taken upon himself her necessary expenses the day she was to leave he put a hundred dollars into her hand telling her to call on him by mail for more whenever she needed it and by all means to live a life of honor the poor woman burst into tears but she could not answer him in words the money seemed to burn her fingers coming from him but it was better than the alternative that had arisen dimly in her mind at which he hinted she went back to her flat where everything reminded her of her happy though guilty past and in a month sold the furniture and took a quiet lodging in a remote part of the city then she tried to find some employment that would relieve her from accepting beyond the time the charity of the man she had wronged the death of frank coming in such a sudden and shocking manner proved too much for his mother and within a few days she followed him to the grave excused herself from attending the first funeral on account of her own but she went to boston to the second accompanied by her husband that evening the lawyer who attended to the legal affairs of the family sought mr at his hotel excuse me for coming to you so soon about a matter he said to as soon as he had pre his card it seems necessary however tc inform you that as both mr and his mother died their property will all fall to your wife neither mr nor had thought of this ran it over in his mind and concluded that the young s lawyer was right he had never heard of any near relations of the family except and her mother after a little further talk he went to ask to come into the room and the facts were repeated to her by the legal gentleman very well she replied simply not seeming to be moved in the least by the news mr will do whatever is necessary but shook his head let it be understood he corrected that i shall have nothing whatever to do about it mrs must do her business entirely with you the property will be hers not mine and i refuse to take any part ia the affair the lawyer smiled as you please he said under the law a man and his wife are held to be one and not in a matter of inheritance interrupted it was suggested that mrs had better remain for a few days at boston to attend to the more pressing matters but mr objected he said she could sign an application for a of the estate and that nothing else would be required at present the lawyer must take things into his own hands would not leave his wife and he wanted to get back to his office as soon as possible and this was the way matters were arranged how much do you think there will be from both estates asked quietly as he stood at the door of his parlor after his wife had left the room something like four hundred thousand dollars bowed thoughtfully and the visitor withdrew three months later mrs came to speak to y fa w t her husband one evening as he sat according to his custom with a newspaper in his hand he was not reading it but he used to sit for hours with it before his face absorbed in thought i want to ask your permission to do something with a part of my money she said almost timidly taking a chair close to him you do not need my permission he replied gravely i know i don t in law she said for the full rights of a married woman in such cases had long since been explained to her by her attorney but this is a matter that i want you fully satisfied about it is something i shall not do unless you approve of it wondering what she was about to say he waited for her to proceed i have been thinking of poor faltered she had not uttered the word when his brow clouded as she had feared it would she has had a great deal of trouble some time ago she she lost her now i hear she has broken up her little home and gone into one room she is even trying

to get work in a shop she paused again thinking it would help her if he would say something no matter what but he did not change his attitude or look i got my money went on from my aunt and cousin it is very much more than i have any use for you have refused to take it and put it into your business as i wanted you to do now if i should send a little of it to say five or ten thousand dollars it would be a fortune for her and she would get along very well indeed still he did not move or speak and after a few mo young s ments she asked again whether he saw any reasonable objection to her plan i told you in the first place he replied rousing himself slightly that i never should take your money and never should dictate to you what disposition to make of it she looked troubled though his tones were kindly enough i do not ask you to dictate nor even to advise it you do not wish to said she i only want to know whether you would care whether you would rather i did not do it he shook his head slowly i do not care he answered and you are quite willing i would not for the world do a thing you would not like if i knew it he raised his eyes slowly till they took in the whole of her face but she was not looking at him now she was gazing at a distant point in the room in her i think the idea a good one if that is what you wish to know said when mrs left this house i gave her money to live on temporarily and i have sent her some twice since then i am glad you think of her turned toward her husband with a displeased expression i don t see why you did that said she some one had to do it i knew she hadn t a penny i knew she he hesitated a second had lost her i knew she could not afford to keep her flat you had no money of your own at that time so i gave her a hundred dollars and i have sent her at much more young s mrs did not like this and a half formed resolution came into her head not to carry out her plan of helping her cousin i don t quite see what you did it for she cried out the words in agony she held my dying boy in her arms she had no one else to look to i know the natural fate of women well brought up educated and refined in such a city as this thrown on their resources with no trade or profession could i have risked letting the lips my boy had kissed he stopped suddenly for his wife had slipped from her chair to the carpet and was sobbing he had lost one child he must not the second so he ceased to talk of mrs and raised to a sofa where in a short time he saw with satisfaction that she seemed quite recovered nothing was worse a doctor had told him for his coming infant than over excitement on the mother s part he must be careful that nothing of the kind occurred again till all danger was past and at last the day came in such matters there is seldom any on account of the weather by the governor or a stay of proceedings by order of the court of appeals are not to be counted on into that awful valley of the shadow from which each little sun has to rise descended the pretty wife of for the second time but oh the pity of it there was a cloud across the face of nature and the young came forth with life extinguished the anxious father pacing the floor of the room beyond heard the news that a daughter had been born whose slight bosom had never drawn even one breath of the air of earth young fa s put on his bat and went out of doors well it was over at last he knew now what he should do one thing could have saved his wedded life that hung by such a slender thread one thing would have made it possible for him to forget and forgive as a mother of a living child might again have taken her place at his side from which he had excluded her so long now his hope of happiness was ended all he had dreamed of being would be buried in the lot at where his lay chapter xxx can you ever love me spent a good part of the next fortnight in of his interest in the concern called co business had taken a better turn of late and there was a fairly good sum to his credit in addition to the amount he owed his partners pleaded with him not to desert them and asked in vain the reason for his sudden announcement of an intention to give up the place he held he would only say that he wished to make a change and that time was pressing he inquired of the doctor who attended his wife how soon she would be able to hear some disagreeable news that he was obliged to impart to her without injury to her health the medical man suggested that another month had best be allowed as mrs was recovering slowly said nothing until the thirty days had expired he went out every day at the usual hour and returned at night so that nothing in his j young fa s conduct aroused the least suspicion he intended to make one blow when the time came on an afternoon when for want of something better to occupy his

time he was strolling in the park he came across mrs walking like himself alone he would have avoided addressing her had she not stopped abruptly in his path so that he could not help acknowledging her presence without a kind of that he did not like to use i have been wanting a few words with you mr murmured mrs and i shall hardly find a more time than the present i know you hate me and i will not deny that you have some cause but there are things which if you will let me explain them may your anger there is no one here who knows us and i will delay you but a few minutes she was looking at him wistfully for there was the darkest cloud on his face she had ever seen there a cloud that seemed absolutely impenetrable there is nothing that you can say he replied which will be of the least value to either of us if it is in defence of yourself it is unnecessary as you are not in any way responsible to me if it relates to my own family it is equally useless my life is broken beyond repair i have sold out my interest in my business and shall soon leave this part of the world mrs started at his last words with she asked earnestly a shiver passed over him is it likely he demanded with a shade of ness and why not cried her voice in a tremble no matter what you have thought i swear to you young s that she has been an honest wife that never has she been or dreamed of being he controlled himself with an effort and asked if she thought he had any doubt of that i am glad if you have none she replied but in that case how can you speak of going away and not taking with you he drew a long breath and shut his lips together for a moment sharply do you not realize he said that there are things a wife may do that are no less terrible in the sight of a husband than actual what things asked mrs dropping her eyes before the blackness of the gaze he bent upon her for instance intimately with women of loose morals he answered bitterly she shrank as if the blow had been a physical one you mean me she said yes i mean you she cleared her throat of something that her attempts to answer then she said i swear to you that she never knew never even suspected my guilt in that case she is too simple to be a safe wife for any man he answered if she could see you day after day so intimate with such a man as frank mrs raised both her hands while hot tears rushed to her eyes oh mr remember he is dead that does not relieve him of criticism he replied roughly but let me say again mrs this conversation can have no good end as i said in the first place you are not responsible to me for your young fa s tions so far as they concern your individual conduct you have made it impossible that i should again be a husband to and i am only awaiting the passage of a few more days to tell her so when i am out of the way it is probable she will send for you so that your old friendship is likely to be renewed i must now bid you good afternoon he had turned and was about to walk away when spoke again i shall never lead her into such dangers as might come from companionship with me she said she has been kind enough to give me money and i can get along now but i will not let her injure herself farther much as i would like her society had not turned his face toward her he listened with no sign of and when she finished he said good bye mrs she would have liked to say much more to him but she saw that he was the death of mr had given her a shock from which she had recovered and she was in no condition for a with one so set as he appeared to be at the end of the month came into his house one morning only an hour after he left it to the great astonishment of his wife who had never known a similar instance since they had lived in new york is anything the matter she asked anxiously coming toward him with the timid air she always wore in his presence of late he took a chair and himself up for his unpleasant task yes he said slowly something is th matter very many things are the matter young s mrs that it was no ordinary affair that was on his mind she sat down opposite to him and waited for him to continue with a feeling of deep apprehension is it about your business at the office she asked as he did not speak no i have no business at the office i sold out a month ago ah i h she heaved a sigh things had gone wrong there again he took out a and began to cut his which did not need that attention in the least a fact she was quick to observe on the contrary he said things have gone remarkably well there for some time back in fact when things went the worst elsewhere they improved at the office i have thirty thousand dollars in the bank and i owe no man a cent it was something about herself then she had feared at the first that this was it but she hoped otherwise what new fault had she committed she wondered she puzzled her tired brain over this but could find no solution

to it it was a long time since she had been beyond her and she had had literally no visitors but dr and her nurse the fact is said forcing out the words with difficulty i am going away going away where i am going away he repeated too many things have made new york unpleasant to me she waited a few seconds for him to explain where are we going she asked finally he twisted a number of times the only ring that he young s it is only who am going he said slowly and shall you stay long he raised his eyes to hers and she understood thing before he spoke as long as i live for a moment the shock was the same to her as if he had suddenly died in that chair in which he was sitting she had had no preparation for this she had known that he was likely at any time to find fault with her to complain of things she had done to warn her against their repetition but that he intended to their bonds fully and immediately for that she had not the least she could not utter a word so great was her surprise so intense her pain after waiting a moment he proceeded to explain i want to say just as little as i can and have no misunderstanding that matter of frank and settled everything for me they were living in open you were their almost constant companion visiting them at their residence accompanying them on their walks to places of public resort mrs you did not know what was going on and i do not dispute her the disgrace was however just as great to my name had you been possessed of as much sense as you ought to have you would have known by instinct had you confided in your husband instead of concealing all your acts from him he would have been able to tell you that you were in dangerous society you chose your own path if you ever have a regret for our separation it is them you may blame so long as i had your child to think of i was obliged to forgive and try to forget many things h young is not here so long as there was another life that seemed about to owe its existence to us i held my peace as well as i could now nothing stands in my way there is no reason why you and i cannot separate cannot give up a married existence that has had more than its share of for both you have a much larger fortune than i there is no probability that you will ever be in want if you ever are i will share all i have with you freely as to a divorce a legal affair i leave that to your pleasure i shall never wish to marry again should you ever have such a desire i will not oppose you there is only one thing more that i wish to say and that is i accuse you of nothing worse than blind folly i do not think you have been guilty of personal faults we are thoroughly that is all there was a quality in this little woman difficult to comprehend a quality that made strength out of her very weakness in such an emergency as this she had recently risen from a sick bed at her best she was no match for a strong man like him the few things she had to say however came straight from her lips without a tremor or sign of cowardice i have listened to you she answered without interruption and if you will do as much i will be very brief i never knew never conceived that anything was wrong between frank and until she wrote me in response to the i sent her all and begging my pardon i was shocked for nothing but her own admission would have made me believe so frightful a thing of a woman who seemed so pure and innocent you it strange but reflect a little there was no way that i should know i have not had your experience io young fa s never went to a house of ill never drank to in company with a as you have done if i my two cousins my ignorance of such matters is my sufficient excuse severely under the thrust but he let her go on without reply you speak of our children do you think they were dearer to you than to the mother who carried them next her heart for long months bore them in anguish such as no man ever and nursed them at her breast i have not your facility of expression but the loss not only of but of that little girl on whose face you did not even to look has made me suffer intensely the trouble is that you have never really loved me you have looked on me as something to preserve for the sake of your offspring something to be treated with special consideration as long as their lives were dependent on mine and to be thrust aside when that necessity no longer exists now before you say good bye i want to own to you that i have not done everything as i should nor as i would if i had them to do over again i have learned from dear experience but i cannot help adding that you have not been perfect either you married a child and it was your duty to guard her closer than you did you could have passed a little more of your time with her you might occasionally have taken her to walk or a place of amusement instead of leaving her to find other people more willing had you done your whole duty i might have been a little nearer to

of addition he was a confirmed and a very comfortable sort of fellow at the moment when he is introduced to the reader he was gazing into a love at seventy heap of coals which burned brightly in the grate before him both the book keeper and his companion suddenly became aware that there was a knock at the outer door of the counting room at least they knew that either this had happened or that the wind which was very boisterous had blown so severely against the building as to convey the impression that some one wished to enter the book keeper looked at mr who in return looked at the book keeper and the was that called come in in an elevated tone of voice the door opened slowly and closed behind a young man or it might be more correct to say lad for he did not look more than seventeen or eighteen years of age he was dressed notwithstanding the extreme coldness of the day and his features wore a pinched look such as is usually taken for a sign of physical suffering have you any work that i could do sir inquired the directing his question to the as mr was partly concealed from view by one of the large chairs in the room the book keeper was plainly annoyed he had been interrupted at the very worst time before he could find words the intruder knew by the unpleasant expression of his face what to expect no no replied we ve got nothing for you come be off the last exclamation was caused by the hesitation of the and his evident desire to the picturesque and poor conversation mr glancing from his seat by the fire saw the disappointed expression one that was not far from indicating genuine pain he moved his chair slightly and surveyed the with interest well are you going repeated seeing that the still remained we have nothing for you in any shape the works are all full and there is no prospect of a be sure and shut the door as you have already let in a good deal of cold the attitude of the young fellow changed with marvellous rapidity under the words and manner with which he had been received he raised his head and threw at the book keeper a glance of defiance i am poor and i am cold and i am hungry he said in a firm voice but that is no reason why you should speak to me like a dog i asked you for work not for charity and you might have replied in decent language this conversation occupied but a few seconds but it gave mr time to take a minute survey of the boy he saw at once that he had a fine face most intelligent eyes and an air that does not usually accompany such poor garments as he wore he noticed also that the lad s hands which were entirely bare were well shaped and very delicate although the outside the window far below the point he had no overcoat the extreme of his countenance was like at that of one recently recovered from a severe illness and this gave his eyes an unusually large appearance the angry look which flashed into them when he replied to the book keeper s words caused them to light up in a way quite attractive to any one but the object of their wrath he is very picturesque muttered mr beneath his breath feeling the necessity of doing something to preserve his dignity from the of the youth us left his stool and figures and approached him get out of here he said sharply or i ll put you out i ll h you manners beggar for answer the young fellow who was much and shorter than his clenched his thin hands but did not move an inch he evidently had no intention of being without a protest his eyes which had been dark before seemed to flash fire from out their depths his teeth white and even showed set and determined beneath the pale lips there could be but one issue to a contest so unequal but if imagined that he was to have his own way in the he had evidently made a how very picturesque he is murmured the young gentleman by the fire again then in a louder voice he addressed himself to the let him alone i want to talk to him the tone in which this was said was the most ordinary one in the world but there are two classes of beings who know and obey their masters without hesitation was a member of one of these classes and though mr was in one sense no master of his he knew that the time might come when he would be and had a due regard for the bread and butter question on that future day at this moment the piercing whistle of the works blew indicating the hour of noon the book keeper recognized the welcome sound and a sense of pleasure at his approaching dinner overpowered every other feeling he took down a heavy overcoat from an adjacent closet turning up the ample collar above his neck put on his fur gloves and hat the clad visitor with that contempt which well dressed people very properly have for their in this regard and finally by him as if he were some specimen of made his exit from the building not until the door had closed behind the form of did any change whatever come into the pale face of the young fellow but the next moment he turned with quite a different expression to mr did i understand that you wished to see me he asked y e s replied the other slowly that was exactly what the young gentleman wished to do with the boy to see him he pleased intensely his

sense of sight he would have enjoyed nothing better than merely to look at him for the rest of the afternoon having taken a very late r love at seventy breakfast he was not troubled by those which made glad to hear the noon signal sit down he added presently it is surely more comfortable here than out of doors as the lad feebly took a chair whispered to himself for the third time i think he is the most picturesque boy i ever saw the air of the counting room was undoubtedly to that of the street but the youth had something to think of beside his temporary comfort you are very kind said he but i cannot remain long i must find work to day somewhere looked at the slight figure there was much determination in its bearing an appearance entirely at with its slight bulk he had found very dull for the past month and this was the first thing that had in the least entertained him he wanted to retain the sensation what a a creature like this would be in that desolate region let me make a suggestion he said after a slight pause i am obliged to stay in this village and i am simply dying of in saying this i am making a confession to you with which i would not honor anyone else for the world you might suppose to look at me that i was the most contented chap on earth but the fact is i am just the opposite now i live at the hotel and have no one to talk to in the whole place unless it be some idiot like the book keeper with whom you have just had a bit of experience i want you to come up to the house with me and remain there picturesque and awhile as my guest i will not insult you by offering a salary for i want to treat you as one gentleman treats another what do you say a notion that this well dressed man was making fun of him came into the lad s head but he could see nothing to the idea in the straightforward glance that met his inquiring gaze i cannot accept your offer said he though i thank you for it it is absolutely necessary that i lose no time in getting employment was evidently disappointed and so you prefer work to taking your ease excuse me for saying that such a choice is quite incomprehensible i cannot see why anybody should want to work i have always thought it one of the ways of passing one s time even than sitting by this grate and watching the release themselves from that the lad stared at the speaker in great astonishment i have no friends no home no money he replied and his voice faltered what can i do but work the young gentleman could not take his eyes from the handsome fellow it was an outrage that such a picturesque specimen should be condemned to a life of what can you do he echoed why i have just told you have you never read that brilliant saying of s he says the only fitting occupation for a civilized man is to do nothing it at the lad shook his head in wonder he heard but he did not understand the idea that a person with empty pockets could live without labor was a new one to him if you really insist on working do not let me detain you added as his companion gave no sign of intending to reply it is easy to see though that you were never intended for a you are not built with a great rough frame feet and broad hands you are handsome excuse me and you have intelligence in your eyes it is ridiculous to think of you coal or iron or even grinding and yet that is what the of these works would probably have set you to do if there had been any place to offer you instead of replying in words the clad figure rose as if to take its leave you haven t told me your name said his brain to invent some means of keeping his new companion a little longer was the hesitating answer you look as if you had been ill remarked kindly i have then that is another reason why you should not think of doing anything like manual labor for the present don t be foolish come up to the hotel and dine with me after dinner we can talk it over this offer was declined with a motion of the head and another step was taken toward the doorway you are the strangest mortal i ever met picturesque and smiled advancing and placing one of his hands on the other s shoulder i will not oppose you any longer as it is evidently useless sit down again and wait until one o clock i will say the right word to the and he will employ you here there was a moment of hesitation and then the lad responded that he would rather go elsewhere there is no place here that book keeper told me so he said i could not take a place from which some one had to be discharged to make room for me looked much annoyed i say master you won t be able to keep that pace up he folks who persist in working for their living cannot be so particular that is one of the disagreeable things about the business you had better take this situation or a lunch or some money or something it is very cold weather as you may have noticed the next place you apply to will not be any more likely to have a than this one before you came this morning there were half a dozen in here asking the same question i can try

best part of my purchase and as soon as i have the money to spare i intend to build a large house upon it the inquired if a wife was among the early who can tell was the reply delivered in a serious manner which did not convey much information in time the projected sent up their smoke long rows of cottages the workmen which finally numbered more than six hundred the hotel took its place in line and the other of a village appeared in all directions some years later work was begun upon a residence in the that mr had set aside for himself and the had enough to talk about when they saw the remarkable extent of the edifice the house seemed large enough to accommodate twenty or thirty people though nothing which indicated any other than its owner and his servants mr discouraged those few persons who deemed themselves sufficiently privileged to make hints in his presence in relation to the matter and it became not only a nine days but a nine years wonder besides the residence itself there were several smaller buildings inside the grounds evidently intended for the use of upon the place extensive stables carriage houses ice houses and other to the home of a man of large property were also erected drives gardens etc followed a bit of history then one day without any apparent reason all of the work none of which was in a finished state was instantly suspended for a long period the buildings stood to the wonder and astonishment of the villagers in the dead silence of their untouched surroundings the closed gates of the great estate barred and locked against every one and then as unexpectedly as the work had been stopped it began again out of the stillness the sound of the the hammer and the saw sounded once more a large company of brought from a distance proceeded with despatch to complete the work on the original plan everything that had been contemplated was finished down to the smallest detail large sums were also expended on the furnishing of the house what can it mean cried the people of village is the master about to marry yes that must be it he is preparing a home for his ne wife but the work went on and moved into the house and with the exception the ordinary servants necessary to such a place and the occasional visits of his brother no one came to the grand mansion was an entirely different man from his brother had made a great effort to interest him in his early discoveries being more than willing to share his success with him it early became evident however that knew nothing whatever about business and disliked everything relating to it in the days of their extreme poverty he at seventy had performed the labor necessary to sustain with ill concealed but upon being released his mind ran rather to the poetic than to the commonplace and he proved completely useless when transferred to the counting room of the new concern much to his satisfaction though to his brother s great regret he was soon retired on a handsome income he established his residence in the city of new york where he attached himself to societies for the discovery and advancement of various things and also occasionally varied the monotony of his life by at his own expense works that found their way to the upper shelves of and remained there undisturbed the one thing that varied this programme was his marriage to a lady who only lived long enough to present him with a son undoubtedly he mourned her loss but after all he was better fitted to live a single than a wedded life the owner of had no he began housekeeping with the assistance of a mrs martin a rather severe woman of forty years or so who for a long time managed all the internal of the place so as to suit him fairly well and to please herself admirably it was his habit to rise at four o clock in summer and five in winter and stroll over his grounds he visited the stables the care given to the animals there or the to make sure his dogs were looking well he also had many long talks with a landscape gardener that he had imported to a bit of history give additional beauty to his naturally attractive grounds in those days seemed at peace he loved to reflect that all these things had come to him through his own discoveries that it was only a few years since he had been a common of whom nobody knew and for whom nobody cared it was a pleasure to walk through this estate and the works down there in the valley and the streets of the growing village and know that he had created them all and he was generous too he founded local and endowed them liberally he was looked up to by every one from the in his employ to the who at the churches the great of the world wrote him letters of he was the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles and an member of several societies what a change for the man who such a little while ago had at it is from like this that much of the comfort in this world is derived no one so the outer air as the who has been confined for months to a room no one knows the joy there is in a drink of water like the traveller who has well nigh perished of thirst before reaching the but had he completed that great house and those extensive grounds for his own use alone yes and no perhaps he would have done the same had he love at seventy had no intention of sharing them with any other person merely for the pleasure of

possessing such an elegant establishment still it was largely on account of his brother s infant that he set up housekeeping on such an immense scale after the death of s mother on his occasional visits to found him so engrossed in his books that he hardly seemed to know there was a baby to bear his name the child was left entirely to the care of servants and though this may have been quite as well for its health at that period of his life it distressed the kind heart of the uncle who soon conceived for the half boy a very warm affection having no closer ties he early formed a resolution to make this little fellow his heir and the real father who might not have been able to recognize his child out of a dozen on a was quite content so long as he was not to be troubled in any way about him mrs martin who presided over the household affairs of the elder brother and ruled them it must be said with a rod of iron welcomed the young stranger doubtfully but she soon found that she was to have very little to do with him a suitable of special attendants was engaged and was to all and purposes as much at home as if he had been the real son of the owner of this condition of things if it did nothing else relieved the of one cause for worry since his fortune had been so fast he had a great deal as to what ought to be done a bit of hi with it in the event of his death he felt that it would be useless to leave to his brother a larger income than he now enjoyed which he had reason to know was much bigger than he sound use for his lawyers had made various wills for him reference mainly to the spiritual needs of sundry natives of the guinea coast and he now had them draw up another leaving the bulk of his property to without the elder in delightful story never felt more certain that little paul would become a famous figure in his house than did that would be his partner in the works when he became of age as soon as the boy was old enough to understand the uncle liked nothing better than taking him through the and upon him the various processes required to make the which brought him his fortune and reputation he fondly dreamed of a time when would build the name of still higher among it was well that he enjoyed these reflections while he was able to do so for as the lad grew older it became apparent that he had none of those instincts which the future owner of such an establishment ought to possess the boy liked a gun and a horse and a story book especially if the book dealt in tales of travel and adventure but he turned wearily from his and and could not conceal how thoroughly he was bored when the conversation turned upon the or the dis at seventy of a star of the magnitude by some in the uncle hid his disappointment as best he could saying to himself at first that the boy was young and that it was too soon to expect his mind to develop in these directions he sent him away to school upon the principal the necessity of paying particular attention to such studies as would assist the lad in managing his future stayed through the time allotted him but his professors failed entirely to alter his natural bent in spite of their most vigorous efforts they were obliged to admit when they had done all they could that while he was most in history he made a very poor showing in and he had no difficulty in getting a hundred per cent in geography and he was the best pupil they had in modern languages but a was entirely beyond his comprehension and all attempts to interest him in were dismal failures when found himself face to face with these facts he did just the opposite to what many men in his position would have done he put all his hopes aside and began to realize that he had no reason to expect any other result the boy s father was a and a poet and his mother had come of a race of what was there in this to warrant an expectation that he would have an to things scientific loved his nephew and as he could not make him what he had wished he resolved to let a bit of history him pursue his own way with every advantage that money could give when the young man came home from school the uncle sat down and had a long talk with him he told him frankly that he had expected to teach him his own business but being convinced that it was not to his liking he should say no more about it he then urged the lad to open his heart and to say for what profession he believed himself best fitted till then as any youth imaginable felt the blood rush to his brain at the tenderness thus exhibited he had come to regard this man as a father much more than that other relation to whom he vas in the habit of paying a brief visit about once a year he expressed his regret that his uncle should find him lacking in the qualities he desired but admitted that there was nothing attractive to him about a business or scientific career as to what he would eventually prefer for an occupation he could hardly say as yet but for the present he would like to travel in some of the foreign countries whose history interested him so much and whose tongues he had acquired i am quite pleased that this

long after he learned the reason why none of the members of the immense police force of london make any interference with these people one of them happened to arrest a respectable lady by mistake several years ago and naturally a great fuss was made about it in order to be perfectly sure not to repeat this error no similar have been made in london from that day to this crossing the channel at stopped at but one or two places of historic interest before he reached paris strolling with a new sense of delight along the grand upon the and through the numerous he found women there too not as plenty as they had been in london but numerous enough and what an difference soft clad hot glances at him with their bon from which it was not easy to turn away when he invited one of them as he did why should i w tou do not know for him to sit at a little table in front of a she light wine from a and replied to his in modest that won his saxon heart and turned his saxon brain as they sat there he mentally the garments she wore at the taste displayed in making very ordinary materials so attractive from the bits of straw and lace which formed her hat to the exquisite which clad her dainty feet everything excited his admiration he compared her eloquent silence to the noisy chatter of women of her class that he had seen elsewhere and knew that it would him even to say the american had no idea of this acquaintance at the first interview and began to wonder how he should manage to continue it he began by tales of an engagement for this particular evening and instantly realized from her unmoved countenance that she did not believe a word of his explanation i shall have to leave you he said trying to stare his watch out of countenance could you could you come here to morrow at six i should like to have you take dinner with me but he had read many french novels i suppose you have a lover no she replied looking him in the eye in away that made it impossible to doubt her may i you won t be offended she bowed in a way that made him feel love at that she was a favor rather than receiving one he slipped two louis into her hand the next day was the longest one of his life at six she met him as agreed and they dined at one of the great on the des when he asked her to show him where she lived she saying that her apartment was in an quarter and very plainly furnished when he had overcome her scruples they took a carriage and rode quite a long distance passing through a they climbed many stairs to her room at the top of the house looked out of the window upon a wilderness of roofs and bits of the and little of streets and in the distance and a stretch of railroad plainly furnished it certainly was but everything was of the most scrupulous neatness the of the bed was as white as snow the window curtains were tied with bright ribbons from a a pair of hung in a brass cage and what the stranger s attention most was the fact that nearly every inch of the wall was covered with pictures arranged with great care pictures which had cost almost nothing being made up of to the cheaper newspapers but which gave a cheerful air to the apartment and made him feel for the first time since he had left america that he was in a real home s money came freely and it with in the first flush of what he imagined was his love for the girl he promised her you do not know something like eternal fidelity and she gave him evidence of an intention to take him at his word but at the end of six months in paris the american began to think it high time to take his departure for other parts of europe letters from his uncle contained mild hints that he was making too long a stay in one city and the approach of winter began to remind him of italy now was all very well in her own sphere but he could not see how he was going to travel with her he confided to one of his masculine french acquaintances that he feared a scene when he had to tell he must leave his friend stared at him with wonder you surely do not intend to tell her he exclaimed how can i help it the smiled softly when there is an easy way to do anything and a difficult way why should you choose the hard one an easy way repeated the american to be sure if you tell her you are going she may only have a crying spell but it is much more likely she will tear your eyes out it was now s turn to smile you do not know he said she never shows the least symptom of temper naturally responded the other there has been nothing to cause it you have given her everything she has wanted and she believes herself settled love at seventy for years in her present comfortable position tell her to morrow that you intend to give her the go by and my word for it you will have a different entertainment these girls are precisely like cats stroke their fur the right way and you will never see the steel that lies hidden beneath their velvet claws stroke it just once the wrong way and out will fly the sharp and your skin will be oh you are not obliged to believe me you can try it yourself if you prefer but did

not fancy trying it himself how can i get away he asked helplessly easily enough she goes every morning to her mother s does she not to take her a when she she at what hour you wish her to return you respond that you will expect her at six o clock for dinner that gives you seven hours in which to leave the city you will pack your things call a cab and to the station leaving a little note to say that a has been received informing you of the dangerous illness of a in england you mean america more for the sake of saying something than because he considered the difference important america or england it is all the same thinks them one country i ll fifty these girls have no more idea of geography than an they always divide the world into two parts paris and the rest and believe paris by far the larger leave her the note saying that your relation in england is dying and that you were k you do not know summoned in such haste that you could not wait to kiss her good by put a nice little sum of money in the envelope to soften her regrets pay the three months in advance for her lodgings and there you are the author of this ingenious plan spread open the palms of his hands and shrugged his shoulders after the manner of his countrymen but s face was very grave it seems contemptible he said cares a great deal for me so she will for your successor laughed the frenchman she really is a very nice girl mused i am sure you have found her so replied the other and that is a strong reason why you should take nothing away but pleasant memories it is a good rule never to look into a coffin in a voice stammered that this would be his last adventure of this kind va dire laughed the other well which will you do follow my suggestion or your own fancy because if you are determined to say to her in person i shall think it necessary to send up a surgeon on the morning of your departure the affair of used to think in after years when he looked back upon it was only a slight incident in his life there soon came a time when he regarded the delicate scruples he exhibited as the most senseless things in the world but the sentiments of which he grew ashamed did love at seventy him more credit than those which them those feelings of compassion with which the french girl inspired him marked a mile post on the road he was to travel separating widely the two extremes of his life the first place he went to after leaving paris was where he soon forgot his resolutions in the smiles of a fair daughter of he then the principal cities of italy finding a new divinity in each he crossed to africa and in the sunlight of a an and an egyptian after that he passed through asia and everywhere he saw more of the women of the land than of the beauties or the of ancient or modern men in rome he visited the the the and the great churches but when he recalled that city the thing in his memory was a dark eyed girl who to him in the soft accents of her native tongue as they wandered about under the moonlight one of his arms around her slender waist he admired the bay of which he thought inferior only to that of the depths of walked through the streets of and climbed the steep sides of but he remembered better than any of these the oval beauty of a with whom he drove back to the city late at night eating grapes they had stolen from a he rode in over the watery streets of the nearest like that any mortal you do not know city could be but always in the of his vision when he recalled the place was the drooping head of a young girl sitting by his side in a boat on the grand canal her dark hair falling over a low forehead her white hand making in the wave in and he saw the tragedy of and re a locked young woman with hair and tinted taking the now familiar of the one even in and china on the plains of and in the city of he always found his stay made more agreeable by some sweet creature with the charm of and the bloom of youth years later when asked the exact appearance of a certain historical part of he was forced to admit his forgetfulness but he could have recognized without question the photograph of a certain whom he knew there and when after the globe he landed from the oriental steamer at san he confessed that his greatest anxiety after years of absence was to know how well the women of his own country compared with those of foreign lands he would have been surprised had anyone intimated such a thought that he had been to his uncle s advice when he left home to be a gentleman wherever he went but then being a gentleman means many things to different people love at seventy chapter iv the housekeeper s daughter at the risk of leaving master wandering through the in the neighborhood of in search of employment it is necessary to relate at this time something more of the experiences of the family for some time after the departure of for europe the affairs of his uncle s household continued to be presided over by mrs martin she had become a genuine upon the place and the idea that she could leave it had never entered the head of its proprietor her health began to fail however and one day she announced

that she was about to take up her residence with a son who lived in though not without her faults mrs martin was a pattern of neatness and order the who drew the plans of the buildings had sent her on from philadelphia apparently to match the rest of the which were grand solemn and impressive when mr received news of her intention to leave him he was in a state of consternation and did his best to her but the housekeeper having made up her mind was not to be turned from it and when the next month expired she went her way mr had lived so long with everything arranged for him by one set of careful hands that the housekeeper s daughter the next few weeks he endured real torture the house was all at and his meals were served his bed was not made right though the same attended to it as formerly he could not find anything he wanted still he dreaded the advent of a new housekeeper quite as much as the he was enduring and he had just reached a point where he thought seriously of closing up the house and boarding at the hotel when he was informed one evening that a lady awaited him in his parlor it was the first time a lady had ever asked to see him in his parlor that he could remember the village people were not of such a social grade as to presume upon calling in that manner and his clergyman s wife was about the only female person he knew who would have felt justified under any circumstances in ringing his front door bell as he sent his check to that lady s husband and limited his acquaintance with the family to that extent he did not suppose for an instant that his present was the one in question he therefore went down with some curiosity i heard sir that you were in want of a housekeeper it was a lady in mourning garments who spoke so that was all eh he confessed to a feeling of disappointment it was a mere for work i am in need of a person in the capacity which you mention he replied but as i have said nothing about it in this village i am at a loss to understand at mr stopped short in his speech and a gleam of recognition came into his face why he exclaimed it is miss no it is mrs now she answered quietly i do not wonder you did not recognize me it has been a long time since we met and so you you have been married he responded now speaking with complete cordiality and excuse me you are a widow she bowed it has become necessary for me to earn mj living mr and i think i could suit you i should certainly try very hard he looked at her in some doubt i do not like changes he said i want a person who will be permanent i want one who will remain as long as i live now you are young and the probability is will marry again a shadow crossed the lady s features oh no i never shall i assure you she replied gently and you have no no she hesitated a moment fearful lest what she had to say would prejudice him against her cause only a child a daughter i know what you will think but she is not the least bit of trouble she is fifteen years of age a very good girl too let me show you her picture upon which she handed him the photograph of a little with the sweetest expression and with hair hanging in a mass about her shoulders the housekeeper s my husband did not leave us much continued the mother but with economy we have kept along until now it is evident that i must soon get employment and as i knew you the old man was holding the child s picture in his hand and gazing upon it the little one had pleaded her mother s cause successfully his heart went out to her at once when can you come he asked the mother drew a deep breath of relief then i am really engaged but you won t refuse me leave to bring will you i want very little wages of course she added doubtfully if you insist i shall have to board her somewhere in the village he put the photograph on the table as if he accepted it as his own is that her name is part of the contract said he where are you staying at present we arrived at the hotel an hour ago then i suppose you can come in the morning mrs smiled an affirmative your salary will be fifty dollars a month the same that i paid mrs martin i will send a carriage for you at nine o clock he rose and accompanied her to the door are you alone he asked seeing that no one was in waiting i think i will walk back with you it is late this is how and her mother for it was always in this order that they appeared to him became of the mansion of love at seventy for some weeks after s departure his uncle had missed him nothing but shame kept him from writing to request his return even when at school the boy had come home at least once a fortnight and nearly the whole of his had been passed there at no time was he so far away that a few hours ride would not have to reach him in an emergency now with thousands of miles of land and water between them a feeling of intense loneliness would often the foster father but for the coming of the he surely would never have consented to the long tour that his

nephew made little galloped into the affections of the old man with as much facility as she galloped about the roads in the neighborhood on a pony that he very soon bought for her she even filled a in his heart which the boy had never quite succeeded in doing he found the greatest delight in her society and thought nothing finer than to take her little hand in his and stroll through the grounds or down to the village or over to the works gossip that plant which in all seasons and at all times took up the subject and many were the observations and regarding the strange fancy of the man for the child of his housekeeper as he never heard any of these things however they did not trouble him his servants with indignation the which came to their ears declaring that the master s life raised him above criticism having nothing to feed on the soon subsided the housekeeper s daughter mr met his nephew at new york and welcomed him cordially though with rather less than the latter expected when they spoke of mr suggested that the young man would probably find much better at the hotel than at the family mansion i live like a sort of he explained taking my meals at random and i m afraid it would be dull for you when you get ready to come up i will arrange with mr to give you the best rooms he has and i can meet you every day at the counting room so far from being disagreeable to this plan entirely met his views he felt that it would be necessary to pass considerable time at for the looks of the thing and he regarded the whole affair as a species of penance from which there was no means of escape he had grown a great deal older in the past three years he dreaded the air of his uncle s house and at the prospect of bed at nine and breakfast at six which he recalled as the rule of former days life at the hotel though it must be dreary enough would not involve these he could come and go when he pleased with no one to interfere he felt certain that mr would not spend much time in attending to things which were none of his business he accordingly responded to his uncle s evident satisfaction that he would be content with any arrangements that were made for him love at seventy you have your letter of credit on s still of course remarked the elder gentleman oh yes i believe it is not limited in amount no sir i hope i have not drawn more than you thought proper by no means was the reply i left it altogether with i wanted you to have enough how long do you mean to stay in was surprised at the question and wished he knew how best to answer it he stole a glance at his uncle in hopes to find some guide in his expression but that gentleman was looking at the carpet i do not know exactly he replied at last have you any suggestions he asked desperately n o said mr and here the conversation changed to other subjects and the matter was not taken up again had never mentioned in any of his letters to that he had changed the man knew nothing of the child who had gone so far toward taking his place in his uncle s house and heart he must know it at some time but the one most interested wanted to the day as late as possible why should not everything have been revealed at once what reason was there for this secrecy so foreign to everything else in the old man s character was now an experienced man was seventeen quite a woman perhaps that had something to do with it miss is shocked chapter v miss is shocked s recollections of the character of mr who ran the hotel at were entirely correct the house over which he presided like almost everything else in was owned by as was the favorite relation and probable heir of his uncle was glad to see him and had no idea of letting anything interfere with his contentment the day before his arrival the landlord spoke to each of the in turn bidding them make every effort to please the young gentleman who was to come he has travelled a great deal he said and may appear unreasonable in some things but there is to be just one rule for him whatever he asks for he must have to this mr added a mild hint that it would be very disastrous for any particular servant with whom mr came in collision and an air of not to say awe the entire household as the critical day drew near the number of was naturally small as the establishment seldom had a dozen transient guests at one time there was a female cook who never came into any portion of the house where the guests would be likely to encounter her but who played a love at seventy most important part for all that in the economy of the concern there was a middle aged woman who in the double capacity of chief and head table a maid a boy who did odd and one or two men whose duties were mainly at the stable to this had recently been added the pretty girl whom met on his way from the counting room on the morning when he first saw young she was under general instructions to be ready for any emergency and never having had the least experience in a hotel was considerably exercised over the prospect the chief and head whose name was partly the fears of this young in relation to mr by saying that she the would answer all of

his bells in person and that it was doubtful if she the pretty girl would even so much as get a glimpse of him made up his mind as he was to be forced to remain for some time in that he would get all the fun possible out of his residence at the hotel before he had been in the house an hour he had the cordial ill will of every person with whom he came in contact except the landlord who could not afford to harbor such a feeling against a guest of his description nothing done in anticipation of his arrival suited him in the least these are your rooms sir said the smiling miss when she had him up the stairs miss shocked i say the smiling miss but it was the last smile that fair creature wore for many days rooms echoed the heir of rooms these are not rooms they are no human being could exist for five minutes in this atmosphere throw open those windows every one of them or knock them out or something we thought began the that i was a very likely but i am not unhappily i have lungs which are set in motion by supplies of he walked to the window as soon as it was opened and took in a deep breath of the frosty air what in heaven s name are these things he continued in allusion to the lace curtains that had been arranged with great care across the upper panes pull them down quick i want to look out without sitting on a stool then he glanced around the walls and uttered an exclamation of horror what are those dreadful things in frames not pictures don t tell me that whatever they are have them removed immediately i would not sleep in the same room with them for a fortune miss much agitated by this gladly seized the opportunity to escape to the lower floor and inform the landlord of the strange which his new guest had made mr promptly called william and two of his male and ordered them to go to s room and execute as rapidly as possible every order that he gave her take these off first called to the love at advance guard as the appeared in sight he tossed toward them several bed known in the as what under the blessed sun do you call those they would a man in about thirty seconds miss thought it time to make a stand why sir they are the very best we have in the house they were bought on purpose for your room they might do for retorted mr but they are totally unfit for any other purpose have you no blankets yes sir but then get them out that he added to the man alluding to the pictures and what is this a stove as i m alive a stove with a red hot fire in it and an unused fire place drop those and take this stove out first no wonder i was william the who had taken up several articles in succession and let them fall again started for the stove as if with the intention of removing it forthwith but miss sprang toward him with a scream declaring that the fire must be extinguished go down and get some she said to the boy and start a blaze in the fireplace we shall have to wait till the stove is cooler before removing it she remarked to in a shaking voice mi s shocked traveller felt a keen delight in the commotion ne was causing there is enough here he said pointing to the pictures that lay in a heap on the floor those frames would burn i should think the woman felt compelled to enter a feeble protest to this proposition will be here soon with plenty of better stuff she ventured but they must be burned some time replied the last gentleman who had these rooms retorted miss under the impression that the entire house was being assailed never said a word against them he was a sick man too and had to lie here all day with nothing else to look at stared at her with alarm where am i he demanded is this a hospital i thought it was a hotel he was sick was he he died i ll bet a guinea and he lay there in that bed day after day looking at those pictures and they called doctors and prescribed for him no one suspecting the dreadful cause that was gradually the foundations of his existence his voice began to tremble did he have this stove too the woman s teeth yes sir in the fall we put it up when it began to grow cold turned away and buried his face in his handkerchief love at seventy poor fellow poor fellow he wiping his eyes came up with the the fire in the stove was subdued sufficiently to admit of the removal of that piece of furniture blankets were for the heavy the that had been carefully arranged to hide the magnificent view were taken down and then miss ventured to inquire humbly if that was all he wanted all echoed looking at the woman as if about to break into another rage it seemed as if he could never reply to one of her questions without repeating something she had said no it is not all f it is not half doesn t it occur to you that a man who had his dinner two hundred miles from here may want something in the way of food i meant all in the room faltered the her heart ready to burst she had never imagined that anyone would address her in this manner before william and who had hitherto regarded her as a person of superior position then you should have said so what have you in

he thought he would stay where he was for the present you arc still satisfied with the hotel asked the uncle i m i can trust you d quite replied with the pretty girl in his mind there would be nothing for you to do at the house continued mr it is a dull place i have locked up most of the rooms and taken the keys he exhibited a bunch as he spoke then he noticed mr crossing the yard and tapped on the window him to enter do your best to entertain my nephew he said to the landlord when he appeared he has travelled in lands where every comfort is given to the stranger almost as a matter of religion he must not find his native country less hospitable responded that he hoped he had already done what was required of him to which answered that he had no fault to find mr then shook his nephew s hand cordially not as warmly as he had done when the boy started on his foreign journey but still kindly enough and getting into the which his man had in waiting he was driven towards the railway station no sooner was the vehicle out of sight than turned upon mr with a savage air may forgive me the lie told to that good man he cried i would not for the world let him know the outrageous way that you have treated me you know what i mean you rascal why have you allowed me to be slowly tortured to death by that when you had all the time under your roof the girl in the country carefully kept out of my sight and hearing the landlord began to ve at seventy i did not know don t you can t do it well enough but really mr stammered i am quite innocent of any wrong intention miss is experienced in waiting upon people while the other has never before worked in a hotel i certainly meant to give you the best one the young gentleman gazed at his companion with a comic look of contempt the best one he repeated as was his wont experienced i should say so she must have had half a century at least don t let her answer my bell again if you want me to stay another day under your roof either expect me to take the evening train or give orders that no one but miss is to respond to calls from and the landlord replied that he would certainly do so if that was the wish of his guest miss is a nice girl i have no doubt he added her parents died some years ago and was left to the care of a guardian who seems to have turned her out as soon as her money was gone i agreed to let her board here this winter though i really did not need her and but his guest had left him abruptly lost all patience at the story he went to his rooms and for the next hour mused upon the fate that had thrown such a lovely creature upon the awfully cold of the world his breakfast was invariably brought to his chamber the other meals he usually took in the public fm sure i can trust dining room to day he decided to have his dinner brought up and rang the bell for that purpose as he stood with his hand on the rope visions of the sweet face which would respond to his come in filled his mind he heard in imagination the little feet of his divinity ascending the stairs and the voice inquiring what did you wish sir but the knock revealed quite a different order of person none other in fact than miss s surprise and disappointment were sufficient to cause him to utter a vigorous exclamation not of the utmost serenity of mind who sent or you he cried somewhat i thought you rang sir did you well for once you were right i did ring i rang for miss and remember hereafter whenever i ring it is for the same person and never under any circumstances for you miss did not intend to abandon the field so easily she is busy just now sir in another part of the house won t i do just as well the young man turned from the window to which he had gone and surveyed the won t you do just as well he repeated i should say not let me ask you candidly if you call that a sensible inquiry the woman evinced signs of a disposition love at seventy i m sure i don t see what you ve got against me sir i ve tried in every way to suit you well don t try any more he answered sharply then as she showed no intention of leaving he added the doctor has positively forbidden me to get excited and you must not me it can t possibly do you any good to sweep my room and make my bed i shall give you the same amount in fact much more if you will kindly keep away here he handed her a bank bill as he spoke is something on account i will send you the same sum each week if you will never present yourself before my vision miss took the money but it did not make her happy she still lingered will you find miss and request her to come here demanded or will you not i had an appetite and it is disappearing shall i have to go down and see the proprietor i will go at once replied the woman only if she does not suit you she is so you can let me know he opened the door and held it in the attitude of one who wishes to the departure of his guest yes i can

he repeated but that is quite different from saying that i shall now miss perhaps i ought to say good by as we may never meet again if you consult my wishes and your own interest it will be a permanent farewell miss if you please without unnecessary delay he had time to throw himself into a chair and i m i can you laugh heartily at what he considered his excellent joke before a second knock sounded come in he called somewhat roughly he did not intend to make love to and frighten her again that day he had gone farther in that direction when they met in the road than he thought wise on mature reflection he inquired what there was for dinner and gave his order without raising his eyes from a newspaper which he had hastily caught up you may spread the table here if you please he added as he heard her leaving the chamber lay back in his chair by the window and placed his feet on an he was content to the fragrance of the air her presence had his appetite had vanished except as an excuse to bring her to him he would have eaten nothing he gave himself up to dreaming presently the girl returned with a table cloth and dishes she again at the door and he responded that she might enter but still he did not turn his eyes toward her she set the tray on the table and drew that article of furniture into the centre of the apartment then she hesitated a moment what to do next she was in truth wholly unused to making preparations of this kind without assistance and not a little confused at being alone with a young gentleman of the disposition which she had found in this one she shot a mute glance of appeal for information in his direction but he was silent as a stone apparently wholly engrossed with his newspaper it was at seventy clear that she must remove the tray from the table before she could lay the cloth and there was no stand in the room upon which she could place it at last that such an article was sure to be found in the bedroom adjoining she went thither to get it this to asking any questions of the into which mr had suddenly changed brought out the stand first removing from it various articles of gentlemen s attire which she put for want of a better place upon the bed then she carried the tray to it and proceeded to set the table although the young man did not look up once he felt every thrill of which his experienced his highly sensitive organization responded to hers like the strings of a harp to the touch of a when she left the room to go for the he her preparations a smile stole over his countenance as he saw that the cloth was the dishes laid and the table quite out of the place where the careful miss had always put it fastidious to a degree he had insisted upon the utmost in these things and had given his former attendant many a pang by the sarcastic remarks with which he hi directions now all was quite different but had the meal been spread on the carpet he would hardly have cared the food and the manner in which it was served were secondary considerations it was the who brought it that absorbed his attention a l m i can you miss and the dinner soon made their appearance when all was ready and the girl courage to inform him of that fact he rose slowly and took his seat at the table he was obliged to make a of eating because she was watching him after his soup he drew the cork of a bottle of and filled a glass but his appetite for food would not come and presently he pushed the dishes away you may take them he said i am not hungry is there anything else that i can get you sir nothing thank you as he did not rise she asked him presently if she should clear the table and he responded in the affirmative taking up the newspaper he had laid down and pretending again to become deeply interested in it she gathered up the dishes passing around him as her duties made it necessary he was oppressed by her presence and felt that he could not bear it much longer one may admire the perfume of roses and yet feel a sense of when shut up in a room that is full of them had learned to hate the world that had used him so well long before this day but at this moment he hated it worse than ever why he demanded of himself should so many ugly and ugly formed women ride in their carriages while an like this served a common in a common hotel he remembered the white maids of england rosy with health bright of eye and round of limb putting to shame love at their fat and he could recall a hundred houses of wealth in which he had been made welcome on the continent where the last vision of beauty disappeared with the hall maid he had seen the at paris and at prettily in the with their charges and thought how a better civilization would have made them the mothers of the little creatures who could never know such grace of face and figure as their temporary slaves possessed then his thoughts shifted again and took in the workmen at his uncle s every one of them better men than he away his existence while they supplied him with the abundance of which they robbed themselves practically was an he was an i do a thousand things which i never will argue are right was one of his favorite sayings

cleared away the dishes put the table and stand where she had found them and quietly left the room he said no more to her and she began to think he would prove a less disagreeable person to wait on than she had feared if she had known all that passed in his mind she might have had less cause for an hour later sauntered into the hotel office and found the proprietor at his accounts everything is satisfactory now i hope remarked mr with the brand of smile which we give to those from whom we earn our u has improved at least was the response i m sure i can you what do you think of the price you get for my board is it large enough the landlord who had charged this guest his very highest rate was somewhat disturbed at the question i do not think it is continued the young man before the other could frame a reply i want a good many and i expect to see them in the bill for one thing i want miss to wait upon no one else while i am here when i ring for her i do not wish to hear that she is engaged in other duties her time must be mine exclusively do you understand mr bowed a slow assent it shall be as you desire but you will not forget i hope that i am careful of the reputation of the house and broke in upon him savagely in the midst of his sentence what do you mean by that he demanded your statement is a reflection upon the character of that young woman which i do not believe you have the slightest cause to make i surely did not so intend it stammered the landlord in great confusion terrified lest he had his guest beyond repair on the contrary i am positive she is innocent and i should not like he paused of his own accord this time uncertain how to end the sentence he had begun oh go on go on cried finish i love at seventy i meant nothing mr hastened to say i m sure i can trust you you can trust me echoed who the devil are you to trust anyone i shall leave the house to night don t do that sir the landlord greatly distressed at the prospect you can do what you like sir i am sure it s no business of mine had not the slightest intention of leaving the house but he wanted to give a fright how much further he might have gone in this direction can only be for at this moment a man entered the office hastily and inquired for young mr on being told that the individual he sought stood before him he handed one of the latter s address cards a young fellow was found in the snow by the side of the road several miles east of here an hour ago said the man with this card in his pocket some of us thought you might know him and i drove over to tell you mechanically drew out some money and gave it to the messenger he rightly believed that such an errand had been prompted by expectations of reward go on he said i don t know as i can tell you much he applied at a factory near there for something to do and they told him there was no chance and soon after some one saw him lying in the snow and took a i m sure i oak trust you it him into a house then they got a doctor and he says it s an even case looked up much startled you don t mean that he thinks it dangerous well that s what he seemed to say responded the messenger perhaps it ain t so bad but that s the way he talked reflected a moment is there anything to prevent your going back with me to show me the house he asked that is of course if i pay you for your trouble i don t know s there is harness up a double as quick as you can said to forgetting his announced intention of the hotel let william go with me if that fellow is alive or if he s dead for that matter we shall bring him back with us love at seventy chapter vii old tom the most privileged character at aside from its principal proprietor was tom father of the he had long been a favorite with the senior on account of a certain bluff quality in his nature which well with the latter s own disposition on all occasions was a welcome guest at his employer s mansion the close friendship of the men dated from an occasion thirty years previous to the opening of this tale when then in charge of one of the minor of the works made so pronounced a stand against one of mr s projects that he was discharged in anger from his position on the very next day the repented of his act he sent word to that if he would for the language he had used he could resume his place and as soon as the could reach the office he was there did you send word that i could be if i would to you he asked as soon as he stepped foot in the counting room why yes was the pleasant reply i know you were excited and did not mean what you said do you think i am excited now inquired in his ordinary tone old tom no tom responded his employer with the utmost have you any doubt that i shall mean what i say this time no tom well i shall not or anything of the sort i came here to tell you to go to the devil the employer looked at the

speaker with consternation he had never heard such words addressed to a man who was worth a hundred thousand dollars what could the fellow mean do you imagine continued that you are any better than when you worked by my side over in for a dollar and a quarter a day do you think you are going to run over me with your high talk of apologies i am as good a man as you ever dared to be and i will see you in only he used the old fashioned word before i will ever to you when i am right and you are wrong he turned abruptly and was about to leave the room when rose and stopped him with a word tom well r you d better go back to your work tom and about that matter perhaps it s as you say after all i know it s as i say there s not the slightest doubt about it all right tom and tom you were speaking to me about your boy the other day he s a smart little fellow and when he gets old enough love at want to give him a place in the office don t forget it tom no replied without so much as a thank you then he asked as if nothing had happened do you want anything else for i have got enough to do down to the works no that s all tom good day tom when the man had gone the employer sat for a long time in silence pondering over the occurrence it s a good thing this happened he mused i ve been up money pretty fast and i m afraid i ve been getting into the habit of saying sharp things to the men just because i m a little better off than they are tom was right about the apology he did a good thing to recall me to myself i must cultivate tom i must keep him near me where he can act as a when i get to going too fast on this slippery road to prosperity getting a good deal of money in a hurry is apt to make a man if tom finds me becoming too airy he will certainly take me down yes i must find a new place for tom where we shall meet oftener tom was promoted gradually until he became general of the entire establishment next to or in any of his temporary authority was complete he never changed in the slightest degree the character shown in the incident he would always express his opinion of anything in the business or out of it as freely as if equal owner and partner nearly every evening he went to his employer s mansion and old tom indulged in a smoke with him a game of or a talk on various matters as the whim happened to seize the old nothing of importance came into s life that tom did not know about and in relation to everything he expressed his views at considerable length he was consulted when the baby was brought to when he was sent away to school and when he was given his freedom to travel around the world mr did not necessarily adopt all of his friend s opinions but he argued each matter over with him in a quiet style that enabled him to make a better decision after hearing all sides of the case presented advanced the strongest opposition to the new housekeeper and her daughter when he learned of their arrival no good could come of it he said what mr needed was another old like martin who would keep him in order there was always danger of a man s falling in love with a woman of mrs s youth and attractions i am over sixty years old smiled the other and i think i am quite safe there s no fool like an old fool quoted wisely and there are no women so shrewd to get a man as these young well let us suppose the very worst should take place and i should marry mrs said what great harm would result you are a married man yourself tom it seems love at seventy inconsistent for you tc argue against the state in which you are living pulled at his long pipe which he was smoking at the time until his head was enveloped in a cloud that well nigh hid it from view if a woman you now will he said what will be her object your money and nothing else and if you were not an old you d know it the glanced at his in a mirror that hung opposite to where he sat and his white beard complacently i don t know about that tom i don t know about that he answered there is a good deal to me yet besides my ejaculated his companion contemptuously it s the thing that you old men was at least five years the elder of the twain always deceive yourselves in that way you are forever thinking it is you and not your cash that these creatures are after now let us imagine this young widow how old is she should you say oh thirty five or six let us imagine her given the choice between you with your fortune and a fellow of something like her own age who hadn t a cent why she d marry you of course let us imagine the case reversed and say that the fellow of about her own age had the money she d marry him then as sure as you live let us imagine once more and say old tom that you and the other fellow had an equal amount which would she choose in that case why me of course laughed who found in the whole matter nothing but a very entertaining joke not by

a damned sight exclaimed with so much that the other roared aloud but i don t want to marry and i never shall marry and that is all there is to it said the when he grew sober again i ve got to have a housekeeper if i live here and i ve had enough of your with across the sea i m glad to have this woman and her child to up the house a little you are getting to be a of the first water tom and you growl at everything puffed away at his pipe perhaps i am he replied perhaps i m always wrong and perhaps you have had occasion to know that i m pretty of ten right human nature is the same the world over and i m going to make a right here either this woman will make trouble for you or that little girl will make trouble for the little girl exclaimed staring hard at his companion yes sir said he is about twenty years old she is fifteen or sixteen she and her mother will get a here and you won t be able to them when he comes home they will make a dead set at him you ll see mr at this calling it at ridiculous but with the of his nature persisted in his the owner of could not connect such a probability with the slender golden haired child he had welcomed so willingly but at that time even had he believed that worst fears would come true he would not have been alarmed at the prospect he had at heart only the most notions and he did not see anything terrible in the idea that his nephew might marry the daughter of such a woman as his housekeeper mrs went about her duties in a way that pleased him much the dining table did not seem at all like its old self when she sat at it with him the child between them the sunshine thus brought into his life gradually reconciled him to the prolonged absence of his nephew and finally made him apprehensive of his return it was such a nice family party at that board and around the fireplace of an evening he used to think of as so much older than when he went away and agreed with tom that there would be a vast difference between the school boy and the young gentleman who would return from his travels he is getting a great deal of experience said one evening and nothing a young man like that he will learn all the good things and the bad ones to be found over there the bad ones echoed with a start to be sure do you suppose he is going to come home with the down still on his cheek he s old tom seeing the men of many lands ay and the women too and it s a nice chase they ll lead him chuckled behind his pipe like some of old while his companion shivered from a sensation he could not repress he is not a boy of bad mind he said with an effort to appear positive stuff growled a young duck is bound to swim if it s allowed to get near the water i ll write to him to start home to morrow said the uncle anxiously you ll do nothing of the kind the best way is to let him alone he ll get sick of it all the sooner and settle down as steady as anyone when you want him years from now somehow the time never seemed right for mr to cut short s he developed such an interest in that before he was aware of it his nephew s affairs became of secondary importance he ascertained that the child had been very well taught for her age and proposed of his own accord that she should be sent to a boarding school a short distance away when mrs expressed a guarded doubt whether she could afford the expense he remarked that he intended to double her salary though the widow knew that the increase in her compensation was made entirely on s account she appreciated the kindness of the proposition and felt herself justified in accepting it went to the boarding school but she did not remain long mr missed her quite as much as love at seventy her mother did and when she came at the end of her first term he suggested that it would be better to engage a and arrange with professors from the boarding school to visit her at his house it will cost more very likely he admitted when this objection was raised by mrs but never mind i have noticed that the absence of the child wears on you and i had rather pay the extra sum than to exchange you for another housekeeper mrs had had a hard struggle to make both ends meet before she obtained this position she had lain awake many nights wondering what would be the ultimate result and what would happen to her young daughter when she was no longer able to provide for her the comfortable place into which she had drifted the ease with which everything was now over was very grateful after those years of doubt and anxiety she did not look much into the future beyond the needs of the present hour and was very far from being of the nature which tom imagined within a year she had come to have no further thought about than that mr would see to everything you are a pretty crop of trouble to reap one of these days said tom to his employer when had come home from the boarding school and was receiving instructions from special masters how is that inquired the other aren t you bringing up this housekeeper s daughter like a lady old tom i

am trying to was the gentle answer i mean you re teaching her to regard herself as above her proper station that s not a kindness to the girl nor a piece of wisdom for what is her proper station inquired the station of a girl who ought if she ever to be a poor man s wife what comfort will she get in that position after you have filled her head with all the airs that the french master and the german master and the dancing master will give her she won t be worse on account of her education i hope blew a cloud from his ever present pipe when you get her fixed up she ll your nephew wait and see if my words aren t true when he comes home she ll wind him around her finger mr gazed into the fireplace what did he see there perhaps a happy young husband and wife and other little children that looked like and spoke like do you really think so he murmured as sure as you live said impatiently what makes you so blind when he comes here this widow and her daughter will be ready for him they ve pulled the wool over your eyes nicely and they ll do the same with your heir they ve planted themselves here and they ll own everything before they ve done yes all the and all love at seventy is only sixteen said and even as he spoke she came in to say to him and as no one saw her turning his face to the fire she placed her fair arms around the neck of her foster father and let him kiss her on the brow as was his wont then out of the room like a fairy she left him again to his companion the clouds of tobacco smoke and another of dreary in regard to her future you mean the young lady chapter viii you mean the young lady i cannot help agreeing with the reader that it is hardly fair to leave young any longer in his condition and we will proceed as fast as mr s best team can take us to the house where he is lying under the care of the country doctor found him conscious but very weak though able to take the ride necessary to convey him to supported on extra pillows and covered with warm robes he rode as easily as if in the most perfect the doctor came with the party and before he left gave minute directions in relation to care and he said the young fellow was merely suffering from exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment and that he would come out of it all right if given proper care so you wouldn t come up and dine with me eh said half half seriously when he had put his charge in bed but i ve got you and i shall keep you you had your way this morning now i m going to have mine was not long in recovering the ordered by the doctor combined with the warm atmosphere of his new quarters and the food that was given him put him on his feet inside at seventy of three days indeed had his host permitted he would have left his bed sooner he had a naturally strong constitution and this was his first serious illness every time he spoke it was to express regret that he had put his new friend to so much expense and trouble i must go to morrow he said every morning it will be time enough to see about that when to morrow comes was the smiling reply on the fifth day the lad declared that he was quite able to take his departure he was impatient to begin again his search for employment i suppose i shall have to let you go if you insist upon it said when all arguments failed i will make out your bill at once looked much troubled i have nothing to pay you with he said but as soon as i earn anything i will send it if you will trust me oh i can t do that replied with a stranger you know one must always have the cash or reasonable security alas i can give you nothing but my word it will not do said the other shaking his head with decision when a is unable to pay the has a right to hold his body that has been the custom in all ages you admit that you owe me some odd dollars and cents you say you have no money very well i shall hold you for the amount you will have to remain here until the debt is discharged you mean the young lady the lad could not tell exactly how much seriousness and how much humor there was in these peculiar words the debt would never grow smaller in that way he answered it would constantly be on the increase the price of my board would be added to i already owe you then laughed but if you are allowed to leave he said there will be various other to charge you with supposing you go away to day this evening i shall receive word that you have fallen ill at some point on the road and have required the services of another doctor i shall be obliged to hire a to bring you back here and go through all this nursing again then there will be a second bill for and the et no my boy it would really make you too expensive cast down his eyes pained at the levity with which his misfortunes were discussed you think because i did not get work before that i never shall said he the trouble was i was nearly starved and had no strength or courage when i was refused at the first place i

fainted in the road yes and you would faint again was the reply there is no work for you in all this region the only situation you can find in a year s search is right here at your disposal refuse it as often as you please you will have to accept it at last protested that it was no situation but simply charity that was offered him love at seventy you are quite wrong said if you leave me when i want you so much i shall think you very ungrateful until within the past week i have been going insane now there are two people who may save me from that fate you and had heard the latter name frequently during the past few days you mean the young lady who brings up our meals he said there is but one in the world said possibly there are thousands who bear that name but there never was and never will be any other for me i believe he continued as if in a reverie you have never seen replied that he had only heard her voice did you ever hear another so delicious replied that he thought it very agreeable it is the music of an angel cried when i listen to it i forget that i am on this cold earth and imagine that a bit of heaven has been let down and her face is sweeter even than her melodious tongue i cannot describe it you will soon see for yourself he said this so earnestly that his young companion was silent for want of something suitable in the way of reply how old are you asked presently twenty two years indeed as old as myself i shouldn t have thought it did it ever occur to you that this is a miserable selfish world to let such do its you mean thb young lady its luxury and for women not fit to tie her shoes i am ashamed sometimes to live in it and accept its for i am no better than the rest why was i made to want food and clothing to desire delicacy and ease if only i could bring myself to those things there is in me the making of a hero who owns this hotel this village that grand estate which you can see from the window the yonder where they had no place for you even the bodies and souls of the workmen and their families who have helped him build up this gigantic possession is my uncle of what use is it all to him and when he is through with it it will go to an ungrateful nephew protested mildly against the which made of himself he was certain that his kind host had not so mean a quality in him as ingratitude and your father he asked have you been long an orphan s face grew bitter my father he replied has sense enough to know that there is more pleasure to be got from books than from children to him i am only an unfortunate accident it is my uncle to whom i owe all i have and the only return i am likely to give is annoyance and disgrace interrupted to say he was sure this was not so and i am equally certain it is what do you think he would say if i told him i thought of marry ing love t seventy could not repress a start of astonishment and you do he exclaimed not at all being the heir of a great fortune makes it an impossibility i only say supposing i did intend it and went to this man who was once as poor as she mind you and told him i can hear him now in imagination you young rascal is this the way you my throwing yourself away on a common working girl never sir never will i give my consent if you marry her you may cease to expect another penny from me s imitation of his uncle s wrath was so striking that he could not help being moved to laughter by his own perhaps you him said mildly i know him well enough not to try it was the reply and i am sure consequently he added very slowly that the natural result will follow his guest looked up with astonishment in his dark eyes what result he as if you did not know responded with good natured sarcasm how can it be otherwise when she has learned to love me i shall go my way and leave her the younger man s lips opened slightly and his attitude of strained attention relaxed a little at the answer he looked more like a child with his white face than a man of twenty two nothing more he whispered i hope not was s reply our are with the gods come you have talked enough you mean thi young lady for one day if you are going to leave to morrow you need rest can you spare me for an hour receiving an affirmative reply went out for a stroll desirous of breathing the cool air of the beautiful winter day he wore in which his trousers were and a hat and fur trimmed overcoat giving him the appearance of a he walked up the road taking his direction at random and paused opposite the great residence where he had passed so much of his boyhood the grounds were surrounded by a high wall thinking that he would step inside for a moment he went around to the massive gates and found them securely locked this surprised him much as he had never known them in this condition except at night time as he was revolving this matter in his mind he glanced up the road a little farther and saw a man at work with and walking slowly toward the man he soon recognized

him as butler who had been in his uncle s employ much longer than he could remember he said the man paused in his work and for an instant surveyed the with an expression of doubt don t you recognize me cried i do now sir answered the man taking the hand that was offered him it s a good while since i saw you mr i heard tell that you had come to but i wasn t thinking of seeing you up here love at seventy the young man paused to this statement what are you doing he asked well you see sir replied the man the drain is out of order and we couldn t very well wait i don t like to go to the expense of a regular pipe when your uncle s away until i ve made sure i can t do it myself the workman evidently expected something in the way of but was silent for a moment how long have you worked for my uncle he asked presently i began sir over forty years ago when he first opened the works you are not a young man nigh on to seventy sir but hale and hearty you have worked pretty steadily never missed a day in all that time you must be pretty well off now the man looked in a puzzled way at his you must have a good deal of money laid away the workman shook his head decidedly not a blessed penny sir i have always thought i did pretty well to bring up the children seven of them and take care of the old woman was not as much surprised as he pretended but he was in the mood for this kind of talk and he proceeded i suppose you remember when my uncle was about as poor as you yes sir we worked side by side at he has something laid away i believe a tou thb young lady the old man leaned on his you may well say that sir how much does he pay you a day pursued the a dollar and a half and how much does he get shook his head as if to imply that those figures were beyond the reach of his powers of more than you at least now can you tell me why does he work any harder do you think he really a hundred times as much murmured that mr did a big business that s true assented his business is large but how long would it run without you and such as you and you only get a dollar and a half a day the man looked grateful at the interest taken in him i would like it if i could get a dollar seventy five he said you might kindly speak to him when he comes home not saying i asked you he has treated me so well i wouldn t want him to think i was complaining grew do you know what you were doing the first time i ever saw you just what you are doing now you were working with a pick and i could not have been more than five or six years old but i remember the very place in the grounds where you were digging here you are at the same kind at seventy of occupation when will you quit it when some one else has to use the same tools for you over there in the and he gives you a dollar and a half a day just the wages he would give a man whom he had never seen before one with whom he had not eaten the black bread of poverty the speaker raised his voice he ought to give you ten dollars a day and tell you never to work again as long as you live butler who had been surveying the young man with wonder shook his head as if to imply that this was not likely to occur what are those gates locked for continued pointing to them doesn t any one live there when he is away only the housekeeper and her daughter and the servants was the response her daughter repeated surprised he glanced up at the windows that were nearest to him and saw a fair face that disappeared almost instantly from view td the post office chapter ix around the post office fire the next morning when spoke again of leaving answered him quite sharply he declared that if he carried out his purpose he would have nothing more to do with him no not if the news came that he was dying on the road affected by this earnestness the young fellow yielded and promised to remain for the present it required a more prolonged struggle of mind before he would allow his friend to order him a suit of clothing from the village tailor but finally he accepted that also the new garments made a striking change in his appearance that he was not wholly to his good looks a long stay in front of the mirror on the morning of their arrival wished he knew more of his history for he was certain that he had not always been in his present condition but he had too much politeness to annoy his guest with questions at a time when they could hardly help proving disagreeable the two young men took their meals together in s sitting room now that was able to be about the first morning that they together asked his friend what he thought of their at seventy is she not a beauty he exclaimed the instant miss shut the door behind her i did not observe her very closely responded don t tell me that laughed the other i had my eye on you and i feared by your expression that you considered her part of the men has she not been in the habit

of sitting at your table asked to divert his companion s attention for the last few days yes it was here with no one to speak to and lying in the room yonder she sat down with me and pretended to eat but i know she didn t enjoy jt she is intensely sensitive and inclined to be easily frightened the young fellow looked up with a pained expression in his eyes i can t see why you want her to do i was disagreeable laughed lightly can t you he asked it does not seem like the other things do what other things your on my account for ne said in a shaking voice studied his companion s face intently but you see is a woman he very slowly i do not understand was the quick re n ly why that should lessen your kindness to her should repeated the other with a the office fire is a great word probably s sex should not lessen my consideration but it does that is the thing at issue it the kindness of every man to every woman the moment she becomes dependent upon his purse i suppose i am as bad a man as ever lived but in this respect i am no worse than the rest shook his head slowly as though far from convinced still he did not like to enter upon an argument with his benefactor shall i prove it to you asked after a pause you are not a child though sometimes you put on the look of one i want you to come with me some evening to the village post office or one of the stores and listen to the talk of the men who gather there they may discuss politics or business while a dozen women come and go but presently one will appear at whose advent all conversation while she remains little is done but staring her in the face or some to call his attention to her what has happened why gossip has begun to connect her name with scandal has hinted that she is not as good as she might be young has been driving with her and everybody can guess what that means she has been seen in another town late in the evening walking with a man not known in the group in the store or post office stare at her as long as she remains and when she goes out they discuss her alleged faults with glistening eyes and mouths leaning over each others shoulders fearful love at seventy lest they should lose a word is a town of more than average virtue but i have seen this here even in the brief time since my return and what happens here occurs in increasing in towns of larger size all over the country all over the so called civilized earth an expression of the deepest horror spread over the face of the listener these men who sit around the stores and in these continued apparently pleased to find that he was making an impression have many of them daughters of their own if one of them saw a dog worrying a neighbor s sheep he would leave his work till he got the animal into its fold if he heard that a wolf had been seen on the he would mention it to every farmer he met that they might bring in their young cattle if his neighbor s daughter was going for a sail on the lake and he knew that the boat was or noticed a storm coming up he would run a mile to save her but when he hears something that may wreck her life forever how seldom will he warn either her or her parents it is notorious that the father and mother of a girl who goes astray are the last persons to suspect that anything is the matter everybody else will tell you they have been suspicious for a long time but to her own family her fall comes like a clap of thunder the mother will say i knew was fond of company and a good time but i never dreamed that anything could go wrong with her yet these men at the post office knew some of abound the post office them had talked with her in a way which showed they did not think very severely of her had there been opportunity they would have joined their guilt to hers as freely as if they had not known her in her cradle as if she had not played with their children in the listener sat like one i have made a study of this thing my boy and i speak by the card continued i presume i have talked with hundreds of girls in all countries for i have been a great traveller until a little while ago i had not seen my native land for three years when i went abroad i was as innocent as you seem to be could hardly believe that i should find in the united states what had so astonished me on the other side of the world now i know there is no difference or if there is it is not to the credit of america if i were to proclaim aloud what i have seen there would arise a howl that could be heard from here to san the speaker rose and took a few steps up and down the room and found words to ask if had any remedy to suggest for the state of affairs which he pictured suggest echoed young suddenly dropping his sober manner and breaking into a laugh i would be a nice sort of individual to suggest things wouldn t i my residence is made of crystal i am not going into the stone throwing business to any alarming extent but something must be done persisted earnestly love at seventy some one has

said smiled that the best way to reform the world is for each person to reform himself it is easier for the child who never tasted wine to from than it is for the confirmed it is rather late for me but you can set the world a shining example he meant to bring a laugh to the countenance of his guest but was as sober as ever you began this he said hesitatingly by a reference to miss surely it has no connection with her indeed it has was the reply is poor as a church mouse pretty and our wretch of a landlord her to my especial use because he knows that my bills will be paid no matter how large he makes them and also i hope because he has confidence in you nothing of the kind he knows that is in danger stared wildly at his companion but she is not in danger from you he whispered hoarsely looked earnestly at the impetuous youth do you think so he replied you cannot mean don t get excited my dear boy said with a trace of weariness in his tone i only know what results follow certain conditions had risen and taken a step nearer his companion where he stood with folded arms abound the post office him he was as picturesque a figure thought as he had ever seen you shall not he cried will prevent you i certainly give you leave laughed and i assure you you have my best wishes for success looked into the amused face and heaved a sigh of relief forgive me he said i forgot what i was doing it is plain that you were don t be too sure replied putting on his overcoat but i am going out to take a walk to morrow if it is pleasant you ought to be able to stand a ride with me it was to the counting room of the company that the young man took his way before he returned he had made tom promise to offer a place in the in such a manner that the young fellow would not suspect he had any hand in it two hours later miss came to young mr s apartments to see if anything was required and found courage to say a few words to her i fear i am making you double work while i stay he ventured that s nothing i have very little to do she said i believe you have only these rooms to see to said he only these replied the girl with a slight blush love at seventy are you glad i came demanded earnestly or would you rather he were here alone the question startled her it seemed almost impertinent but as she regarded the eyes that looked into hers she could not take offence at this juncture came into the room what already he exclaimed gaily glancing from one to the other i am said hi chapter x i am said he the engagement of young as assistant in the works was hailed by him with the great est delight he had severely at his enforced idleness and at the which he was up congratulate me he cried to i am the happiest fellow in the world not only can i earn my bread and repay you what i have borrowed but i shall still be where i can see you often with all my heart if you wish it was the response and so i am sure will blushed at this which made laugh heartily you will share these rooms with me just tha same i hope he said if you go elsewhere will be no one to keep an eye on me and the pretty answered hesitatingly that he feared he could hardly afford so expensive a home that s an original idea said the other a man who is going to draw a salary can t afford as good quarters as he did when he was earning nothing stay where you are and i will see that makes it all right he charges me enough for or four as it is and really i need the restraint of at your presence and example more than i can tell you so it was settled that would stay at the house for the present had been thinking a good deal of that face he had seen at the window of the mansion the face as butler had told him of the housekeeper s daughter it was the kind to appeal to his love of the beautiful and there was another element which had its full effect on a mind so susceptible as his there was a decided mystery connected with the affair why had his uncle left orders that the great gates to his grounds should be kept locked during his absence could remember them from his earliest years standing wide open all day there could be nothing in the grounds which needed the special protection of their strong arms unless it was this like creature the housekeeper s daughter she surely was not the daughter of the housekeeper that he remembered mrs martin must have gone away what kind of housekeeper was it who could be mother of such a creature and what had the confirmed bachelor the man who had always avoided feminine society to do with either of them determined not to leave until he had found an answer to these questions his heart or what miss had left untouched of it had gone out to the face he had seen at the window for the occasion in the course of his brief l am said he life he was entangled in what he believed a genuine case of affection the first time he found butler alone he stopped for another talk with him do you know what became of mrs martin who was housekeeper here so long was his

inquiry he had already heard from people at the hotel that she had left i believe she went west to live with one of her sons responded what a cross old lady she was exclaimed with a laugh i used to think sometimes my uncle was really afraid of her not much like the one he has now he added at a venture i think everybody likes mrs replied the old man though she keeps indoors so much but of course miss s not being well makes a difference replied with a wise look that it did indeed miss does not go out much either much repeated never it is months since i saw her outside the grounds she doesn t mix with the town people you see and since she left the boarding school her teachers always come on the train and go directly to the house she has had all the they can give her but if she doesn t live to grow up it won t do her much good at seventy the young man felt a blow at the heart could it be that his idol was stricken with a fatal disease what is it that her he found strength to inquire they can t find out replied they ve had every big doctor there is and every one of em is puzzled she looks well enough all but the but she is failing every day it s my opinion she ll go sudden cried out as if he had been struck don t say that then in return to the surprised look of the old man he continued it seems dreadful that one so young should be destined to death not only for her but for he hesitated being about to add her mother but misunderstood him and innocently revealed another secret yes he does take it to heart pretty badly mr having never been married and so having no children of his own this little girl sort of filled a in the place he on with much more to the same effect but the young man hardly heard him he knew what this girl had filled he saw as if by the drawing away of a curtain why his uncle had endured his absence so well why he had shown such a mild joy at his return why he had preferred to have him live at the hotel why he had locked the big gates but with all these reflections no feeling of selfishness came to the surface his interest in the face he had seen at the window was too great for that l am said he when went away it was with the determination to see miss even at the risk of his uncle s displeasure though he haunted the neighborhood for a good part of each day it was nearly a week before he had an opportunity such as he desired he wanted a private interview with the girl which he had no reason to believe he could obtain unless her mother was absent from the premises at last his patience was rewarded by seeing a lady driven out by the coachman who had served the family ever since could remember she he had no doubt must be the new housekeeper the gates were closed and locked promptly after the passage of the carriage and ten minutes later the rang the bell at the lodge entrance a lame and aged answered the ring and stared with much surprise when he saw who had given the summons ah it s you is it mr he said with an attempt at cordiality i heard you were in the village but i did not expect to see you and you have changed a great deal you are looking finely though i suppose you thought your uncle had returned but he has not come yet we expect him now in a day or two there was nothing in this plausible address that implied a welcome to the heir of the house on the contrary the porter seemed impatient to close the interview and the gate at the same time decided on a bold front i want to get some books said he f love at seventy brushing by the man u i know exactly where they are there is no need for you to go with me the porter was in a though mr had said nothing which absolutely directed him to his nephew from the house he had implied by that he was not expected there had a grave fear of his employer and on the other hand no one could tell how soon this young fellow might become master of did not give him long to debate these questions for he started off at a good rate of speed toward the house you cannot get into the library called after him his not permitting a faster gait the master locked up everything when he went away the young man did not his pace in the least mrs must have the keys he called back mrs has gone out sir protested the man nervously well she will probably soon return no sir she will be gone several hours she has gone to to consult the doctor this was exactly what wanted to know feeling that undue haste was no longer necessary he paused till the old servant could reach him i hope miss is not worse he said and in spite of all he could do he looked anxious no sir not specially replied thrown i am he off his guard by s familiar manner she is no worse but then again she is no better and the doctor has to be consulted frequently he comes here twice a week but mrs had not been out for some days and i think she wanted the ride it is for her sir just now stood for a few moments in thought where does she keep

the library keys he asked finally i i think it will be better stammered the man if you will wait till she returns she does not like to have anyone go into the house when she is out had no sooner said this than he before the glance that met his when i want your advice said severely i shall probably ask for it you have a great deal of assurance to offer it you know where the keys are kept as well as you know where your tongue is feeling that he had done all that could be required of him and reflecting that after all mr had given no positive directions in the matter began to make the most apologies oh drop that replied shortly and tell me where those keys are i think miss has them sir shall i go yes when you are asked to interrupted the young man stopping the servant as he was starting toward the mansion and let me tell you now once for all that i will not stand your love at seventy show me where i can find miss and then return to your duties the old man was plunged into new alarm while it was true that no directions had ever been given upon the subject he knew by that and law on which tradition is based that no person ought to make his way in such a manner into miss s presence teachers had always been through the house and not even her had been permitted to meet her felt that his situation might depend on this unlucky and yet he saw no way to escape from it more sternly than before demanded in what part of the house he might expect to find miss the old man in great began to move slowly toward the dwelling no i will not trust you said you had as report some invention of your own as the truth go back to your lodge i will ring the house bell myself glad to escape at any cost away and proceeded up the walk toward the front door before he reached the edifice however a young girl came forth it was the vision which for so long had haunted his waking and sleeping hours seeing a stranger the girl paused and seemed about to retreat but he pressed eagerly forward i am said he l am said hi why so you are was the reply delivered in a voice of wonderful sweetness then without more she came to meet him and as frankly as an old friend put her hand m bis ix vi at seventy chapter xi a of innocence miss though eighteen years of age looked considerably younger on account of the illness from which she suffered she appeared more like a child than a young lady and her manner completely charmed the young man who had made such an effort to see her you speak as if you had met me before said he as soon as the first greetings were over i saw you once she replied you were talking with old mr butler out there in the road one of the told me who you were and besides there is a large picture of you in your uncle s room which i have often looked at in his uncle s room she was evidently on pretty familiar terms with her mother s employer that picture was painted a very long while ago he responded it can t look much as i do now oh yes it does and i ve heard a great deal about you he bent upon her his brightest glance what have you heard about me he why i know that you have been a great traveller and that you are staying at the hotel and but won t you come into the house i can t remain out long on account of the a of innocence he accepted the invitation though much surprised to receive it this young girl had not been brought up so very strictly or she would have declined to meet him thus alone i have been in two months he said when they were seated i suppose you think it strange that i have not called here sooner she shook her head no i did not expect you at all that requires an explanation didn t you know this was the home of my childhood in fact the only place which could be called a home that i have ever known miss bowed thoughtfully yes i knew when i first came here your uncle was always talking of you he read a great many of your letters to me at that time he seemed so wrapped up in you that i thought he would soon send for you to return a sigh escaped from the listener but he never did said he i was gone more than three years and he seemed to get along without me very well yes assented the girl he got reconciled after a while we can get used to anything in time i think he could not help uttering the thought that was uppermost in his mind and he had you to help him you know yes she said with a bright smile he had me then was ever a girl of her age so she had love at seventy stepped into his place in the uncle s regard and talked as if he ought to be rather pleased to hear it they tell me you are not well he said with a touch of anxiety in his tone what seems to be the matter i don t know the doctors don t know either though i have had a dozen of them but i ll tell you what i think it is too dreary for me here seeing the same things and doing the same things day after day i need something to excite

my mind to stir my blood your uncle has tried to do everything for me before i had been here a month he bought me a pony to ride but when i am on his back i have nowhere to go they don t like to let me outside the grounds it is very dull through the same roads and back again then i have my language teachers and music masters and i get so tired of them if i was ever to put their teaching to any use it would be different but tells me i must do nothing that i am to be a lady and it all seems so selfish i am not really sick there is no pain in me anywhere unless it is here at my heart like that of a bird that pines to escape from the gilded cage that is killing it she clasped her hands over her left side the expression does my uncle how you feel he asked oh no i could not talk to him as i am talking to you indeed i hav never said as much before a of innocence ill not even to my mother something betrayed me into it for which i cannot account perhaps it was because i have envied so much your opportunities to travel to know what the world is by actual observation i m afraid my chief sin is that of envy why i envy even the servants in this house who have their regular when they can go out alone without giving an account of every moment i have actually dreamed of running away to become a happy shop girl or to ask in the street for the very beggars have more freedom than i what a wild idea to enter the brain of that child i if you are to be a lady said thoughtfully you must take the of your position along with its advantages the girl laughed softly but i did not ask for any of these things though we were very poor when we came here i was contented we had only two gowns apiece but that was quite enough mr on all these extra expenses and i wish so much that he wouldn t i can t make mother understand the way i feel about it she says it is very hard for a woman to earn a living who has only herself to rely upon but i had rather live like a than the way we do was getting information with a vengeance it was evident that his uncle had practically adopted this girl and her mother he began to wonder if a new will had been made them to a large share in the estate which was to have been his not a hateful sensation came with the thought however only astonishment that the staid old bachelor could love at seventy have had his heart so much affected by anything in the shape of my uncle did not intend i should know you were here he said exchanging confidence for confidence i only learned by accident that he had changed when he met me at new york after my return from abroad he suggested that i should go to the hotel when i came to and as soon as i arrived in town he had his gates closed and locked as if you were some criminal that i might assist to freedom that is very odd commented the girl with her astonishing frankness very odd indeed when people used to say that he intended you to marry me the statement nearly took the young man s breath away there was no change in s voice or manner as she uttered it she spoke as if the idea was the most ordinary one imaginable people used to say that did they he managed to repeat yes it seemed to be generally understood but they don t say it any more he ventured n no she replied not lately he noticed the tone in which she uttered this and thought it about time to say something humorous i suppose you are sorry he remarked smiling well i knew i should like you when i heard them talking in that way i used to go and look at your picture if he me i thought he a of innocence will take me away and i shall be glad of that of course a married woman has more freedom than a young girl in all his travels he had never heard anything half so entertaining it is rather a pity he said with a smile that the who your fortune should not have carried it to completion with her face as sober as ever she seemed to entirely agree with him he resolved on a bold stroke do you like me still yes mr he leaned toward her with his most expression prove it then by giving me a kiss she a little for the first time if you were going to marry me i would she said i should not like to have two men in the world who had kissed me he was so by her manner that for a moment he did not know what to do all that had been said was evidently of the utmost seriousness to her it would hardly do for me to marry against the wishes of my uncle upon whom i rely for everything he remarked the color faded from the fair cheek we could not marry without his consent could we he insisted she fixed her innocent eyes intently upon him not unless we ran away she replied slowly love at seventy would you leave everything your home your mother all for me he cried astounded her was asserting itself her eyes had left his face and were gazing at the carpet yes she said in a voice scarcely audible as he looked at her the full knowledge

of his nature swept across his brain he was in love of course but he had been as much in love many many times and had awakened to find his passion at an end he resolved to use a little more sense with this girl for might not be a good man to trifle with there are many things to think of he said in a grave voice i like you very much and i want to see you often that we may talk this over you are such a prisoner that we shall have to invent some method of communication have you no servant who can be miss looked pleased at the suggestion that he would meet her there are none of them who would take your money i am sure she answered but she is my maid would do anything i asked there is a rear door in the high wall that is very seldom used and to which i have a key would you mind coming at a very late hour when else is a bed the innocence of the face she turned toward him was a marvel it surpassed anything he had ever seen or heard of to meet such a in the manner she described was like a chapter from a a of innocence story book whatever the risks involved was not the man to refuse this invitation i will come at any hour you wish he responded only be very careful there must be no doubt of your maid s nor of her thorough judgment the next half hour was spent on details which were satisfactorily arranged called who gave evidence of being wholly devoted to the service of her mistress a way in which notes could be exchanged the first thing of importance was provided for then remarking that risk enough had been run on the present occasion parted from the two girls and sought the library in order to carry out the with which he had entered the house as he expected he found the room notwithstanding the fable that had invented the rows of volumes familiar to his boyish eyes began to interest him and he was soon seated in one of the leather covered chairs engrossed in pages that he had read long years before the adventures of bias of delighted to con again that of fiction especially as he had since reading it visited many of the places described by le sage he did not hear the opening of a door nor see a man s form enter it gave him quite a shock when he looked up from the page he was reading and saw his uncle standing within a yard of him why how long have you been here he exclaimed rising and speaking nervously i did not hear a sound did his best to conceal the love at seventy he felt he had just left who had told him of the young master s in entering the house in spite of all his efforts to him he would have given a good deal to know whether had seen but there was no way to find out except by asking one of them which he was too proud to think of doing i have just arrived from new york was the quiet answer business detained me longer than i expected could see that his uncle was troubled but he affected not to notice it as mr remained standing he considered this a hint that he had best be going let me take a few of these books he said picking up several i will send them back when i have finished them it almost my boyhood to see these dear old authors again mr bowed it is nearly time for supper he said won t you remain and take the meal with me no thank you unless you are particular replied the nephew that a refusal was the better part of judgment expects me the was growing relieved he began to feel certain that no meeting between the young people had taken place as you like said he by the way have you decided how much longer you will remain at it was as plain as if the words had said it that a of would not regret the day when his nephew turned his back on the village the young man felt a severe wound to his t but he was too much master of himself to show it would rather leave that to you sir he answered i must admit there is more going on in the way of entertainment at new york than here if it is quite the same to you i shall run on there within a few weeks though i can return at any time should you desire a few weeks mr wondered what was the reason for this delay but he could not lessen the time without exciting suspicion there seemed nothing more to say and the relations parted at the door when reached the hotel he was met with the startling announcement that miss left suddenly giving no intimation as to where she would make her future home he made no comment upon this news but young received it with consternation when he returned from his work i am afraid this means something disagreeable said to his friend when he had for a long time upon the matter d n it yes it means to wait on me was the only reply that vouchsafed he did not intend to convey his suspicions to anyone else at present but he was as certain as that he breathed that s hand was in this love at chapter xii t playing a game of i the second evening after the day when mr came home he was sitting in the library where he had met his nephew and this time he had old tom as his companion was occupied in puffing clouds

of smoke from his pipe after his usual fashion and a board that had served them for a quarter century stood between the two men do you suppose came here for anything but to get those books asked mr pausing between the moves shouldn t wonder responded mechanically what if he did the instrument maker made his next play with caution i shouldn t like to have them meet he replied why not that s a queer question to come from you looked up sharply from the board you ve done everything you could to prepare her for him he said vehemently getting a little doubtful of your own work are you i m afraid is not good enough for her replied deliberately in disgust a game of good enough he echoed he s good enough to be your brother s son that s all you need to know i call him a very decent young fellow what s the matter with him it s no crime that he doesn t want to down to business every other generation has a right to take a lay off if it can and if it s anyone s fault it s more yours than his you encouraged him to keep up his long journey you know why you did it too there was something in this statement and in the manner of its delivery that made mr forget the game he was playing why did i do it he demanded you seem to reasons of your own to everything lately pointed out the fact that his opponent in the game had not taken a that fell to his share and then made his next move i ve a good mind to tell you why he said removing the pipe from his mouth by will you ll need a guardian if you keep on not good enough for her indeed isn t a man s flesh and blood of as much account as the children of his hired help mr controlled himself with an effort never mind he s going away in a few days he said you didn t used to be so favorable to a match between them he added no nor i don t favor it now snapped it s only when you talk as if the goodness was all on one side as if that housekeeper s girl would have to stoop to marry your nephew that you stir me love at up i told you when she and her mother came here that they d get around you till you wouldn t know whether your soul was your own and now look at it comes home and is sent to the hotel while this child no relation to you whatever gets the cream of the mansion i tell you will you ought to be ashamed the other player made a very ill advised move that immediately resulted to his disadvantage you say a good many things when you get to talking he answered you never heard anything against laughed you ve taken fine pains to keep her shut up he replied she hasn t been allowed to go outside the gates without some one at her heels do you know what is certain to follow that kind of treatment if she gets a husband who gives her the least freedom she will be the prey of any man who wants her why the proprietor of the house rose from the table and spoke in a stern voice that will do tom you can t talk that way to me the of the company did not seem in the least disturbed he merely said knight takes and waited for his to go on with the game no i will not play exclaimed mr there are bounds that you have no right to pass you have hated my housekeeper and her child ever playing a game of since they came here for no better reason than the contrary spirit that s in you now when it gets to making like the one you just uttered it s got to stop do you hear me tom the affected to be engrossed in the condition of the men and his employer repeated the inquiry do you hear me tom oh yes i hear you responded the other but whenever i think i have a duty to perform i shall speak out you will talk till you re than you are now before you put a chain on my tongue when i see people you as these are doing mr was in doubt what to say next however unpleasant the words of his old friend he knew the motive that prompted them was devotion to his interests as understood them tell me one thing he said you spoke just now about my keeping abroad and said you had a good mind to tell me why i did it i want you to explain what you meant by that you don t want anything of the kind was the reply come sit down and make your moves at this rate we shall be here all night i tell you i do want it retorted almost angry if you have anything to say to me let it out anything is better than your everlasting hints realized that it would create no ordinary commotion if he revealed what he had in mind when he made use of the terms referred to but his dogged at seventy ness was not proof against this demand he pushed the table away from him knowing there would be no more playing that evening and after drawing two or three long from his pipe he took the article from his mouth you re an old fool will said he you ll tell me i m wrong but i know you better than you know yourself and i ve been watching this thing for a long time why didn t you want

your nephew at home why did you keep him away from your house when he came to the reason is not a very creditable one to a man who has seen almost seventy and has a business reputation as a fellow of common sense but it s the real one you re in love with that little girl yourself for several seconds looked as if he was going to strike the author of this bold declaration he raised his arm and clenched his fist while a terrible expression his countenance more than half expected that the blow would fall but his sturdy character would neither have allowed him to retreat nor to make any effort to the stroke then a sudden change came across the face of the and staggering to the chair he had he dropped weakly into it perhaps you haven t the extent of your own feelings pursued as his employer gave no sign of replying in words to his accusation but it s as i tell you as sure as you re alive to put it plainly you were afraid that young chap a game of would excite sentiments in her heart that would lessen her affection for you and you re seventy and she s eighteen her grandfather if he were living might be about your age i know how it is you ve lived a solitary life and she has herself around you little by little until you don t understand your own mind the seated figure made a clutch at the air as if to save itself from falling it s not true murmured hoarsely i love her as a daughter no more it s not true tom no i swear to you it s not had no idea of in the least why don t you invite him here then he it s not my notion of the way to dispose of him mind you but you ve shown in a hundred ways that it is yours why don t you have him up here and let them get acquainted and watch the result mr roused himself slowly like one who feels the first effects of a painful injury there are reasons enough he answered faintly is not well to begin with the doctors say she must avoid every species of excitement but there are other things which i have disliked to mention to you because is my near relation he hasn t the kind of character i could wish his experiences have given him a light opinion of women i sent him to the hotel till i could ascertain if he was fit to associate with this white flower that i have watched so tenderly and from what i learn i fear he is not love at these words came with difficulty and there were many pauses between the sentences had a sneer in his voice and on his face as he replied what the devil did you learn i ll tell you i told to keep an eye on him and to report everything that he saw it seem there was a very pretty servant there upon whom my nephew cast his eyes he immediately demanded that she should wait on no one but him and has taken his meals in his own apartment with her for his companion his every act showed that he was quietly meditating her ruin then a miss who in the house found an immense collection of female photographs in his some of them dressed in which prove the of his taste knowing these things how could i introduce him to such a child as tom had risen and stood leaning against the mantel with his hands in his trousers pockets is an ass of the first water was his comment that is a who was probably driven to lies on account of jealousy because very properly preferred that the prettier girl should attend him goodness will i never should have thought such things of you sending the boy to that confounded hole and then putting such a set of on him well what s the worst they found believing all they tell you a few pictures of youth and beauty that the lad would have to be blind not to like and a conversation with a over his and coffee a game of that s all isn t it they don t accuse him of actually doing any harm to the girl mr was very haggard the discussion was wearing heavily upon him she s been sent away he said had a talk with her and gave her some money to take the journey the s lip curled in scorn where has she gone he asked i don t know so cried with a rising to save her from a fancied danger you ve sent her where she ll be almost sure to run into a one you re a very moral man are if any harm happens to that girl the blame will belong at your door how do you know but he meant to marry her mr looked at his she has neither property nor family has your housekeeper s daughter either of those the maker of instruments paid no attention to the sarcasm in this remark has not evinced the least interest in her fate he answered that of your supposition in one word it also of yours smiled if he was so desperately set on her ruin he would not let her escape him so easily there was something in this certainly that mr had not thought of but he replied that probably the nephew had found victims too plea at seventy to feel the need of pursuing one in the manner indicated anything to fan your dislike said where that boy is concerned you hare no leaning toward the merciful for the past three years through your neglect he has had no but himself if he has found amusement

in looking into the eyes of a pretty woman now and then is it anything for which he should be hanged drawn and mr was silent he seemed too exhausted to debate the subject any longer you say the housekeeper s girl is not well continued i shouldn t think she would be you d be an invalid yourself if you were fastened up as she is there s nothing in the world the matter with her except a lack of something to interest her mind bring your nephew up here and you ll see a difference from the start keep your eye on them if you think they need it set the whole household to as you did s precious crowd but for god s sake don t steel your heart against one of the best boys that ever wore shoes a young fellow you ought to be of than anything else you own the lamp in the room gas was not one of the luxuries of at that period had been gradually flickering and had at last gone out the moon was full however and its beams furnished sufficient light mr showed his through the outer gate of the premises and parted from him there without another word this one i met chapter xiii this one i met in as it was apparent that mr would probably be in new york before a great while for either a longer or shorter period he consulted with the as to the of getting young transferred from to the principal office of the concern at the metropolis who had never grown any of the young fellow and who would have sent him flying without hesitation had he had his way was glad enough to make any arrangement which would relieve him from his presence correspondence with the main office soon resulted in the manner desired came to the hotel one evening positively radiant with joy and told his friend of his good fortune it is better than anything i had dreamed of he cried and as you are so soon to be there we shall not be entirely separated after all you must have very uninteresting dreams was the response if you see anything attractive in a seat on a high stool with a pen in your hand up somebody else s profits out of your labor what salary are they to pay you twelve dollars a week to begin with and more jn a short time if i give satisfaction is it not generous love at seventy noble laughed in fact i should say magnificent on that sum you ll be able to live like a prince over on tenth avenue there are places where you can get an bedroom and something they call food for seven dollars which will leave you five to on clothing amusements and other unnecessary trifles declined to be disconcerted by the tone his friend assumed i shall do very well he said positively i know all about and ordinary fare for i have tried them before i suppose those places you speak of those on tenth avenue are perfectly respectable indeed they are was the humorous reply they don t throw in much sin at that price in new york that comes extra like coffee in paris you will find out it takes the country boy the one with high purposes and great to sound the depths of a large city if i should be a month behind you you will be able to take me anywhere ah what an awful bad lot you are for a moment the younger man looked troubled but the prospect before him was too bright for a cloud to remain long on his face you will probably discover before you have been long in the office pursued that you are receiving a few dollars less each week than other clerks who are doing the same kind of work of course you will not mind that you may be giving more faithful service may be more prompt at your desk in the morning and less anxious to thi one i met in leave at night and yet get half that they do a little matter like this would never breed discontent in such a head as yours no i think it would rather please you than otherwise replied brightly that he should not consider it his affair what the others got he should do his own work as well as he could and let the rest take care of themselves just what i said replied his irrepressible friend do that and according to all the story books they give boys to read you will succeed you start without a single bad habit you do not drink anything i believe not even a of wine he lifted a as he spoke and filled a glass with which he put to his lips that is an excellent thing i mean the principle not this you do not use tobacco in any form he took up a cigar and bit off the end which is also to be commended i do not see how anyone except myself of course can be so foolish as to their brains with the vile of that weed he lit the cigar tobacco puff is undoubtedly a curse puff which should be by our ancestors drank wine and smoked puff and we show the results of their habit if we should quit both of these things puff puff our descendants might possibly look as beautiful as those of our modern he held the cigar in his hand as he finished the sentence but the greatest reason why i have such complete love at seventy confidence in you continued after blowing a vast quantity of smoke in rings to the ceiling is on account of your exceedingly correct views in relation to the sexes you must know i was joking a few minutes ago when i intimated that

the train was starting wrung his companion s hand so sharply that he bruised it and with a hasty good by left him alone caught in thb act chapter xiv caught in the act for various reasons nearly a fortnight elapsed after the meeting which had with in his uncle s library before he accepted her invitation to enter the grounds late at night she had not been as well as usual for one thing and her mother had remained with her a good deal the impatient lover was obliged to content himself with the daily that contrived to to him and he thought than ever during the days after s departure at last however a time was set for the long delayed meeting he was to wait near the wall door at the rear of the mansion until after had seen mr s light extinguished and was sure tom had finished his game of and gone home the habits of the household as the girl knew from experience were very clock like mr seldom remained long out of bed after the departure of his regular visitor having allowed a half hour from the time she saw the light put out sent to find the anxious all the innumerable adventures which the young man had experienced seemed to pale into in comparison with this one he had climbed j love at seventy by a to the window of a wealthy beauty in had been disguised into the of a great official of had barely escaped with his life from an husband in but this possessed a strangeness equalled by none of the others to be around the walls that had enclosed his head in boyhood walls destined to be his own in the course of time to creep like a across these well known walks and into this familiar house to meet in this manner this of innocence when stepped into the room where miss was waiting his heart knocked so loudly against his ribs that he could almost hear it well i am here he said in a low voice to the most musical accents of which he was master upon conducting him to her mistress the maid had retreated into the closing but not the door behind her no sooner had she disappeared than overcome with joy stretched out his arms to my darling he cried in tones of the deepest passion will you now refuse me that kiss which i have waited for so long the young girl seemed quite composed making a marked contrast to his you must have forgotten what i told you replied gently he caught both her hands in his that you would only kiss the man who be your husband behold him she hesitated still regarding him intently aught in thb act do you swear that she asked do you swear that i shall be your wife only a minute before this the young man had been firm in his resolution not to say anything to commit himself the dependence that he had upon his uncle was so absolute that he had meant to be in his words however careless his conduct might appear but he was with the sweetness of the creature before him and to save his life he could not have made her a different reply with all my soul he answered earnestly waited no longer but permitted him to clasp her in his arms and press a kiss upon her lips have you thought how we are to arrange it she said as soon as she could escape from his caresses to arrange it her thoughts were not to be turned even for a moment from the subject of marriage that will be all right in time he responded after a slight pause for the present is it not wisest to take the happiness that comes to us and leave all difficult problems for the future such meetings as this ought to be devoted to the of love not passed in sober calculations how to escape the happiest period of life she looked slightly troubled and does the of love end with matrimony she asked in her way why no he replied confused for the moment but lovers usually like to as much as love at seventy that delightful time when they have become all in all to each other and yet are by legal ties in our case there are a hundred to marriage which must all be broken down to our love there was but one and that and her keys has easily opened showed the greatest interest in every word he said are there really so many to our marriage she asked tell me what they are well the two greatest perhaps are my uncle and your mother she brightened at this for she had feared that his answer would reveal some terrible obstacle of whose existence she had been unaware those are easily surmounted she smiled my mother would not stand in the way of anything i insisted upon and as for your uncle he has no legal control over my actions wished that she would not be so precise and positive he blushed as he felt that he could not explain his own situation without laying himself open to the charge of selfishness my uncle could refuse to do anything more for me in a pecuniary way which to say the least would be embarrassing the girl knit her brows and into thought you could earn a living could you not without his aid i supposed any man of education and talent could do that we shall not need much and i will gladly do all i can to help you she looked so as she uttered these caught in the act words that could not help embracing her again i wish with all my heart he replied and he had never spoken more earnestly that i had been brought up to do

something useful to tell the truth i have no idea how i could turn my slight talents into bread if all else fails my dear i will make a effort to convince the world that i am a much needed individual for whom it has long felt a keen desire it would be much better though if we could convince my respected relation that he ought to give us his blessing as clasped her hands behind her head and leaned back in the arm chair she made a very pretty picture i am not so sure he wont she said he seems to care very much for me if i tell him i love you and wish to be your wife i think he will want me to be happy she was so hopeful that did not like to disturb her serenity though he had little faith in her conclusions i sincerely trust you are right he answered for if he does not if he positively us we shall have to wait a altered the expression of her pretty mouth to wait she repeated how long kissed her again thinking her more than ever we must be sensible he said is it not better love at seventy to let a little time go by during which he j induced to the girl did not take kindly to this suggestion you don t know how tired i am of my existence she said wearily oh i want so much to get out to go where i can see the world if they keep me shut up much longer i shall never live to be your wife the conversation along the same lines for another hour but nothing definite was reached he could not make her understand why he was so cautious her ideas of love had been obtained entirely from certain old fashioned novels that she had found in the big collection downstairs in those the ardent dared everything to possess their and the parents and invariably in time to make everything lovely at the close before came to let him out it was understood that he would come again within a few days and that in the meantime the lovers would exchange letters regularly with the most joyous feelings that he had known for many months set out to return to the house he had only gone a short distance however when a most unexpected and unwelcome f confronted him in the highway for a few moments neither the uncle nor the nephew uttered a word saw that his evening s was known and from the set expression on mr s face realized that he had little cause to hope for mercy caught ih thb act i am a straightforward man came at last in hard tones from the elder gentleman i know where you have been i will listen to no explanations for nothing can your offence to morrow you must leave and never return to it without my leave under no circumstances must you hold communication with any person dwelling in my house you rely on me for your income if you obey me you will continue to receive it as in the past if you do not here mr made a significant pause you may expect nothing more from me a thousand thoughts rushed to s brain during the delivery of this speech all that he owed this man the kindness shown him from his infancy the sweet face and figure he had just left the hardships experienced by those who are as shown in s case he did not dare begin an argument with his uncle in that gentleman s present state of mind it was a hard choice but he must take the safer way he could do as he was ordered trusting to the future to right him i will go sir he said quietly mr had expected a different answer he had prepared himself for harsh expressions and when he heard his nephew s dutiful reply he could hardly refrain from embracing him and letting forth the torrent of tears that struggled to his eyes but he restrained himself and the two men parted without further early the next morning with all his took a train for new york love at seventy chapter xv now don t say you re sorry s feelings as he rode toward the city were far from every revolution of the wheels under his car was taking him farther and farther from the one he loved best he believed he cared a great deal for she had made a most vivid impression upon his ordinarily nature he had really convinced himself that he was to find with her the true peace of mind and serenity of life that comes from an ideal marriage she had led him to hope that his uncle would consent to remove the difficulties in their way under the eloquence of her bright eyes and sweet voice now everything was changed he had fallen under the displeasure of a man whose power over his income was as absolute as that of the over his subjects he had been sent away with strict directions not to return under the penalty when he heard his sentence he accepted it himself with the belief that some fortunate circumstance would eventually to save him he had to admit however that there was very little clear sky on his horizon the offence of which he had been guilty must seem upon the surface a one he had no reason to doubt that the very suspicions were entertained in now don t say you re regard to his conduct should this be the case how unpleasant s situation must be it was unlikely that mr would take any pains to explain matters to her she would send her letters to the usual place and when there were no answers would make an investigation and report that the man who had

professed the warmest tion for her so short a time before had coolly left the place without sending a word to explain the reason or an address to which she could write oh it was scandalous even the fear of being of losing the immense property which his uncle had accumulated could hardly the young man from leaving the train at the first station and returning at any risk to the girl he had deserted but prudence conquered for the moment and he decided to continue his journey to new york where he might confide the whole story to and see if together they could find a way to the knot it was on a holiday that he reached the city and the office of the company was closed as he did not know s house address he was obliged to wait until the next morning before he could see him strolling about at random during the afternoon he happened to pass through east ninth street where he encountered as he had often done an evidence of the fact that this world is a very contracted place on the a little ahead of him was a female figure whose outlines seemed strangely familiar and he was not long ia lots at seventy deciding that it belonged to the late of the house the pleasure of meeting anyone he knew combined with curiosity as to the sort of life she was now leading induced him to follow her fearing that if he made his presence known too soon she might decline to him with her place of residence he in the rear until he saw her enter a dwelling three minutes later he rang the bell the girl who answered his summons directed him to a room up two flights of stairs leaving him to make his own way to that locality now don t say you re sorry to see me he exclaimed the expression with which he was received giving rise to this suspicion why you don t even ask me to enter at this who had stood stock still in her surprise moved to one side and allowed rather than invited him to pass in let me quiet your fears at once if you have any he said in a tone i found your abode by the purest accident in fact by seeing you on the street just now and it seemed only a act to call i thought you and i were too good friends for such an abrupt leave as you took of me at which i left yesterday morning no one seemed to have the slightest notion where you were but now i shall learn all about it what are you doing in new york and what drove you away in such a hurry he glanced hurriedly at the furniture as he spoke now don t sa t tou ke sorry she had not found anything very luxurious at all events cloud that had gathered around the girl s eyes deepened at his question i came away because because i thought it best and because i believed i could earn my living better here i hope you have succeeded he said kindly not yet she told him with a sad frankness i find there are many others as much in need of work as i still i am not discouraged i shall keep trying it requires money to live in a city even in the manner and began to wonder where she had obtained enough for her wants he had good reason to believe her purse was empty when she lived in you must be well provided with funds to be able to wait so long he said boldly i i had a little she stammered much confused it does not cost much here but the little it does cost he said with sudden conviction comes from my uncle he sent you away for fear i should lower his great name by a marriage with you his name he who has wheeled a in his day coal and handled a that s where the money comes from you do not dare deny it a tumult raged in the girl s breast as she heard him a marriage with could such a thing have been for a moment in the thoughts of the wealthy this was not the story love at seventy that had told her when he pressed the into her hand and asked her to leave on the very next train he had represented that a scandal was imminent that their close relations were causing talk and that she would either have to go in this quiet way with sufficient funds to relieve her present necessities or be turned out in the face of the village you do not answer said in this case i shall consider that silence is confession you me so much that i do not know what to say she responded i never dreamed of meeting you and you must not call here any more for really i cannot see you his mind was too full of now to mind much this rather cool dismissal for with the words miss rose from the chair she had taken as if to bid him farewell i shall respect your wish he replied with a smile though i think you would be wiser to confide in me a little i am not half so great a villain as i have been represented if my uncle is supplying your purse and if he from any cause ceases to do so and you need anything my city address is at his office on third street you will be very silly if you don t let me know and let me tell you though it may not seem encouraging the chances are that you will i don t suppose you have a relation or acquaintance in town but he walked slowly out into the as he

talked i am my welcome i wouldn t care so much if you hadn t got into this scrape on my account he added now don t say be sorry the girl had a severe struggle with the conflicting motions which these expressions brought forth it was true as lie that mr had made a bargain with her through by which he was to send her what money she needed until she could obtain a satisfactory position in exchange for which she was never to see or speak to his nephew she had been too overwhelmed at the landlord s when he made her the proposition to attempt the least defence but had followed his suggestions blindly not knowing what else to do she was practically and though mr s money almost burned her fingers she dared not decline it her main thought was to get away as quickly as possible away from away from away from all those people to whom she had become as was represented to her an object of distrust by some mysterious fate the person she had promised to avoid had found her in this large city on the very day of his arrival and without effort on his part the short interview she had had with him could not be as a of her word to mr but should she have given such a promise i will keep your card she said while he wondered why it took her so long to answer by the way said as he was turning from her our friend is here in my uncle s office is he in your bad books as well as i if he isn t and you happen to run across him it will love at seventy be a charity to give him a kind word he always seemed to like you then he went out upon the street and walked to his hotel the next morning he went at an early hour to find and arrange a lunch together at one o clock how happens it that you are here without giving me the least warning asked as soon as he could control his delight oh the devil is in it was the response i ve had a set to with my respected uncle not a falling out cried with eyes something mighty like it i ll tell you everything at noon and at noon he did tell him everything he related the whole episode from beginning to end concealing nothing isn t it a fine kettle of fish he said at the conclusion i m in a condition of mind to kill somebody and poor little she must by this time have me the and most man if i wanted to mail her a letter at the risk of my uncle s wrath there is not one chance in a hundred it would ever reach her are undoubtedly on the watch ready to anything addressed to her name come old man tell me what to do you ought to have an idea in that head of yours was much affected by this of his friend s misfortune he patience expressing the belief that mr would not long hold himself in such an attitude toward his nephew now don t say you to the at present would be merely to invite ruin nor was it wise he added timidly to the financial considerations as long as the uncle held the purse strings he could control s conduct as readily as a pilot could handle a boat through the but you don t realize what a burning affection i have developed for that dear girl cried i have been in love with a thousand women and never really had my heart on fire till now i am afraid you never loved any of them was the sober reply it is not so very long ago that you seemed wholly wrapped up in another young lady a loud laugh greeted this statement what the pretty little he replied she did entertain me in that dull but i don t think i ever meant anything serious even if i had i could not but see how little chance there was for me after she caught sight of you and that reminds me that you must run over and call on her she lives but a few minutes walk from here and would welcome you warmly miss cried rising from his chair she is here in new york exactly smiled i will cheerfully give you her address the younger man drew several long which he slowly he was evidently much surprised by the news i do not understand he stammered you say love at seventy you love miss then why have you st miss here it was some seconds before could grasp the full meaning of this question you are wrong in your brilliant he answered miss is the victim of another ridiculous move on the part of my he had her sent away from the hotel on account of a silly notion in relation to me i learned of her residence only yesterday afternoon and then quite accidentally oh i give you my word she is of no use to me now and i shall take great pleasure in passing over to you all my right title and interest shrank from these careless expressions as if they were so many blows upon his shoulders don t speak like that he pleaded it hurts me does it really asked looking at his companion in a puzzled way then i am right and you are not entirely indifferent to the girl you see i saw in the street and followed her home without letting her know she was watched when i called at her room she treated me with the civility and even had the supreme impertinence to remark as i was going away that she did not care to see me again of course i lay

all that to the lies or possibly to the truths that had been hired to tell her about me whatever the reason my mind is now too full of my to let me shed many tears as i am barred from s society and as she is entirely alone in the now don t sat you re sorry city i know she would be delighted to see you often and although i don t think i am much to blame for her present situation i would like to hear from her occasionally and even render her assistance if she ever needs it made a number of inquiries in relation to miss which his friend could not answer positively all he knew was that she meant to secure a position of some kind by which she could earn her living and he had no doubt that was supplying her temporary wants when the friends separated had in his possession the number of the house on ninth street and that very evening he called there did not conceal her pleasure at the sight of his face and gave him a very different reception from the one found before an hour had passed the last of had disappeared from both of them and they told how pleased he was with his place in the company s office where he had been promised without any on his part a rise in salary at end of six months service and had that very day made an engagement with a which would give her almost enough to live on in the economical fashion she was though intensely anxious to learn the exact connection of the elder with her affairs did not think of questioning her in relation to that matter he was sure whatever it was that it reflected no upon her when they parted it was with an understanding that he would call love at seventy frequently the next evening they took a long walk together and within a week had dined at a cheap french where a dinner was served for forty cents several days later they had even viewed a play together from an upper gallery at a cost of half a dollar as for he took rooms in a swell bachelor apartment hotel and set about drowning his regrets with the aid of several young gentlemen afflicted like himself with too much spare time and endowed with a sufficient quantity of he was not happy but he could no plan to get out of his difficulties theatres rides in the park and such light entertainment as was furnished by one or two clubs which he joined helped to pass the time away whom he generally met at lunch time still him to have patience and to do nothing rash how much patience do you think you d have in my place used to answer exasperated at the long delay and chapter xvi uncle and nephew the disappointment felt by when she received no answers to the letters which her maid left for young mr was not over estimated in the most vivid dreams of the absent one all that could learn when she made a tour of investigation was that he had left town on the very morning following their last meeting the two girls talked it over for hours at a time but they could not account for the circumstance felt that her mother s employer had had something to do with the matter but she could not ascertain the truth of her suspicions except by direct inquiry which she was naturally to make it was incredible that the ardent lover who had seemed hardly able to control his fond emotions should have taken a wilful resolve to desert her she believed that he would write at least explaining every thing but a fortnight elapsed and nothing was was a girl of naturally strong mind notwithstanding the peculiar moods into which her strange and confined life had led her she did not give vent to her feelings in tears nor did she lose courage when it was apparent that did not intend to explain his conduct by letter she determined to at seventy speak of him to his uncle the first time she could find the latter alone all at once however such opportunities seemed to have disappeared the senior became visible only at meals and as her mother was always present on those occasions she did not like to refer to the subject evenings mr spent with old tom in the library as formerly at last she could wait no longer and one day at dinner she abruptly broke the ice i hear that your nephew has left town she said isn t it rather strange that he should stay so long in and never visit you here mrs looked up in a startled way she knew that had been to the house and that he had talked with there mr had discovered the fact of their meeting by a more thorough questioning of and had thought it wise to convey the information to the girl s mother in order to put her on her guard against a possible repetition but he had not told the lady of the visit made to her daughter s rooms and he would not for anything have had her learn of it to s remark he answered quietly having himself to expect something of the kind that his nephew was master of his own movements and in the habit of selecting his places of residence undoubtedly responded but it does seem odd to me when i think how fond you used to be of him t and nephew m used to be interrupted mr without raising his eyes used to be she repeated with added emphasis when i remember that he is the only child of your only brother that this was his home for many years that he was gone abroad a very

excuse me he exclaimed to open a letter after it has been deposited is by a heavy penalty you must find some other way sir i can at least take it to her mother mr answered his face darkening as her daughter is a minor she certainly has a right to it the was in great distress he disliked to offend this man on whose his bread and butter depended but he had a fear of the law that was even greater i beg your pardon he stammered but what is there to prove its even are sometimes mistaken in relation to handwriting it has been committed to the mail and i dare not do anything but forward it if you wish to know what is inside there is a much safer way you can take the train to new york and get possession of it at your office i am very sorry but i am under oath mr uttered an impatient exclamation and strode into the street in the morning he was a passenger on the earliest train he had merely told his housekeeper that he was going away on business something too common to attract any attention he arrived at his new york office in advance of the mail and directed that all letters received be brought to his private office when they arrived he found the one for which he specially waited after love at seventy a little he rang a bell and requested that mr be asked to step in when this message was given to he was thrown into a state of agitation he had seen mr at the office once before and knew he seldom spoke to anyone except the head clerk or the messenger boy he tried to think of something he had done to merit criticism for he did not imagine his employer would send for him on any other account when he presented himself in the inner office there was a bright red spot in each of his pale cheeks mr looked up at his entrance and told the young man to sit down is your name he asked responded with a faint affirmative he had marked the serious look and his increased how long have you been employed here about a month sir though before that was for some time at your works yes yes i know said mr now i have a little business to with you it is in reference to this letter which has just arrived in the mail showed his astonishment as he gazed at the envelope he had no regular correspondent and could not imagine who had sent it do you recognize that handwriting no sir responded the young man after examining it with care it was at you see uncle and nodded vaguely do you mean to tell me asked mr that you were not expecting a letter from that place the young man s countenance grew still he felt like one charged with an unknown offence like a man put on trial without being told of what he is accused i beg your pardon sir he answered but won t you tell me the reason for this strange series of questions that letter judging by the appears to belong to me i have no idea who wrote it but if you will hand it to me i can easily ascertain then perhaps we shall get on better mr s brow darkened very likely he said very likely but you will not read it until i have opened it i mean to learn its contents before i give it to you as he took up a paper from the desk s attitude changed instantly you have no right to open that letter he cried hoarsely there was but one person that the instrument maker had ever permitted to speak to him in that way old tom for an instant he was disconcerted but he had no idea of giving the to the one who claimed it with such a show of be careful young man he replied this letter is in the handwriting of a girl who is under my protection i have reason to believe that it contains a message for an individual with whom i have love at seventy forbidden her to hold any communication i do not propose mr to have one of my use his position to me in the wise and proper management of my affairs heard and understood it was as plain to him now as the the letter was undoubtedly from who had written to him because she could not write to having come to this conclusion the young man determined that mr whatever his financial or social position should not possess himself of the sacred secret contained in that envelope had he been the president of the united states he would not have allowed him to open it give me that letter he said the elder man was trembling under the strain he had not closed his eyes all night one minute he answered i want you to understand what you are doing i have told my nephew that if he ever attempts to communicate with this young lady i shall him shall cease treating him as my relation from that day forth i think you call him your friend consider then before you do an act that may ruin him give me that letter the outstretched hand was still claiming the when an unexpected arrival complicated affairs still more had happened to call at the office for a word with on learning that his uncle was the young man in his private office he immediately suspected that uncle and nephew something of interest to himself was going on there with this thought in mind he had no hesitation in walking boldly into the room give me that letter he heard say and his quick eye took in the address on the envelope that his uncle

held up he knew the handwriting and the extraordinary began to have a definite meaning for him had written to him perhaps under cover of s name but about him at least his uncle was evidently the letter from its owner probably with the intention of its seal for his own purposes the anger he had ever known his brain completely turning his head for the moment and before dreamed of his intention he strode forward and grasped the in his hand the started to his feet but seeing the determined attitude of both the young men he decided that it would be useless to attempt the document by brute force the group made a striking picture the same expressions written on each face you have done a fine day s work you two sneered mr between his shut teeth mr you may go to the for whatever sum is due you and never show yourself in my office again and you he addressed himself now to may go where you please to the devil if you like i shall your letter of credit and you will get nothing more from me let me tell you another thing the poor girl you meant to love at seventy ruin as you have a hundred others will be v from your to her will go the fortune i had meant for you when you are starving in some garret console yourself by remembering how easily you threw a million good dollars away during the delivery of this speech he choked frequently overcome by the vehemence of his feelings as he paused appalled at the extent of the calamity he had helped to bring upon his friend stepped forward i have been wrong entirely wrong he cried must not suffer on my account no the letter is mine but he shall give it to you i withdraw all objections i accept my discharge sir but i entreat you not to punish another for a fault that was wholly my own give it to him he added addressing himself to that young gentleman i am sure he will then what he has said about you and leave me to bear my punishment alone wrought up as he had been would willingly have met even a approach on the part of his nephew he felt a genuine alarm at the extent to which his passionate nature had led him but even than he gave him no opportunity he shall not have it he retorted a letter from such a girl shall not be touched by profane hands do you think he is going to scare me by his threats what do they amount to at the worst why that he will give his miserable money the only thing there is to him the only thing that makes uncle and nephew people their hats when he passes to the one i most love and honor that money of his he has spent too much of it for me already it would have been a thousand times better had he sent me out years ago with twenty dollars in my pocket to fight my way but let me tell you sir lie addressed himself to his uncle you will never steal s love from me i am now free from obligation to you and shall attempt no farther concealment she has promised to marry me and if she will take me as i am she shall be my wife mr s features seemed as he answered these words withered the olive branch he had been ready to stretch out if that young woman should link her life with yours which she never will do if i can prevent it she will not receive a penny of my money don t imagine you are going to mock me and inherit my wealth through that channel when you find that she is we shall see how real your professions are gazed with a pitying look at the old man before him look at him he said he is seventy years of age and the only thing he can think of is money money money during his long life no woman s love has ever warmed his heart no child of his own has ever played about his knees he has not even felt the delights of passion he has known nothing but money and now that his hair is white he of his possessions as children of their toys putting his arm affectionately around his com love at seventy s shoulder drew him out into the main office where he found his hat and coat then the two young men one of them white and dizzy the other serene went out of the building together oh i know some things chapter xvii oh i know some things as soon as he was left alone in his office sank into his chair and for more than an hour did not move from that position he could hardly believe himself awake the scene he had just witnessed was like an exceedingly unpleasant dream it seemed impossible that his nephew could have dared him to his face thrown away all his prospects like and ended by those most insulting words but he was obliged to admit that the crisis had actually occurred the had been passed there was no longer any question of reconciliation he must return to and carry out his threat late that night he reached home and all the next day he remained indoors preparing himself for an interview with tom which he had determined to have that evening he knew that would oppose him at every point but he had no other person in whom he was willing to confide in his present state of mind it would be a relief to himself even to him the collision with made him desperate for the past month he had tried with all his might to bring himself to the

point where he could effect a love at seventy full reconciliation with the young man he preferred to believe he was not as bad as represented he reflected that something must be allowed for his youth and he had even the possibility of to his nephew all hopes of possessing the sweet girl whose love filled the brightest spot in his lonely existence now all this was over every time he thought of he heard that mocking voice money money money all this old man thinks of is money ah well the boy would learn what money was when he had tried a few weeks to live without it and would come creeping back begging for ever so little of an allowance this fellow without a trade or profession and he would give him nothing no not one cent he was through with him and forever in a short conversation which he had with mrs he gave her a dim impression that his nephew had met with a severe accident did you meet any of your relations in new york she asked anxiously i did not he replied frowning darkly i have no relation there but my brother and i was too busy to see him something serious has happened then to mr something very serious mrs it is a disagreeable subject and i do not care to go into it let it suffice that i have discovered him to be wholly unworthy of my regard and shall neither provide for him hereafter nor leave him anything in my oh i know some things ti f this being the case having already made full provisions for my brother i shall have a handsome sum to to to else within a few days i intend to have a lawyer here and everything when tom came that evening mr put on his very front everything must now depend upon one cast of the die you ve often called me an old fool tom he said quietly you can t say anything much worse when i tell you what i am going to do next tom was engaged at the moment in the important occupation of cutting tobacco for his pipe he nodded his head without looking up i m going to marry raised his eyes just enough to dart a look of contempt at his companion you don t suppose that s any surprise to me he said how many times have i said your housekeeper would pull the wool over eyes and get to be mistress of this place before she had done with you the error was a natural one but mr bit his lip as he heard it well for once you were wrong he replied wrong echoed amazed wrong it is not mrs that i am to wed the was completely for a moment he felt a sensation resembling regret if was bound to marry mrs would do as well as anyone else she was at least used to love at seventy his moods his manner of living and acquainted to a certain degree with his business did not like to contemplate a strange woman there everything to suit her own tastes and his employer had denied the suggestion of so vehemently on a previous occasion that he never once thought of her not your housekeeper laughed a little he was becoming reckless he meant to defy the entire universe in the person of old tom his undoubtedly represented popular opinion on this matter all would have said the same what business had or to pick out mrs for him could he not decide on his own wife without their interference no he said decidedly and not without a tinge of malice it is not mrs that i am thinking of marrying then you are a bigger fool than i took you to be to marry her would prove you short of common sense but to take another woman would show that you had become completely the man of wealth listened with no sign of he was used to this blunt man and expected nothing less from him thanks he responded with polite irony and what would you call me if i were to tell you that the woman i mean to wed is her daughter oh i know some things at this remark the slight control which had retained of his temper gave way entirely a villain he cried s manner changed like lightning at the he lost color and his voice grew stern take care he said was excited he rose to his feet and took a dozen steps up and down the room then he turned to mr and begged him with the utmost earnestness to admit that he did not mean what he said only tell me you were joking he pleaded and i will yes i will even beg your pardon never had mr seen his in such a mood he had not believed that an occasion could arise when would admit under any circumstances that he had been in the wrong i never meant anything more in my life he said coldly and let me add that if the announcement does not please you i cannot help it i am old enough to manage my own business was still struggling with his incredulity old enough he ejaculated god knows you are old enough but this child this school girl she is eighteen interrupted his companion and she has consented paused some seconds before ne answered have not yet proposed to her but do you think she will refuse no did not think so he could see in love at seventy imagination the dangling before her eye the million dollars that would bait the hook what does her mother say he asked like one who catches at a straw her mother is a sensible woman she will not be likely to stand in the way of her daughter s advancement in his wrath

shook his clenched fist at the air advancement he cried god will you drive me crazy the man addressed vouchsafed no reply to this exclamation he was becoming every minute at the attitude taken an attitude he told himself that the world at large would be sure to copy i ve thought a hundred times continued speaking as if the words choked him that the time would come when you would marry the mother and the girl would get your nephew but he stopped appalled by the savage gleam in his employer s eyes never speak to me of that boy again thundered the latter he has interfered between me and one of my clerks insulted me called me every name he could lay his tongue to abused and threatened me and that is not the greatest offence of which he has been guilty before he left he entered these grounds at night in with a servant and was admitted to miss s apartment stared at the speaker until it seemed as if his eyes were frozen in their who told you that last lie he demanded oh i some things oh i know some things was the retort i saw him enter the house with her maid as his escort and i saw him leave it an hour later then i stopped him in the road on his way back to the village and charged him with it and he had not a word to say for himself there was no questioning this direct evidence and decided to change the manner of his attack and you tell me that you mean to marry a girl like that he exclaimed a girl who admits a young man to her chamber at night had not thought of the matter in this light he had only considered the as his nephew s it now occurred to him that he must have come by s invitation the color left his face and he was quite pale you happened to discover this visit said pushing his advantage like a general at the point where his adversary s line was by some accident you learned of that one call but how can you tell there were not fifty others that escaped your observation was plainly staggered by this suggestion a man should select his wife of different material than this pursued the other your nephew was here at the hotel for three weeks while you were out of town for all you know he may have gone to see her every night if her maid could let him in once she could again don t let your blind your eyes completely mr drew a long breath that was full of pain love at seventy love laughs at continued and every post office holds one of his representatives you have sent the boy away but you can t keep them from corresponding shook as if he had the he knew the correspondence had begun not by his nephew either but by what terrible thing was this pressing upon his brain could it be that had a basis for his was this girl instead of the innocent creature she appeared a of character it was true he had seen enter the house but once but was it at all likely this was his only call there no he could not bear it anything was better than these horrible suspicions and he burst out that he would know the truth that he would go that instant to seek the girl and force her to tell him the facts with her own lips but this was the last thing that wanted him to do at that time as mr rose to leave the room he stopped him don t be foolish he said there is but one way in which you can preserve the honor of your establishment in the first place you must give up your senseless plan of marrying this child and next you must compel your nephew to right the wrong he has done but lost his temper at this and swore that s name must never again be mentioned in his presence if that boy had done anything criminal anything reflecting on miss s good name he would see that he was oh i know some things not rewarded but he did not believe it and he was going to see her at once and satisfy himself that it was you will probably make a mess of it growled you had better let me go with you this offer was refused sharply then i will wait here said the man you can do as you please went into the parlor and summoned a servant whom he despatched for when the maid arrived he inquired if her mistress was to be found in her apartment yes sir said the maid but she added not liking the strange look on the master s face she is about to retire i am going to see her was the brief statement mr made in her room exclaimed the maid with vivid color mr bent toward her and spoke with a volume of meaning it will not be the first time she has received a man there as you know well she is not i suppose n o sir replied frightened at his words then i shall go you need not accompany me and unless you wish to leave this house to morrow you will say nothing to anyone love at seventy chapter xviii beginning all over when and walked out of the office of the company neither was in a very comfortable frame of mind was by far the most distressed he could not help feeling that he had wrecked the prospects of his benefactor it grieved him to the utmost that his proffered sacrifice had not been accepted as the best solution of the unhappy business his own loss that of his situation seemed trivial beside his friend

s misfortune it was a terrible thing that such a should have happened between mr and his nephew on the contrary was too indignant to think his uncle s conduct appeared to him entirely proposing to open a letter directed to another person was in his opinion the depth of meanness as to her mother s employer had no right to interfere with her actions in the way he had attempted to do she was not his child nor was he in a legal sense her guardian the young man was stung again at the recollection of the manner in which he had been driven from he had persuaded himself that his consent to obey his uncle s order was obtained quite as much from fear of as from care for his own interests as beginning all they walked along toward his rooms he lashed himself into a rage over his injuries confound the man did he take me for a fool he cried i should think by the way he talked he considered me about five years old the deuce take him and his money i m heartily glad to be rid of both i will get work and eat the bread of independence yes and when i can earn enough for two i will bring that charming girl from and divide the loaf with her who had been through the experience of looking for a situation was not so confident but he did not mean to his companion whom he believed much wiser and than himself accordingly he concealed his apprehensions and said they must sit down as soon as possible and form a regular plan of action we ll do it said briskly come into the house with me and let us study out our problem together seated in the parlor of the they soon set themselves to the task before them to begin with said i shall have to give notice that i m going to move they have the assurance to charge me a hundred dollars a month for this little box which will certainly be beyond my means now i don t know exactly where i shall dispose of my time and talents but it s very unlikely the will justify this rate of expense at present i shall have to pack these traps away somewhere hire a furnished bedroom and around in boarding houses for my meals it makes its love at seventy me shiver what do you suppose i m fit for never mind i ve a lot of pluck and they say the world owes every man a living wait a minute now till i send a letter to my landlord he went to a handsome desk and took out some elegant upon which he began to write it must be awfully dreary in a furnished room he said pausing in the midst of his labor i shall never stay in it except when i m a bed or getting in or out is there anything to let over on tenth avenue by george he exclaimed springing gaily to his feet i have an idea was the picture of interest it is the nature of drowning men to catch at why not take a cheap flat said putting down his pen i have things enough to furnish all but the kitchen then if we could get a housekeeper we should at least have the satisfaction of knowing how our food was cooked with two of us to divide the cost it wouldn t be so expensive besides if we got nervous there would be several rooms to in and it would be a kind of home which a mere lodging never is what do you say it would be very nice if the cost was low enough responded doubtfully scratched the top of his head for a few minutes with the handle of a paper all at once he uttered a war la la la la have it don t say a word nothing could be finer she is working for hardly enough to pay for her board and room and she beginning all over would certainly come yes there is no question about it shook his head in a puzzled way wondering if his companion s troubles had unsettled his reason of whom are you talking he asked why how stupid you can be when you like of course she s living a miserable life between that shop and her poorly furnished chamber she has been in a hotel and ought to make a famous housekeeper we could hire the harder things done by those women who go around by the day but as the genius of our flat she would be she d come wouldn t she colored as was his wont when women were the subject of discussion but he rallied presently and replied that he believed miss might consider the matter consider it laughed she ll jump at it if only for the chance of seeing you oftener i believe you have quite fascinated her by this time honor bright between us isn t she in love with you did not give an answering smile to the one on the face of his friend but he replied very calmly that he thought liked him think cried hang it don t you know yes said the other in his straightforward way i know gazed at him with intense curiosity he love at seventy wondered how far things had gone he knew they were in the habit of meeting almost every evening the pretty how shy she had been at hardly daring to sit at the table with him blushing when he addressed her ready to faint when he hinted that he would like to touch her cheek with his lips sweet innocent little then that is settled he said rousing himself what a nice party we three will make we shall have a common purse there s not

likely to be too much in it but we ll share all there is do you consent to that shall we divide everything all but the kisses of miss which it is understood belong exclusively to you felt distressed as he heard these words what would be s attitude toward if they became one family if he should make advances nothing could prevent a not even the recollection of old obligations i m afraid he replied the unpleasant part of his friend s remarks that i shall get the best of the bargain if we have one you ll be sure to bring in much more than i you have a number of acquaintances in the city while i have absolutely none laughed lightly we are equal on that score said he i would starve to death before i would ask for help no we must depend on ourselves entirely but my rent is going on at a fearful rate and i must send this letter to my landlord after that we can take an account of stock all ringing a bell he placed the letter in the hands of a servant a fortnight from to day he said smiling when the man had disappeared we shall have to do our own errands these electric with a messenger on the end are really too luxurious and now let us see what we have on which to begin our independent existence we will empty our pockets and learn the worst in spite of the sober thoughts that afflicted him could not help being affected by his friend s gaiety he found on investigation that he had the sum of while had the latter counted the money in great glee and remarked that is was much better than nothing you are quite rich compared with me remarked ah but my are greater i shall have to pay fifty dollars on these rooms before i can get out of them give up your chamber on the shortest possible notice and come here that will save a little i have a few rings a gold watch and a diamond pin that will bring something as we are to be so very economical might come here also he added with a laugh if she could content herself with a sofa rose uneasy at this turn in the conversation i will go home now and prepare to move he said i will speak to miss about the housekeeping matter when i meet her to night for dinner i am very very sorry to have been the means of making trouble between you and your uncle he love at seventy continued with a tremor in his voice perhaps when you have slept over it you will feel like trying to make up with him d n him was the reply i am only too glad to be rid of him to be able to do as i please but what a crazy pair we are you have not read i your letter yet the one that made all the row it was true the letter was still in s pocket where he had placed it when first handed to him he took it out now and offered it to his companion but insisted that as it was directed to him he must read it persuaded by this logic opened the envelope and found its contents to be as follows dear sir are you able to inform me of the present address of mr if so you will confer a great favor please send your reply to w e care of mrs yours sincerely not very touching is it laughed as he the letter well with your permission i will answer it myself she shall know the little scrape she has got me into my uncle can t keep her from writing as i see if continues true i ll send a reply in time for the evening mail and she ll get it by noon to morrow mrs s name shows that she does not dare to have anything sent direct to the house to avoid interference at this end of the road i will give her my new street and number don t forget to call to morrow morning au men ami ik s chamber chapter xix in s chamber s letter reached as he expected on the noon of the day following the one on which it was written it was composed in his best vein and divided between a of what had happened in his uncle s office and a series of solemn that he meant to make himself worthy of the only girl he had ever cared for felt a great as she read it how noble it was of him to make such a sacrifice he had given up fortune comfort ease everything for her dear sake how different this from the picture his uncle had drawn now that you are able to communicate with me through the assistance of your friend mrs he wrote we shall be able to nerve each other for every trial that enemies may put in our way have mrs m write on your and send your letters to the address and name which i that will make all perfectly safe both at and here my uncle has evidently determined to keep you from me if he can he may try to fill your head with the most awful stories but don t believe him i have not always been a saint which i lament sincerely but i shall be true to you whatever happens keep me informed of all that i shall await your replies with the utmost eagerness af love at seventy soon as fate smiles on my rest assured i shall come for you read this first to herself and then to she could not resist the inclination to share her secret with some feminine breast and she had the most perfect confidence in

her maid oh it is so sweet to be loved she cried this is what i wanted all the time instead of those dreadful and see how much better my complexion is how much more color i have i hope he will not make me wait too long i want very little only a piece of bread and a roof to cover me but in his arms i should forget even hunger and cold the next hour was taken up in discussing the matter looking on the bright side like her mistress and that all would come out right in the end then took her pen and poured out her soul to her lover in the innocent freedom of her heart she kept back nothing she did not hesitate to declare that she had never known happiness till now to vow eternal fidelity even to admit that she longed for the hour when he would be her own in deed and truth sneer not at her my dear young lady reader she had not acquired your power of concealing her feelings she did not understand why she should be less frank than the man she had promised to wed when her letter was finished and crowded into its envelope she two knowing that it must be over weight took the to s chamber her relation mrs who wrote the address as requested and put it in the mail box the rest of the afternoon was passed by in a delirium of bliss she played for more than an hour on the piano a love song that she found among her music the words had meant nothing to her when the piece first came into the house now each fond expression referred distinctly to and she sang it over and over again at supper she noticed that mr said little but for a long time he had not talked as much as he used at the table mrs was not equal to carrying the burden of a conversation and as had nothing to say the meal was passed in almost total silence when it was ended went back to her sitting room herself in a comfortable chair and after reading s letter through again and kissing it many times plunged into the pages of a love story that had found for her in the library the book was so suited to her frame of mind that she read a long time she was accustomed to require the services of her maid at frequent intervals for in that house she had grown accustomed to all the attentions usually given to a young lady of wealth but this evening falling into a reverie that she did not wish disturbed she removed her clothing without assistance then a white night dress and slipping over it a chamber gown she put a pair of slippers on her feet and curled up in the easy chair again love at seventy her hair floated about her shoulders like a she meant to have it before she went to sleep but for the present the novel filled all her thoughts there was a young man in it that made her think of and wonder of wonders a cruel uncle who threatened to him if he married against his will but the young man exactly like again declared on every third page that nothing should win him from the girl he loved there came a tap at the door what a nuisance should know better than to appear when she was not rung for was at the most entertaining part of the story come in she called without lifting her eyes from the page as the door swung slowly open she added sit down and don t speak till i finish this chapter i never read anything so interesting it seems exactly like my own case it was not but he had come straight from his conference with tom resolved to take this girl to task for her conduct in reference to his nephew and to from her a confession as to its extent he was not going to be made a fool of by this child any longer she should not aid his nephew to insult him he would soon decide whether his fortune should go to her or whether she was as unworthy as the one he had he had loved this girl he had been mad over her he had been very near to bringing on himself the derision of the world as an old man who had sue va s chamber to the charms of a child for three years he had seen nothing but her beauty he had cared for nothing so much as her smile it was tom who had revealed to him the extent of his devotion the fact that he loved her so dearly that he wanted to clasp her in his arms as his wedded wife but there are to what even love can endure if the last guess had made was correct if she had been more to his nephew than a virtuous girl should be he would find it out if she was determined to correspond with that young scoundrel she had only to say so and he would have done with her very likely he had been on the verge of over her charms but that was ended he would know before he left her room whether she was still worthy his affection and esteem or whether he must cast her out of his heart these were the thoughts that traversed his mind as he came through the and ascended the stairs but as he opened the door in response to her voice his resolutions weakened he knew when his glance rested upon her that she had not intended to admit anyone but her mother or the floating hair the costume the pose all told him this still he did not retreat nor did he inform her

of her error he was glad to have a minute in which to recover himself they had been such intimate friends that he did not believe the condition of her dress would disturb her when she discovered her mistake he must talk to her now he could not wait another hour so he love at seventy closed the door softly behind him and took his chair near it awaiting her pleasure the first glance decided one great point he could not look at that sweet face and think anything but innocence rested there she had been guilty of no graver fault than was a wretch to suggest such a possibility mr s harsh thoughts began to fade away he knew he could not say half he had meant to nor could he assume the tone he had intended to use before she raised her eyes from the book he wished heartily that he had taken more time before rushing so into her presence a low sigh escaped the girl s lips as she finished the chapter her hero had not yet had the happiness of pressing the pretty heroine to his breast a hundred rose before them at every turn intensely to the fair young reader who would have preferred to have them married in the first chapter and to a life of bliss forever after well she began when she saw who her visitor was she rose from her chair with a look that was far from mr she said i am surprised that you should come into my room in this manner if you wished to see me you could have sent me word he was not pleased at the extreme with which she spoke she need not wholly forget he thought what she owed to his his h s chamber per had been severely tried during the past two days and again it mastered him why this distinction he answered coldly i knew you were in the habit of receiving gentlemen here the attack was begun almost before he knew it he had entered on a campaign from which there was no retreat with one great flash of flame he had burned his bridges behind him the girlish face lit up with indignation gentlemen she repeated he knew that she questioned the but he seized his opportunity i beg your pardon he said the term was too complimentary the girl s bosom rose and fell rapidly if a person ever came here she replied it was not without an invitation nor was i compelled to receive him in such attire as this he may or may not be a gentleman according to the interpretation put upon that word to day thanks to you he is a after work with which to support himself but it requires something more than money to make a true gentleman and i feel justified in adding that your present conduct does not stamp you as one she had heard from her words proved that she was resolved to remain his friend this was by her manner your words are he replied his heart growing harder it matters little whether you wear one dress or another whether my at seventy is announced or not what i have to say to you is of the utmost moment and must not be delayed an instant longer she shrugged her shoulders as if to intimate that he might go on if he was willing to do so after the protest she had made her closer around her and making sure that her feet were invisible she turned a face toward him you have lived in my house continued mr for three years you have had everything that i could give you there has been nothing let us consider that understood she interrupted and let me remind you that it greatly from the value of a gift when the is reminded of it the old man s brows contracted i have never alluded to it before he retorted and i only do so now because it is a necessary to what i intend to say if the rest is not more agreeable than the i hope it will be brief was her calm reply at that he broke forth hotly that he had a right to speak to her that he was in effect the guardian of her reputation that he should be in his duty when he found her making a serious mistake if he did not inform her of it he then went on not giving her time to interrupt him to speak of miss whom he said he had sent away from to save her from he alluded to the collection of photographs which his nephew had brought home from europe of his hundred in foreign ik s chamber lands white black yellow and brown he declared that no good girl was safe in his company was capable of making love until her head was turned and then her without mercy lately he had conducted himself in such a manner that his uncle felt obliged to cast him off then he referred to the visit his nephew had made her he said knew acquainted with the world as he was that he had committed a most breach of good morals and the speaker that no man could do less than such an act though the were one of his nearest blood relations listened to all this without changing her position and with no evidence of special surprise when mr paused for breath she kept perfect silence what have you to say he demanded nothing you do not object to these things i do not believe them he had expected anything but this cool response it was almost as if she had called him a liar in set terms he has you he cried a smile came over her pretty mouth i think you are right she replied i lore too much to credit anything

against him what a wall of she was supposing i showed you proofs i would not look at them u if i brought you witnesses love at seventy i would not listen these answers made him quite beside himself with rage you shall never lower yourself by marrying that boy he exclaimed and i will tell you another thing i have arranged to have my will re drawn so that you should inherit my wealth which he has by his conduct if you persist in this insane folly i will give you nothing laughed actually laughed at him when is ready he will come for me she said he will come for me and i shall go with him he is under no obligations to you now you cannot frighten him any more yes you may as well understand mr stared at the girl would you give up a million dollars for him he asked indeed yes a hundred millions it rose to his lips to tell her that she might go from under his roof at once that he would harbor such an ungrateful thing no longer but he restrained himself before proceeding to such an extremity he wanted to talk with mrs he rose hesitated a moment tried to speak and then left the chamber he had accomplished nothing and less than nothing and tom knew as much before a word was spoken when his employer re entered the library and found him there smoking his pipe in his chapter xx confound his money when met on the evening following the troubles in mr s office he gave her a rather full account of what had occurred there besides as much as was necessary of the circumstances which had led up to the final catastrophe the girl listened silently as he told the story of of s wild for her of his uncle s wrath of the letter sent to his care and of the complete between the relations she hardly tasted the food set before her though her appetite for the french dinner which they were now in the habit of taking together was generally good was flattered by the close attention she gave him and rattled on for fully ten minutes pausing only long enough to take an occasional of the soup or fish i was so sorry that i didn t know what to do he said after describing the manner in which and he had left the office he says i m not the least bit to blame but i can t help thinking i am he looked at as if he wanted her opinion on the subject and she replied in a low voice that she could not see how he could have acted differently i am glad to hear you say so said he as if re at he has done so much for me that i shall always feel indebted to him but now i have something to tell you that will it is possible interest you even more than the recital i have already made it concerns yourself roused herself from the into which she had fallen and inquired what meant when we found ourselves both together thrown out upon the world he answered we went down to his rooms and held a council of war the agreement that we reached was to share everything we had and all we could earn for he is going to look for work as well as i our greatest necessarily being economy we began to consider what was the most way of living outside of a cheap boarding house which would not think of for a moment we finally decided to rent a low flat and to engage a housekeeper the girl s eyes opened wider as she heard this statement noticed their peculiar expression and stopped to inquire whether she saw any objections to the plan i am afraid a good housekeeper such as you would require is not the easiest thing to find she said you need an experienced woman to begin with one who would look out for your interests and you could not afford i suppose to pay very high wages was obliged to laugh at her description i think we know just where the right person can be found he replied she certainly has had experience for she was employed several months in a his country hotel she would look out for our interests because she knows us intimately and would share our home on equal terms as for compensation she is not at the present time earning much more than her living she would be much better off managing a home of her own for such it really would be besides doing a genuine kindness to two young men it was more than a minute before spoke again she could not fail to understand that he referred to her and at first she shrank from the proposition with a vague dread more than this she did not know as she had a right to live under the same roof with mr s nephew it was hardly keeping faith with his uncle however since their the latter would have little further interest in him so far as she was concerned she remembered also very vividly the nervous at which had kept her when she as his at but if he was as deeply in love with miss as his actions implied he would not be likely to trouble her much to tell the truth she was very tired of her s shop where the promised advance in wages had not her solitary room when was not there was excessively lonely the only bright spot in her existence was the dinners they took together and these would be lost if he adopted his housekeeping plan and she did not share it it would be delightful after the she had suffered to have a home no matter how poor or

who could say what influences one so used to charming members of her sex might have brought to bear in the collection of photographs which had shown him there were faces as sweet as hers and yet we have happened to exchange information of mutual interest said with a smile for she saw the frown that covered his brow and wished to it as soon as possible i do not believe however that it is of much account while it is true mr urged mr to send her away and furnished the money and gave the reason i have repeated that proves nothing he has taken a dislike to his nephew that renders him blind to reason as it is evident miss does not share his she would not be where she is we may as well out takes a journey call it a charge and let it pass probably she was not unwilling to exchange the dull life she led here for the brighter prospects of the city and cared little how the exchange was made was silent he detested double dealing from the bottom of his soul while he meant to defend to this girl he doubted him more and more why had he picked out to be their housekeeper and was there anything in this journey on which they had sent him leaving them so many hours alone i can quite with her pursued the musical voice of his companion i often feel that i would accept almost any terms to get away from this place her position is far to mine for she is free while i am under constant if release does not come soon i shall take matters into my own hands and actually run away could hardly answer her if his suspicions were in the least justified he never would speak to again he rose with the remark that it was time he set out on his walk to if he was to catch the early train you were kind to come said sweetly i shall never forget it it seems almost like meeting tell him the sight of you and what you have said to me has given me new strength and patience but tell him also and the pink ran riot over her fair complexion that he must not make me wait too long these words impressed with her perfect innocence more than the most modest love at seventy could have done her nature was evidently wholly and simple pressing his hand warmly gave him into s charge and he escaped without detection by the avenue through which he had entered the grounds he s a splendid fellow was s comment when her maid returned and did you notice how handsome he is his eyes are really poetic and his voice is as gentle as a woman s i hope will send him here again then she added after a momentary pause you used to see who lived at the hotel what kind of a girl should you say she was one kiss too many chapter xxii one kiss too many it was only twenty hours from the time that left new york when he returned to it only twenty hours that and had been together but a great deal can be accomplished in twenty hours did not plan anything either was quite wrong in his that a deep plot had been laid and that he was its victim nevertheless the result was not pleasant to any of them and all on account of the strangest coincidence imaginable to tell the truth intended to behave in the most perfect manner he could not have acted better that first day had been his sister lunch was taken at a and when he returned he suggested a very simple meal for the evening as he had eaten late and was away anything handy would answer he said then as the girl began her preparations he sat down near her talking in the good natured familiar way to which she had grown accustomed as he watched her a sense of her beauty grew upon him how little she depended upon artificial that was the true beauty the kind that dress does not he made her talk about herself and with her the heart love at seventy less guardian who had compelled her to seek her own the moment her little fortune was exhausted the story was a very pathetic one and was moved to compassion and indignation in about equal measure and then he said when you found a shelter my uncle had to interfere and send you away on the ground that i might fall in love with you how absurd blushed to her finger tips he s a queer old fellow continued i d like to know what he does want he must intend me for a bachelor like himself he s just as set against my loving his ward you know as he was against you but ought to do him partial justice i was getting to be a little too fond of you the girl whose hands were in the flour making cast a glance at the speaker it is unkind to say that she remarked in a low voice he rose and took a step toward her with a very sober face unkind i unkind to you do you think i would say a word you did not like if i knew it you think too hard of me for some of the things i said and did at s the fact is i liked you immensely and i do yet he saw that her lip was beginning to quiver not quite in the way of a lover you know he went on desperately only as a friend a very good friend hang it i wish i could make owe kiss too you understand me i m afraid i never shall we d better drop it before we get

that even his ill temper could not drive away there came a feeling human nature was the same in rich te kiss too many and poor high and low he was himself too now to his equals was handsome if she had been thrown too completely into s company who was more to blame than the man who him rose and after making his toilet walked briskly to his home determined to say no more about it the young housekeeper had also slept badly she knew that something she did not understand what troubled exceedingly and realized that the entire night had passed without his return quite early she arose and went about her household affairs making the coffee and taking in the french rolls that the baker s boy left at her door when came in he greeted her in the old way which reassured her and they sat down to take their coffee together i met a friend and passed the night with him he explained briefly with the temperament which mastered him at all times he soon went to the opposite extreme there was nothing to do but make the best of it was a sly dog laughed and talked with coming into the kitchen every little while and making himself entertaining when her work was done he sat with her in the sitting room and grew more good natured than ever why should he not be free with her if he liked a kiss from those red lips would not be wholly unpleasant and it would be no robbery if he could secure one i wonder what has succeeded in finding love at seventy out he said to keep up the conversation that tom is a shrewd old fellow and i hope he got in and out of the mansion safely he will be here probably this afternoon i can t help thinking of what you told me yesterday i surely thought he was engaged to you he ought to be that s all i ve got to say if i were in his place i d make you so secure nobody else should ever put in a claim and if it hadn t been for the interference of my uncle i m not certain i shouldn t have tried to win you myself rose to get something from the mantel as she passed the young man he caught her in his arms and drew her into his lap the movement was so unexpected that she had no chance to avoid the embrace his lips were on hers in a warm kiss and she was as helpless for the moment as one could well be the time was badly chosen however and as released her they were both startled to see standing by the door turned scarlet but summoned a loud laugh and cried out that they were caught that time how did you find things at he added carelessly i am dying to hear your story he had no idea that would make a serious matter of what he had chanced to witness the obligation that the young fellow was under to him would he reasoned any little feeling he might have he would tell him later that he had acted on the spur of the moment and that was taken wholly by surprise but he soon saw one kiss too many did not intend to take the event in a light manner he stood there as if stunned moment and then without speaking passed into his bedroom miss went to a window that gave on the small and pressed her face against the pane she was trembling called out twice and receiving no answer added in a low tone oh then go to the devil if you want to make such a fuss about it recovering herself the girl withdrew to the kitchen and walked into the parlor and began reading the morning newspaper though very at ease an uncomfortable quarter hour passed and then emerged from his room dragging a trunk which he put into the public hall returning he brought out a and several other things and started to leave the flat don t be a fool cried coming to the doorway if you ll give me half a chance i can explain everything to your satisfaction straightened himself to his full height a dangerous look came into his eyes usually so soft and pleasant stepped aside and the door y have to speak to him he said to r going to the kitchen he ll not listen to me he s gone for a cab i suppose but you can stop him a look of intense suffering was on the girl s face as she lifted her eyes to his i could not she said simply nonsense at seventy not after what he saw was full of lay all the blame on me tell him the truth i ll anything you say he mustn t leave ou like this i don t care for myself but he has no right to condemn you on such slight evidence the girl shook her head slowly and sadly finding that he could do nothing with her went out into the to make one more trial on his own account the baggage was not where he supposed it would be on the lower floor he encountered the who said he had brought it down at mr s request and had assisted in putting it on a carriage that was passing was ever anything accomplished so quickly went out into the street but no carriage was visible in any direction well he s gone said he to miss when he reached his apartment again gone like the wind nobody knows where the girl paused in her work looking on the floor then must go too she said quietly you certainly not he ll get over his fit in a day or so and be back again

and in such cases it is customary i don t know but you could claim another week as you were entitled to notice but twelve dollars is all i can give you in the absence of instructions satisfied with the explanation entered the office and signed a receipt the other clerks spoke to him in a casual way saying that he was not looking as well as when he left the first thing he did after getting the money was to seek a and eat a hearty meal then he went to his room and he will do it for me paid his landlady a week s rent and after that he took a with some necessary clothing and went to the where he bought a ticket and took a seat in the train as before at he walked briskly toward as he approached the village it was yet too early to think of gaining to the mansion and the young man turned into a by road and paced up and down under the overhanging branches of the tall trees till the lights in the neighboring houses began to be extinguished then he emerged from his concealment sufficiently to gain a good view of the residence he sought and found that it appeared to be in total darkness he crept quietly to the rear of the grounds and knocked gently on the door in the high brick wall without an instant s delay it was opened to him and s well known features were in the dusky light no interference was found between this point and the rooms that miss occupied i received your letter this noon said greeting him in her sweetest manner now let me hear what the latest trouble is as mr has gone to the city i presume it is something in relation to his visit there the excitement which he had undergone during the previous few days had worn very much on he shook his head slowly to imply that her guess was then she noticed that he was very pale and commented upon that fact you are ill i fear she said has something love at seventy so terrible occurred then speak at once and let me know the worst he struggled for a few minutes with the things that rushed into his mind now that he was with her the importance of every move began to force itself upon his mind she had shown a blind faith in her lover on the previous occasion when alluding to his uncle s against him how could he know that she would give a more willing ear to the statements he had come prepared to make i have had troubles serious ones of my own he replied gravely he had counted well on the feminine trait of curiosity for she warmly urged him to confide in her saying she felt the strongest wish to know everything that affected his welfare she said this so kindly and with such a sympathy in her eyes that his voice choked as he began his story when i was last here i told you that we were living in an apartment together and that a young lady was acting as our housekeeper you must have gathered from what i said that she and i were on very friendly terms i was absent from new york less than one complete day when i returned his feelings overcame him at this juncture and he had to pause to recover himself she was gone suggested leaning toward him and speaking no there was a man who professed the greatest regard for me and who knew my feelings toward toward miss i entered our apartment unexpectedly to them and the first sight that k hb will do it for mb met my eyes was my supposed friend with that young woman in his arms his lips pressed to hers miss had begun to tremble as if with a deadly chill the thought of doubting him never entered her head his tale was too evidently true and the name of this man she asked her teeth chattering was she uttered a low cry and covered her eyes what did he say she inquired without looking up he said he would explain everything if i would listen to him responded but i could not bear to hold a conversation then i was too much afraid i might do him a mischief i packed my at once and had them taken away and i have seen neither of them since the revolution that acts the of all is that which takes place in the mind of a woman who the of the man she has learned to love sometimes it takes the form of blind hate and she for a physical weapon with which to strike the object of her wrath sometimes the effect is like the of the page in their lives on which his image is this was the effect in s case if had held another girl in his arms and touched her lips with his he was no more to her and never could be it was painful to learn of it her love and pride were equally injured but the chief impression on her mind was one of a great for months she had thought of little else than this love at seventy man all her plans were made with him as the central figure now the room in which she lived was suddenly stripped of its and nothing but the bare walls confronted her i am so sorry for you she managed to say you must have been very fond of her and her action is incomprehensible it is not that he replied i do not think now that i look back on it that i really cared for her what crushed me was to think that he who professed so much love for me could betray me as soon as

my back was turned and i cannot tell how long his plan was it was he who suggested her as our housekeeper yes you may as well know it was he who asked me to come here on that errand it makes me feel as if all the world was false as if there was no one whom i could trust she assented with a thoughtful nod and for some time both were silent then she asked what had brought him on to i came to tell you he answered i thought you ought to know and i had nothing else to do left as i am without work without prospects without a home and without a friend the extreme sadness with which he uttered these words touched the girl deeply not without a friend surely she said putting her hand in his with a delightfully graceful motion though i fear there is little that i can do to aid you tell me your entire story if you will be so kind and see if there is anything i can suggest he will do it for me charmed by her manner was led to talk about himself in a way he had never done to any other person she drew out of him the tale of his life from the earliest period he could remember up to the present day when he related his meeting with and the care taken of him in his illness the girl paid the tribute of a tear to the pathos of the narrative i am glad to know is not all bad she said i shall always think of him hereafter as one who is dead and i like to remember all the good things i can of him what do you suppose he will do his uncle is not likely to and he does not seem able to find work that at least is no reflection on him he responded i have tried as hard as he if not harder and there seems to be nothing is it not strange that in a world so vast there should be no one in want of a young man of fair talents willing to labor faithfully agreed with him perfectly then she said brightly that she had an idea she could arrange the matter now mr had been very angry because she wished to become the wife of his nephew and had treated her coldly of late when she told him as she intended to do forthwith that her engagement was at an end he would resume his attitude toward her and she could get anything from him she chose to ask the position in the new york office of the company love at seventy would then be given back to without question or perhaps a much better one he did not answer half pleased at the prospect she held out to him and half inclined to reject it outright because it seemed like charity and from a woman too he will do it for me she repeated confidently when i go to him and call him uncle again there is nothing he can refuse you cannot imagine how fond he used to be of me and only this matter of has ever made any trouble between us stay in a few days till he returns and i can almost to arrange it stay in more easily said than done he thought he had not enough money to pay his board at the hotel aside from his to go there and be subjected to cross as he was thinking this over and wondering whether he might not as well return to new york and wait there for s communication in case she accomplished anything the girl clapped her hands together in like the child she was i have thought of the most romantic thing she exclaimed you can stay here in this house just as well as not in this house he repeated surprised out of himself exactly this wing is never visited except by and me you can take one of the chambers and remain as long as necessary i will see that plenty of food is to you in that way you will be handy at all times for consultation and when he will do it foe me ever you wish to leave you have only to wait for darkness i will even have my meals sent up so that we can dine together you have no idea how thoroughly i am my own mistress that is in everything except the thing i most the right to leave the grounds and see the world by and by perhaps you can help me to that too it was certainly an agreeable that she held out to him and after a reasonable time during which he raised insignificant objections agreed to remain for the night at least and to leave the matter of a longer stay to be discussed the next morning love at seventy chapter xxiv poverty is a weary thing the poet who sang oh poverty is a weary thin g made no mistake had felt its sting many times since the day she was left an orphan to the tender of her guardian she had felt it when turned out the day her small fortune was exhausted and when she had to take a s position in the hotel at then had come with his strange manners so entirely different from anything she had ever experienced and when she had been in his company less than a month the inevitable happened she fell violently in love with the young gentleman at first she would not admit this even to herself and above all things she did not wish him to guess it it was preposterous he was heir to a fortune estimated at hundreds of thousands she had literally nothing but the plain garments she wore he had the of friends that

room and spoil your best carpet women are made for affection in times of great mental distress they turn their faces toward the sunlight no matter from which direction it comes continued to talk in a low to set her right again with no matter how great an apology it required he referred to that young man so often that she felt obliged to a word you are quite mistaken about mr she said there never has been anything between us like like what you seem to think we were good friends nothing more but he has been very kind to me and i wish he had not gone away with such suspicions in his mind i have driven him from his home and all i ask is to return it to him he will poverty is a never come while i remain and that is why i must go as soon as i can was much affected go child where can you go he demanded you have no relations in the city as you have often told me your money from my uncle has been stopped let us talk sensibly has run off in a sudden fit of temper soon he will come to his senses and we shall have him back again it will not do for you or me to desert the we must stay here and keep a candle in the window for our wanderer when he gets tired of his and turns his eyes toward home with that he kissed her again and she did not try to stop him though she was by no means ready to accept his plan she did not think it right to keep house for him alone it had been bad enough when three of them were together there were people she felt sure who would look at such an arrangement between young persons of opposite sexes i don t know what to do she mused i have made trouble for you with your uncle and now i have made trouble for him for mr you have both me and received a very poor return not less than three kisses contented after listening to that speech he put his arm around her waist declaring that both he and owed her the most abject apologies for what they had done and that it was a shame for her to accuse herself of anything at seventy you must do nothing he added shall never let you out into this town again hunting for work that would be madness i have a hundred dollars worth of furniture that can be sold without seriously breaking up the and when that is gone if all else fails i have another string to pull i know in spite of what you say that i am wholly to blame for all this row and i shall do my best to it out finally an arrangement was made in this way knew of a girl one of the where she had worked who lived down on island and had to come and go every day on very small wages she thought she could get this girl to come and room with her in the flat as a temporary expedient for the looks of the thing if this succeeded she would remain for the present while tried to make things right with mr she did not like the idea of putting on her hat and walking out into the new york streets without money enough to pay for her trunk to a room the rent of which she could not raise to all this agreed with pleasure though he protested mildly that the feminine addition to the household was a reflection on him that was he also warned her solemnly that in case her friend was handsome she would be more than likely to regret introducing her he was so bright in spite of all his troubles that the girl soon resumed her old manner she set out the lunch and they partook of it together before it was finished he had her actually laughing at hfe is a thing during the afternoon arranged the matter with her friend the maker of dresses who agreed to room at the flat and take her breakfast there getting her other meals outside this suited very well when told him of it at dinner for the next three days hunted for he went to the he had formerly inquired at the house w here he had on tenth avenue dropped in at the office of the company and walked the streets peering into every face that passed in the intervals he tried to pick out the furniture he talked of selling and once brought a of goods to look at it but when the man offered him dollars for what had cost one hundred and seventy five he broke into and frightened the dealer so that he ran away without looking behind him i won t give the stuff to these wolves till i have tried everything else said to i am going to pull that other string i told you of it s a thing i hate but the landlord s agent will be on our necks in a week and there s no help not only is the rent nearly due but the ship is running short of provisions the girl put her hand instinctively on his arm it is perfectly honest of course the way you are going to get this money she said with a deep blush to be sure he retorted also do you think me a my child i m not half as bad dear as they ve made me out to you love at seventy he took her face between his hands and drew it to his own if i had the fortune i have lost he murmured no other man should ever press his lips to yours the girl could not resist him

he kissed her without the least trace of passion and went out she stood where he had left her pondering on those words of his what did they mean if he were rich no other man should ever touch her lips but he was engaged to that young lady in ah god to be so poor to hold so much love and to hear such an intimation as that a flush of shame that she should have listened to him that she should have permitted him to touch her covered the girl s cheeks and yet he had not looked as if he meant to offer an with the great riddle in her tired brain turned to her household labors tears slowly down her cheeks an hour later she heard a knock at the door supposing it to be the s boy she went to open it mr she gasped it was mr indeed he was even more astonished not to say grieved than she for he had no idea that he would find her in his nephew s apartments but he silently entered and closed the door behind him a old gentleman chapter xxv a old gentleman as walked along the street after leaving he whistled a low tune he had surprised himself by what he said to her but he knew that he meant every word of it and that strange though it might be he cared more for that girl than for any other who breathed in temperament as a he was greatly influenced by the pathetic situation into which his actions had driven this young woman it was clear to him that he had done her a wrong and he wanted to offer if in doing so he proved false to another that was an that he had not yet had time to discuss the errand on which he had started was most disagreeable he would not have believed a month before that he could do it now there was no choice he was going to see his father and ask aid of him in front of a handsome residence on thirty eighth street not far from avenue he stopped courage with an effort he ascended the steps and pulled the bell a man servant in livery responded to the summons is mr at home asked at seventy yes sir but he is very busy is it anything particular i wish to see him j if you ll give me your card sir i ll inquire though he had not been asked to enter either by word or look stepped into the i have not my card case with me he said tell him a gentleman is waiting in the he turned away abruptly but the servant did not seem satisfied he s awful busy sir is it have you anything to sell the young man turned on his savagely he is my father tell him that his son is here at that the servant bowed almost literally in the dust or would have done so had the remarkably clean surroundings contained any of that material he begged mr s pardon and explained that as there were so many agents about and as mr had a horror of them and never under any circumstances bought anything and as he was so very busy to day and as will you tell him i am here shouted the visitor this to cut short the apology that bade fair to be endless looked around the room furnished adorned with works of art on all sides it was a very long time since he had been in that house a time back to the last of his school days he had disliked his father ever since he remember their few had been a old very brief nothing like a war of words had ever arisen but the coolness toward him of his nearest living relation him terribly and now to have to come here like this the serving man returned mr is very sorry but he is an article for a magazine and could you call monday looked so darkly at him that the man a step where is he he demanded in his chamber sir two steps at a time the son mounted the stairs throwing open the door without ceremony he strode into the room where was writing did you send word to me to call again he asked bitterly and did you understand who wanted you the venerable gentleman looked up with a mild but slightly annoyed expression you interrupt my work he said in a low tone his long gray hair swept the turned down collar that was twice the ordinary width he wore a velvet coat and a sailor knot i will interrupt it but a minute replied i want some money it is the only time i have asked you for any since i was old enough to remember give me five hundred dollars and i promise it shall be the last the venerable brows were lifted slightly at the proposition i must decline said the elder man your uncle assumed charge of you many years love at seventy ago there was a perfect understanding that you should look to him for everything if you have lost his you must seek to regain it as i have an important piece of work on hand i hope you will not disturb me further the son s astonishment would hardly let him speak he had known something of the nature of his father but he had not anticipated a refusal one word he said and again the brows were lifted whatever the cause whose ever the fault i and my uncle have quarrelled i am at the end of my resources without money at once i shall be turned into the street i have sought work in vain unless you assist me i shall become either a beggar or a thief the annoyed look deepened on

the venerable face reaching slowly into his pocket among the bills there and finally drew out ten dollars i ought not to do it it will inconvenience me he murmured but you may have that if you are it will last you till you can communicate with my brother and beg his pardon the father turned to his writing as if he considered the interview finished for several seconds stood there unable to utter one of the indignant things with which his mind was filled i am in doubt he said at last whether to take that money and stuff it down your throat or spend it in poison to end a life disgraced by being drawn from such a wretch you have lived all a old these years as i did on the of your successful relation which having no blood nor heart to cause you to rebel you are able to retain i care not what becomes of me now no greater disgrace can fall to my lot than to have had you for my father with the air of a sovereign ruler left the room and the house a moment later mr summoned the man servant who attended the street door and smiled upon him in his usual benevolent way you know how much i hate to be disturbed he said hereafter if you wish to retain your position be more careful he told me he was your son sir stammered the man here after repeated his employer be more care ful no per son must be al to dis me under any bowed humbly and was glad to escape to the floor below he had served gentlemen in his day who were sometimes violent in their language but never had he felt so uneasy as when in the presence of this pattern of propriety too angry almost to contain himself returned to his home he must tell of the failure of that string which he had believed would save them when worse came to worst there was a half formed idea in his mind of selling everything he had for what it would bring giving her the sum going to the and shipping as a sailor love at seventy the uncle who heard his step to miss not to betray his presence for a few moments and she in great doubt how to act stood physically and between the two men what do you think he cried as soon as he entered the room i went to my father my own father mind you to ask him for a paltry five hundred dollars i told him i had nothing left and that it was either this or starvation or even robbery of course i did not mean the last dear but i had to say something and what did he do he pushed me a ten dollar bill across the table murmured that he was very busy and said that was all he could give i wanted to him where he sat i who had been hidden by an open door leading to another room stepped forward with eyes did my brother do that he exclaimed in a trembling voice looked from one to the other in amazement was gazing at the carpet unable to speak or look at him what did it mean yes your brother did just that retorted the young man when he could command himself does it surprise you did he ever show the slightest interest in me i was a fool to go to him but it was either that or death i can get nothing to do and i am desperate tears came into the old man s eyes tears that changed the manner of his nephew toward him in an instant the tender recollections of childhood a old gentleman returned and blotted out all that had happened pi under he cried in a moment their arms were about other love at seventy chapter xxvi mr s strange would you mind leaving us together for a little while asked mr of when he had again resumed his seat then when the door closed behind the girl he had a long talk with his nephew a very important talk it was too i want to say to begin with said he that i have questioned the young woman who just left the room and am satisfied that i have wronged her seriously she is if i am a judge a pure sweet girl fit to be the companion of any man who lives if i had not something to tell you however that completely fills my mind and heart i should express a doubt whether it is for her lasting happiness to be thrown too much into your society do not me he added as s cheeks began to flush i mean nothing unkind in the hour i have been here i have discovered beyond question that she cares too much for you was not in a mood to comprehend the meaning of this statement and he inquired what his relation meant why stammered mr i believe she you to put it plainly and you can see mb links tie s happy that may make her when she finds that your affections are elsewhere the young man breathed a deep sigh oh uncle he replied i must seem like a very strange fellow to you but you should know the truth within the past few days it has grown clear to me that i have been mistaken all along that the sentiment which i have for miss is the true one and that miss mr sprang to his feet and held out his arms again overcome with joy you do not mean he began yes i do said i regret deeply for her sake that things have gone so far for i will not deny to you he explained that we have in spite of your i began i think by

pitying who complained of the of her confinement and before i knew it i had asked her to marry me and she had consented i now mean to write again telling my whole story and begging her to release me it looks cowardly but it is the only thing left under the circumstances the fact that his nephew was about to his aspirations to s hand was all that comprehended or wished to know he threw his arms around him once more calling him his dear and assuring him that his affection had endured through everything but now he said when he again became tranquil i have a story of my to tell week i learned a secret that had been kept from me for many years a secret of vital importance at seventy it is extremely probable that i have a living child somewhere in the world who has no idea of its the young man eyed his relation curiously what kind of a statement was this to be made by that venerable man that for forms that of the very you have a child t he repeated yes unless death has taken it from me even before i have found and claimed it came here to tell you the story and to ask you to enter with me at once upon the search that has been quite stunned by the revelation kept perfectly still at the age of thirty five said mr slowly i made a trip through new england on a driving from place to place alone frequently i had to pass the night in villages so small that they did not boast a hotel one night the family with which i stopped contained two daughters one was about twenty five years of age the other sixteen their name was and then he went on with a long story which may as well be put into the words of the author something in the elder daughter interested the guest who had been up to that time wholly to feminine attractions engrossed as he was in his business although he had intended to but one day in the village he stayed a fortnight before he went away a correspondence was arranged a number of years the me strange made visits to his new friends in the meantime the parents of the two girls died leaving them to find their sole reliance on each other ing definite had been spoken upon the subject of marriage but the elder girl whose name was considered this the of the affair she fallen deeply in love and waited patiently for the day when she should be asked the inevitable question in all this time mr had never hinted to the that he was possessed of more than the average fortune his early life had been one of great hardship and when the thought of marriage occurred to him he wanted a wife who would wed him for himself and not for his money on being asked once by a if he were related to the of he replied that he believed he was connected with that family his letters were all dated at new york where it was understood he was clerk in an office but plays strange after going several times each year to visit miss after writing her hundreds of letters mr discovered that the younger sister a child when he first knew her had into one of the prettiest of women his long delay had allowed to reach an age when female charms begin to fade while had just arrived at her full beauty the slow turned almost unconsciously toward the rising sun and the words he had never spoken love at seventy to the elder sister began to come upon his lips when he was alone with the younger one not the extent of the affection which had developed for him none are so blind as those in love he resolved to make his wife if she would accept him it was then that a hundred were sent to to create the most beautiful home in all that region for his future bride but in the whispered confidences which he gave to nothing was intimated of the wealth he possessed he meant to bring her like the bride of the lord of to a mansion more majestic than all those she saw before and to spend there with her the remainder of what bade fair to be a happy and contented life at last the day came when he proposed to the younger sister and was accepted the elder one had seen the drift of matters for some time and though her heart was breaking she bore the pain like a martyr never uttering a word to lessen the happiness of as the home which he intended for his wife was not yet completed mr took her to new york where he kept up the illusion of being in moderate circumstances in order to enjoy her surprise the more when she should see the glories of prospects of an heir to his fortune and house came to the husband and to make him s feel that his cup of joy was soon to be filled to the brim but alas the future is for no man to read as seemed in excellent health mr felt justified in leaving her for seven or eight weeks when invited to join a party of scientific men who were going to one of the pacific islands to view an the young wife urged him to go saying she did not need the least care and that he would return long before the day of her especial trial an for delay occurred however and when he reached san on his return he received a letter from containing the imaginable news the young wife had been taken suddenly ill so the letter said and in spite of every effort had expired with her child

she had sent for her sister who had done everything possible but all in vain the body had been taken to her former home and in her father s lot mr was so by this news that he felt unable even to visit his sister in law he sent a generous check asking her to accept it for the expense and trouble she had undergone but the larger share was returned to him with the statement that she would take only what she had actually expended the ordered all the work stopped on his elegant residence he never saw again and soon ceased to hear from her the little son of his brother left some time before then began to attract his attention for this boy he had his mansion finished and now comes the strangest part of the story love at seventy when she died was the mother of a old babe which though born before its time was healthy and likely to live the mad idea seized to take this child away and keep the knowledge of its existence from its father she had lost both lover and sister and her heart for some creature on which to lavish the affection that up in her maiden breast she supposed mr what he represented himself a man in ordinary circumstances who would find a child a burden there was plenty of opportunity to carry out her hastily formed plan the death of her father had put her in possession of a little money and she was in want of nothing in the simple way she desired to live taken suddenly ill years after miss had been moved to confide her cherished secret to a clergyman of the town where she resided she a promise from him that he would try to find her adopted child s father if he succeeded the child was to be told of its but if not it was to be kept in ignorance miss only knew of as a clerk in the employ of some house whose name she had never heard and as a distant relation of the famous man whose name he bore the minister did not mean to confide his secret to every person he met it was his object to make inquiries not to answer them he went as far on one occasion as to penetrate the private office of the very man he sought but left it no wiser than he came the instrument maker told him that he had mb s never known of any except himself discouraged at the obstacles he encountered the minister returned to his home feeling that his duty was ended listened to this tale with mixed feelings he was rather disappointed to find that his uncle s life held no scandal after all he had expected from the introduction to hear of an love and the thought of such a thing in connection with that austere man had thrilled him to the utmost however it was interesting enough a short time ago said mr in conclusion the revelation was made in a most peculiar way at a dinner given in honor of a distinguished foreign i was placed next to a prominent physician who long since abandoned the practice of medicine for the more pursuit of knowledge in the course of our conversation he remarked that the name of always brought a sad recollection to his mind the first mother i ever lost in he said was the wife of a gentleman of that name reminded thus of the inquiries that had been made of me by the clergyman i inquired where the lady had resided judge of my surprise when he mentioned the street and number where i had made my temporary home with my young bride before he finished this doctor had said enough to convince me that my wife had given birth to a living child the next morning as you may imagine i was on the train that would take me nearest to the town where had resided love at seventy there i learned that some months after the death of her sister she had adopted as she claimed a child found in an asylum but which i have proved she brought from new york the clergyman has retired from the but by the description i gave of him he was easily identified and i have communicated with him listened without interruption and when his uncle finished he asked have you found your child yet no was the sad reply but i shall move heave and earth until it is accomplished a cool one chapter you are a cool one a more disagreeable situation could easily be conceived than that of mr during the next few days after he became the guest of in the wing of the great mansion that had been practically given up to he was as secure from of an objectionable nature as if in a mountain nobody dreamed of his presence there else it is very certain he would not have been allowed to remain long mrs would have viewed the affair with her frown had it come to her attention on general principles the usually old lady would have been right for this once but with such a good young man as such a of innocence as and such a very wise young maiden as all was sure to go properly was certain that if she could only get an interview with mr and tell him she would no longer oppose his wishes about she could his kind interest in securing for the position he had lost what was to follow she did not exactly know but she believed when the once got acquainted with he would see his good qualities and his subsequent rise in the business as for herself this plan left her love at seventy at it was true but since her experience with she felt more reconciled to her

quiet home she had dreamed of a happiness that could never have been hers for a lover who would act as he had done would be sure to make a most husband so thought this wise young woman and more than likely she was not far out of the way in her conjectures but there was a certain satisfaction in the very presence of such a fine young fellow as as she partook with him of the coffee and toast and eggs that brought she decided that it was on the whole the most romantic thing she had ever heard of s midnight visits were not to be compared with it in the old novels that she borrowed from the library there were tales of mysterious passages with pass words and known only to the but the were always gloomy and she was certain they must have been damp it was much to have four hero hidden in the upper story of a modern house right over the heads of his natural enemies where he could peep through the closed shutters at his baffled all day long these young people talked together of life and literature and the things they knew and the things they thought it was noon before they supposed it eleven o clock time for dinner long ere they felt hungry the hour for retiring when the evening seemed only begun was their and they obeyed her suggestions tou a cool one by that one blow from it is no wonder that found the society of more than delightful a week may equal a month or a year when two people of their age are thrown into each others exclusive company for almost every one of their waking hours one evening when had been at the mansion for nearly a week he found himself unable to sleep and after trying in vain to the drowsy god he dressed himself took the key to the door in the rear wall by which had admitted him to the estate and went outside the grounds for a stroll it was a most thing to do but he thought it safe enough from what he knew of the character of the villagers in this case however he had made a mistake for he had not been walking ten minutes when he came suddenly upon another and one of the last men he would have cared to meet it was tom there was no escaping the keen eyes of the old man which recognized him instantly in spite of the semi darkness and stopped when he heard his name pronounced well well this is a surprise said how came you here and where are you going at this time of night was happily on the road that led to and apparently coming toward from that direction he replied with alacrity that he had walked over again to have a talk with mr and was just going to his residence said you don t say it s love at seventy lucky i happened to see you for i got and was out trying to walk off the that matter of and his nephew rests on my mind all the time i m afraid the boy is actually suffering for funds and i can t make out why he doesn t write me a word did you give him the message i sent by you that time you came up here somewhat confused not only at the unexpected meeting but at the question suggested that they had best go into the house as soon as possible as his desire not to be seen in was still strong in a few moments the two men were alone in the s parlor then related his falling out with on his return to the city though without giving the cause of the i could not talk to him about anything he said i did not speak a word as soon as i could pack my things i took them away and that is why i never was able to give him your message the deuce said and so for all you know he may be starving to death at this present moment yes said coldly for all i know or care stared at the young man for some seconds there is but one cause that could so two such friends as you were he said at last there was jealousy about some woman no matter what it was replied i will not discuss it our acquaintance is at an end and why then asked have you come to me you ark a cool one poorly prepared for contact with so shrewd a mind had a second of apprehension but by good luck he hit upon an answer that looked reasonable i am still out of work said he and nearly you have great influence with mr i want my old place in his office mr laughed aloud you are a cool one he replied don t you know that i love that boy as much as if he were my own flesh and blood after him without even conveying my message offering assistance you come to ask help for yourself but i m not going to be as cruel as you give me his address and i ll give you he paused noting the gleam in s eyes i should say lend you any sum you need was struck by the position of the old man and touched by the tenderness of his voice i will gladly give you the address he responded you will find him unless he has moved away at no east sixth street as to your offer to lend me money i shall have to subdue my pride enough to accept a little if you can let me have ten dollars i promise to return it at the very earliest possible date the truth is i have not enough to get back to

the city without walking wrote the address carefully in a little book that he carried in his coat pocket if it will ease your pride any said he i have another proposition to make i would like to employ you for a week or so on a very particular love at seventy and private affair if you succeed in what i wish to accomplish you will be handsomely rewarded if you fail your expenses and a good salary for the time employed will be paid the young man caught eagerly at the proposition while it was very agreeable to stay in the mansion with he knew it was far from being a sensible way to pass any more of his time he wanted the pleasure of again earning something the sensation of having in his purse a few dollars that would enable him to hold his head up among men he told mr that he would willingly undertake any honorable mission i am going to impart a most profound secret said the elder man when this had been arranged you will need to show the greatest judgment in carrying out the i intend to commit to you much impressed inquired why he had been selected for this work for two reasons one is because you are available because you are able to begin at once the other is because it will lead you to a with which you have told me you are familiar that of east started when he heard the concluding statement but he recovered himself and begged his companion to proceed you may remember telling me said that you knew of a family by the name of living in you are a cool owe again there was the slight start that did not escape the watchful eyes of the yes said slowly i remember there were two daughters in this family pursued one of them the younger was named she married and moved away a great many years ago the elder s name was he paused and looked at said exactly she lived during the later years of her life in a village about twenty miles from the name of it escapes me at this moment named it quietly precisely said and this miss miss did not live entirely alone i believe she had adopted a child soon after her sister s death and now comes the secret that you must swear not to reveal without my permission inclined his head in token of assent i believe the child which miss adopted and brought up was the offspring of her sister looked intently at the speaker well he said mr smiled as he was wont to do when he his adversary at a game of were you pretty well acquainted with things in he asked quite well did you ever hear the old man bent forward anxiously the name of the man miss married contracted his brows in thought yes he at said he had heard the name but it had slipped his memory was it demanded triumphantly i think it was said with a nod and was it i don t know but you don t mean you wouldn t wish me to understand rose and rubbed his hands together with glee wouldn t i oh yes i would begins to grow entertaining doesn t it then he told with all the of a about the long past love and marriage of the master of much as detailed by mr himself to and already explained to the reader had known all that his employer knew even in those remote days but upon the latter s return with the sad news of his young wife s death it had been agreed that the matter should never again be mentioned between them upon learning through the new york doctor that his child was born alive the instrument had confided all he learned to his faithful friend by means of the mail after himself visiting and setting a agency to work upon the trail of the lost child had again written to telling him of the latest it was then that the remembered that came from that town and he was making a journey to the metropolis in the hope of you are a cool one finding him when the unexpected meeting took place if he could manage to find this child by his own efforts directed in this way what a crowning glory it would be for him i want you he said to to go to east and learn what became of this adopted child the clue does not seem an easy one from what writes me but perhaps a smart yankee boy who knows the neighborhood may the new york you will see what an important matter this is if you are successful you may be sure not only of your old place in the counting room but of almost anything else you want had been growing very sober during the progress of these arrangements he rose like one who has slept on the bare ground and finds his bones aching you are quite certain that s adopted child was mr s own he asked quite the coincidence is too remarkable to leave much doubt the young man took the money that mr handed to him not counting it as long as it was no charity he did not care what the amount was i will do my best he said simply he went back to the house and crept softly up the stairs writing a note explaining that urgent business called him away and that he would communicate again as soon as possible by mail he slipped it under s door then taking his love at seventy jn his hand he went as he had come carrying the key to the entrance with him before starting on his way to however he stood a long time gazing at the roof that had sheltered him and

his fine eyes were with the tears he could not restrain chapter and the delight of at being with his uncle was fully shared by miss the old gentleman remained to dinner with them and became more and more impressed with the sweet and modest bearing of his nephew s young housekeeper he refrained by arrangement with from referring in any way to the startling information he had imparted to him while in s presence but after he had departed first assuring his nephew that his former income would be given him and that he had only to present his letter of credit to the correspondent the young man could not help telling something of what he had learned it is the greatest secret he said and i ought not to say a word but then don t she interposed mildly two can keep a secret much better than three i can t help it said i must at least give you an my uncle you won t ever tell will you shook her head with a smile she liked him very much when he was in a mood like this well years ago you see my uncle married he kept it from almost every one except his wife and a at seventy sister of hers and when he was away on a journey mrs l presented him with a child no she didn t that was just the trouble s pretty face exhibited a puzzled look at this statement it was this way said making another start she had a child but she did not present it to her husband she died in fact and a wicked fairy her sister stole the innocent babe and carried it off to her castle in the country sending word to the father that his wife died before the birth you understand and through all these he never heard of the truth till within a week or two the strangeness of this story was admitted by the listener who asked what object the sister had in the deception the greatest in the world replied she was in love with my esteemed relation herself and wanted something to console her for his loss then she supposed him a poor man who would be rather pleased than otherwise to get rid of the care of an infant for he had never told her or his wife that he was a when a woman is in love my dear she will do anything he looked at miss as he said this and she cast down her eyes and in a charming way won t she he asked when a woman is in love won t she do anything said she did not know never having had any experience and you are a story replied you certainly have been in love with the mention of this name made the girl put on a very serious look she replied that she had never been in love with that young gentleman and that knew it well all right then said he we will let the episode pass but at the present moment you are very much in love with and that you dare not dispute to this made a still more vigorous protest but her companion insisted that he was right and greatly enjoyed her discomfiture when she could not in response to his challenge look him straight in the eyes and tell him the contrary the have ordained it he continued when he had succeeded in making her laugh in spite of herself bad as i am wicked as i have been there is mercy in store for me i am to be made a better man by the power of your love she would not admit this but she listened with a high beating heart while he told her that he should never be satisfied until a clergyman had bound her to him for life and she looked still more pensive when he the fact that his uncle had the depth of her feelings even in the short time he was at the house and had spoken in the most complimentary terms of her we are nearer in worldly wealth than we used to be he added if that could make any difference to him what little chance i had of his property is disposed of by the discovery be has just love at seventy related to me if he finds his child i shall never tread the soil of as its owner confound him he exclaimed he acted as if i ought to be excessively pleased at the news why it me out of a clear million then talked with him quietly for a long time of the troubles that came with wealth and the greater happiness that people in moderate means enjoyed before they parted that night he had urged her again and again without result to give him a definite promise to be his wife you are so she said it seems but yesterday that you could only think and talk of miss i know it he admitted i can t understand it in the least it was nothing but pity nothing whatever i was drawn into it before i knew what i was doing the same as you are in my case v she suggested not at all i loved you dear the day i first saw you when that of a sent you after me i can see you now standing there in the snow with your pretty cheeks by the exercise of walking and the cold air and the she bade him hush and said it was time she retired and won t you promise to be mine he pleaded not to night well then he answered pretending to the first thing in the morning at any rate not later than noon i must insist really if you hold me off till dinner time i shall die her head was aching

courage i need you like me you are sure you like me tears stood in his eyes quite innocent of what he had in mind she felt a profound pity for the sentiments that had brought such visible sorrow to this man who had done so much for her rising she put her arms around his neck as she had done a hundred times in younger years and laid her fair cheek to his for a few moments he did not move then he arose and walked with her to the god bless you he said in broken tones as she said good night to him and went slowly up he staircase love at chapter off to green second day after s sudden disappearance from received a letter from him through the agency of mrs in it he told her nothing of the business upon which he had embarked except that it was a secret which he had promised not to but there was something in this letter of more importance to its than any other subject could be page after page was covered with of the most ardent affection i could not speak these words when in your presence said the letter but now that i am able to call pen and paper to my assistance i can no longer repress them within the past week i have learned that life without you would be even my unfortunate condition and without a permanent situation of any kind cannot keep me from telling you the truth it seems to reveal the state of my feelings when i have no home to offer but i may not always be as poor as i am now with the hope of winning you to inspire me i shall yet the obstacles in my path dear dear if so i may call you say i have not offended you for if i have i will never come into your presence or send you another line off to green clasping this letter to her heart felt for the first time the wonderful sensation of true love the sentiment she had conceived for was quite different from that which had been growing up so rapidly in her bosom for was the first young man with whom she had ever come in contact her secluded life left her ready to find perfection in any well appearing person of the opposite sex if sufficiently and attractive but for she had a much more powerful emotion during the hours she had spent in his company she had longed earnestly for some spoken word to indicate that her feeling toward him was returned the least expression telling of his love would have to let loose the full tide of her own affection and now when his su and departure had filled her with alarm and came this sweet proof of all she could ask her happiness was so great that for a few days she did not even communicate the news to three letters came in quick succession from the third one saying he should return on the following evening the maid was told to be on the watch for him and before he arrived had told her all happy at anything that pleased her young mistress rejoiced also as soon as appeared on the premises he was taken into s presence and left alone with her there was a second of hesitation and then the fair girl allowed her lover to take her in his arms you do really forgive me then murmured lots at seventy who wore a haggard look as of one who has passed sleepless nights for answer she gave him her lips to kiss he needed no other have you been doing anything wrong asked as soon as she could speak wrong he repeated with a dazed look yes mr has been here inquiring for you he says are looking for you in all directions then she told him the entire conversation she had had with mr in the library as far as she could recall it give you my word he answered breathing more easily that i have done nothing of which you would not approve don t tell me darling that you lost faith in me the girl embracing him again declared that such a supposition was the farthest possible thing from the truth but even though he were a criminal she protested she could do no less than love him i have thought so much of the dangers we run she added that everything me oh i wish we could be married at once then whatever happened they could not tear us apart the young man gazed at her with tenderness what an innocent flower she was to open her full heart to him i wish it as heartily as you my love he said if i had any money i could call my own i would ask you to run away with me this very night when off to we had found a minister and were made one we could laugh at all their threats and the idea of an completely fascinated the girl to go away with him to stand before a clergyman and hear the words that should make him her husband that was charming indeed when she heard s suggestion she burst into enthusiastic praise of it oh that would be heavenly she cried m and as for money i have enough to last us several weeks i will go with you immediately if you think best doubted the of taking this child from her home with the grave questions of future support that he knew would soon come upon him but how could he resist the pleading eyes and the flushed cheeks with which she offered to throw herself into his arms he found on examining the money she hastened to bring him that there was nearly a hundred and fifty dollars of it it is easier

to look on the bright side than on the dark one when a young maiden offers to lead the way within an hour the plans for flight began to be it is hardly twelve o clock he said looking at the on the mantel i can go to rouse the stable keeper and get here with a carriage by half past three you can have the things that are absolutely necessary to take packed in by that time and can bring them out to the door in the wall where i entered luckily he added going to a window there is no moon at seventy and the night is dark as pitch you cannot take a great many things and you must select carefully those you will need most you are certain you can rely on laughed merrily she is as sure as my own hand she answered go at once and get your carriage you will have to walk so far i am very sorry for you but i m worth it am i not before the hour announced returned with his vehicle but he did not permit it to come nearer than a hundred yards of the place he had agreed upon he found all ready as indeed she had been for a long time and wearing her outer and an air of mystery is she going with us he whispered in a rather blank tone now my dear laughed isn t that a peculiar question did you imagine i was going to travel alone with a man before i was married to him and what do you think would become of poor if i left her here to bear the blame of my escape he saw the force of both reasons but he felt compelled lest she should think him worse than he was to pretend he had alluded to the extra expense that a third person would that s true mused thoughtfully perhaps if we continue to be very poor i shall have to find a new place for her by and by but now really i couldn t go a step without her you must see thai jt to let me show you the letters i have written to leave behind me he had no more objections to offer and he read the letters with interest the first one was as follows my dearest mamma you could not be my mother and not know what love is a few hours at the latest after you read this i shall be mrs does not that sound strange for little and who is you may inquire he is the sweetest dearest man in the world and i love him that s all i should have confided in you yes that is true but you might have thrown a hundred obstacles in our way and that would not have been agreeable to us is going too as soon as we are settled enough to have a permanent address i shall let you know of it in the meantime dear mother believe me your dutiful daughter and the second one read like this mr dear friend do not think me ungrateful for all your kindness indeed am not i have left your house with him who is to be my husband because love is the strongest feeling in the breast of woman you told me last night that you had searching for mr they need search no longer as soon as we are married and in a home he will tell you where to find him he knows of no crime that should cause him to you love at seventy think of me as gently as you can forgive me as soon as you can and if it is possible come to us and be the same dear uncle you have been to me so long your little treasure rose at his usual early hour that morning ate his breakfast and went mechanically to his office when tom came in they talked of the ill success of the there s one good thing ought to come out of this matter at any rate said now that you know you ve a grown up child you won t think any more of making a fool of yourself an expression of pain flitted across mr s features that is your delicate way of referring to my regard for miss i presume he said exactly the suppressed an inclination to reply in an impatient manner for he knew the good intentions of this old friend so well ah tom he cried the coming on of years does not the heart in a healthy man nor does the springing up of love in his bosom indicate decay of the mental faculties she has promised me to have nothing more to do with i see no reason to change my mind no child will regret to learn that a father s last days are to be brightened by the companionship of a beautiful and loving woman off to green the door opened at this moment and one of the clerks entered mrs has come down sir and says she must see you immediately show her in said mr don t go he added there need be no secrets between us three but when mrs came into the room it was seen that she was laboring under great excitement the traces of tears were on her cheeks and she repressed another outburst with the greatest difficulty both gentlemen rose to her their chairs but she would accept neither oh mr was all she could say and this she repeated not less than a dozen times in rapid succession clasping her hands together in distress what is it asked her employer taking alarm is ill she wrung her hands in pain oh mr how can i tell you read these letters each sentence came with a gasp and then mrs handing him the sank into one

of the chairs offered her and began to sob violently the took the letters and began to read first the one addressed to himself he had only reached the words with him who is to be my husband when a mist came over his eyes he thought at the moment that had lied to him after all that his pretence of love for was a mere blind to conceal his real intention and love at seventy that it was with him that had gone away he staggered against the desk at which he had been sitting and handed the notes to read them tom i can t he ejaculated in a smothered voice read them distinctly that i may know the worst did as he was listened as one to a voice at the distant end of a he did not understand the situation perfectly until the second letter was read he believed at first that had only been a co with his nephew but when the plain declaration was made i shall be mrs he uttered a stifled cry threw up his arms and fell fainting to th office floor you have her p chapter xxx you have married her was too much in love with to hold out long in the face of his ardent their situation was somewhat to blame for the that speedily took place as he told her with a happy laugh they were already housekeeping and knew each other as well as an couple was ever likely to he had determined to ask his uncle for a place in some department of his business where he could honestly earn the living he received the difference in worldly wealth between him and his hoped for bride had been shown to be a very thin and one it would not be a marriage in high life in any sense now that he was no longer the heir of we are just two ordinary human beings he said in whom the world at large has not the slightest interest don t put me off any longer let me take you to the nearest minister and have it over and this is what was done a few days later the ceremony took place in the parlor with as little fuss as possible the author of this novel is conscious at this point of departing from the rule which belong ago adopted never to lots at the first visitor the newly wedded couple received was old tom the who had only once or twice in his life made a journey of this magnitude had come to new york with a most noisy bee in his bonnet he brought the astonishing news of s flight with and of the effect it had had upon the senior he s a very sick man said in conclusion the doctors don t know yet whether they can save him everything is confusion at the house or they would have sent you word sooner looked at who sat silently listening i shall go at once of course said he nodded his approval of this plan you ought to understand though he went on to say just what the situation is your uncle is violently in love with that girl he confided to me weeks ago his intention to marry her knowing how much you thought of her i the younger man stopped the speaker by a gesture you surprised me so by your unexpected appearance said he that i forgot a very important matter mr let me present to you my wife write anything in the remotest degree he must agree with the conscientious reader that after his life of deserved no such happy fate as to wed a pure virtuous maiden like it looks like vice instead of it which should be the object of all truly moral literature but in this case to do otherwise than as i have would dearly spoil my story and i must choose the lesser of two evils a r you have m i the rose with old fashioned formality and took the hand that the blushing extended he was so confused however that he could not utter a syllable you don t understand it smiled and there is no need that you should my uncle hat been here and fully my choice i d miss very well but is the only woman i ever really loved now you can proceed to finish your story which is not so much of a surprise to me as you might imagine it was probably the knowledge of this feeling on my uncle s part that drove to such a desperate step there was a pause of several minutes during which mr was allowed to recover himself mr and mrs went into the next room and talked over s projected trip to which it did not seem best for her to take with him it was their first parting and was doing her best to appear brave well that s about the whole of your story isn t it said cheerily when he returned to his guest s presence heavens and earth no exclaimed you say you were not astonished at what i ve already told you but i ll you will be before i get through with the rest of it and surveyed the speaker with new interest you have heard said that mi formerly lived at yes assented love at and that your uncle had looking for him in the hope that he would be of valuable service in the recovery of his lost child yes and you knew i suppose that the name of the child s adopted mother was bowed again well what would you think asked if you heard that this same mr s real name is too the wedded pair looked at each other in how do you know this asked i ll tell you i came to the conclusion some days ago that

is true then smiled for the first time i know it is not said he and for the best of reasons i was sent by mr to out the whereabouts of that child and i have done so before many days i will prove to you what i say overcome with astonishment invited home with him and the invitation was accepted everything explained chapter everything explained some days later nearly all the characters in our story were gathered at the mansion of the instrument maker of seated in the large were with his wife with his tom mrs and a mr the latter representing the agency that had undertaken to restore the missing child of the between all of these people there appeared to be the greatest cordiality in marked contrast with the divisions that had separated some of them so long indeed there was on each face a good natured smile as if the present had a happiness that completely for the troubles of the past it was evident that mrs had entirely forgiven the of her daughter for she sat with that young lady s hands in hers while the proud young husband not listened with brightening eyes to the conversation between them and well might he be pleased for the burden of s remarks delivered in a tone just loud enough for him to hear was that no other girl had ever possessed such a wonderful treasure in the form of a mate the mother s critical eye had no fault to love at seventy find with her daughter s choice and she was a witness to the old that all s well that ends well mrs if possible seemed happier even than her newly made friend her husband was talking in a low key with the mr and her sweet face was completely in smiles at the remarks he was making occasionally interposed some word that sent the rosy blood to her fair cheek making her still more beautiful she had to touch his arm very often to keep him within proper bounds lest the attention of the should be called to the stolen given to her hand that lay nearest the contented fellow the experiences of the bride had not caused her to lose but rather had the modesty so charming in her as a maiden old tom of all that group sat alone but his face was not a sad one either he was pretending to look over a book that lay on a table at his elbow and glancing about three times a minute at the tall clock in the corner as if impatient at some delay finally a door opened and a tall figure was seen at the threshold every one present rose with the greatest politeness to welcome tom crossing the room took the arm of his employer who was evidently still weak from his sudden illness in response to a whispered direction mr was to a seat by his nephew and the old gentleman walked slowly but otherwise he looked remarkably well everything explained considering everything whispered to her husband isn t he handsome as he passed her and the tired face of her foster father lit up as the faint sound reached his ear when mr and the others were seated mr rose and asked if he should proceed to which an answer was given in the affirmative ladies and gentlemen began the not so formal protested the weak voice of mr talk it right out put in tom you can t tell many of us much that we don t know this remark raised a laugh just the thing that was needed mr was as glad as the others to have the icy air of the room melted you all know this at least he proceeded i am the head of the of co new york some weeks since mr came to me and said he had found evidence that a child of his in relation to whose birth he had been deceived had been brought up by a certain its aunt near the town of the woman had died some time previous and the child had disappeared he wanted us to find it and restore it to him which you never would have done if it had not been for me interposed at which sally everybody laughed again the could not resist the general though he felt injured in his professional feelings by the observation i would not say too much if i were you he love at seventy responded you made about the worst mistake in the entire business as i shall show then the laugh turned upon who was restrained with difficulty from defending himself then and there only the protesting hand of mr with its warning finger raised prevented him i undertook the job myself continued mr when quiet was restored i went to with mr and found that all the points he had been able to give me were correctly made i found also that miss had left her small fortune to her adopted child committing its interests to a guardian who lived some distance away in another state and i discovered that this guardian had proved quite unworthy of his trust if not actually as i believe i shall yet tom had uneasily in his chair for several seconds and at this stage in the proceedings he could contain himself no longer i must protest he ejaculated against this continual speaking of miss s adopted child as when we all understand the matter it is simply that confounded has me enough and i don t want to hear it again another laugh this time a very hearty one passed around the circle you will have to humor him spoke up the voice of mr tom is a privileged character in mr everything explained what shall i call the child asked the shall i say he f no that would be worse yet

the all eyes were now turned on whose face was with her husband s uncle had her to his side and his shaking arm was clasped about her form strangely enough did not seem to object in the least to the proceeding very well said mr we will use the right this time and call the child she the girl then that miss brought up and which i have absolutely proved to be the daughter of was left in the care of a man named with the sum of seven thousand dollars he was believed to be a most honorable man who would her well and give her whatever balance was left when she reached the age of twenty one on her miss s conscience overcame her and she asked her religious adviser to make an effort to find the child s i should say the girl s father which we all know he failed to do if he could not make this discovery according to miss s desire the girl was not to be told of her origin as it would only add to her distress of mind in that case she was to continue to bear through life the name by which she had been known but here interposed not through life mr f he protested until her marriage then corrected the love at miss had pretended that the was taken from an asylum and that her right name was the man kept this girl till she was of age and then coolly informed her that the amount left with him for her care was exhausted and that she would have to shift for herself i have learned and i hope the lady in question will not prevent my repeating it that his course was influenced by her refusal of his offer of marriage he being at that time a and much fascinated by his ward s beauty it is also said s distress was so evident at this point that the of his own accord while with a dark look declared that he would go that very day to find this and punch his head at any rate resumed mr when the pretty object of his remarks had succeeded in partially her this guardian turned miss out without a penny she obtained work at the hotel here in and from that time her story need not be repeated she is now acknowledged as the daughter of the father she lost so long and as the story books say they ought to live happily ever after congratulations to mrs followed lasting several minutes and mrs kissed her several times and so did her husband and mr while tom and mr looked as if they had as follow suit and now i wish mr would explain pre everything explained the hand he had in this matter said the elder with his feeble voice blushed like a school girl i had very little part in it i assure you he replied i knew miss quite well and she had told me considerable of her early history it interested me when i learned where she came from for i recognized her adopted mother s name as that of a distant relation of my own whom i had never happened to meet after this search was begun mr who had heard me speak of engaged me to go there to pick up evidence in the course of what he told me i learned enough to make me feel sure that miss would prove to be the lost child i traced her to the town where she had lived with her guardian and satisfied myself beyond doubt then i returned to he paused more than ever but mr encouraged him to proceed and then i went to new york on my on my wedding trip stammered i was so full of my own happiness that i could think of nothing else for a few days i meant to write the full text of my discoveries to mr but before i reached that point i met in the street he told me of his marriage and i saw that everything would be clear a glance of gratification was exchanged between mrs and her father one thing more said how did it happen that you took the name of i will tell you when i left my home in love at seventy gate i believed i should succeed in making a fortune for myself and return crowned with success my experience was far otherwise bad luck seemed to follow me everywhere and at the time i came into the counting room here i was so reduced as to be ashamed to own my true name when you asked it i gave the first one that came to my lips mr called all present to witness that the speaker should never have a like tale to tell after that day he would give him one of the most important positions at his new york office at this rose and went over to press a warm kiss on her foster father s cheek the only thing wanting now said mr with a smile is to have mr tell us how near he came to convincing mr that our friend was his long lost daughter the merriment that followed was terrific out of it all tom came resolute and defiant if some of you had known enough to describe a female child as l she instead of if there would have been no trouble he retorted oh you needn t join in the laugh at my expense he cried to his employer it s the first time i ve been wrong in over thirty years as you ll have to admit dinner was announced at this juncture and all proceeded to the dining room walked with a much stronger step than when he entered the parlor for the of good cheer had had its effect on him as

well as the others he was placed at the head of the board with on everything explained his right and on his left their husbands next to them of course when the champagne was brought he rose and in a steady voice asked all present to drink the health of my darling daughter the of love at seventy chapter a peep at the stars although our story can now be said to be fairly finished the reader may if he desires witness a scene or two that took place in six months after the events in the last chapter the and their most intimate friends and relations were gathered in the mansion for a it was evening and while and old tom were playing their game of in the library mr and mrs and mr and mrs were engaged in a merry talk over old times i never shall forget said how picturesque s husband looked that day he came into the counting room if i had been an artist would have given him a hundred dollars to sit for his portrait and what a fuss he did make because the door had let in a little cold air i expected his stay at the works would be cut short when the new order of things went into effect oh no responded who had a little under his friend s compliment is too valuable a man to turn off he came to me and offered his resignation and i told him to tear it up it won t do to remember old when the time for them has passed a peep at the the ladies applauded this statement though declared that she could not see how anyone could have had the heart to speak to a poor fellow looking for work on a winter s day especially such a nice fellow as there were some terribly narrow escapes besides that one smiled it really looked for some time as if i were destined to occupy the eligible position of being your husband there must be a kind fate that watches over girls or you never would have escaped and we would have made a very poor match wouldn t we mrs shook her head as if she had not the least doubt of it i was shut up here you remember she said with nothing to get my ideas from but a lot of ancient novels so i naturally fell in love with the first man i saw and then he was such a persistent one and so used to affairs of the heart a more experienced girl might have been all laughed at the manner of the speaker which was grimly sarcastic but replied that if there was anything in this world it was a woman why he said i had letters by the dozen from your wife eternal fidelity to me what can one expect of a girl like that you need not say too much or i will expose some of your retorted i have not forgotten when you told me was in new york and advised me to call on her saying i could have all your right title and interest at looked her husband in the eyes did you say that she asked sweetly i am afraid i did he replied with mock sorrow but if he was enough not to accept the offer he needn t bring it up at this late day this satisfied everybody and the conversation turned upon the question of mrs s health i have been well enough ever since i got out of that everlasting routine of my early life she said i believe half the illness in the world is caused by of the mind it begins often in some slight affection and the patient is confined so closely that it grows you don t think me much of an invalid now do you she asked her husband his answer was eminently satisfactory on this point had it not been s rich color and the bright gleam in her eyes would have proved her far from the state of an invalid ought to be the happiest one of you all put in when there was a pause not only have i found a husband but a father and you cannot imagine how dear he has grown to me i never dreamed that anything could be so tender his only desire seems to be to ascertain my wishes and with them in every respect how quickly he has recovered too the doctors never come to see him now and his step is as light as a young man s he tells me that i ought not to sacrifice myself for him as he calls living here in this beautiful house but nothing would induce me to leave him since went into the firm it is the best place for us both a at the her husband admitted this but said he could not understand why he had found so dull when he first returned from europe it was now he actually believed the most delightful place in three or four times a month he and would take runs down to the city to enjoy the theatre or opera and stay a night or two but for the rest of the time there was something wonderfully attractive in that little village in the hills do you hear anything lately from asked of yes and she is perfectly contented it is odd to think that all the time i was confiding to her my own heart troubles she was having an affair of her own i was when she told me she was engaged and that the day was set for her wedding he is a nice fellow i judge from his and all she says of him they were overwhelmed with the check you sent them and are going to put the amount into a cottage i have promised to

a hard headed business man like you shouldn t trust altogether to appearances if the boy is really the creature you think you can leave him your fortune if you want to if the case was mine though i d prove that before i did so finished the beer in his and rang to have it his gaze wandered over the walls of the room from the portrait of the old emperor william on one side to that of on the other his mind was not however occupied with thoughts of either of those he was too much distressed over the matter under consideration the entrance of the waiter aroused him from his prove it he repeated vaguely certainly in a way that would settle my lor good and all go ahead go ahead was the impatient you ve got some notion out with it a sugar princess well before i d risk making a young beggar too glad at my death i d be convinced that he was the sort i wanted to with my property or the contrary how how rose from his chair in excitement there are a hundred ways for instance you might disappear for awhile and leave him to his own devices make him think you are dead be dead as far as he is concerned that wouldn t be difficult you ve made a will i suppose let him secure temporary possession of the property and then judge by his actions how deep his grief is if he should turn out the fellow you ve settled it in your mind he is of course he d be delighted to have you return and take possession again if on the contrary he is a he d show that pretty plainly too and if he is one of these fellows who make ducks and of an inheritance you ll not be long in discovering it there s your chance roughly said as sank again into his seat but he added you won t take advantage of it not you you d rather shut your eyes and ruin any risk than to learn the truth for you re afraid it t suit you when you got it the old gentleman at his beer and then muttered that the idea advanced was contemptible mean and need never know there was any trick if he turned out the dear broken hearted son you think he would all you ve got to do is to take a journey a sugar princess and neglect your correspondence with him reasons are easy to give afterwards distance illness and of sudden death in a foreign land are not hard to set in circulation but returned again to the strain that s the use you ll do nothing of the kind you d rather be although knew to the core the mental of the man he was dazed for a moment at the apparent strength of his argument he muttered weakly that he could trust that it was unnecessary to try any such miserable game but all the time he was thinking thinking suppose he had really taken an to his heart what if the kind manner the filial attitude the affectionate expressions had all been influenced by sordid motives oh it was i m too old to go on a long journey alone he muttered at last when the had swung in both directions many times and at last stood still for the sake of preventing your being i d go you this is a serious matter arose to his fe and took his overcoat from its hook leaving half the beer in his no single act could better have shown the extent of his he twisted a long about his neck and drew his hat well down on his head i won t he said in so low a tone that words were scarcely audible he was talking rather to himself than to his companion it s the most outrageous thing i ever heard of then he looked full in the eyes and shot the next words at him i a sugar princess n t have as suspicious a mind as you for all the gold in remarking that if preferred being made a fool of he would have nobody but himself to blame drank the rest of his own beer and prepared to accompany his companion to the street they walked along the chilly way for it was in silence for some time in spite of all he could do the was working in peter s brain when his residence was reached the men went in together for years they had been in the habit whenever they were both in st louis of dining in the same room in which we found them walking together to s house and of spending an hour or two afterwards in the there soon they were seated before a bright fire of logs in a chimney after the of long ago with a singing hanging from a hook and implements for smoking the mantel it was a thoroughly comfortable old place one of the kind more common half a century since than now when fashion has got in its deadly work in every corner of the modern home two old chairs that had been brought originally from germany received the host and his guest lighting their long clay pipes the old men puffed away silently for some time you knew said peter at last for but one thought had occupied his mind during this can you imagine that such a father could have a son who was a scoundrel a sugar princess i was ready his reply he asked if had forgotten what the play actor said the other night in the old may be all right in horses and cattle but it don t count much with human beings you knew too before married her persisted peter refusing to be convinced by the illustration

i can only give you the same answer but was the impatient has there been anything in what you ve seen of that makes you distrust him a moment before replying that second or two which is always more eloquent than words to a troubled or doubting mind i haven t said there was anything he answered but consider a moment peter matters that involve money should be treated in a business fashion you wouldn t hire a without knowing more about him than that he had a good mother and a respectable father why you wouldn t even buy a horse until you d had him tried around steam trains and electric cars and yet you d leave the of a lifetime to a boy that you really know very little about the host sat with both elbows on his knees leaning over toward the fire the ashes in his long pipe were cold you ve heard some jealous talking about he muttered no i assure you a sugar princess what do you want to annoy for then i don t want you to make a mistake was the impressive reply apparently somewhat relieved took a coal and his tobacco the pipes sent out their smoke together after that without interruption till a grandfather s clock in the corner rang the strokes of ten at which sound arose according to his usual custom knocked the ashes out of his pipe laid it on the mantel stretched himself and said he must go i won t do it i tell you peter repeated three or four times as he bade his friend at the door i won t do it and i won t even think of it again it s too silly as you like responded the other with a disagreeable laugh i shall always be glad to know i did my duty did not go to bed at once he sat before the fireplace for an hour alone peering into the coals as if he might gain from them some indication regarding the matter that troubled his mind the next morning he arose far from rested all the long night he had tumbled and tossed the current of a life that had seemed to flow on most pleasantly was stirred to its at the bottom of what had looked like a stream he thought he could discern a darker the little stir which pole had made had caused a decided peter met at the breakfast table at the usual hour the latter had retired early and enjoyed the un a sugar princess disturbed rest of youth and health he was years of age of medium height with a well knit frame straight well poised he had german hair german blue eyes and a complexion in which the red blood showed naturally not over he merely said good morning to his adopted uncle and devoted himself with a fine appetite to the meal which the housekeeper had set out peter from across the table glanced at him from time to time eating little on account of a lump that to fill his throat he was still revolving in his mind the he had heard on the previous evening if what had hinted were true life had for him lasted too long the sooner he could his testament and leave this earth the better all the affection of his old heart fought against the monstrous proposition that his adopted boy was in every move by the motive of personal gain and with his grief came also the conviction that if was really such a wretch as this would make him it would not satisfy justice merely to turn him out to earn his living he deserved where he sat for in that case he had robbed an old man of his happiness murdered the love given him so freely destroyed as by fire a structure built to shelter and sustain the closing years of a lonely life oh it was you are not eating said the bright young voice s attention being attracted at last to the silent figure t a sugar princess iso i m not feeling just right this morning i think perhaps i d better take a little journey i believe i need a change all right was the immediate reply we can pack up in an hour or two as we ve done before where do you think of going i don t know yet looked at his benefactor more intently struck by something peculiar in his tone you are pale he said anxiously at the same time rising from the table let me call the doctor but peter indicated a negative saying it was nothing and would soon pass away was not satisfied however he went behind his companion s chair took the gray head between his broad hands and smoothed the thin hair away from the temples this may make you feel better he said gently it does sometimes you know the health of the youth seemed to enter veins of the other from between those broad palms witli the touch found the lurking fears vanishing and indignation taking their place it was not now who deserved it was i wish you would let me call the doctor said after a little while your head is hot he might give you something to afford relief no no i am much better the old man roused himself and smiled up into the anxious face putting his trembling hands above his head he took the strong young palms in them pressing the fingers with ail his a sugar princess strength he was better indeed he had regained a great treasure he had feared was lost i am much better he repeated go out now and take your exercise and please stop at mr rooms and say i would like to have him call here this morning it required a little further persuasion to induce the young

man to obey the request to leave the house before he was quite convinced peter had to ring for to bring him a fresh breakfast which he attacked with an appetite that was not i m all right now ask to come as soon as he can i have some business to do with him the old gentleman was impatient for the moment when he could throw the evil prophecy back in the face of that bird of ill omen he could only wonder as he devoured his chop and drank his coffee that he had let it worry him for a moment a sugar princess chapter ii half dutch half md now if the reader has no and who was ever known to object to a trip of that kind we will ask him or her to accompany us for a little while to in the capital of the group of islands now commonly called the the beautiful town lay in the sun on an april morning following the events in the preceding chapter while all the plain that stretches from diamond head to pearl harbor and from the mountain to the sea was as ever clothed in luxuriant tropical vegetation the on king street half hidden in of gigantic palms presented perhaps the most perfect appearance and on this famous avenue no home had more than that of the far sugar king van if we pass under the massive and the thirty or forty yards between the and the house we may ascend the stone steps and enter the central hall of this mansion if we inquire for its owner a courteous chinese servant dressed in the costume of his country will inform us that mr van has not yet left his breakfast table if however we avail ourselves of the privilege which is ours as and reader we may penetrate with our vision the a sugar princess walls that separate us from him we shall find a man of fifty years or so rather large with a face that his dutch origin a beard carefully trimmed and an upper lip clean shaved we shall notice he wears a business suit of mixed an collar and stock and at this precise moment a very disturbed expression opposite to him the only figure in the room is mrs van a lady some five years younger clad in a gorgeous morning gown and having on her fat fingers even at this early hour of the day a very large of rings that cost a great deal of money and look as if they were worth it i really think the richer you get the you grow was the remark which caused the expression on her husband s face just referred to with all your money you d like to have your only daughter return in a and a fifty cent straw hat she s been three years now at that school in and she s got to look decent when she comes off the you may as well make up your mind to it first as last all right my dear have your way was the feeble response cover the child with and jewels till there s nothing left of the little darling i used to know teach her to look down on the girls she with along the beach at tell her her father is an old fashioned fellow she should be ashamed of since her mother has got her head full of high notions perhaps he added you can make people forget that i came here as a on a that a sugar princess mother was a and that we were married on a hundred dollars a month of course they ll do it if you hold your high enough mrs van an exclamation of impatience it was a disagreeable habit of her husband whenever he got to bring up the fact that they were once in a much lower grade of society what is the use of your having made four or five million dollars if your child is not to have some advantage from it she demanded with flushed face i don t know was the sharp retort i didn t mean to i m sure i remember when we had been married a year and came our one ambition was to own a little house on a bit of land something that would cost with the furniture perhaps a couple of thousand how we used to talk about it in the evenings when i came home from work you thought you d be perfectly happy if we could ever accomplish that wonderful thing well we did it and i don t know as you re any happier now than you were then i m sure i m not i wish i d never bought a share of sugar stock that s what s made all the trouble it was idle to talk with a man who could advance such views as these and mrs van returned wearily to the main question i want ten thousand dollars to go to san with she said you may as well give me the money first as last i suppose so he sighed when are you going next week i ve got to be there early to see about s dress and attend to lots of little a sugar princess things she s the girl at that school and has got to make a decent show you know you don t want her to look like a fright and you only talk for the sake of it you ll be as pleased as anyone when she home to have the s and the and the find her looking so well and perhaps a little better than any of their own tribe mr van went silently to his desk and drew out his book slowly and carefully he wrote the demanded filling in the with many a suppressed groan he

in new york came from dutch men who landed with on their backs i ve heard that a from is descended from a french baby rescued from a vessel and brought up in the my mother used to say her folks were big people in europe before her father lost his property i m going to make a lady of in spite of you so there with the money she ll have when you when i m dead eh spit it out you don t expect to be an exception to the rule do you i say with s fortune she can get the kind of husband you d want for your daughter if you had the least speck of feeling in your heart you re looking for a duke or something of that sort i suppose he said it being the most sarcastic idea he could think of well i don t think a duke would be any toe good for her a duke or a or a count replied the lady stoutly s daughter married a duke and he came of a dutch family as well as you had a hundred millions retorted the husband overcome at the discovery that his wife was really speaking in a serious vein and you ve got five and growing richer every day there s only and to share o a sugar princess mr van uttered a deep sigh i wish to the lord i hadn t fifty thousand he said earnestly if it s going to put you into any such race as this my money will be simply a curse well go after and bring her home we ll see if the child has got any more sense than her mother he added after a pause during which his wife had left the room half dutch and half and looking for a duke mighty chapter iii was there no between you had his way at last from the day when peter hurled his back in his face he determined there should be no doubt about that he played with his friend as a does with a fish that has been enough to at his hook he let peter have all the line he wanted for a time and then slowly but surely wound up his might be just the sort of young man his uncle believed him very likely he was he repeated over and over in that case it would not only do no harm to prove it but would feel all the better when last trace of doubt was removed and thus it came to pass that the adopted parent was into putting to a test which he had pronounced mean contemptible and but of which he had never quite the idea under the shrewd of its keen when was told that mr was going to take a journey without him he was surprised for he had come to think himself indispensable on such occasions he was not however in the habit of questioning his benefactor s it was represented that he ought to devote some time to study his college career having been broken up by his s a sugar princess tion to s welfare a special to coach him in such branches as he had left unfinished was secured and he was advised to make the best of his time which he promised to do was to go along with peter which seemed to assure him of necessary companionship and assistance in case of possible illness while nothing was said definitely about the length of time they would be absent got the idea that a tour of only a few months was contemplated i shall leave a balance at the bank for you to draw upon said peter the day before his departure in a voice he did his utmost to keep from trembling if anything happens to me yon understand has my will which leaves you fully provided for i have given you nearly everything i own and in addition to my estate i have as you know an for in the of threw out this statement in the expectation that some reply would be given by which he could form an opinion from the words and tone used but merely pressed the hand held out to him he was not as a rule and his action in this matter was entirely in keeping with his ordinary conduct as was instantly obliged to admit to himself another fellow might have cried oh my dear uncle you are too kind or i hope you will live long years yet sir neither action was what had any reason to expect from his boy as a matter of fact would have parted from a sugar princess him with the same warm grasp of the hand had he said instead i have made a will leaving all my money to a public institution the young man was thinking of what he already owed his kind friend rather than of what he might expect in the future and more than anything else that he must keep a bright face to the end come we must get aboard said who stood at their elbows at the moment of their final parting he feared to leave them together too long lest peter should betray the depth of his feeling good bye said patting mr on the shoulder you re in good hands if anything should happen that you need me even if you are taken with only a slight illness just telegraph and i ll come at once you know i understand you a little better than anyone else take care of yourself and i ll make the very best progress i can at my studies the train had hardly pulled out of the station when confided to his companion as he wiped the moisture from his glasses that he felt like a villain he had half a mind he said to

leave at the next station return and confess the whole plot to knew his friend was not the man to do this having once started on his road and only smiled he was sorry to find him so utterly and began to talk of the probability the almost certainty that the young man would justify his highest hopes he also pictured the great satisfaction that would follow w hen all doubts had been set at rest i never had any until you put them in mv head said reproachfully a sugar princess they d have been sure to come sooner or later it won t hurt you or him when it s over it hurts me now though said the shaking voice you ll be happy enough to make up for it if he proves all right and supposing mind i only say supposing he should prove the other way there was such agony in the trembling tones that felt a touch of in his heart he had little doubt of at any rate it was too late now to back out he had got into this thing and he must see it through during the first month two letters were received from by his ward both were very brief and contained little besides the information that he had reached and san later a third came from mr and contained the news that mr was acting a physician who had been called in feared that his brain was affected but was not yet certain of it said he had suggested that be sent for but his uncle did not wish him to leave his studies then another month went by without a word from either of the though much remained at his post like the boy on the burning deck as he had been instructed to do he continued to write to his friend directing to the last address he had received that of the palace hotel in san until at last his were returned to him marked not called for much distressed he now a sugar princess began to have fears that something extraordinary had mr surely must be able to write in ordinary circumstances if mr was not he could not understand how both of them could be silent then a crisis which had to be met the bank from which had been told to draw funds sent word that the balance was nearly extinguished and requested mr s present address went immediately to the officers of the institution and explained why he could not give the information they desired he asked if they would not honor his until he could obtain news of the absent one but this on consideration they felt obliged to decline to do he next went to lawyer s and asked that gentleman for advice but attorney offered nothing of value he did however mention that s will was locked up in his safe and that it left practically the whole of the old gentleman s fortune if peter should prove to be dead the lawyer said his course of action would be simple in that case he would submit the will to the court and turn over the estate to the he added as if to anticipate the question that until there was no doubt of s he had no authority to a of the funds in his hands was there any between you before he went away he asked oh no it s a strange affair have you got letter in your pocket a sugar princess produced the document and the lawyer read h through several times i don t wish to alarm you young man he said after a pause but don t you think it rather queer that peter didn t want you sent for when he was feeling ill doesn t it seem as if he had changed his mind about you he may have decided to make a new will his property in some other way yes said trying to make out the connection but i don t see as that would be any reason for not sending for me nobody understands him as well as i of course he added slowly if there s any trouble with his brain don t you think i ought to go to him anyway mr that he would be glad to have me come even if he didn t feel like sending for me the lawyer was silent for some seconds you don t know where he is he said finally and if you did it costs money to travel i could raise enough to get to san if he is very sick he can t have gone far from there i m going and roused himself and put on a look of determination mr grew thoughtful again if he has made a new will or decided to which i suspect you ll have to be pretty quick if you expect to influence him he said the young man flashed a look of indignation at the speaker twice he opened his mouth but could not find words deep enough to utter the thoughts in his mind he arose instead and turned abruptly to the door a sugar princess i suppose i could lend you a ot two on my own account called after him shook his head without glancing back he would have accepted the offer gladly a moment earlier but now that the lawyer had practically accused him of wishing to a fortune from mr on his he could not touch his money it would burn his fingers the same evening to the palace hotel asking if they could give him the present address of peter one of the hotel people responded that it was supposed the gentleman had gone to the islands but they were not sure about it the anxious waited two weeks longer hoping each day a letter would arrive to relieve his suspense but none

came in the meantime he dismissed his and reduced his living expenses to the limit he had acquaintances to whom he might have applied for a loan but with such uncertain prospects of payment he hesitated to ask aid of any of them at last he resolved to set out on a personal tour of investigation the continued silence of the absent men was susceptible of the most alarming interpretation if he could reach san he felt that he should be able to trace their movements in some way and the telegraph and mail had proved unsatisfactory he his watch and chain with what other things he could spare and drew out the last cent of the small balance remaining to his credit in the bank leaving word where a or letter would reach him he then began his journey to the pacific slope a sugar princess as it was imperative that he should travel he did not secure either for day or night he even packed a basket with instead of dining at on the way it was a hard experience used as he was to regardless of cost but he bore it bravely the hope that he would find his lost friend him up through everything arriving at san lost no time in visiting the agents of the lines that run to but the sought for names were not found on any of their lists as late passengers sometimes get their tickets from the this did not absolutely prove that the men had not taken passage in one of boats all the other lines that leave san by sea were next with the same result the clerk at the palace who thought he had heard mr and his friend talking of going to was found but was unable to swear that he was correct in his recollection he remembered mr very well and recalled the fact that had been there with him on two previous occasions all he was sure of was that the old gentleman was in very feeble health the books showing that his meals were sent to his room frequently during his stay at the mr and he left the house together in a carriage after their bill was paid but the utmost efforts failed to the who took them grown quite over condition of things wandered about the city for a sugar princess several days peering into every face he met in vain hope that it might be one of the lost ones finding his nerves getting it to him one afternoon to take a row in the bay as an economical method of pulling himself and a boat together perhaps but for the incident which accompanied this decision you might not have found this story although the day was cloudy and rather cold s attention was soon attracted by a party of pleasure who were the waters in a small and of only one seemed to find cause for fear in the occasional of wind that bent the mast and caused the little vessel to the boats passing and on their to and from and as well as occasional other steam craft took up more of the attention of the party on account of the rocking motion caused by the wake each left behind it there were two young men and a young lady who seemed to be enjoying themselves they had as a more mature woman who uttered little screams from time to time which it was evident she did her best to suppress the elder of the young men who was managing the boat took a quiet delight in her alarm though he was heard to assure her that there was not the slightest danger as the up and down the bay it passed close to s and the voices of those on board could be heard distinctly mr knows how to manage a boat as well a sugar princess as a sailor said the young lady a slight but with very large and expressive black eyes you needn t give yourself the least uneasiness miss besides we are going ashore now in a few moments can can you swim asked the lady addressed anxiously a little and mr can and can t you if we get tipped over there are people all about who would rush to our rescue a little adventure would only add to the romance of the sail don t joke about it was the nervous i think none of us wants to risk death why aren t you prepared asked the young man who had been as at which miss only looked more worried than ever so occupied was the party with this debate that none of them saw until it was too late an actual danger that threatened them a which had been hidden by a large vessel was bearing down upon them with even who had been listening with some amusement to the conversation did not notice the until it liad become a source of peril to the little he perceived it however a second before the party did and uttered a cry at the top of his voice which was heard by the of the and the of the at the same moment it was now too late to prevent the impending crash mr thoroughly aroused to his danger did his utmost to keep his slight craft out of the path of the coming monster but to no purpose though a direct x sugar princess collision was avoided the struck the side of the just at the and threw it violently over in a second all of its passengers were in the water and none of them found it quite as amusing as the recent discussion might have led them to suppose probably there never was much danger that any of the wrecked people would actually drown the men on the hastened to bring it into position to assist them another that was

but a few hundred feet away and had thought a sufficient distance for safety allowed between the and the bore down toward the struggling ones quicker than any of the others as good a as ever traversed the blue waters of san bay pulled his with rapid movements to where the beauty had sunk and springing over the side he caught her as she came up after going down but once the young lady had not lost her presence of mind although she was naturally much startled she caught a long breath as she felt a strong arm her waist and then let her head rest peacefully on a broad shoulder to which the arm belonged feeling the strength with which she was supported she speedily came to the conclusion that she was as safe as if on land though it must be admitted she was hardly as dry something which may best be described as a species of prevented her struggling to escape the clasp of this total stranger or even of making the least inquiry as to her late fellow passengers presently she a a sugar princess felt herself lifted aboard the steam where to her partly senses there came words which showed that her friends were also safe and it was then when there was no longer the slightest danger to anybody that she did the distinctly feminine thing and lost consciousness as soon as had his pretty burden to the outstretched hands awaiting her he took up his oars and pulled hastily for the shore he wanted to escape the of thanks which he supposed would be upon him for doing a simple act of duty in the excitement his escape was not noticed at first and then the rescued people were too busy themselves on the safe ending of their to dwell long on his part in the affair i wish that fellow had waited was the only remark about him at the time and this by brother i would have liked to give him something handsome a sugar princess chapter iv mr the as he rowed back to the place where he had hired his thought of little in connection with this adventure except that he was very wet and rather chilly or at least if he had other thoughts he was not at first conscious of them the of special interest in the fair creature he had rescued did not make itself immediately apparent to his somewhat slow intellect he had a habit of doing things in a regular order of when he saw a young lady sinking in the water it was the natural thing to after and bring her to a place of safety this finished it was equally natural to row without delay in the direction of dry clothing and a hot bath his landlord was much surprised when he saw his guest alight from a cab which by some miracle had discovered near the boat landing as a general thing are not in san during the without ordering them from a stable the young man s condition aroused the landlord s curiosity but passed him with a mere nod and went to his room as if he was in the habit of swimming in the bay fully dressed every afternoon of his life a sugar princess as speedily as possible he got into a tub of hot water then he rubbed himself briskly with a rough to bring back the full measure of his natural circulation and himself in dry garments throughout calling a servant he sent his wet clothing to be dried and pressed after which he lit a pipe and puffed naturally the experience through which he had just passed was the theme that filled his brain the young lady he had rescued was decidedly pretty his mind lingered over the lines of her face as he remembered them he saw again her dark eyes filled with innocent fun as she over the possibility of a danger she little thought so near then charged with a wild alarm as the bore down upon the frail craft on which she rode then closed as her head lay quite still on he shoulder of her s breath came more quickly as he scented again the of the mouth that had been pressed against his cheek the of her heart had struck through to the hand that clasped her gown and he felt it still for some seconds he had held her as closely as she were his accepted sweetheart then other hands had snatched her from him and he had awakened roughly from his di earn not even half f j and that was and was to be the end of it all it came into his mind that it was not merely because he was cold and wet that he had made h s exit from the scene of his that there were stronger reasons why he had wished to es a sugar princess cape unnoticed without giving his name or inquiring hers a few months ago when his prospects were widely different when he had a rich adopted father and could hold up his head in any society he would certainly have introduced himself to the friends of the girl he had saved and begged them to send him word how she came out of the accident today he was a those people were of another rank had he overheard the suggestion of one of the party that he could have something in a pecuniary way he would not have been surprised it was a perfectly natural thought slowly he pulled away at his tobacco can yield some comfort in most disagreeable situations a knock on his door aroused him that it was one of the hotel people he called come in but arose with an apology when he discovered his error the was a fellow of about his own age who in the house and with

whom he had passed a few words at the dinner table they had exchanged cards and he knew that the name of his visitor was i hope i don t interrupt you said but i heard you came home soaked and my curiosity got the better of me would you mind telling how it happened not at all rather glad to have to talk to related th particulars of the incident while the other listened with interest a sugar princess what was the young lady s name asked when the brief tale came to an end i haven t the least idea you didn t ask no i was glad enough to hurry home and get into something dry her friends were abundantly able to take care of her the visitor whistled send me a kiss by wire baby my heart s on fire and then paused abruptly you re not very romantic he said with a laugh but to tell the truth your adventure wasn t original the story papers wouldn t give a for it young and pretty girls she was pretty of course s disturbed face was his only answer young and pretty girls have been rescued from drowning in half the novels ever written why couldn t you have dragged her from in front of an even are done to death i m trying to make a hit in the short story line and had great hopes this was something i could use just pulling a beauty out of the bay wouldn t buy the ink it would cost to write it up the of the idea finally forced itself through the young german s brain and a smile came to his features i am sorry it wasn t an for your sake said he besides that would have been more comfortable for me than i only hope the lady won t get an illness from the effects of her mr reluctantly bade farewell to his hopes of a romance and resumed his operations in another direction a sugar princess i suppose you re looking for a business opening he suggested no i m looking for a friend who has disappeared ah brightened up again that s more in my line a mystery eh he got out a is it anything i could use for a magazine i beg your pardon i hope i don t seem inquisitive have you tried the no i m well acquainted with the best people around here and i will introduce you to them with pleasure this interested but at the very moment he started to catch at the straw held out he remembered that he lacked the first essential to make use of it funds no i thank you he answered i m afraid they couldn t help me i ve got no money to use in that way let s hear the story exclaimed the mr i might use it in one of the evening papers i mean perhaps i might be of service to you in some way you may command me i m sure he rattled on i ve lots of time on my hands and i d be glad to put it at your disposal slowly the main points came out it seemed to that there could be no harm in setting another brain to work on his problem where help was so necessary and so hard to obtain the strange of correspondence and the disappearance of mr and his friend interested very much he murmured several times that it was most extraordinary and at the close of the a sugar princess recital declared with enthusiasm that he would start a on it at once if he only knew how it would end have you tried the people he asked as if thinking hard every one you re sure he hasn t gone back to st louis i left word to have a sent in case they received any news and i ve heard nothing you ve the police here why no said astonished at the suggestion then you must do so at once cried excitedly it s more than likely your friend is being held for a mr was with him and in that case would have appealed to the authorities long ago but supposing a gang of had got them both suggested as if with the idea perhaps they ve been murdered he added cheerfully did they carry much money about them the idea of which brought to merely the prospect of a striking plot sent a cold shiver down his companion s he could hardly speak for emotion as he contemplated the terrible possibility it was clear to him now that he ought to communicate with the police that he should have done so long before he regretted bitterly his lack of means to this search and began to dread the discoveries that such an investigation might reveal however he agreed at once to the suggestion of his new ac a sugar princess an d as was the of the idea put himself in his hands the first thing we d better do said is to go to s office i ll have a talk with one of the firm and see if they ll undertake the job on chances you say you ve got no money to spare but if mr is found they ll come out all right they re worth all the police in the state your man will be discovered if he s above ground as sure as you put these fellows on the scent how can i thank you asked as they took their way toward the office in question i don t want any thanks all i ask is that you let me use the plot why it will be a regular mr was in his office though the evening shadows had fallen and his usual hour for closing had passed he nodded familiarly to and

bowed with more dignity to in the sober attitude of the latter he scented a case and when mr scented a case his every faculty was roused to the utmost without delay the history of s disappearance from st louis as he had just learned it before he paused for breath he had presented the situation the of the who accompanied him and the certainty that sufficient means to pay for the work would follow its successful completion mr kept his eyes fixed on a sheet of paper that lay on his desk and never moved a muscle till the came to a full stop o a sugar princess he was going to the police but i persuaded him to come to you were s closing words then mr looked up he was a man of forty with a clean cut face and particularly bright eyes what is the name of the missing gentleman he asked and with that word gentleman mr knew he had succeeded otherwise would have referred to the missing man peter said his voice shaking a little the fear that some of s might come true were troubling him pe ter er repeated mr writing the name slowly on the paper before him of st louis yes sir describe him as accurately as you can the description was given to the detail mr made careful notes using iii which he was you may return tomorrow morning he said quietly when this task was ended and he added in a tone that was meant especially to impress mr alone i trust you will begin your search without delay said anxiously i must study the case first it does not do to leap before we look in such a matter as this you don t think he has been murdered asked no i think we shall find him and his friend alive make your mind as easy as you can we may need your assistance and you must keep a cool head a sugar princess s head was anything but cool he had half expected that the would produce mr from some mysterious hidden recess s calm manner disconcerted and distressed him there was nothing to be done however and after uttering his thanks for the interview took his leave with mr you see he means to me out were s first words when they were again upon the street i ve got to rely on you to let me dish the thing up when it s over it ought to make a full sized romance i intended at first to offer it to short stories but nothing less than the century will do if it comes out as i expect say you ll deal square with me he added anxiously hastened to assure him on that point you heard mr say he didn t believe he was dead he added joyfully neither do i he s held for you may be sure forty chapters at least ta ra ra of course i shan t use real names but the plot will be splendid de ay old rich feeble held by i wish you d do something about that pretty girl though it wasn t exactly new the way you rescued her but it might work in with the history of the crime by jove he added you must hunt her up if only out of gratitude to me a sugar princess chapter v mr has a n the sleep which came that to the eyes of our young hero as we might as well begin to call him was much disturbed now that he had begun to entertain apprehensions regarding a real danger to his friend and patron he wanted each move made as quickly as possible he felt a sort of guilt because he had delayed to start inquiries by trained a month ago news of the lost ones might have been obtained before this and who could say how important a single hour might be nothing in s previous career fitted him in the least to meet such an emergency he knew of course that mr was old and feeble and that he often carried money enough on his person to tempt die of thieves but such things as and murder belonged to of life about which he had only a very remote conception when he had puzzled over his uncle s strange silence the fact that the stronger and well contained was with him had prevented all fears of that nature he even began to hope sadly enough that the real explanation would be found in mr s hint that peter intended to abandon him and had taken this strange method of doing it even that would be better x sugar princess t han these horrible possibilities regarding the old gentleman s personal safety there were several facts that could not be had not written to or any other of his friends for six or seven weeks he had disappeared as if my magic it was the duty of one who had been treated so long like an adopted son to follow every clue until he learned the truth the introduction to the firm of seemed like a piece of special providence those wise of tangled would surely find some solution to the puzzle while preserving his exterior mr great deal of thinking during the evening following s call at his office it was often said of his firm that s part of the business called for the most thought while s demanded the most action s friends often asserted that he could study out a case in his sleep and it did frequently happen that an affair which puzzled him when he dropped off to slumber came out clear and plain when he awoke from a rest that had been absolutely undisturbed it was while dressing on the morning following his introduction to the reader that remarked to himself in the solitude of

his chamber that his agency was in a fair way to make a good thing and when got this far he generally had a pretty clear idea of what he was talking about while his coffee in dressing gown and slippers he had the morning paper brought to him he glanced over its columns rapidly with the trained eye a sugar princess of an expert pausing occasionally for a second or two at some piece of news suddenly he chanced upon one which caused even his steady head to he caught his breath several times as he read and re read the that his attention putting down the paper at last he rang for hot water and proceeded leisurely to himself when this was done he wrote a brief note to his partner asking him to call on him before going to the office mr had never known the test to fail he did not wish mr to see that he had undergone the least trace of excitement the of the showed that he could appear as calm as an notwithstanding the temptation to show the reason why he had sent for his partner was that he wished to consult with him alone and knew that would be certain to put in an early appearance at the office when mr appeared he did not look in the least like the dear to the readers of fiction he was on the contrary apparently an sort of who might have been a or dealer he seemed a combination of earnestness and the of force but of the kind when he was admitted he did not the least curiosity as to why he had been summoned he merely uttered a conventional good morning and took a seat it s affair of peter s said speaking with the nephew was in to see me last night a sugar princess mr listened but made no remark he s been hunting for the old man in the natural channels and had an idea that he d been or murdered i m going to take the case on speculation have you seen the morning papers mr shook his head well listen to this he read aloud an occurred in the bay yesterday afternoon which happily resulted in worse than a scare and for a party of people a containing mr william van miss van miss and mr s was run not far from house by the lucky through what seems to been criminal carelessness all the people mentioned were thrown water but were luckily rescued by the and a young man whose name has not been ascertained the van are of the family well known in and miss van recently from miss s school on the heights mr listened attentively enough but his face gave no sign that he found the paragraph particularly exciting well he remarked at last just this the young man s name has been me and he is the nephew of his uncle queer was the quiet remark of the other man it would be in any business but ours now i should say this young man had best be left to me to manage a sugar princess as you please how is he off for funds pretty short and you ll let him get a little shorter naturally mr s face softened into something almost like a smile is there anything else asked mr no i only suggest that the boy had better not see you around the office if you can come an hour or two late for the present i will get rid of him before you arrive no reply was needed to this and mr took his leave as silently as he had made his appearance an hour later when mr entered his business rooms he found there as he expected the young man looked the eager inquiry that was in his mind you had quite an adventure yesterday said a very slight one but about mr have you learned anything i think i can assure you that he is alive and safe where asked breathless it may several days before i can answer that positively a dis look filled the anxious eyes have you formed any theory as to his strange ence other than the spoke hoarsely the one you advanced yesterday mr nodded like a man to whom all secrets were that t i have done though i can bring as yet n absolute proof i think he has gone insane uttered a quick exclamation of dismay a sugar princess that would not account for mr disappearing also he suggested yes it would at present i do not care to say too much in relation to the matter i have set on foot which will reveal something in a few days till then i must ask you to have patience a few days may not seem long in ordinary matters but the time was likely to be wearisome enough at that juncture s funds were nearly exhausted he had nothing left that would bring if with the uncertainty that hung over him he could not engage himself at any occupation he was on a barren rock from which he did not even dare depart should any friendly sail come hi sight except the one he most longed for come in any morning at this hour continued mr not later as i am very busy i have your address if anything important occurs i will send for you good day nothing could be gained by confiding to this man of steel the extreme of his resources and left the office much arriving at his room his heart gave a bound to find that a letter had arrived bearing his name and also the printed address of the lawyer of st louis eagerly he tore open the envelope but the contents were merely formal no news of mr or his companion had been received wrote principally to say this