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the mansion when returned just at breakfast time and said that she and mary had stayed all night at the summer house the weather was unusually warm for the season and it was much cooler by the lake found letters from her parents that had just been brought from the post office and she read them with flutter what was that bound ing heart had ever a girl such parents as she and had ever one so deceived them she thought of the sweet gentle face of her mother who was reported no better and felt hardly fit to call her by that dear name what would she say if she knew she had gone so far now that she could not the sooner she had a right to the name of wife the better to wait till her father returned was out of the question she heartily wished she had accepted s proposal to have the secret marriage a week ago probably no one would ever learn of her but whatever happened she would have the companionship the love long as life lasted of the man she adored she had no thought of him what girl ever her lover while he remains true there might be a great deal of trouble in store for her possibly the loss of parents friends the home where she had always lived but there would always be twelve hours must before she could meet him again how could she wait so long as evening approached she grew more and more impatient she was more anxious now than ever had been to have the ceremony of marriage take place and he had promised to fix the day and hour when he came again as soon as she had eaten a scanty supper she went to the summer house with mary though she had no reason to expect her lover for two hours yet she was exceedingly nervous trembling in every joint and starting at the least sound she declined mary s offer to sit with her till he came saying she would much rather be alone when she heard his step she sprang to meet him and the ton clung about his neck as a drowning person to a my wife there was something in that tender word that made her her hold and cover her eyes with her hands don t call me that yet she said i feel so wicked he kissed her mouth her neck her hair and when he had disengaged her hands he kissed them too and then the eyes he had uncovered so you are not my wife he said brightly yes before god you are and when is the ceremony to be she asked casting down her glance the ceremony are you then in such a hurry for that form she put her hands on each side of his head and drew his face close to hers with a movement oh you will not delay it now he laughed good for her intensity pleased him not an instant longer than is necessary he responded i have spent half the day trying to find a fellow who does such things justice whose home is over in they told me he was at one place and another and i kept up the chase until it got so late that i feared keeping you waiting but i have left word that i shall see him to morrow and no doubt i can arrange to have him meet us here the next day what wa that sound she heard him with the deepest interest and at the final words shook her head not here i cannot have it here anywhere else you please but not here he understood i shall have to think of some other place then he said we cannot be seen in public together for that would attract attention i will ask what he has to suggest he is all right he ll keep it as still as the grave and nobody ll be the wiser have you said anything to mary she told him that she had and that the maid had agreed to be a witness she told him also that she had fallen asleep on the sofa and had not been awakened till daybreak at which he expressed regret and i ran away at one o clock he said ah well it can t last much longer he seemed to be in great good humor and had an abandon that was new to him thought he was not as grave as he ought to be but she did not tell him so he was now all that she was sure of in the world and she did not like to annoy him by too much criticism it was midnight when he left and she went to tell mary that she had concluded to remain at the cottage again instead of going home has been making arrangements for the marriage she said he thinks it can be arranged to morrow or the next day there was so much of exultation in her voice that mary did not like to say anything to her a happy mood was better she thought than a tearful one she wondered at the same time if ther were any possible doubt of the full of a s marriage and determined to take a good look at the papers when the ceremony should occur still the more she thought of it her fears seemed foolish had loved ever since he was a child why should he wish to deceive her it was a fan conception and mary resolved to banish it from her mind or at least not to mention it to her confiding young mistress the next evening when he came he told that he had not seen the justice but that on the succeeding day he should surely meet him he seemed as happy as she at the prospect and

they tried to plan out their future she had money enough of her own to support them for a year or two if both their fathers remained and after that would be earning something at his profession when i am twenty one there is nearly two thousand dollars beside for me she said from a sum my grandfather left me we shall want almost nothing till then i think i could live on your smiles and ask no other food and i on the honey of your lips he exclaimed my wife no don t tell me not to say it my wife my darling wife the tears that stood in her eyes now were happy ones it is too wonderful to last she whispered softly life cannot be a succession of days like this f it will furnish us many far brighter ones he answered ai that moment both of them started and each read the same thought in the eyes of the t was that sound his chapter nursing his i was the fifth day since had bee seen at the mansion knew that he was in town and his unaccountable absence gave her the deepest distress she knew that he was given to odd ways but there seemed no reason for his conduct in this instance the colonel asked each evening or each morning if he happened to be from the house has been here yet and when the silent negative greeted him his face grew dark and he felt in his own mind all the suffering that his daughter experienced the colonel did not mean to say much to if he could help it until something definite had been arranged but she anticipated him one evening and compelled him to enter on the dreaded subject sooner than he had intended u i want to talk with you father she said coming to his side in his library where he was trying to read a newspaper you know there is something wrong about it troubles me and that makes it trouble you now don t interrupt me please for a minute i care a great deal for him but he cannot treat me in this way much longer he is at his father s he comes and goes in the village everybody sees him i have sufficient love to bear almost anything but neglect it is five days since he has i shall wait two days more that will give the him a week and then i shall write saying that release him from all the promises he has made the father heard her with great distress wait a little longer said he is not well he is passing through a period that neither his father nor i can understand but he loves you and you must do nothing to prevent his return to a normal state let it go a few days longer and he will come back to you and very sorry i am sure for the neglect he has shown she did not seem in the least convinced i cannot share your opinion father and there is another thing i want to go with you to europe i could not stay here where people are already you yourself say that i am not looking well a voyage would do me good dear father if nothing comes to re unite us let me go with you the colonel hesitated but finally said that if would consent to do nothing until the time came for his departure which would give what he was obliged to admit was ample time to change his course he would take her it was his hope that would have his arrangements made by that time and that would be one of the party on the whole it was as well that had spoken it could give her something to take up her mind and if everything did break between her and the foreign journey would certainly be best he knew that the girl felt severely the blow that she had received a week passed and nothing was seen of at the colonel s during the day he usually remained at home he never arose to breakfast now and was given as a reason why he should his not be disturbed until he chose to show himself which was generally near the hour of noon every night he retired as soon as his supper was eaten but a light was always seen burning in his room and it was understood that he read a good deal on account of inability to sleep it was from no fault of s that this entire week passed without his marriage taking place he had tried honestly enough to find but fate seemed against him the justice was called away to another part of the state on the very day when left word that he wished to see him and not thinking that the young man had anything of great importance to communicate he had gone on his journey leaving word that he should be back in three or four days as frequently happens the three or four days lengthened out to six or seven and had many sad hours in consequence she felt each day that her position was growing more she bitterly repented that she had not consented to the union when first proposed it but each evening when he came he assured her that the affair would certainly take place on the morrow and clasped in his arms close to the heart she now loved with all the passionate of her nature she forgot at least for the hour what a narrow gulf separated her from the yawning chasm at her feet the perfect confidence that mary had in her young mistress and her lover the suspicions that might otherwise have arisen told her that it was useless for her to sit up longer than her usual home hour now that they were

to sleep always at the cottage and that she herself would show out and lock the gate and door behind him mary did not know that the time the young man left grew later and later until at last he hardly escaped from the wood before the sun rose over the eastern hills even had she seen him go at that hour she would never have dreamed that anything wrong had happened she might have thought it not to avail himself of the cover of darkness but nothing more much must be allowed to the of the young couple whose wedding day unknown though it might be to the world was so near at hand john though he passed each night out of doors did not spend his mornings in sleep the near approach of his revenge was rest enough for him a nap in his chair after dinner brightened his eyelids again night after night he lay concealed within twenty feet of the which led to the cottage and heard the whispered confidences between his son and his enemy s daughter at parting confidences to their or at least to hers for john thought that in such matters men have no to lose was what he heard to that handsome girl so like her mother in feature so like her father in but soon to be broken like a reed by the man they had so long despised it was no small part of his joy that the boy they had not to take to their so much better in their opinion than his should be the instrument to bring shame and on their house the man with a deep seated hate forgets everything but his revenge he forgets what was the original cause of his hatred what circumstances have since arisen everything but that his be hat an account to settle and that it has grown heavier by long delay the night that and were startled bj that unexpected sound he had climbed into a large tree that overlooked the where the house stood and from a secure position in the branches had beheld through the window of the parlor the love making within it was a strange of the brain that the very sight he hoped for should cause him such indignation but the thought that his son his still loved this girl so blindly the strength in his limbs and for the instant he lost his hold before a second had passed however he had slipped noiselessly from the tree to the ground and concealed himself further away the young people listened with alarm depicted on both their faces but soon came to the conclusion that the wind was responsible for the sound and gave it no further thought they had become accustomed to each other s presence and the idea of interruption by mischievous never occurred to them at last was to tell that he had seen and that the justice would tell him the next day where he could meet the couple and unite them without danger of detection this pleased the girl so much that she her tenderness and thought she had never been so sweet and charming as on that evening but does it not have to be recorded she asked yes according to law but will take his time about it oh you need not fear he knows what is wanted and they will get the oar ton from him in a month or two more after you have arranged things with your father he may tell the whole county for all we care people would only laugh and say it was a young couple s adventure there is considered nothing in a match of that sort now a days she drank in his words as though they were the water of life and is such a marriage just as good just as honorable as one in a church she asked i want to be made yours as strong as the law can make me do you he answered laughing merrily that is the way all women talk before the ceremony at the divorce court they tell a different story she would not join in this mood of his i want to be yours till death she said i want to know that when i am laid in the earth your body will be beside me what a idea he cried in mock it is enough for me now that i am to be beside you while you are living she closer to him am afraid that you will respect me less some day because hush i should be a wretch to think of such a thing when if there is any blame it is all my own but it can never be the proof of your love which i have had will only make you dearer he believed it i men always believe those things when they say them it is not you alone sweet girls it is themselves they deceive what madness fills your brains that you listen to them on the last night that spent with they were longer even than usual in their parting at the gate and they had become so confident of their that their voices were not as low as they had once been the concealed spy heard the assurance of his son that the morrow should surely see them united though the marriage was to be kept for the present a secret he knew now that the time for action had come when the lovers had at last torn themselves from each other s embrace and the key had been turned in the lock emerged from his hiding place and followed rapidly in the footsteps of chapter l know her character the young man was so absorbed in contemplation as he the wooded path that he heard ing of his until they were close together when the step behind him smote on his

ears he turned quickly to see whose it was thinking to shape his conduct accordingly the stern face of his father was something however for which he had made no preparation and his eyes fell before it as he stopped to allow of his approach you are out early was s first greeting yes i did not sleep well and i thought a walk would do me good the reply was delivered in a tremulous voice that the would not have been lost on even a less interested listener and she said in a meaning tone peer ing into the countenance of his son did she also sleep badly how much did he know how much did he only guess like lightning these thoughts flashed through s brain whom do you mean sir he asked don t play innocence with me cried angrily i am in no mood to bear it you cannot make me doubt the evidence of my eyes and ears i know where you have been night after night when you have pretended to be in your room a fine piece of work is it not you are proud of it i have no doubt the manhood that lay at the bottom of the son s nature though often obscured by qualities came to the surface i told you long ago he said his voice grown firmer that i loved her if i have visited her it is because you made it impossible for me to see her in any other way i tell you again that nothing you can do or say will make me change my purpose to marry her advanced as if to assault his son but refrained insane boy he exclaimed in a tone of fury do you know what you are talking about marry her is that the kind of girl you would select for a wife do you want to marry a girl who is totally wanting in a sense of what is decent who was the one this time to threaten i know her character stop he cried say another word against her and i shall forget you are my father strike me replied the elder man it would be in keeping with the rest of your conduct put another on my forehead to match the one he put there he removed his hat to show it and looked at the dark red mark with a feeling of pain i am only your father i have sacrificed my life for yours these twenty years but that is nothing strike me because i dare tell you that the girl is unfit for you strike me i say i assure you i know everything you forgot in your even to draw the curtains of your room yes for he saw the terrible effect this statement was making the fence is high and the boards are close but the trees outside are higher you can tell me nothing the horror of this revelation was so great that under it he sank at his father s feet and covered his face with his hands the ground seemed from under him was this a man or a devil that he had been accustomed to looked down on the prostrate figure trying to measure his words to the best advantage i could have forgiven you the folly of a temporary passion he said i know the temptations of youth and that any man is liable to yield to love disgraceful it certainly is but not it is only when you talk of my blood which though that of a poor man is yet honorable with that of a girl who has forgotten virtue the sentence was not finished the he figure on the ground sprang like a to hi feet before heaven he cried another word like that and i will murder you there is no claim that you have on me which you to the loveliest girl on earth whose only fault if it be one is that she has loved too well such an man as i you say i have done wrong if it be so there is only one way that i can right it and that is to take her to my bosom before the world and that i will do to day god permitting this expression roused again the anger of the father for a moment he had felt a sort of sympathy with his son whose impetuous fury had proved how deeply he had been wounded but now he hardened his heart again and seizing in a vice like grip he held him at arm s length as easily as if he had been a child never shall you marry that creature he exclaimed sooner will i take you to the lake there and drown you with my own hands decide he overcome with rage either give her up or meet a dog s death as he spoke he actually dragged toward the brink of the lake which was but a few feet away and the young man knew that he had one to deal with who was for the moment nothing less than a he did not want to die and he thought it best to if it were not too late with this terrible being who had that clutch on his throat let me speak he stammered at the hands that held him are you mad enough to carry out this fearful threat because we differ on a i know her character which is after all f more importance to me than to any one else tell you again she shall not be your wife cried white with emotion it is impossible think boy the mother of your children must be above reproach it were a thousand times better that you perished in the waters here than that you married such the mute appeal in his son s eyes stopped him this time her maid has always

been with us faltered smiled it will not answer to say that to me he said u i tell you i am not going by guess work i love you with all my soul but i would rather see your corpse brought to my gate than to have you marry the daughter of after what i know s teeth ah he cried you are a cruel man your hatred has led you to this a hatred that you had no right to form in the first place and that has grown until even the happiness of your only son must be sacrificed to it no was the reply your happiness lies with a girl against whom no man can bring a word of accusation come home and think about it when you are calm you will admit that i am right and that this passion that has brought you to so a pass is only temporary tie continued his voice growing i love you if i have seemed rough it was because of my anger at your continued opposition to what is surely for mb your best good come home with me and let ms talk it over the two men vanished through the woods walking slowly and talking as they went and a third man came out of the thick of trees just above them looking as if he had received a blow it was who had started out for an early walk with no definite object in view and had come suddenly within hearing of the angry voices he had heard s threat to drown his son and had been ready at first to interfere if necessary to prevent that catastrophe then as he caught further bits of the heated conversation which showed him that had been visiting at the summer house under circumstances more or less open to suspicion he felt almost willing to offer his aid to the in case he was unable to carry out his purpose his father has taken him away and judging by the terror of his face he will mould him to his will mused as he walked back to the hotel he is a cur and a coward but and his face grew darker if talk comes of this god help him bald in a ram chapter in a fever was in such a highly nervous when he reached home that he was obliged to refuse breakfast and retired at once to his chamber in the hope that sleep would give him temporary relief his father had said such things in the way of argument that he hardly knew how to answer them even to his own mind he felt a certain guilt and he was obliged to admit that a good deal of his conduct was not whatever his parent s mistakes whatever his errors of judgment he had surely been a thoughtful father to him never had he tried to him in anything until this case arose after going into his room he threw himself on the bed where through his awakened mind ran the long list of kindly things that his father had done the education which he had provided when the stood at his elbow and he had to deny himself every luxury that his son might have it all the way in which his trouble had been hid lest it should annoy him to as well as a hundred other instances of similar and in payment for this he had that morning addressed his father like a young from the of south street wondered that the roof over his head did not fall and crush him for an ungrateful still this father of his had driven him frantic for s the the moment by what he said of words so totally for that patience fell before them reflected that the suddenness of the assault upon his feelings his action for it gave him no time to think poor it d break her heart if she dreamed of it he thought of awhile and of the sweet tokens of her love which she had given him he tried to repent of his wrong but it was only on account of being detected that he was truly sorry it is the getting found out that a of the latest and most the thoughts of kept returning to his father did he not owe him something in return for his years of kindness was there no way to reconcile his duty to others with that which it was the right of this friend to demand it must be hard to bring a child to the age of manhood and find him refusing to listen to advice meant for his best good there was too a gentle feeling crept over him as her vision came across his mind beautiful as a lily loving him with a tenderness none the less evident because partly hidden by a naturally reserved it was no wonder that she had made an impression on the iron mind of his father thought of the handsome way in which the colonel and mrs had always treated him of the sweet hours he had passed with he had given her cause to think that she was the one destined to be his for life and now he proposed to desert her contemptible as it was it had a double meanness after he had allowed her father to save his in his distress under an implied expectation ought he not to sacrifice everything in a keep this obligation could he justify himself even for love s sake in deserving the contempt of honest men after what had happened then there came into his mind ike the beginning of a great fog that is to everything in sight the awful thought that his father had placed there respecting the obligation of a woman who to be in all things above reproach he had it when it was uttered and

had felt arrayed against it all the forces of his being but now it came back to him and would not be driven out of his memory a wife a mother by and by of his children was there anything in the that she who had permitted herself to yield once to love might again find herself in some new field unable to withstand temptation no it was outrageous had only surrendered when her great love had swept her into the of the stream and to the man whose wife she expected soon to be such a woman could never become the prey of the of a husband whom she had learned to it was a shameful the sweet pure gentle filled with the deepest affection her very innocence to blame for her he tried to banish the thought but it clung to him as poison ivy to a wall his mind would go elsewhere for the moment but it kept coming back to this he cried how can a thing so torture me so his father came to see him at noon and heard that he had not yet slept taking him by the hand he found that he was in a fever and begged him to and compose himself to rest replied s the that be was well enough and only wanted to be left alone he declined to see a physician stating that he was merely exhausted from his mental troubles and should be all right in a day or two knew that unless something was done a serious case of illness would follow and finally induced him to take a draught he feared it would not have the intended effect as s nerves were in such an excited condition but in twenty minutes he was in so deep a slumber that his father him and placed him in his bed without him i couldn t have had him going over there again to day muttered john to himself as he looked at the quiet form he won t be likely to awake for five or six hours and if he does i ll tell the housekeeper to give him a little more of it while he is still i ll drive over to see put him off the track mr was surprised to see mr alight at his door but he understood everything or thought he did when john stated the case to him s concluded to do the thing straight said john i found out what he was up to and as long as there s no help for it i gave in he didn t want to come himself and as i was driving over this way i said i d let you know here s ten dollars for the trouble you ve had s face which had grown rather brightened as he took the money it s you know said with bis finger on his lips oh ly i ve done too much of this ness to smiled with a nobody won t hear from me in a f when reached home he found that had not regained consciousness but that he had talked almost constantly in his sleep and had made with the bed clothes requiring constant attention several times he had tried to leave the bed and had been prevented with difficulty the case seemed serious enough to warrant the calling of a medical man and a messenger was for one dr was one of those country who use a good deal more of common sense and considerably less than some of their professional brethren he shook his head when he the which had given saying it would have been better if he had been called in the first place as such treatment would only the young man s recovery john smiled grimly to himself thinking that the doctor did not understand quite as much about the case as he might it was essential above all things to keep in the house for a day or two what has caused this asked dr when he and john were alone with the patient i find him in a good deal of mental excitement i suppose it s due to a love affair if you want to know was the answer i guess a little rest l and quiet will bring him around all right doctor dr glared at this man who thus presumed to tell him his business guessed indeed why he s got a high fever he replied his temperature is many degrees above what it should be his pulse goes like a race horse he ll have a month s sickness out of this if you re not careful the a month john was revolving it over in his mind well he could stand a month and win perhaps a month in bed would settle everything the doctor wrote out a and also a list of directions which he said must be closely followed then promising to call again in the course of the evening he took his departure a month that would dispose of her father would be home in a few days and some method could be adopted to let him into enough of his daughter s secret to put him on his guard some day when was safely married to and had gone far away meant to let know the rest he wanted to do this some time when the tidings would strike him like a but now the most that he hoped for was to obtain a complete separation between the young people he did not mean that they should ever meet if he could help it he laughed at the thought that the doctor had supposed him a fool when he administered the there were some things that even college educated men did not knew if he could keep that boy in bed a month or even a fortnight he would play a winning card

and yet this father in the midst of his plot loved that son of his in anything else he would have laid down his life to save him his hatred had so choked his judgment that he really believed he was doing what would in the end bring to the greatest happiness it was late the next morning before the sick young man opened his eyes when he did it was only to call in a feeble voice for a drink of water and on receiving it he at once fell asleep again at noon the next in a time he showed consciousness he partook of a slight refreshment as he had eaten nothing for nearly two days then he again and when he next knew what was going on though it was only in a vague uncertain way he saw colonel and his father in the room you are better my dear boy said the colonel coming to his bedside do not him said mr i have no intention of doing so replied the other had forgotten most things the events of the preceding fortnight were not in his mind at all shall i tell that you are better asked the colonel she is very anxious for some favorable word from you i did not know till now said feebly that i had been ill but i am certainly better much better will be so glad threw off the clothes from his arms tell her that i will be down to see her to night said he not to night said his father the to s intense discomfort but soon tell her colonel that he will be down soon and he added cautiously if he has to remain in for several days more she can come here with you this struck as strange he had not got used to thinking of himself as an invalid and he could not imagine in that room under the circumstances but as he did not like to exert himself with too much thought he left it to his father to do s as it pleased him before the visitor had departed he was again in slumber or at least a stupor that passed for it was with grief when she heard from her father that was sick in bed and that the doctor laid it to troubles of the mind of which she feared that she had been in some way the cause her love had endured through all though her pride had been sorely tested by his apparent neglect but now she was ready to everything to the disease which was gradually stealing over him and to forgive more readily than she had been to when the colonel came home and told her that had sent a message that he hoped soon to see her there her heart gave a great bound from joy all was to come out right after all the clouds that had gathered over her head were only the fleeting banks of mist that come with september and they would be gone in a few days never to return meanwhile let the reader conceive the situation of or rather let him attempt to conceive it for it is one of those things that nothing short of experience can convey to the mind she had lived for two weeks on the presence of her lover and on his promise that at the very earliest possible instant the law in the person of its servant squire should spread its curtain over the relations which they had sustained on the last evening that passed with her he had the morrow as the day when the legal steps which she awaited so anxiously should be taken he was to come early mi in the evening and tell her where she and hei maid should meet the justice she went to the summer house and waited o clock it was perhaps too early to expect him but r he stood near the gate ready to open it at the sound of his step nine o clock he must some reason for till that hour ten he had never been so late her cheek until she was as white as he lying at that moment in his bed at home eleven t twelve one mary had retired and knew nothing ot the weary had no one to with her and she wanted none tor her secret was one that could not be confided to mortals with more than she had ever used in her life she knelt on the cold ground and lifted up her heart to god o thou who them that are in trouble do not altogether desert me i have been frail i have been wicked punish me if thou wilt but not this way send him to me o god before i quite lose hope send him to me and my every act through life shall be in of the grievous fault into which my wild love drove me but the deity does not always answer prayers ike this in the way the desires we are told that jove laughs at lovers from the broad vault of heaven there comes no response to the aspirations of the deserted maidens who day after day send up the same refrain a thousand prayers will not prevent your arm from burning pretty one if you hold it in the flame went in at last and fell exhausted on the sofa where mary found her in the morning she gave replies to the few questions that the the maid put to her and declined to leave tht summer house at all that day who could tell but he might come at some hour and what if he should come and find her absent her meals were brought to her and she sat there and waited of course vainly when it was evening again she felt sure he would come then her spirits rose as

the sun went down eight o clock again nine i there was nothing to sustain her any longer and she gave vent to her grief in copious tears then as if she had not enough to bear her down a new trouble came a letter was brought to the cottage by one of the house servants bearing the new york and in it was most startling news her mother had suddenly grown worse and the eastern had advised that she be taken back at once to her home in mr had got as far as new york with her when she sank rapidly and further was out of the question he had taken her to a hotel where it had become only too evident that her days were numbered i cannot deceive you my poor child wrote her father and the paper was damp with the tears that bad fallen upon it if you would see your alive you must take the earliest train even then it may be too late prepare for the worst that strength that sometimes despair enabled to read this letter to mary and to make preparations for their departure with some show of courage there is something in knowing that fate has done its had deserted her and now her mother was to be taken ix a calmly the people at the house thought she prepared for a hasty journey and took the train for the east her mother had been dead two days when she reached there and her broken down father leaned upon her as the only comfort left to him it was an additional weight on her young shoulders to realize how little comfort she ever could be to him again to him or any one that knowledge which brings a happy light to the face of the wedded wife had come to her now but it was to blast and sting she knew that she should have to go far away from this kind father left with no one else to lean on and hide her shame as best she might from the eyes of the heartless world she might have gone to with an officer of the law or with a revolver as she had somewhere read of a deserted woman s doing and demanded justice but she had no thought of anything like that it was not justice she wanted but love if he had been willing to her so coldly she could never follow him for a mere justification he was safe from her wrath and as for her scorn how could it affect so brazen a heart as his the body of her mother was put for the present in the tomb as begged her father not to return yet to his home she said it would seem desolate there now that the dear voice would never be heard again within its walls and he yielded to the one day mary who had returned to to take charge of things sent enclosed in one of hers a letter from mr opened it by the purest mistake for he would not have stooped to touch his child s correspondence fit hi and was startled to find that it enclosed a brief note from the young man with whom he had supposed her acquaintance ended feeling justified now in seeing what he had to say he read it through my darling ran the letter after many days of illness i am permitted to go out again though i am still very weak my first trip was to the cottage where i hoped to find you but it was locked and wore a deserted appearance i shall send this by a messenger to mary knowing that she will see that it gets to you tell me that i still have your love and that you will meet me as soon as i am able to see you my father watches me closely under pretence that the doctor orders me to be kept free of excitement and i shall have to him as best i can i am too tired to write more but i shall see you soon and then all will be well yours till death mr put the letter into his pocket he had no idea of giving it to he was sorry to learn that still pretended to claim his daughter but there was nothing in the note to show that she encouraged him it was much wiser to keep it from her very much wiser father she said to him soon after i do not want to go home again for a very long time it as if i could not bear it there i am not well i want to take a long journey somewhere and see if it does not help me how would you like to cross the ocean he x i mm f asked looking at her tenderly i heard yesterday of a lady who wanted one more to complete a party that she is to i should like it she answered eagerly a yes that is it i want to go chapter i think i could kill him when mary started for home leaving the in new york gave her this parting write me nothing about matters in outside of our own family affairs mary did not think this enough to warrant her in or returning the letter which sent and the contents of which she had no means of knowing she was aware that something had occurred between him and her young mistress but had refused positively to discuss the causes that had led to their separation the whole truth or any part of it even she never suspected it was common gossip in when she reached there and she heard it from the other servants that had been very ill and that colonel carriage with as one of its occupants had been driven each day to the farm nothing

less than an understood engagement could explain this though the were and gave no satisfaction to those who tried to pump them on the subject mary was greatly grieved at the turn affairs had taken as she knew that had suffered intense distress about it she had never ceased to think that they were a couple that nature had designed for each other but if men were so before marriage perhaps it was best mary thought on this so seriously that she turned an unusually cold upon a young of the village who had been more or less encouraged in his suit for her own hand at which the young man in question melancholy and began to contemplate the various methods of suicide at the house was al o in anything but a happy frame of mind his love for had given way to a pronounced sense of injury and even the reports of the precarious condition of the young man found in him but little if any regret the fortune that he had inherited made it easy for him to do without the profession that he had intended to follow and he wrote to the firm with whom he had been studying that he could not tell when if at all they would see him again in their office he said he was not feeling as well as he should like and wanted a rest as this very closely with a letter they had received from mr describing s case the lawyers began to wonder what there could be in the atmosphere in that had such a precisely similar effect on the two young gentlemen and they among themselves whether the handsome young ladies with whom they had sometimes met their students had anything to do with tke matter l think i kill him i stayed in until he could no longer doubt that the engagement of and was a fixed fact the county eagle with the enterprise for which that paper was famous announced it under the head of society notes the hotel discussed it at dinner the crowd at the post office made it the theme cf their evening s gossip and those who disliked always a large did not attempt to conceal their pleasure colonel walked or rode through the town with a wise air and s face was in smiles in place of the troubled look that had been seen there so frequently a few weeks before people took courage to ask her how was now that all could see the with which she visited him and she told them without hesitation that he was getting better rapidly and would soon be out again some of the more courageous asked if she had heard anything recently from and with something of the sad look returning she announced that she had received but one letter a brief answer to her she must be sadly hurt poor girl she said softly to one lady whom she thought an especial friend she was very fond of her mother as she deserved to be and i fear it will be long before she from the shock she does not mean to come home at present her father wants her to travel and divert her mind armed with this definite news the lady in question began to make herself a person of consequence by it right and left in the village and before night it reached the ears of s ab tow he did not wish to meet when he became able to be about again for he feared that his patience would give way at sight of him that he should forget that it was an invalid with whom he had to deal he packed his trunk took the train for and after passing a few days there made a sudden decision to cross the atlantic and see if he could not find somewhere on the other side relief from the distress that he was had no notion of dying of love he was much too healthy a young man to entertain any such idea as that but he had suffered a good deal of late and he did not feel like studying he wanted a complete change of scene and having the means to obtain it and nothing to prevent he saw no reason why he should hesitate to follow his in he had not been long in london when one morning happening to glance over the list of american he found the name of miss in that of a party headed by mrs at first he thought the in name a mere coincidence but as there was a possibility that it wag the of his acquaintance he went to the address given he sent his card to mrs and explained the object of his visit from her he learned that he had not come in vain and a few minutes later miss made her appearance was more than pleased to see him she had been suffering from a severe attack of that trouble which often comes during the first days that one on foreign soil and it was comforting to meet any one whom she had ever seen in dear america more than this she had the greatest respect l thin i could kill for and even in her unhappy condition ot mind she had no reason to avoid him their first conversation was upon the voyage they had both taken and upon the sights they had thus far seen i trust you left your father well he ventured finally yes except for his great depression of spirits you she indicated her garments to explain what she did not like to put into speech you have heard he bowed with an air of grave sympathy do you intend to remain in europe long i have no settled plan she as she said it for it seemed as if he could read her thoughts although i have joined

mrs s party i do not mean to remain with it beyond a a certain time then you will return this winter perhaps no that is not certain she seemed so confused that he hastened to relieve her by saying that he supposed her plans were like those of other travellers on circumstances he asked however that he might have the privilege of calling upon her occasionally while she remained in london and of her to some cf the places of interest he was very courteous about it and she readily responded that she should be glad to have him do so you have been through a great deal of he said and your best way now is to vary your life all you can i too have received a blow harder perhaps than you think although you mu t have known that i cared very much for her i kept the my sentiments closely hidden and i believe real depth was never suspected by you any more than by miss when i read in the eagle that she that they were soon to be married he stopped alarmed had sunk back in h chair as if every of strength had left hei he sprang up saying that he would ring for assistance no she replied in so faint a voice that he could hardly hear her it is nothing i am quite recovered i regret said he that i alluded at all to a subject which could not fail to be painful in thinking of my own sorrow i did not take other things sufficiently into account but surely i have brought you no news she struggled with her emotions for a moment before she answered he is to marry you say i cannot doubt it not only the eagle but common report says so when i came away he was ill and she visited at his house daily you loved her he added gently she looked up at him mournfully loved her loved i love her still i shall write to her sending my how ghastly she grew my congratulations but i did not know mr that you cared for her no i never guessed that did you not then i succeeded in what i tried to do so long as there was the least possibility that wanted to win her i knew it would j useless to speak she contracted her brows in puzzled pain i could kill him t but it must have been something very recent he said you had no fear of his we were at school and after we came home he wondered what he ought to say to her knew you both so long before i did that i seemed to find no place ready for me that made me keep silence he looked at for a moment and then hi wrongs overcame him oh it is a wicked shame he cried hardly six weeks ago i met him in the wood one night and he told me with every appearance of earnestness that he cared for but one woman in the world and was you her breath came in short her countenance brightened yes yes she exclaimed it is his father who has influenced him continued she loves him too they have surrounded him with their toils she leaned toward him i must tell you something mr that you may understand the cruelty of my position we were engaged as honestly engaged as any couple could be why i had even in response to his repeated consented that we should have a secret marriage lest our parents should interfere and tear us apart he had spoken to a justice of the peace named who lives in wood and on the very next day after i last saw we were to be united he left me as happy and apparently as true as you could imagine and from that day x have never had a letter from him nor any whatever l ths london is net agreeing with mis he aid to mrs some days later how much longer do you intend to remain here with your party that is she answered we expect to go to the in jo but i do not know how much earlier we shall leave london i think her only trouble is that she has if you will be content mr to spend your at the hotel instead of in and galleries you will find her much better soon i am sure he blushed at the that he could thus easily control her movements i hope you are right he said and that all she wants is rest i shall certainly encourage her to take it to the fullest extent but i am afraid that she needs the fair skies of the south of france and that the london are her naturally happy disposition mrs looked at him she had recently received word by mail to encourage him in every way he went back to and found her so white that he was intensely alarmed this town is destroying you he exclaimed it is only a temporary affair replied though the pain in her face did not bear ou the statement i shall be better soon what is the matter he asked kindly tell me she started at the unexpected question he is here in london with her she slowly her eyes growing stony as she spoke i saw the names in the register he will marry her i m l i kill b expect it dear dear i can not even throw my poor arms about her neck and breathe the wish i have god knows i have it that she will be happy i dare not trust myself to see her it is useless to deny it to you i love him at this moment as much as i ever did could i ask a great favor of you one which i can ask

of no one else one that i would not think of asking did i not believe in the and of your nature he trembled with apprehension but he said she could ask him what she wished and he would pledge himself in advance to do it you say i am ill she went on after a pause it is true there is no need of calling a physician for i am not possessed of any malady that he could cure in a week from to day i shall be better or i hall be dead yes i dreamed of it last night it will be one or the other now what i ask of i know how much it is to ask is this if i do die go to the sobs came again and nearly choked her utterance go to him and tell him where i lie in in my ask him to come to me just for a minute it will be no wrong to her i shall be dead and no matter what you may think don t blame him don t do anything to take away the chance of happiness that he will have with her she left the room abruptly unable to say another word and he sought mrs with a gloomy countenance miss is hysterical to night he said sin needs extra care you must not leave her alone i think i could kill him he added mentally as fee went down the steps of the house into the at feet the chapter xxx on the to london the visits of to the bedside of added to the confusion of mind into which he had been thrown by the extraordinary events of the previous few days weak from the illness which had been coming on for some time more or less under the influence of the which his father persisted in giving him in minute quantities notwithstanding the warning of dr and conscious that he had not treated well accepted her with few words beyond those of whenever he had strength enough to form impressions his mind turned to who must he thought be anxious about him and to whom he would gladly had there been any way have sent some message the still unchanged character of his affection one day it even occurred to him to ask to carry this word to her and then it came upon him like a that he had the double task of the distress of and soothing the injured feelings of his new nurse he saw that he was in danger of doing something foolish if he attempted anything in his feeble condition and he from forming plans preferring to wait until he could be about and decide with the full use of intelligence it was on the second day that he was able to wa i out of doors that he took his way to the summer off to loth house in the hope to find where he had left her his father knew well that this would probably be his move and knowing that the cottage was locked he did not try to stop him in this useless journey crept weakly through the path in the wood and tried the gate which was securely fastened he went to the nearest point at which the house approached the fence and called in a low tone then when nothing but the echo of his own voice answered him he turned wearily away and started for his home reaching there greatly fatigued in body and discouraged in mind the exertion compelled him to remain in doors for several days as soon as he could bear the strain he obtained writing and the letter which mary afterwards sent to and which her father it was easy to get this to the for the farm hands had no orders in relation to his correspondence and his father did not know or suspect what he was doing but when a week passed and no reply was received began to experience the greatest uneasiness dr declared that something must be done to calm his mind or he would fall into a brain fever with possibly dangerous results he needs a change of scene said the physician as soon as he is able to travel he ought to be taken away from here the county eagle contained a long article upon the death of mrs in the true country manner the virtues and high character of the deceased the paper containing this which at the same time stated that miss had gone to he east and would remain there some time was placed purposely where it could not help semi by he was much shocked by the news but experienced a sort of comfort in it as it explained to a certain extent the absence of any reply to his letter he had no doubt that as soon as the first flush of her grief was over would write and he tried to content himself to wait but the courage which he acquired was not to be of long duration for in a subsequent number of the same journal he found an item stating that she had gone abroad to finish her education and would not return probably for a number of years the paragraph giving this information was partly the result of ingenious on the part of the of the eagle but its effect on was most pronounced at first it him and then it aroused his fury he see nothing but that had deserted him when he was helpless from illness without even the formality of a written or spoken word gone abroad to remain for years was ever anything so thoroughly heartless could this be the had known had his brain under the effect of illness played him a trick were all those sweet memories mere illusions of a imagination he tried to think had she not lain in his

arms with her lips to his and her hair wound around his eyes that he might not see the that her cheek a deeper color than had her form with youth never been clasped to his heart had she never whispered to hi glowing and had they never sworn to each other that life itself should be too short u prove their constancy v thb to london when was this a month ago by the a century by the suffering that the separation had given him could he be mistaken was it not true that she had urged that he hasten the day when she might vow her life to him had he never arranged with to come and satisfy the demands of custom it was all as clear to him as the sun shining there in the sky he had agreed with the official to meet him and he had told that the day was set what then why yes he had met his father in the wood and after that came had waited for him and the justice and when he did not arrive she had shown the of her love by suspecting him of the death of her mother had taken her to new york and afterward hearing nothing from him taking it for granted that he had deserted her she had concluded to go abroad what a specimen of the of woman there could have been nothing like the passion which animated him in her breast or she would never have jumped at conclusions in such a reckless manner thus the bitter reflections through his brain for hours after he read this paragraph and he saw no ray of comfort anywhere on the horizon when one has nothing to do but think and think and think one s mind is apt to lead him astray when one is rising from a sick bed one s brain is easily persuaded of whatever appears on the surface of things passed through agonies of regret for the girl he had lost agonies of remorse for the wrong he had done her and agonies of rage for the cold way in which she had taken her thk g self out of his reach his self love his conscience his desire for her presence him one after the other each taking its turn until he did not know what he thought or what he wanted out of the chaos only one thing loomed clear on his vision had gone and remained gentle sweet tender patient not a word of love had passed between them during these days when she had come to cheer his loneliness bringing that one ray of light into his life now tied to such narrow limits what could he do to reward such sweet devotion ought he to permit it to go on he had no strength to solve this problem it pleased his father to have her there and the bright smile on her countenance as she entered his room showed that it gave her pleasure to come had gone and remained he could remember when he had told cliff that he did not know which one of them he loved best he looked back now on his mad with when he had dared everything to be by her side had he chosen his path would have been as smooth as a sea of summer why had his fancy enveloped the other with all glories till he could see nothing in this girl who had loved and still loved him with a flame that no wind of circumstance could lessen then he went back again in memory to those evenings in the summer house what right had to lift him to heaven and then drop him into the depths of hell he wanted to see her once more and discover what had wrought this awful change but the thought of being again in her presence threw him into another fr er he did not ok thb way to know whether he should her with willing or unwilling or drive a knife into that now false heart that had beaten to his through the fair breast that him colonel and mr were pleased when upon approaching the subject delicately to him they found that he was quite willing to take a journey to the old world said he should go too as he had always wanted to see europe and the season of winter was the only one he could well spare for that purpose was to accompany her father and understood that this was decided upon wholly without reference to himself on the whole he was glad she was going he dreamed that it would be possible in those quiet days that they would pass on the sea to have tbe honest talk with her that he had meant to have for months past for there was no moment during this time that viewed as a possibility in marriage that might have been once but now their paths had it was too late to change things he had been too far on the other road ever to return the voyage was day after day sat with on the deck where their fathers left them to themselves with approbation acquired physical strength but the courage that he hoped for to tell that he had loved and lost and never could love again to her this in the delicate way that he felt was her due did not come to him there was something in allowing her to go on under the belief that things were different but try as he might he was unable to set her right thb ct john had many talks with colonel the burden ol which was that all that was needed was a little time the boy has been very sick you know he said u he will recover rapidly over here they will be thrown constantly together and only one result

mind his father found him when he came to have a final talk upon the situation thb bj m it is time that i spoke to you plainly he with that hard cold ring to his voice that his son had of late learned to know so well you have now been in england nearly a month what excuse can you find for longer your marriage i know what you will say that you do not love it is enough that she loves you and that you have given her every reason to think she is to be your wife there is no honorable way now in which you can escape making good the understanding you have had with her she is a beautiful girl the marriage will make me happy and relieve us all try to think of this as your duty and it will seem easier was too to answer for some minutes there was no avenue open to him in any direction except the one his father pointed out perhaps he sadly thought they were all right and he was wrong had turned her back upon him deliberately the only friend he had thought it possible could aid him had either gone from london or had to answer his letter imploring assistance if he could not hope for happiness himself here was at least a way in which he could impart it to others let me think of it till to morrow he said at last settle it to day it is much better was the reply say that i may arrange for the will be an entirely private affair and that will relieve me of the constant fear that i may be placed in the position of a to a gentleman and his daughter who have been the soul of kindness to both of us tell me that you will go to and ask her to name the earliest hour when you may a cry help carry out the promises that you made months and months ago the young man wavered and then consented to all that his father had asked it repaid him to some degree when his parent grasped him by the hand with a cordiality the like of which he had never known him to show and thanked him warmly having made up his mind felt an for which he was not prepared he had been for so many weeks in a state of uncertainty that it relieved him to have his course decided even though it was not the one on which he had fixed his mind he went to who was in her own apartments and surprised her by an affectionate embrace as she opened the door to him in quite his old manner tempered only by such as the occasion might well demand he told her that he hoped she would be ready for the ceremony that was to unite them as soon as the could be arranged there were few preparations necessary the plan was to send out for some non clergyman and take the vows quietly she had no to procure and no list of friends to invite all this was talked over and before he left her the day was set for the following thursday he returned to his father who anxiously awaited him and reported what he had done and john went at once to colonel and communicated the information the reader who is inclined very properly to the parents of these young people for their conduct should reflect that similar means have been used in all ages of the world to accomplish similar the ton ends and that the intended happiness of ihe ones to be married has been in most cases the reason alleged had his revenge against to satisfy but the colonel thought of nothing but the future of his daughter the fact that she loved was enough for him once united there would be he fully believed no between them to s doubts he always replied that s illness was responsible for everything that was strange in his manner and that she might be sure that all the clouds that lowered above them would disappear in the fair sunshine of their wedded life until the morning of his marriage day arrived did not give up hope of hearing from that was the only chance that now remained to him he looked in his box with eagerness rising before the others to make sure that he got whatever was sent to him but nothing came feeling that no other course was now open he put on the best face he could as he entered the presence of the clergyman a chill came over him and he feared lest the others should hear the chattering of his teeth when it was his turn to answer the questions put to him he showed much awkwardness but it was finally accomplished he had sworn before high heaven to take this woman for life for death in sickness and health and to keep himself unto her till death should them part may i kiss the bride it was john who asked it and looked up pale and trembling for she had noticed with pain that her husband in his had a help neglected to take that first kiss usually so eagerly sought by the newly wedded groom after she whispered and in spite of all she could do the tears came to her blue eyes heard her like one in a dream he kissed her and when both his father and hers had followed suit the clergyman left them had planned a little wedding breakfast but the condition of his son decided him against having it served he talked it over with colonel and they concluded that the best thing was to send the couple at once to another hotel where rooms had been engaged for them he handed a purse with more than the twenty pounds

he had so now alas too late to be of use and with a few words that bade him be of better courage said good by to him until the next day clung with something like fear to her father ere they separated and he had all he could do to restrain his feelings had hardly entered the carriage which was to take his bride and himself to their temporary abode before he had resolved as well as he was capable of upon anything that he would never this union the touch of the purse that he had in his pocket had aroused all the old dread of this marriage and awakened a determination to escape it would be cruel to desert this fair girl at such a time but would it be any less so months hence he knew that the separation would have to come sooner or later he realized how he had acted but he thought the best way now was to act up to his convictions no matter at what cost he liked as he had always done thb but alone had taught him to feel what was he had done a wicked act in standing up and uttering those lies but he would carry it no far ther unconsciously with the tenderest feelings in his mind for his bride he placed his arms about her as they rode through the crowded streets and she knowing nothing of what passed through his mind gratefully against his bosom but before they reached their new hotel he had decided upon the course he would follow they were shown to their a little parlor bedroom and beautifully furnished and here for the first time they found themselves wholly alone it was not a pleasant situation for him he did not mean to arouse her suspicions and neither did he intend to himself by indulging in those extra attentions which the logic of events might have seemed to demand the first thing he did was to order breakfast for neither of them had eaten anything except the smallest lunch that morning when the waiter said you ll ave it ere sir course he replied with due certainly not serve it in the breakfast room and me when it is ready he meant to be absolutely alone with his wife gods how that word sounded as little as he could after they had eaten breakfast which filled in the time remaining till nearly noon he proposed that they a long ride into the country and as she felt in duty bound to do he selected court though it was not the season when many visitors go thither because it would take a long time to go and return and he must dispose of the afternoon in some way they talked of the scenes through which they passed and examined the paint in the galleries when they arrived and no person who saw them imagined that they were wedded that day it grew rather dark before they reached home and he found his arm her again he liked her and he felt a sympathy for her and after all it could not do much harm at the hotel dinner was ready and both ate with fair he lingered as long over the and wine as he could find excuse for and then went slowly with her to the parlor they occupied i shall have to leave you for an hour or two he said immediately there is a little business that i have to attend to it may keep me out quite late you had best not sit up if you mind being alone oh no not at all she replied he stooped and kissed her and she met his lips he would have avoided it if he could but it seemed necessary then he went out into the streets and inquired of the first policeman he met the nearest way to the offices of the american the man knew enough of the locality to answer the question for one of the offices was very near the place where they stood accepted the directions given and started to walk to it his plan was to take the first boat of whatever line that sailed for the western shores before leaving london he intended to write a full statement of what he was about to do to colonel and his father he proposed to tell them that under no circumstances would he ever return to toe tou and that he hoped they would all forget him as soon as possible he meant to tell them his regret that he had not had strength of mind to refuse the union and that his only reason for his present course was that he did not love his wife as he felt a husband ought he meant to ask them to make the blow as light to her as they could and to assure her that he felt the shame of what he felt compelled to do when he reached the office he learned that there was no boat going before saturday this was something on which he had not counted it seemed to indicate that he would have to his departure until the next day and he wondered what he could do in the meantime if he went back to what excuse could he make to her for seeking another apartment illness that was not sufficient to part a wife and her husband her place would be by his side and she would demand it bitterly he regretted that he had not done what he ought at the start instead of getting into this what had become of the common sense that he had once surely there had been a day when he was not such a coward should he not go direct to and tell her the truth no anything but that he could not meet her eyes her horror stricken face but he

must do something what what what he went into a hotel and wrote the letter he had decided upon he walked after that through streets with the fearful question till the clock struck ten then he saw a carriage standing in front of a handsome residence and a man being forced down the steps and heard a cry for help where risk death chapter where women risk death seeking to find some relief from his own depression as well as from the constant strain which his meetings with now put upon him engaged the services of a guide and spent considerable time the parts of london into which the ordinary is not supposed to penetrate it is said that no one person knows the whole of that vast but this man came as near it as any one could he was a veritable of everything within ten miles of st paul s cathedral having made it a business to show strangers about ever since he was a very young man as had his father before him there s a house the business of which you would not be likely to suspect from the appearance of the exterior he said one day as they passed a handsome residence within a stone s throw of pall few of those who live in the neighborhood imagine what goes on within those quiet then he whispered the secret to who opened his eyes with astonishment and inquired why the police permitted such places to exist so openly rt they regard them as necessities responded the guide it is considered better that something of this kind should be allowed than that respectable families should find their names dragged in the mud i could though of course i would not give you th names of some ladies of the who hare been here here comes a carriage if we walk slowly we may see something a veiled lady alighted who gave directions to her driver to return in an hour and then silently vanished into the residence a little more careful than most of them commented the guide she is wise enough to her face was a good deal shocked but does not death sometimes p he asked y e s was the slow answer they take the risk of that i should be willing to that bodies are carried out of the rear exit once a month at least a certain proportion of the cases are fatal but bless you this is london it s a big city and they say that three hundred people go to the daily on the average shuddered and instinctively quickened his pace he wanted to get away from the vicinity it seemed to him the thing he had yet encountered he wondered if the lady who had just disappeared within those doors would be added to that horrible list of those who never came out alive he thought of that coachman waiting in vain hour after hour until a messenger came down the steps to say that he might go and he tried to think what report he would make to his master cruel heartless london in nothing had it seemed so terrible as in this den with its fair and shining front exposed to the smiling crowds who passed hour by hour never thinking of the within he did not know that every large city of his own america had just such places and that fortunes art by the doctors who this trade he had never the published every day by great newspapers which in their literary hold up their hands at books like thou shalt not and in s shadow he had never the books in the counting rooms of these journals showing sometimes as high as a hundred dollars a day thirty thousand dollars a year received from making the virtuous gentlemen who own the papers in a business which could hardly exist without their aid he was an innocent young man was and he thought london than new york or philadelphia or boston he was a very innocent young man or he would have known that take them by population the capital of great britain is in some respects at the rear of the fearful column could not get the house out of his mind and he found himself several evenings later in its vicinity as one where men have been or where have dashed their brains out on the pavement he marked the elegance of most of the carriages that came and went and the aristocratic bearing of the ladies who were the of the institutions occasionally a common cab was of the but it was conspicuous for its ordinary appearance and its driver usually drove off as soon as his fare had left h m knowing that she could easily engage another from the stream that constantly crowded the as he was about to turn away saw a veiled leave a carriage at the door and proceed up the th that at once his attention he could not tell for a moment what it was that startled him but he began to tremble violently and the perspiration started in heavy drops on his forehead there was something about the walk of the lady something about her figure that was strangely familiar he felt assured that he had seen her before but he could not at first tell anything more definite it must be merely a fancy he did not know personally ten women in england and how could he recognize this one out of all the throng that filled the vast city the lady disappeared at the and the door closed behind her the young man on the felt as if he was being he could hardly breathe he was sure the longer he thought of it that he knew the lady and he had an awful sense of guilt that he permitted her to enter the place without at least uttering a

word of warning but how could he have the to do that when he did not even know her name the veil over her face concealed her identity the carriage that brought her had gone its way there was no one to ask and the lady herself was out of his reach it must be imagination he started to walk away trying to make himself believe that he had allowed his senses to wander and then it came upon him like a no it was too ridiculous it could not be and all the in the world did not make it more likely he thought he would go to her hotel to make sure she was there and thus dismiss the foolish but if it were if by any combination of power she was the where women death who went up those steps the time he would lose in searching for her might be fatal how could it be and yet when did any two women seem so much alike what could send that country girl from the farming district of into such a den as this if it was she must be there under a she could not know the character of the house that his guide had described then he thought of the night when he met through the wood and he asked him to take his life he recalled what he heard at the meeting between him and his angry father it came back to him much quicker than it takes to tell it that had said she did not intend to remain long with mrs s party and had hesitated when he asked her what she intended to do next it might be there was one chance in a thousand that the resemblance was real it was his duty to risk everything to ascertain himself with a prodigious effort walked up the steps and entered the house the door being freely opened to him to the guardian of the he said he wished to speak to the lady who last entered his manner was not calculated to arouse suspicion and a little bell called a young woman who was directed to show the gentleman to room it was evident that he was supposed to belong to the lady for whom he had inquired and that there was con nothing extraordinary in his presence there tell her that she will have to wait some minutes said the woman with a foreign as she indicated the room they are very busy to night tow he handed the woman a sovereign for which she thanked him and withdrew how could he open that door if he were wrong his gentlemanly instincts made him dread meeting with a lady who would have good cause to think him a spy and an but if he were right ah it would be much harder to tell what to do then his trembling hand was on the door and in another second he was in the room it was none other stood at a mirror with her veil removed trying to the look of apprehension from her face when she heard the door open she turned supposing it to be an attendant it is not easy to describe her when she saw she took one step toward him and then sank upon the nearest sofa you must not faint he exclaimed with startling you must take leave of this house and not an instant is to be lost she had not fainted and she did not mean to there was a great deal of force in her when she was aroused and for weeks she had been preparing her mind for this ordeal take your hand off she said for he had grasped her by the arm nonsense he replied excitedly you wiu leave here at once and with me there are other ways of committing suicide than to put yourself in the hands of the wretches who own this house you cannot frighten me by talking of death he answered coldly it is welcome in any form it chooses to assume where women death he was astounded at the audacity of her words and the determination of her manner if you death he said at least die where it will not also bring disgrace disgrace she laughed you know i am here and you know why or you can guess is there any disgrace that can equal that besides they will give me a chance to redeem my name it is only a chance but it may succeed what can you offer better he talked to her with all the force that he could muster for the next five minutes and nothing that he said had the least effect on the determined he told her he would find he said he would furnish her all the money she needed if there was any want of funds to go as far away as she pleased until her trouble was over but he insisted that she must not her life she had an answer ready for every point that he made she was there and she would not go you can tell my father what you please she said you can put it in the newspapers if you wish i know you will do nothing of the kind it will not avail if you argue till one of the attendants of the place knocked at the door and then entered he looked surprised to see there u we have concluded said in a firm voice that we will leave here the lady is related to you said the man yes then found her voice ths ton it is not true p she exclaimed indignantly j he has no right to dictate what i shall do the man looked from one to the other and shrugged his shoulders you must settle it between you said he we are going said taking by the arm again

the hands of the attendant were raised you ought to know that this is no place for quarrels he said if your husband wishes you to go it is his affair give me twenty five pounds and retire quietly twenty five devils retorted he had not half the sum mentioned with him was trying vainly all this time to release s grasp which hurt her severely but he held her as in a there is ten pounds cried throwing down his purse it is all i have here and you must wait for the rest till i can send it make way we have wasted time enough he started to drag from the room but the attendant barred the way enraged beyond endurance struck the man a blow that him then taking the girl as if she were a bundle of straw he started for the outer door but here he had the door to deal with and the delay allowed the man who had been knocked down to arouse several of the other attendants who came running to the spot where was trying to escape with the unwilling girl seeing that it was becoming a serious matter released his hold on and struck out women s right and left he managed to get the door open in the me tee and to get outside of it but some of the servants who had been hit by his fists did not mean to let him off so easily they followed him and the battle was renewed on the steps being three to one they would soon have had him du combat had not aid come from an unexpected quarter a by seeing that three men had one down and were him without mercy sprang into the fight and turned the tide of battle what do you want to do kill him he asked assisting the prostrate figure to rise by this time others of the household had joined the party and seeing their friends by the new comer they set upon him like a parcel of wolves he had not time to put up his hands when a blow sent him to earth his head struck the aud he was immediately unconscious a policeman finally his way through the crowd the had previously scattered with he bent over the figure on the came from the residence being pushed out with no gentle motion the had received from her the balance of the sum they demanded but had declined to have anything more to do with a person who brought such discord into their house she tried her best to but he had her by the arm again and she did not like to make a scene in the street here is some one he said harshly whom you may wish to see s face was turned toward the sky and thb the blood that from the wound it sufficiently gave a smothered cry and threw herself upon the ground by his side she forgot her injuries in ihe presence of her beloved chapter god knows that i love you p do you know him asked the officer yes sir said if you will call a car i will take him to my hotel and procure the best attendance the officer and after some delay the matter was arranged by taking the injured man into the nearest physician s office that an examination might be had with the consent of the doctor was afterwards conveyed in an to s apartments where everything was done for him that skill could suggest it was a strange revolution that had come so suddenly to one so long filled with bitterness and who now finding hurt in his defence treated him as if he were a brother was crushed by the occurrence she accompanied the party to the hotel for she could not bear that should be taken out of her sight she explained to between her sobs that she had that day left mrs who had started for the and who had been instructed by mr adam that f lot tow to allow his daughter to remain in london if she preferred she had not told of her intention as she hoped to escape him and believed the easiest way was to let him think she had gone south with the rest of them as she had taken rooms at a new hotel there was no need of her hastening there and she wanted to help nurse back to consciousness and health did a good deal of thinking during the rest of that night for he did not close his eyes in sleep the doctor assured him that had received no hurt that would be lasting but the position in which he had found and the strange bringing of her and her lover together opened up a problem that required a great deal of study he knew that was in the city with his father with colonel and with he did not know that the marriage had already taken place or all his acts might have been different he endeavored to consider the matter apart from his own interests for he loved with all his heart and could not bear to think that she was to become s wife he tried to put himself aside and consider only the duty of toward this girl who now bent over his pillow in agony and whom he had driven to the edge of crime perhaps of death it was clearly s greatest obligation to right the wrong he had done loved him and unless he had greatly changed he cared more than a little for her when he knew what had happened he would see his duty thus thought and the long night wore away in the morning knew his friends though he was very weak they told him in a few word thb how they had found him hurt in the street and had brought

him there he was much surprised to see and together by noon he felt strong enough to ask the questions that rose to his mind and when he was alone with having retired to take the rest she needed he began his i can t talk much he said but tell me one thing is she your wife stared at him she who he asked why what an idea certainly not such a thing was never thought of we happened to meet accidentally just before we saw you upon your word he said upon my honor but you have always loved her never said that was your mistake the was satisfied though he could not understand the last denial have you my my father of my condition no but i shall do so as soon as you tell me where he can be found i would rather you did not i would like to hide here for awhile away from all of them away from too asked from her most of all i have no right to ask a favor of you but i do ask this i beg it i have written to them that they will not see me again keep me where none of them can find me till i am well enough to travel od knows that i you ft was a very peculiar request but wa quite willing to grant it an arrangement was made at once with the hotel to provide an extra of rooms and was assured that he was more than welcome to stay as long as he pleased talked with when she awoke and then he left the hotel with a very sober countenance he went to the office of the atlantic cable and sent a long he was uneasy as a fish out of water until the next day when a brief answer came the answer contained but one word yes but it was sufficient and could not remember any time in his life when he had felt so happy recovered rapidly under the kind care of his friend now his friend again surely his old sweetheart and the able physician who had been summoned he was alone a good deal with and it surprised her that he said so little about the past or the future but she had taken s advice and waited with patience till he should be quite well again as he assured her something was certainly going to happen eleven days after the from america had been received an envelope of large dimensions was delivered at the hotel addressed to mr that individual opened it and uttered a cry of joy as he its contents he lost no time in going to see who was up and dressed and occupied at the moment in reading a newspaper i am going to talk to you more solemnly than i ever did in my life was his greeting are you prepared to listen a silent affirmative was the answer he received the was somewhat alarmed by the words and manner of his host i have known you for five years said i have loved you hated you despised you in turn to day when i reflect what i have to tell i pity you there was no reply but the still figure was in attention you used to tell me that you could not tell which of two beautiful girls you cared for most one night i met you coming from one of them in a state approaching insanity when your mind cleared you told me that you had decided between these girls and that nothing could ever change your love from the one to whom you had given it afterwards you left her left her without a word of farewell since then and the public prints have announced that you were to marry the other one i do not know out of all this which of them you now believe dearest to you but do know that there is a reason and one that could not well be stronger why you should select the one you told me you loved that night in the wood at uttered a stifled cry of anguish i cannot spare you for i do not know how to put iy story into delicate phrase what i came to tell you is will be the mother of your child unless the tortured man had sprung to his feet my god he groaned he staggered a moment and then cried you have come too late no said calmly it is never too late to repair a wrong to save you and her i have com god know that i loth you p s a that could make me liable to if il is ever discovered in i have justice lo send me a he married you and nearly four ago here is ihe he look out ihe paper as he spoke for the sake of the honor of a lovely girl i have made myself a criminal she does not know yet it remains for you to tell her if you wish to profit by it heard the concluding statement eagerly it has been recorded he exclaimed as tar as the record goes i am the husband of precisely he fell on his knees and kissed the coat of his friend with the air of a before the shrine of his saint send her here he said gladly withdrew and in a few moments entered the room where was did you wish to see me she asked surprised at the of his manner yes he answered read this he handed her the of marriage and she read it through then she looked up with amazement written on every feature what does it mean then he told her gently as he could what had done and asked her if she would accept him i am your husband he said according to the laws of

you and to this sinful earth he went on during all my childhood during the early days of my manhood if indeed i have ever been worthy to be called a man i loved you both with such intensity that i could discover no difference between you i could not bear to contemplate the day when i should have to give either of you up out of that long struggle i emerged with my eyes partly opened i found that it was forgive me that it was she smiled for him to proceed saying only i know it it was that i could not live without he continued finishing the sentence why then did i not say so openly and honestly because my s the father s affairs the aid he had received from the colonel were known to me then mr did all in his power to keep and me apart i had my illness and you came to nurse me s mother s death took her away and letters which i wrote her were never answered i have since learned that she did not receive them and they were doubtless discouraged i came to england with you to see if i could regain my strength the way my father aided me in that is shown in an analysis that i have recently had made of the contents of this he took out the as he spoke and held it up before her astonished eyes this was the medicine he gave me three times a day the says it is of calculated to the judgment and to make him who takes it subject to easy influence while i supposed it was intended to build up my system it was really making of me a more creature than nature designed which god knows was unnecessary i knew as well as i knew i breathed that i had no right to marry you while my love was still s but i was in no condition to resist the strong mind that had determined to bend me to its will he had told me long ago that he would rather see me in my grave than the husband of the girl whose father he hated i am not trying to find an excuse for what i have done but only to let you see that there is after all a slight she leaned toward him with unmistakable sympathy i am very sorry for what you have suffered she an angel from heaven said sweetly you told me there was something more i am quite prepared he hesitated but was reassured by her manner don t despise me any more than you can help said he i had no right to marry you for another reason i i was married already she repeated the word already and looked dazed yes he handed her s and she grew radiant are you certain that your father will consent to let everything drop quietly he asked certain i can swear it then i am saved they talked together for the next half hour and his gratitude increased how can i ever thank you for your goodness he cried i do not wish thanks something makes me feel as if it were i who ought to thank you how can that be i have learned that i did not love you as i thought i did i liked you so well as the friend of my childhood and youth that i the sentiment for that of love had we lived together as husband and wife a few months i fear the knowledge would have come to me when it was too late to our steps told me once many years ago that she thought i would make a very nice old maid i have come to the conclusion that she was right she had arisen and he took her by the hand in an of delight if i can feel in the midst of my own happiness the he said that it has not been purchased at the cost of yours there will be nothing left for me to desire you may feel it said for i am convinced that it is true now before i go can you not send for that i may assure her also how much i desire that you both should be happy he went to a table and took up a pen but stopped before he had begun to write you are sure you will say nothing to cause her distress he asked she has suffered enough poor child already trust me he looked into the calm blue eyes and went on with his writing the note in an envelope he rang for a messenger and despatched it when came he met her in another apartment and revealed to her the situation she begged for some time that he would not ask her to see but finally consented and the two girls came into each other s presence an hour later found them with their arms about each other s necks as he had seen them a thousand times in the old contented days we understand everything said with her finger on her lips and there is nothing more to say as he looked at them thus the feeling of the past came back foi an instant he wanted both of them and dreaded the opening of the door that was to send one away but he looked again at and knew she was the only one whose loss he could not bear have been telling your wife said and she saw that both of them shrank as if she had as heave struck them that you ought not to think of returning to the united states for another year if you dislike to waste the time you should have devoted to study it is easy to send for a box of law books and read at your leisure there are

pleasant and places on the shores of the where you can finish the winter and there are villages to the north where you can pass the heated term that follows and shall we ever see you he asked for it seemed like parting from a guardian angel perhaps she answered cheerfully it will depend on how well you behave is to to me often giving a minute account of your con she left them at that going alone to her carriage saying that she preferred it when she had been away an hour or so cliff came and was told of what had happened and you let her go without telling me she was here he exclaimed excitedly well if i ever da anything tor you again the chapter saved by a miracle the concluding chapter of a novel is like the of a school girl s letter there are so many things to say that one is almost sure to forget the most important of them ten years have passed since the occurred and the secret has been well kept outside of those intimately concerned only you and i my dear reader have ever learned of it and we are too honorable to what we know john will not reveal it either he was so affected when he heard that had really married daughter that he fell into a fever in london and died there his son came to his bed side but he dismissed him with curses and so ended his life if a parent s blessing be necessary for success on this earth will meet with losses by and by at present he seems to be doing very well indeed and otherwise he never went back to when he had finished a year in europe he went with his wife and child it would not do to forget the little fellow to new york and completed his law studies there after which he entered a pushing firm and achieved success in the profession he told when she came a long time after to visit them that he had always tried to give his talents to the side of right but feared he had sometimes made a mistake he lives in a residence of his own on seventy second saved by a miracle street it is unnecessary to mention the number and three children who look like him climb into the pony wagon at his door with their nurse and mother on pleasant and take a ride in the park when came to see them she did not come alone there i hear you exclaim i knew that was the way it would turn out well of course you did but i must tell the truth for all that has become but then you have followed his career as well as i prominent at the bar leader of his party in the assembly of his state and then member of at thirty two everybody knows that but everybody does not know that he once a justice of the peace to issue a false marriage we know it but then it was one of those wrong things which do so much good that a man ought not to be blamed too severely for them and made it right with their by taking the solemn vows before a minister in an italian village and the record certainly saved the reputation of a girl who though she did love has made one of the best of wives there are two old men of who are attached friends rarely spending an evening when they are there except in each other s company people remember when there was a temporary coldness between them but that passed away a since both of them go away quite often to see their married daughters and there are no more highly respected in all the country side thus we dispose of our principal characters happiness seems to reign among them and yet the o young and foolish reader do you think that has not followed step by step each of the moral law of which any of them have been guilty do you believe that an hour passes when does not wish from the bottom of her heart that one page in her life could be blotted out she has not quite the courage that she would have had to look all the world in the face and there are times when her sweet cheek because some lady in her presence raises her voice to a wanderer from the fold i was saved by a miracle she whispers to herself but for s bravery and s sacrifice i might have been even as those despised ones tm new books and new john marsh s millions a novel by charles and arthur mo cloth illustrated new faces a volume of eight stories by these stories first published in the saturday evening post woman s home companion and apple tons ine now in book form i mo cloth illustrated the house on a novel by r h hazard i mo cloth illustrated fr o a novel by wm m author of etc cloth illustrated children of destiny a play in four acts by cloth illustrated paper covers cents the of jewels a story by cloth the silver king from the great play by alfred i mo cloth illustrated and gold a new novel by author of everybody s secret i mc cloth illustrated he red flag by author of the a power fully dramatic story of the conflict between and men i mo cloth the a novel by l illustrated t ch i mo cloth in old a founded on the famous play by edward cloth op the lakes by r author ol same doth illustrated by right of conquest a powerful romantic novel by arthur au of novel the lion and the mouse the end of the game the etc x mo doth bound illustrated when i am

a wonder of wonders that time has made such a king out of the happy go lucky chap i used to know at school when you first began to talk like this to me i thought it merely a new phase of the old humor i remembered so well but you have kept it up till i actually am compelled to believe you really mean it i should think such fellows as you would keep away from a place like paris if you had your way it would be a nice city to live in wouldn t it not a fountain not a monument not a flower bed nothing but one dreary dead level of equality as turned toward his companion his dark eyes kindled how you us harry not a monument if i governed france or rather if i were the representative of the people who ought to and will yet govern her i would place a monument in that very place de greater and that sign of the that now it instead of bearing titles that tell only of blood and it should be covered with the names of the men of all countries who have achieved true glory in the arts and it should the grandeur of peace and prosperity rather than the brutal murder of brethren at the whim of a i would tear down that s image and in its place present the of shakespeare and of and the new arch should teach the children to reverence the name of who invented the telegraph of who introduced in europe the first types of who the press of who the art of sewing it should tell to the world to whom we owe the theory of which has prevented the of countries the that lull to sleep the senses formerly with pain during operations think of the glories that a genuine arch of triumph might bear and then compare them to this pitiable tale of the most disgraceful page of history in so called civilized times most of the men you speak of have also their monuments interposed yes assented quickly i wish they could be ranged in a row by the side of that one yonder so that you could mark the contrast it would take the stone in all of them put together to reach half way to the top of this tribute to one man and the generation that is growing up judges their relative importance by just such visible signs as these everywhere is the lesson taught that no one is so deserving of as the successful soldier go to london and see which is the monument s which is second to it s here it is s follow the sun around the earth and see if it is not the same except where some hereditary king has given the preference to himself or one of his worthless ancestors and you and your will never change it either remarked ah my dear boy how silly it is of you to take all the wrongs of mankind on those not too broad shoulders of yours and set about the task of trying to right such a tangled mess as this world presents here we are in the city of paris the loveliest spot the feet of civilized man is permitted to tread the sky above our heads is blue the air we breathe k thanks to one of those you is thb place l hate so much we can drive along a hundred broad avenues or through a score of well shaded well paved well lit at night equipped in short with everything necessary to our peace and comfort with his beautiful napoleon rests in his palace at the enjoying the legitimate results of his daring and successful attempt to his uncle s throne from the princes who like their cousins the their usefulness i know what you are going to say that he took the throne not from other crowned heads but from the people at the time of the d mat i will admit that there was a little in the proceeding but as go eighteen years or so gives a very good title he is at any rate in the saddle and if you were to try to him you would not find it an easy thing now what has he done to deserve his place in imitation of the roman emperor he found paris of brick and he will leave it to his son of stone he found it full of lanes and he has made it a city of superb distances he has proved his capacity to govern these much better than they could govern themselves and if you will pardon me for the suggestion speaking to you as to a stranger in these parts it would seem much more becoming in you to enjoy the treat he has spread out than to growl at everything you see like a smiled for the first time i never supposed i was deserving of such a comparison as that he said but seriously harry how could any reform be brought about if all were to follow the rule you lay down how could greece or have escaped the foreign yoke how it not s could the american colonies have become a nation except by first expressing in vigorous language the wrongs under which they suffered it was only after the people had been aroused by those who could not be kept silent that they put their enemies to flight opened his blue eyes in mock astonishment then you believe in war after all he cried m you do think it proper to shed your brother s blood occasionally without doubt was the immediate n when freedom is the issue if that arch we have just left had been reared to a washington a or a it would not awake my contempt though peace has produced many nobler names than either

don t stare at me like that harry i am fully aware of what i am saying i have sufficient pride in the name of the father of his country who was much more than a great soldier but i maintain that did a higher service for the human race than washington when in his at discovered the way to make a successful sewing machine he achieved a greater thing than can be to it is not the fashion to over these men it is not before such old that the world falls in speechless adoration to bring out the real enthusiasm of the people you need a general whose hands are red with the blood of a hundred thousand hearts that they are when will they learn that the men whom they are their greatest enemies most of the beauties of the drive the friends were taking were lost to them on account of the animated nature of their argument but at this moment a turn or the place l in the road brought them opposite to a particularly lovely sheet of water and they were compelled to pause for a moment in silent admiration it has just occurred to me what it is that you in the course you are taking said with a trace of mischief in his eyes when they had passed the object which distracted their attention you are consumed with envy you have an intense desire to see your own name across the top of some arch of the future as one of the most distinguished men of this age not being a soldier you could hope only for the common oblivion as things are at present arranged under the system you advocate however the invention which you have just and for which you are now in europe would secure you a in one of your arches of fame yes you are by the merest selfishness after all with your high flown ideas you are really no than the rest of us the of his friend instead of causing merriment in face only made it grow suddenly graver no harry he said i have not the least desire for admiration i do not wish any monument to record my name nor what i have succeeded in it is enough for me to feel that i have made a discovery or rather a new application of an old one that will the labors of coming millions if i had invented a or a new that destroy twenty men where the old of war would kill but one i could not take equal satisfaction yet it is the who wear the and the school children forget the is her husband s names of the and the almost as soon as they learn them declined to become serious no matter how great the provocation his view of life was to extract all the honey there was in it and forget the as soon as possible is there anything in this beautiful paris that exactly suits you he asked with delicate irony yes replied brightening this where i saw yesterday a great company of merry children in all the abandon of as they are never allowed to on a sunday in america i am delighted with this broad stretch of land and water and forest just at the door of that great where nature has been interfered with as little as possible consistent with comfort and where there is no unreasonable limit to the enjoyment of the poorest who has not one foot of other soil where he can the sweet repose that come with grass and trees and pure air this park is to me all admirable within a stone s throw of the that are a continual of a long and quarrel the poor or the little men and women of the future may easily imagine themselves in the heart of some country district a hundred miles away the grown up frenchman knows how to play a thing americans have never learned i saw here yesterday hundreds of families from the eldest son or daughter to the baby who had not yet learned to creep i marked how easily they seemed to forget their troubles and abandon themselves to the of the hour and then i thought how could i help thinking of the laws that stand ready to take the best years of those sons ik the l f if those years which in our more favored land are regarded as necessary in getting a start in the real business of life in a worse than useless service he is destined to pass from three to seven years of his youth learning to kill the neighbors he ought to cultivate as friends at the command of a ruler whom he did not help to choose he will go forth to men who never injured him or his giving and taking death wounds as if they were things the mothers and the wives will dim their sad eyes with weeping the sisters will be condemned to harder toil because of the support taken from them and so the frightful ghastly farce will go on until he paused so long that his companion felt it almost necessary to prompt him until you were saying until some great unselfish soul arises strong enough to teach the people the folly of which they have been guilty for ages virtuous enough to command their confidence and love and brave enough to sacrifice himself if need be to the lesson he has taught assumed an air of conviction and struck his companion lightly on the shoulder as if he had just thought of something of the greatest importance my dear fellow he cried with mock enthusiasm you are the very man i exclaimed starting you certainly was the reply still in an assumed tone of seriousness you are all that you describe brave unselfish virtuous strong put yourself at the head

too outrageous or an especially maker of speeches to favor foreign parts with his presence but in most cases his enemies are left at liberty to drink to his discomfiture as often as they please and thus they go on treason with their coffee and their bread with against the best government they ever had it is the only kind of butter most of them can afford said smiling is not able to have many luxuries you know cried the other rather he is a surly fellow who dares look no man in the face and is never satisfied with anything no govern husband s friend ment could make an open hearted honest man of him he is always a never a foe to excite admiration butter what does he want of butter brandy is his meat and au is his drink i tell you if napoleon ever finds himself compelled to cope with these wretches he may blame the too policy he is pursuing but here we are at the hotel and what ought to have been a delightful drive has been quite spoiled by your senseless arguments the two friends smiled into each other s faces in a way that seemed to imply that it would take much more than a difference in political belief to strain their warm relations as they passed up the hotel steps together linked his arm in that of i am sorry harry he said in a more than way if i have spoiled the afternoon for you i fear i am becoming a very disagreeable companion several times lately i have solemnly resolved not to inflict my theories on you where they are so evidently wasted but each time something has occurred to arouse my indignation to day it was the arch of triumph saturday it was the emperor his troops to morrow it will be something else unless you are willing to risk a repetition of the same thing at unpleasant intervals we must decide to make our other about the city separately laughed merrily we will try it a little longer i think he said before we resort to such a heroic measure i despair of you to anything at all reasonable but perhaps we can reach some plane of mutual forbearance we might agree to make only mental w the de l comments where there is the least possibility of a difference of opinion thus they walked up the stairs to their several rooms at the doors of which they parted to prepare for dinner half an hour later they met again and proceeded to the large dining room where they took seats in a corner that had a window from which they could look out upon the public street there is one thing we can never differ about at least said as he finished the soup tht french are the best in the world and their are in quality as he spoke he filled his glass and raised it i am going to propose a toast though i know i shall have to drink it alone to napoleon iii emperor of the french may his reign be long and glorious a street band broke in upon the speaker with a somewhat rendering of the hymn smiled significantly as he noted it and filling his own glass he rose reverently in his place to the french nation he said in a voice dis enough to be heard in any part of the room may it soon cast off its royal and govern itself as a great republic perhaps there was no present who understood the language in which these words were spoken perhaps the of to allow their to eat and drink what they please even to may have influenced some who understood and said nothing be that as it may no one paid the least attention the two americans resumed their dinner and were soon on other subjects as if there had never been one on which their sentiments were so opposite they would have laughed that day had any one predicted that they could ever seriously quarrel chapter ii a modern in the town of in the state of not the on the maps of to day but a quite different one now called by another name a pleasant dwelling stood like s somewhat back from the village street in four or five acres of land reserved for the exclusive use of its occupants the house was at least fifty years old as the style of its architecture showed but there had been many modern improvements added since it came into the possession of its present owner that greatly increased its comfort according to the notions of the present day the single had been extended till it enclosed three sides of the edifice several bay windows of appearance improved the view of the inmates and lent a to the exterior of the edifice inside the rooms were large as was the fashion of our ancestors and the was not too high for easy warming in winter stairs ascended occasionally in unexpected and single steps were found where no reason could be assigned for the sudden change in there was no gas for had not thought necessary to indulge in this luxury in any a modern it part of her neither was there running water from street for a similar reason but there were many agreeable looking hanging lamps and a in the supplied by a force pump allowed hot and cold water in the kitchen and to the admiration of all the who had been permitted to witness its workings the chimneys were as large as any could desire and the window panes as small as any of queen anne could ask the furniture was a mixture of old and new and an air of ease quite different from that of many country homes pervaded the entire establishment the grounds were divided between lawn and garden with

not want you to cease coming and if there is no other way to arrange it i will see that the children are kept in another part of the house when you are here the of disposition which had become an part of the old maid could not be kept from the surface i don t think you want me to come she said as they entered the parlor where she took nevertheless a seat on the edge of one of the chairs and sat as bolt upright as any be frank niece say the word and i promise not to trouble you with my presence again i hope i shall never say that said mrs am under great obligations to you for the kind care you gave me when i was left without i cannot forget what you did for me as a child but aunt i am now a wife and a mother i feel a sort of guilt to have permitted my child to listen to such words about her father as you have more than once used in her presence this morning it was worse than usual and i cannot endure it in spite of the firmness of her tone tears filled her eyes the presented to her was a very sad we to the girl for she had no intimate a modern outside the narrow circle of her relations consisting solely of miss and the s bachelor brother you are a and you ought to have some responded the aunt more kindly had you begun right with that man you could have taught him his duty but now i fear it is too late it may be necessary for him to travel as much as he does though to tell the truth i don t believe it but if you are his wife he could sometimes take you with him what is the matter is he ashamed of you he could hardly treat you with less respect if you were a sudden gleam in the eyes of her niece warned her that she might go too far in this direction i tell you again that i am satisfied and i cannot see why you should trouble yourself so much you are satisfied repeated miss do you think you can make any one believe that what sort of a married life is it that you lead he is gone months at a time he tells you whatever story he pleases and you swallow it i love him and trust him said the wife proudly well i don t was the sharp reply you do not know what he is doing these long months that you never set eyes on him mrs but she did not i understand your she answered and i them absolutely miss leaned toward her and spoke in a low voice if i could show you she began you cannot you know you cannot cried the wife greatly roused it is cruel of you to make such statements i cannot listen to them you must excuse me for the first time in all their acquaintance she the room overcome by her feelings and miss had the pleasure of herself to the door but the seed the cursed seed of suspicion had been planted and it was to grow until its always bitter fruit should load the spreading branches of the tree chapter hi was it for this you married miss was a well known figure in and her brother was hardly a less one together for nearly forty years the couple both hopeless from matrimonial felicity had lived under the same roof attended the same church held the same opinions eaten the same food it was generally understood in that miss was the man of the house as the term was used and that her brother was nothing more than her shadow her orders as if he were a hired man instead of the real owner of record of all the property they enjoyed in common when their father died he willed every penny of his estate ally to his two sons leaving it to them to provide for the solitary daughter if they might choose to do so the younger b u s father took his ef the money to the city invested tin business it ft this you made quite a name for a few years and then saw everything swept away in one of those financial that come to clear the horizon as do to clear the atmosphere of the western states he returned to one day and announced to his sister for even then it was recognized that only did as she bade him that he had sunk his capital and wanted to raise twenty five thousand dollars with which to recover his position tradition had it that when she refused to risk the amount he went back with his heart broken and only lived six months his young widow struggled along on the proceeds of a small life policy for a few years and then she too gave up the fight was ten years of age when her aunt took her to her solemn home in where the stillness and the absence of other young people bore heavily upon her naturally spirits miss was now according to the standard a rich woman always remembering that she had not a single penny s worth of property standing in her own name was supposed to be worth rising one hundred thousand dollars carefully invested in of he always demanded the full pound of flesh that was in his carefully drawn bonds and if a little extra of blood resulted surely that was the fault of the men who did not know enough to manage their affairs successfully he was a gentle harmless sort of without the least ill feeling for any person in the world but who had certain business ideas not wholly peculiar to himself which were wholly opposed

to anything like of time o web id s notes or mercy to in any other l he cultivated of the acres he owned only a little garden that supplied his table with vegetables and managed by the sweat of other men s brows not merely to live but to add handsomely to his earthly possessions all that he had was his by the law but it was his sister s as far as its disposition was concerned when some farmer or small wanted an accommodation he never went to to ask it he saw miss and made known the circumstances of the case and received the reply that she would see what her brother had to say every one of them knew that she would tell whether to lend the money or refuse it and that the laws of the and would be a very simple thing compared with getting her to reverse a decision but there was one part of the business with which miss always professed to have nothing at all to do when the lent were to be called in and the parties were not ready to pay she preferred to have her brother bear the entire of the affair her only reply to those who called on such errands was that she knew nothing about it and that they must see they all learned in time that the of a mill wheel were quite as much open to argument as he but the first time each one made this discovery there was apt to be a very interesting scene at the the of to day who has seen his hundreds turn to thousands with one from the electric current and perhaps thousands turn to hundreds with equal rapidity may smile at those who think themselves content with the slow of money at six or seven per cent but wai it for this married d knew that sums so invested would double in a dozen years and that the result thus obtained would double again in another dozen years and so on he was not averse either to accepting a larger rate where the security was satisfactory and his grew like the in s orchard until he was one of the solid men of his town at the breaking out of the civil war he had seen bis opportunity like many another he had confidence in the government and gathering in all the money he could raise he bought united states bonds in gold though purchased with and bearing gold interest at the rate of seven and three per cent perhaps he took a hand also at some other things done in those days of which the less said the better several years after the end of the war he noticed hat the farms on which he still held in price and he set about calling in all of his on that species of property a specimen scene at the house occurred on day that miss had the unpleasant experience with her niece recorded in the preceding chapter and a brief of it may be of interest to the reader she was sitting silently with her brother in their little sitting room late in the afternoon when a knock was heard at the door miss as was her habit went to meet the visitor who proved to be one of the named on whose land mr begging pardon for a title which the smallest boy in would have scorned to use held an miss bowed quietly and allowed the new her husband s comer to enter the room where her brother and offered him one of the wooden chairs it s mr was miss s sole remark as she resumed the position by the window which she had recently glad to see you mr said cordially mr was not as calm as was either his host or hostess he was in fact considerably distressed and his face was a mirror of his emotions he hesitated how to begin his errand and looked at miss who seemed of his presence it s been a fine day said at last to encourage him i thought at one time there was going to be a shower but it cleared off again the wind j around to the south ard and i guess that ll keep it off a spell longer i see you ve advertised my place for sale said mr thinking it as well to come to the point at once well yes sir responded cheerfully yes sir i i have sir the visitor repressed his excitement with difficulty i can t help saying i am surprised he rejoined it is the first time the interest has been behind and you have had my note for eleven years yes sir yes sir assented the unmoved i can t get it before next month do the best i can continued the i came and told you o i have had sickness in the house and there was a good deal of medicine to buy you know my youngest boy had the fever was it you yes sir yes sir said mildly i hope he is better now sir he is a fine boy sir the father was by this compliment for it touched him in a tender spot but he returned to the subject at issue i shall bring you the interest next month but the cost of the and serving will come hard on me when i came and told you how it was i certainly thought you meant to wait yes sir yes sir mr glanced at miss in the vain hope that there might be help in that direction but she sat like a image with her face turned toward the street if i get the interest by next week will stop the proceedings he asked desperately mildly behind his hand the hem the note itself is also he answered slowly the note you don t

mean to press the payment of the principal exclaimed mr the perspiration breaking out all over him why the security is perfect the note doesn t half cover what i paid for the place you know that as well as i yes sir yes sir came the answer i know it sir but i am calling in all my in to invest them in another place yes sir mr looked at and then at his sister by the window again who might have been made of wood for all she seemed to notice anything that was going on around her he wa overpowered by the situation if you demand the principal of the note i owe her husband s you at this time it will simply ruin me he said in tones i could no more raise that money than than i could fly to the moon i put six hundred dollars in there to begin with and i have spent as much more in improvements i shall lose it all yes sir an inclination to into came over mr but he repressed it with the greatest difficulty you can t mean it he said instead trying to force a smile we ve we ve been good friends too long yes sir to be turned out of our home at my time of life would be mighty hard on me and my family yes sir it is rather hard sir u ah exclaimed mr then you won t do it i thought you couldn t be so hard hearted will bring your interest promptly on july and i won t ever get behind again even if i have to sell a cow though i should hate to do that as milk is now our main support he rose from his much relieved you won t do anything about it now will you yes sir i shall have to to sin i in fact hem i need the money ir mr could stand it no longer when the last grain of hope was thus taken away he poured out the of his wrath on the head of his with all the fury of a desperate man why you old he cried you ought to be and you haven t as much heart in you as there is in a piece of stone need this money you old liar you have enough laid was tt fox this you by to bury a thousand old like you and that is all the use you ll ever have for any of it you have robbed the poor men of this town for forty years taking their little to swell your own pile driving and to the if you d had your deserts they d have hung you to one of your trees long ago or burned you in a made of your own if i were to break this chair over your head the people of would pass me a vote of thanks you can t frighten me again before i d ask a favor of you i d take my wife and children out on the highway and see them starve and there you miserable cowardly dried up old fool yes sir yes sir came the low reply by the least symptom of annoyance the old man s partially the other in spite of himself it is no easy matter to continue kicking at you know said mr dropping his voice that i can t borrow anything in on that farm that all the men who have been in the habit of money here are going out of the business it is my home three of my children were born there we my wife and i have made every sacrifice to keep it i can t do a good day s work as i once could and the milk is about all we have to look to you know that yes sir yes sir and still you intend to yes sir a desire to murder this man to rid the earth of such a monster crept over the unhappy and he tore himself from the house by main force lest it should him it was a question for a hb g second or so whether he would go before he struck that heavy chair across s bald head and sent him to a place where he had an account of his own and not the to meet the obligation the old man had no idea how near he had to death and even had he realized it might not have altered a single word or action he was perfectly used to such and threats and their effect upon him was never greater or less than in the present instance neither did the excited words and actions of mr have any effect upon the stone statue at the window miss did not turn her face toward the men once during their conversation nor did she move for some time after her brother had risen to fasten the door and resumed his seat when she did speak her words had no reference to that occurrence in such an atmosphere as this had passed the few years preceding her marriage her aunt tried to into her mind that there was little worth thinking about in this world except bonds and notes of hand but there was another lesson that she used every endeavor to teach the young girl and that was the folly of marriage she never tired of telling her of instances where wedded life had turned out badly and where single had been proved to be by far the state it was her dearest hope that would be a credit to this line of teaching and when the day came that the inevitable was made apparent she received a blow to her pride from which she never recovered had seen not less than sixty and her temper had been bitten by the it this

mr had gone to boston leaving his young bride at the hotel the dying flames of gossip were into a momentary by this announcement for the explanation that business required his attention did not satisfy the villagers the universal sentiment was that in that case he should have taken with him she had never been anywhere since her childhood and the opportunity was one that they all agreed she should have seized perhaps however some argued he had only gone for a day or two and she preferred to wait till they could take a longer journey together but the day or two passed and several days after those and still he did not return then the grew quite united in the belief that was not treating his wife with proper consideration and a party arose which began to hint openly that there had probably been a falling out between the pair wai it this you mr the landlord of the hotel contributed his to the general information by stating that mr had paid in advance for everything on a liberal scale and had left word that the best mare in the stable to which his wife had taken a fancy should be reserved for her exclusive use this staggered the party a little but like all similar birds of ill omen they their time it soon began to be generally that was in fault when an entire month passed without his return vague of an impending divorce were put in circulation the growing anxiety which tried in vain to hide was not omitted in making up the total the young man in the post office noticed that the post marks on the letters that mrs received showed her husband to be travelling and one of them was dated as far off as what a shame cried the that he should take a trip like that alone when it would have been so delightful for poor thing but when the excitement was at its greatest height and talk of a public expression of sympathy had begun the train one morning brought to the village no less a than himself who hastened with all speed from the railway station to the hotel who sat at her window saw him coming and rushing down the stairs flew into his outstretched arms the mutual embrace was so tender that all speculations were and was plunged into a state of stupid wonder the husband s stay lasted but days and from that time on he visited her but seldom often remaining when he came but a few hours never more than a night at the longest she never left tbe so her husband friend village either with or without him but there was na evidence of regret visible in her face or manner and the towns people at last found speculation about the matter a dull that behaved oddly they all admitted but as they could make nothing of it they gradually took up with new lived alone in her pretty rooms at the hotel for some months varying the monotony by driving about the town and vicinity the purchase of the house in which she was introduced to the reader and the extensive additions made upon it excited only temporary interest but the next spring the birth of a baby while its father was away in a distant part of the country called forth much sympathetic comment was alone with her medical man and her servants for the occasion by a nurse when this event occurred as soon as it was known in the village however miss astonished and everybody else by into the house and assuming the position of general manager of everything precisely as if no had ever taken place things are in a fearful here she remarked to her niece as she returned from an inspection of the and i am going to set them to rights yes dear aunt if you will be so kind faltered much relieved intended to be here but he is very busy you know and aunt like the war horse of job busy she snapped busy at a time like this ah h her opinion of in particular and was it tou s of mankind in general was into that awful was only nineteen years of age but she had a remarkable and an excellent constitution and all went well had been to the husband but the child was five days old when he arrived the frequent inquiries that made during this grew quite plaintive as time went on though she believed poor little woman that she concealed her anxiety from those about her when he came at last and was so sorry and explained how he had been moving about so from place to place that the had never reached him she was repaid for the long delay and when he took up the baby and kissed it and said it was as pretty as its mother a polite fiction she laughed so heartily that the nurse came and him out ot the room without ceremony stayed in nearly a week this time though any one could see that the place was dull for him he walked the long smoking innumerable cigars and enduring his with what resignation he could muster aunt never spoke pleasantly to him once in all the time and grew all the more when he showed that he had not the least intention of mind ing it i shall express my opinion by and by of the way he has acted she said to when she could sit up the next time he comes here i will give him one talking to if he never gets another dear aunt replied much pained if you have any regard for me whatever you will do nothing of the kind i can imagine no way in which vou could grieve me more has invented ft husband s something and is attending to

the he has a great deal on his mind i understand the cause ot his and i am perfectly satisfied you must see that he loves me very much he paid a great deal for this house and i have a book on the bank with more money than i need to use you must not no you really must not say anything to annoy him the maiden lady had a strange expression as she looked at the pleading face before her was it for this you married she sharply you had a good home and you knew that every penny and i have put by was to have been yours you had all you wanted without this as harsh as were the words miss had and knew it she the rough old hand she held in hers no aunt i did not have everything i wanted i did not have nor nor this it was with a very pretty action that she indicated the baby lying by her in its cradle while a bright wave of color swept over her pallid face since that day seven years had come and gone and s pressing business had kept him from home in an increasing rather than the second child born more than four years after the first one was two months old when he first saw it he having taken a trip to south america sometime before its advent was expected and been delayed longer than he intended but custom is everything and the wife gave no outward sign of for what she had never known she devoted herself to the care of her little family mere unhappy than the average of her mt sympathy class she wrote weekly letters to the latest addresses she could obtain and read with deep pleasure the semi occasional answers that he found time to send aunt only made herself a member of the household on the most important occasions but she was at other times a frequent visitor and it is not believed that she ever came and went without having something very cutting to say of became quite to this as well as to the other trials of her life and would have uttered no protest had the remarks been confined to her ears alone but when little began to notice the wife s loyalty aroused the old spirit in her and as we have seen it brought her into sharp collision with her aunt chapter iv my nature demands sympathy the who were in such a state of wonder at the peculiar conduct of mr would have given their ears almost if they could have been as can the reader listeners at a conversation between that gentleman and his friend in the city of paris a few days after the one in which they held their argument over the question of the relative advantages of and of the monument in the place de her husband s it was morning and the lovely city shone again in all the beauties of early summer they left their hotel in the neighborhood of the and strolled over to the gardens by the way of the at henry s statue they paused and leaning together over the they watched for awhile the little passenger that run from to st cloud the who sit all day in expectation that is seldom realized and the and of the freight then they continued their course through winding and narrow streets left at the time when a general in the interest of improvement seemed to threaten the whole of paris who knew the city from centre to told many stories of the houses by which they passed and of historic events that had taken place in their vicinity in this building such and such a famous man had once resided on this corner an took place between the of this cause and that here so and so stood when he the citizens on a great occasion and through this lane a royal victim passed on his way to the imprisonment which ended only with his death was usually a very attentive listener to reminiscences of this kind which formed indeed one of the chief charms of his with his old friend but on this particular morning he showed an absent that was not lost on the other feeling sure that he had said nothing to him on any of his pet notions was somewhat puzzled to find a reason he said nothing in relation to the matter until they had reached th gardens and secured comfortable seat under one mt demands sympathy of the shade trees that bordered a semi retired cross walk then he asked with what is it who was at the moment in a looked up i do not understand you harry he said why your pre occupation this morning is something i have been talking in a steady stream to you for the last hour on the most interesting and i doubt if you can repeat a word that i have said recognized for the first time the truth of the statement for a minute he made no reply then he put his hand on his companion s knee with the confidence of years of friendship and replied i had a letter from my wife this morning it always makes me dull to get a letter from her he paused apparently to allow his companion to some comment if he desired but there was none i know harry he continued that you are growing to consider me an eccentric individual my married life has hitherto been a sealed book to all my acquaintances i have long felt that it would be a relief if i could speak of it to one as deeply attached to me as i think you are and yet i have a that such confidence would be followed by a loss of your esteem that i should regret still in spite

of all if you will listen to the strange story of my married life i will tell it to you so intimate had been the relations of these two men that had reason to believe this matter of the only secret between them as they had been inseparable and husband s in later life harry had gone on his long voyage they had been the most faithful of every item in relation to his business and failures every movement in short that he made had been told by to harry with this exception until the moment just past he had never in the remotest degree alluded to having a wife at all in all his conversations and correspondence with him he knew through other means that his friend was probably married but he was not absolutely sure even of that he had had letters from him in the little town of and had suspected that the mysterious wife was in that place there was no reason for him to attempt to enter upon a domain so guarded and he had never by a word or hint betrayed his suspicions now that had of his own accord offered to open the gates however he was not averse to seeing the interior i will listen to anything you wish to tell me was his quiet reply cleared his throat as if the words he was about to utter required an especially free passage you knew me from childhood to manhood he began can you say up to the time when we parted that you ever saw me show the least interest in any woman mo you were rather noted if anything for a contrary tendency exactly but now i am interested intensely so in two one of them is my wife the mother of my two children the other he hesitated and his eye brows the other have my demands sympathy w nodded his head twas ever thus he mused how much better to do as i have done marry none at ail no responded not for me my nature though it was late in developing demands love feminine love sympathy feminine thy it is necessary to have some one who will share my views my hopes my aspirations and that some one must be of the sex i am as without it as one of the of a sphere such a partner a man should find in the woman he it has been my misfortune to have to find it elsewhere he sat silent so long after this that his companion felt the necessity of him how happened it that you married how he started at the question i will you within a week after you first left me i met the women who aroused in me the only passion of my life she was a year younger than i but with a brain fit for one ten years older i was in love with her from the beginning before i had known her two months all the current of my thoughts had undergone a change she was an i became one she was an i broke every hers that i had ever set up she was a opposed to the rule of any aristocracy either of men or money i followed her into every when we seemed to have grown inseparable when we had become one in soul i found the courage to ask the question that lay nearest my heart and this girl to whom my entire being was attached as by chains of silver expressed the greatest surprise at my declaration and gave me the finish ing blow by announcing that she was soon to bt her husband s friend united to a noted professor of political economy whose adopted daughter she was a man twice her age and without the least physical attractions shook his head slowly and even that did not cure you of your he asked certainly not my views had grown with slow conviction my love was a spontaneous outburst over which i had no control only a man who has never been in love can afford to laugh at its effects when miss told me my hopes were impossible of i could not conceal the terrible pain that it gave me she realized all at once what i was about to suffer she told me that professor had taken her when a child and educated her as if she were his own daughter and when he had asked her to marry him admitting the of the match in many respects she had not known how to refuse him though she had told him frankly that she felt no such love as she had always supposed ought to go with marriage i think it first came into her mind at that moment that she held a dearer place in her heart for me than she had ever realized forgetting the reserve that usage she threw her arms about my neck and sobbed out her sorrow at the she was compelled to inflict upon me she rowed to be to me notwithstanding her marriage a friend for life in every way consistent with duty and honor in the midst of this trying situation the professor opened the door the listener gave a low whistle of astonishment and interest the professor you must understand pursued as no ordinary man he was a os mt h sympathy not only in theory but in practice it probably occurred to him to propose or or even to announce with violent language that the sight he had witnessed would bring his engagement to an end he merely in all sincerity for the of his entrance saying that he had understood from the servant that miss was alone and he was about to retire when i arose and with considerable confusion insisted on being heard he thereupon took a chair and i was about to begin my story when miss took

the words from my mouth and told him everything upon which the professor in the most open hearted manner expressed his regret at my disappointment and his approval of the conduct of his we shall be glad he said to welcome you on all occasions to our home and hope you will consider yourself whenever convenient a veritable member of the household our marriage is set for five weeks from to day the ceremony will be is simple as possible consistent with that formality which it is necessary under the present laws to observe only the witnesses required will be present and i shall be glad if you will consent to make one of them the calmness of his completely disconcerted me murmuring something about my appreciation of the honor i withdrew from the house miss kissing me again in the presence of her promised husband and leaving the impression of her still wet cheeks upon my own took occasion to remark at this point in the story that if either of the gentlemen interested had been at all like himself it would have had a very different in spite of all the philosophy in the he said few men would care to see husband s sweetheart kiss a fellow who had just declared his love for her and fewer yet could quietly accept such in the face of a successful rival you will better understand how completely crushed i was continued not seeming to notice the interruption when i say that i immediately abandoned my business and went into the country leaving no one but my aware of my address after wandering about for a week i found myself in a village that seemed sufficiently secluded for my purpose which was to avoid meeting any one who knew me i myself at the hotel of the place hoping in the of this rural spot to my disappointment i took long walks through the woods and fields one day while strolling in this manner i heard screams of terror running to the place from which the sounds i saw a young girl across a meadow pursued by a vicious horse it was but the work of a moment to spring over the fence and rush between the girl and the animal and by my heavy cane to turn his attention from his object until she was safely out of his reach the horse was really very dangerous and that evening was killed by its owner the girl i rescued is now my wife s face had become as sunny as his friend s was serious he declared the story positively romantic and said he should certainly write it ou for his favorite magazine i do not know what possessed me pursued the idleness had no doubt something to do with it but i found myself making arrangements to meet this girl on one pretext and another until there was rarely a day that we did not see each mt sympathy jl other and you must not judge of s conduct on the basis of the rules that prevail in larger there is in many of these quiet new england villages an almost simplicity still in the relations of the sexes perhaps no greater average virtue can be found in civilized lands and yet the young women do not think it necessary to hedge themselves in with the thousand and one ceremonies that prevail elsewhere a man is not in their eyes a necessarily dangerous creature and as long as no suspicion exists in relation to his character their meetings are quite but there was a double reason why must meet me if at all she was an orphan and her aunt with whom she lived was a maiden lady possessed of a deadly hatred of all my sex which she had endeavored by every means in her power to into the mind of her niece this told me in a perfectly manner in one of our walks as an explanation of the reason why she had not invited me to her home our acquaintance grew rapidly i was not too blind tf notice don t think me that i was ng a deeper impression upon her mind than i had intended and i was on the point of announcing my departure when a newspaper that i chanced to pick up at the hotel all the mischief that has since occurred a newspaper repeated yes i had avoided looking at a single since i had left boston but for some inscrutable reason i happened to pick up this one as i sat in the office of the house one morning after breakfast the first thing that met my wa the husband s friend announcement in the society column that the mar of professor and miss would take place at the house on the following wednesday the most harmless of you will say when you know that i was already aware of the date and that the item contained nothing whatever that was at all new to me but here is one of the peculiarities of the human mind though i knew that the marriage was to occur on the date and at the place mentioned i did not relish having the fact thrust in my face in this fashion it had the effect upon me of a challenge if not of an insult all that i might have felt and said when the professor came into the room and found his sweetheart s arms about my neck swept over me like a flood my mind began to be filled with ideas i thought of taking the first train to boston and doing i did not know what to stop the ceremony it seemed as if i could not live after she had given herself to that man whom i had every reason to know she would never love as she could have loved me i grew very indignant as i thought

of her sacrificing herself to pay the debt of gratitude which he had charged up against her then a new idea gradually worked its way into my brain could not prevent miss s marriage could i not do something to convince her that i did not care what there was only one way i must also marry harry could not suppress an exclamation at this statement even to his light mind there was something quite blood in it yes that was how it came about said growing quite ghastly at the all ct nature sympathy night i struggled with myself but could find no rest when i met in the morning she remarked upon my heavy eyelids in a moment of madness i carried out my resolve and she unhappy girl already won and believing herself the cause of my manner accepted me without pretence or a hasty union was necessarily part of my plan and to this she also consented the next day we were made one or at least so the clergyman solemnly declared and i sent the news with feverish impatience to the woman i loved only hoping it would give her a of the agony her approaching had caused me the aunt of my young wife her on account of what she had done and while i could never hope to give her the affection she deserved i resolved as i took her to my rooms in the hotel that she should never learn from me the terrible sin of which she had been made the victim with all the tenderness of a bride she gave me a thousand pangs for the part i was playing i went through the next week as best i could we ate at the hotel table and drove out every day the of all the eyes in i met the crowds who called in answer to invitations and congratulated us with all the sang i could assume business letters soon began to press for my return and i was face to face with the question whether i should take my wife to boston and introduce her to my friends try as i might i could bring myself to this not now at least i said to myself i will go alone for the first time and pass through the ordeal of meeting professor and mrs before i take so i told her that i was obliged to make a hasty journey to the husband s city and that it was not expedient to take ner though her face was pale she without a word and i went away but my tale is a long one is it not you are becoming weary on the contrary was the reply i am growing intensely interested took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped from his lips the moisture that had gathered there perhaps when i tell you what i learned when j reached boston you will mingle a little pity the blame which you must feel for my conduct shut off as i had been from all news of the day foi i had seen no paper except the one to which i hav alluded a very important event had been hid me the first friend i met after leaving the station said very sad that about professor wasn t it you knew him of course i pretended te understand rather than excite wonder by my ance and going to my office i took down the file o the boston herald that is always kept there and searched its columns eagerly and there it was burning itself into my eyes like a frightful dr ann the story was to this effect yesterday evening professor solomon one of the most famous of our students of ths science of political economy died at the house under peculiarly distressing circumstances he had gone to the hotel in company with miss i and mr j p for th purpose of having a marriage ceremony performed both he and the lady holding views ch made them object to a religious mr informed our that the party partook of a supper in one of the small rooms and after it was finished and just as my demands sympathy ft ne was about to put the necessary questions the professor suddenly complained of a pain in the region of the heart and began to sink rapidly miss though naturally much agitated did all she could for the stricken man and dr who was in the house came without a moment s delay but the professor did not rally and within a quarter of an hour breathed his last we learn that the funeral will be entirely private and that the will take place saturday at mount as he finished the quotation throughout which his voice trembled continued was there ever such a combination just as my chance of winning the woman i loved had been made by an accident practically certain i had placed myself through an insane act beyond the possibility of possessing her my nerves as well as i was able i went that evening to tender my she received me with all the customary grace and courtesy and spoke in tones of her loss when she had given me in her own words a description of all that occurred at the house she asked whether my wife was in the city and expressed a hope that i would bring her to see her something in her manner convinced me that she was playing a very difficult part and in my state of mind i could not follow her you will never see my wife miss i cried you are too wise not to know that i married without giving to her one of that perfect love which less than two month ago i laid at your feet the error i have committed brings its own punishment when i return and earn for the first time that

to the public about her house was the fact that the doors were thrown open on two evenings of each week to a very bright party of people of all shades of belief and opinions who found it a delightful centre for the of ideas and the making of interesting acquaintances there was usually a large party present but it was on sundays that the crush was the greatest men could be met at these who had spent their youth in fighting african slavery in the southern states with voice and pen who had labored to it with the and to the constitution ami who her g were now turning their superfluous energy the cause of improved total woman or some other of the hour women were there who had almost everything from free divorce to laws compelling their sex to don masculine attire there were ex whose views had lost them their there were men who professed to worship and others who could show that all wisdom had come to earth and died long before the birth of the there were also scattered among these business men of hard heads and sentiments and young people who had no settled views but came to listen and learn miss asked only one thing of any one who advanced a theory in her honesty it mattered not to her how foreign to her own convictions their doctrines were if they were sincere in presenting them it was one of her sayings that the absurdity of to day is the accepted truth of to morrow doubtless many good looked with a sentiment approaching horror upon miss and her set but then many good have looked with equal horror upon some of the best and noblest men and women who have lived within their borders and have afterwards monuments to them and sounded their praises as freely as once they cursed them on one of the june sundays when was absent in paris let me introduce the reader by permission of the hostess to miss s it was yet early and the mistress of ceremonies had not made her appearance when a small party were ushered into the rooms and proceeded in miss at home tl le to make themselves at home there was no on these occasions and very formality the early comers were in number and they found seats together beginning to talk with vivacity though in very low tones a habit of a great deal of conversation to one s neighbors i have found in advanced circles as well as in those of ordinary people and the members of the in question began at once to discuss their hostess and her expected guests with charming freedom she is really a most remarkable woman said one of the ladies a quite young woman named miss speaking to one of the gentlemen who was making his first visit to the house it requires positive genius to gather such a set as one meets here and prevent all you will see her pour tea for mr smith and out punch for colonel brown with equal grace she never forgets the and fruit for jones nor the glass of hot water for robinson she will listen with the greatest apparent interest to the development of some idea in which i know she has not the slightest faith and find in the of which has been offered to her some grain of wheat that she can without too much strain on her conscience she never never praise where she does not think it deserved and yet to make each one feel that his coming has given her a personal gratification her memory is perfect she the particular of each of the hundreds who come here and has the faculty of saying the especial thing that he would most like to hear mr to whom these remarks were made looked duly impressed at this moment a lady and gentleman entered the room and the others rose to greet them mrs st john my friend mr mt mr george there was something in the mention of the name that implied that mr had heard of the gentleman which was the fact miss had taken up a good share of the time on her way to miss s that evening in talking about this new comer to the fold whose had she said fascinated the hostess as no one s else had since went away i wonder if will tell us any news about mr to night said mrs st john as soon as the had taken place if she doesn t something i shall be tempted to ask her outright it is two months since he was here and it is time she revealed the secret this statement met with warm approval from miss the third member of the original and consequently from mr the young man who accompanied her mrs st john was the only one present who was on sufficiently intimate terms with miss to speak of her as which fact gave her an importance which she fully realized how long have you known mr asked miss who did not have a very high opinion of mrs st john but was willing to use the advantage of her knowledge for all that mrs st john paused to sum up it is fully eight since i first met him was living at that i ae on ml street oa at a long time is it not for such an attachment and have it amount to nothing suggested miss mrs st john arched her eyebrows with an air of superior wisdom that is s secret she said in a low voice but you know it of course said miss rather i know a thousand things in this little world of boston my dear that i am not at liberty to repeat mrs st john rose to welcome a lady who had just arrived and to whom she seemed

to have something of importance to communicate and miss took occasion to express her doubts as to whether some people knew quite as many secrets as they wished others to infer i have heard a said mr that mr is married oh that s not possible i cried miss i am sure miss would not encourage him so openly if he were i don t see that she him at all put in miss keeping a man waiting eight years is hardly what i should call giving him much encouragement i presume he only comes the same as other men who attend her remarked mr who seemed to have developed a sudden interest in the conversation it is not necessary i suppose that she should promise to marry every man whom she here ah but it is quite another affair responded miss i thought everybody knew that mr was on special terms the rest of you come on and sundays at t husband s friend hour but there is no hour nor day to which is he is the most intimate friend miss has in the world much more intimate than mrs st john there with all her talk about dear she threw a glance not wholly free from spite in the direction of the lady referred to for which miss mentally thanked her you surprise me said mr this intimacy you say has been going on for years r undoubtedly and it causes no talk miss surveyed her with a look of the amazement talk she exclaimed talk of mr was crushed mr drew a deep breath of relief and left the group a number of new turned the conversation nd before they had finished their mutual greetings miss herself entered the room there are people whom it is difficult to describe with pen and paper and was certainly one of them it is easy to say that she was a little under the medium height of slender build neither dark nor fair and twenty eight years of age but so were a thousand other women in boston that night she had no especial in dress or speech her garments were plain almost to excess she wore no whatever and her manners were most the only thing that distinguished her especially was the extreme and whiteness of her hands which were almost transparent they had a highly nervous quality that might hare at home delighted one skilled in the science of and even to the ordinary observer they indicated a highly sensitive with perhaps a delicacy of constitution why easily any assembly of which she became a part nobody could tell that she did it nobody pretended to deny one by one she took her guests by the hand and said her simple words of welcome mrs st john took up a position at her side and introduced those who attended the reception for the first time with a question or two and a smile she won the heart of each visitor before she turned to the next when she had greeted every one she sought out mr george and they had a quiet talk together which no one else was privileged to hear i have been wondering why it is that you interest me so much she said to him after awhile and i have discovered it at last your manner of stating things reminds me of a friend who is now on his travels mr but am a married man responded son instantly it was rude undoubtedly it was rude but politeness was not a virtue that he placed above all others and he wanted to know then and there whether the suspicion of mr was true he had never seen in his life he had known miss but a month but it seemed to him that all worth having in this world and the far beyond on the answer to that question miss gave no evidence of having heard his a lady who had just entered the room smiled at her and she excused herself with charming sweetness to cross the carpet raged husband s inwardly as he saw how easily she had him and rose impatiently to meet mrs st john who was to see him you like miss don t you she said very much he replied but in saying this he at that moment he almost hated her and to save his life he could not have given a reason i knew you would like her when i brought you here continued the self satisfied lady she likes you too it is not often i assure you that sits down alone with any gentleman as she did with you except he said a oh well that is a different thing said mrs st john they own a magazine together and and there are various reasons why she treats him differently from the rest but likes you and i know it she asked me yesterday if you were certain to be here to night the sulky fit was on him and he tore himself from the woman as soon as he could do so he did not like to hear her speak of when he confine himself to the more formal term two gentlemen were discussing the subject of and were rather warm over it i tell you it would be a blow at our most tender feelings said one to burn the bodies of our dead friends seems to me rank our well kept are of religious and sentiments what do you say mr asked th other gentleman do you see anything lovely in a house do you not admire the beauties of such places miss a home as mt and forest hills put in the first speaker that is the question i do not replied i have never seen a that i admired they are all too full of little graves miss brought the friend who had last arrived where she could

hear the did i not tell you he was very bright she whispered how could prevent the great among children inquired the gentleman it would not prevent it but the little would not rise up against us as we pass the gentleman declared that this was a mere begging of the question but somehow the new thought seemed to have the old one and a silence fell upon the party how do you like her asked miss of when she got a chance soon after to speak to him alone who mrs st john oh she is very agreeable now that is unkind responded the young lady when you remember that she first suggested to you to come here as she is telling everybody she did he was leaning with one arm on a mantel and half the eyes in the room were on him with one expression and another do you think i owe her anything for that f he asked without changing countenance then you are not pleased to be here p no it was a very abrupt negative indeed and miss s face wore a tinge of regret hke husband s position was such that no one could see that but him i am very sorry she said earnestly for now you will never come again oh yes i shall she glanced up in surprise and you don t like miss he smiled the lady of whom they were speaking was regarding him at the moment from a distant corner where she was pretending interest in the scheme of an elderly gentleman to all the southern to africa he thought it necessary to smile at miss and he did so do not me too much to night he said as an accompaniment to the remember you have never showed me that balcony you told me of and the garden hung with chinese she led the way gladly through a little hall the bit of land in the rear in which a few trees and bushes had been induced to grow had been made quite attractive by the shiny colored paper among the branches it was marvellous how so good an effect could be produced by such a simple process in two minutes he proposed returning to the par miss who liked the cooler air of the balcony and was not averse either to having him to herself for a little while complied with reluctance they arrived just in time to hear a gentleman named what he called the insane doctrine of private in land when it comes to social equality i am about as advanced as any one he was saying i favor universal women and all and the of the tax i think the government ought to the telegraph the and perhaps even miss at home the mines but of all the absurd things ever preached this talk about the soil from individuals is the worst why the desire to possess a piece of real estate is one of the most signs that a man can show the one who has secured a house and lot is a better citizen than the one who is content to pay rent all his life such a man becomes a of morals he stands for law and order as no rent can ever do is there any one here who will take issue with me on that he asked yes said will mrs st john was standing next to miss i think he would take issue with anybody or anything she whispered but did not seem to hear her mr eyed uneasily he had not expected that answer to his challenge in what way do you differ with me sir he inquired i differ with what you imply as much as with what you assert i do not believe for instance that law and order are always on the of right and justice indeed and who is to decide asked mr more than before the people by mere force of numbers they will say before long whether certain men shall pretend to own this earth or not why do you say pretend asked mr if i have bought a piece of land and paid for it is it not mine that depends on whether there is a man woman or child in the world whose need of it is greater than yours you own perhaps a plank that lies on the shore of a river if i see a man drowning in the stream i will the plank and throw it to him whether you are willing or not some day they will take your land and give it to a starving man who wants to raise potatoes how much land do you think you have a right to own all i can get a thousand acres perhaps yes a million or the whole of the earth s surface mr was a trifle disturbed by this question but he resolved to be consistent to the last if such a thing were conceivable he replied i should have a right to all the land i could purchase even if it included every acre in the world was happy at last he loved and he made his moves like a player a it is quite conceivable he said we live in a country where millions of acres are already the property of these acres may easily drift into the control of a few men and at last into single i do not hesitate to say that at the present rate half of all the land in america might be owned by a hundred individuals in it is quite possible that the time might come under our present laws when one man would own every hill valley and plain on this planet and you say if he or his ancestors had bought it and paid for it he ought to have it mr uttered a dogged affirmative and this of his continued

making another move on his board would of course include the right of deciding what tenants if any he would have upon his land and the right to summon the constituted to all who miss at home to leave when even to the last soul that s a fantastic conception i must say exclaimed mr but under the conditions imagined quite a correct one is it not mr did not reply do you not see said that some future landlord might become the of life and death to millions of people by taking from them the soil through which nature meant that they should derive their even in this century there have been in europe that might have been averted or at least much if the had been permitted to turn the of my lord s and hunting preserves there the of property has ever been held above the of life if the life was that of a with all our boasted freedom in america we are drifting into the state of things that we have so freely in our cousins over the water mr rallied you are trying to us said he m by imaginative let me put the question in an easier way take the case of a man who has worked ten or fifteen years to pay for a little and garden denying himself and his family many comforts in order to accomplish that object would you take away his land and give it to the general government when it had become the staff of his old age and if you would not take one piece of land what right have you to take another there was an expression of triumph in mr s face as he this which he her husband s had no doubt was a miss looked earnestly at and though he had not once turned his eyes in her direction he knew he had her sympathy i will answer no in one word to your question about the old man said he my theory pre the right of your to live on that lot and cultivate it as long as it did not exceed the measure of his needs but what an outrage it is that he should have been put to such sacrifices to get that little spot to rest on he had s much natural right to it as he had to the air he breathed or the water he drank to get what nature made for him he has had to do double his share of the world s and miss half the comforts and pleasures of existence and why merely that some other man should live at ease some other family rest while his toiled for them the injustice of law had taken away his part of the soil and he had to it with excess of labor there is nothing more ridiculous than for individuals to go about pretending that certain parts of the earth s are their exclusive property and not only theirs but that of their forever our descendants will find vast amusement in examining in some museum of the future a book of titles of the n century they will wonder what sort of men used to undertake to deed to each other of land with such and such boundaries when they find a deed to cover soil enough for the maintenance of a hundred or a thousand people as many of them do to day their will be for it seem to them as to have sold exclusive rights in the earth as it would in the atmosphere or the sunlight miss at mr fell back upon a common retort you will never live to see that day but it is coming for all that replied confidently at this point the lunch was served miss thinking that the debate was likely to reach too warm a plane had whispered the directions to her maid the which stood in a little recess from which the curtains were now drawn contained an of and while the table adjacent had tea coffee and both hot and miss had helped with her own hands to some of the more solid you take brandy i believe she said sometimes he replied and sometimes take champagne and sometimes beer to night if you please she handed him the and glass and as he poured out the wine she said that really requires an explanation oh it depends on how i feel said he lightly if i have special need of mental strength i drink brandy but to night i knew that you were listening to every word i uttered and my powers wanted no greater when i only wish to talk of commonplace things i drink beer but this is not the presence of the commonplace when i am with a woman i love he spoke slowly and distinctly but very low indeed i want champagne because it is love s drink to night i drink which means nothing she heard she understood but gave no sign never the still lighter drinks she asked to keep him talking husband s yes i take coffee when i awake in the morning and after dinner when i visit once a year an old aunt who offers me nothing else and tea invariably when i am the guest of a lady who to always lead a single life a gentleman who was eating an ice near by spoke to miss who turned for a moment to reply she also saw that mrs st john was helping those of the guests who were not yet sufficiently at home to help themselves tell me one thing if you can said when he had her attention again why is it that bright women who are single always prefer the company of married men she looked the picture of and shook her head thoughtfully i am not good at you will have to tell me and you

needed a new sensation agreeable as is elegant leisure in itself the man who has saxon blood in his veins can hardly help being after a while the far that contents the italian will weary the american in time realized that there was something very peculiar in the experience of his friend he pronounced it positively unique in the list of he had heard or read of he could not imagine a more interesting study than was to be afforded by making the acquaintance of the two women who swayed that hard headed so difficult to influence in everything else the face of the wife presented in the picture of her that he had seen the of being contented with her lot and yet of being just the sort of woman who would not be at all pleased with the state of affairs that the husband had detailed he had always had a theory that a woman ought to be able to hold her husband s love by the sheer force of her in other words that if she lost him it must be in some measure her own fault and so the wife he had seen in that picture seemed to this man of leisure worth a few weeks of study he was not fond of doing things in an way either but there seemed no open way may we pray you to do this particular thing he could not say to i am going to to see your wife and afterwards to boston to compare miss with her and discover if i can what it is that you to the one and causes you to neglect the other it was a case where secrecy was a prime necessity knew that all he would have to sa when his visits were discovered wa this it was all in your interest my dear boy things were in a you know and i thought i might manage to help them out might a little at first but iv any case there could be no serious the two men were too good friends for that landlord of the house took a great fancy to or mr as he called himself and before his guest had been there three days he was into no end of gossip concerning the family that s a mighty s case he said an i don t s pose anybody in the village jest rightly understands it she was the girl in an she s a good way yet from bein homely they ve got two jf the children i ever see he but he ain t never taken his wife out of town once an it s so seldom he comes here that some of the u ain t never seen him it was jest four times last year that he dropped into the town at all an then only from one train to as one might call it people ask ai we all call her ar na about it at first but all she v d say was that business was mrs li an aw here has the asked her husband s yes an an uncle too for that matter though nobody ever pays any attention to him old miss is a keen un i tell you for months after was married she wouldn t go near her at all an i ve jest heard there s ben another out lawyer s ben down there an everybody says she s had a new will made they re both well fixed miss an but miss can t over the marriage it didn t suit her an it don t suit her an i m s goin to lose a nice nigh two hundred thousand folks say looked highly interested perhaps the aunt is at the bottom of the trouble between and his wife he suggested no tain t that replied the landlord the fact is there don t seem to be no trouble between em before he d ben married a fortnight he went off an stayed a month they right here in my house most everybody thought they was goin to break up then an there but the day he come back she run down the stairs to meet im an they was as as two then off he went ag in an the next time he come it was three months i guess he bought her the house she lives in now though that time paid more n three thousand dollars out it up too the neighbors say she seems awful glad to see him when he does come an nobody understands what makes him stay away so much on learning that his guest would like to meet mrs the landlord said nothing would be easier we don t go much on here in said he an ain t no more stuck up may we you f w she ever was you jest open her gate knock at the door an say i sent you an you ll be welcome this apparently easy plan did not however on the whole commend itself to s judgment an opportunity that had more in its favor came on the succeeding sunday when mrs pointed out to him as he sat with her and her husband in their in the first church mr was not by any means a religious man but was a very moral place and he considered it policy to hire a in the principal church and occasionally at least occupy it if jim his chief was engaged during the same hour in up for the more of the population or if his chief clerk filled on the sly a few bottles and from a hidden store in the cellar mr s presence at divine worship proved that he at least had no part in the sinful proceedings a former owner of the same hotel who had been free to express his contempt for things sacred

frequently in for of the liquor laws it was observed of mr that he knew how to use judgment and even the most ardent of the men admitted that if was a good thing to know where a little of the ardent could be got in a hurry in case of sickness once a minister s life had been saved by a dose of the landlord s brandy for private use and soon after that the same malady attacked a large part of the congregation happily however thanks to the brandy without fatal result sat where could see her m husband s friend without changing his attitude he looked at her a good deal remarking how much she was than her photograph which could not the lovely and of her perfect complexion what the sermon was about he had not the least idea she seemed a devout listener to the words of the clergyman but could not help wondering if her thoughts were not far away across the sea that that woman in her youth and beauty could be content with the life she led did not seem to him reasonable from any point of view when the was pronounced he asked mrs to give him an introduction to mrs and at the church door the took place in the off hand country fashion the plan of introducing gentlemen to ladies only on request of the latter does not prevail in the ceremony insignificant in itself was quite enough according to local usage to justify in raising his hat and saying good evening as he passed mrs s residence quite by accident toward sunset that same day she was sitting alone under the trees inside her grounds reading or pretending to read a newspaper now or never he thought when she had returned his salutation he said you have a pleasant home here mrs yes it is called so he decided at once that she was pensive and he wanted more than ever to know all about her all of seems very pretty he went on in fact i quite envy the people who have permanent homes here it was not wholly a new idea she had heard at the hotel say much the same thin mat wa you won t you come in she asked rising and approaching the gate in this was the eminently proper to do for a stranger who had been met for the first time five hours before thanked her made some remark about the inviting coolness of the shade trees and took a seat on one of the benches yes he continued the situation of this village is truly delightful the lake river and hill scenery is perfectly charming i can hardly recall a prettier spot and you have perhaps travelled a great deal she said drawing a natural yes considerable across the sea her thoughts were then where he had guessed when he saw her eyes fixed on the minister she was certainly pensive he answered that he had been across the sea several times and was acquainted with many countries you have seen paris of course there was so much more to him in this question than appeared on the surface that it disconcerted him for a moment a strange idea came into his head he wished that he could take by the collar and ask him what he meant by his neglect of this lovely creature carried on for years without regret or shame then he noticed that she was waiting for his answer i know paris from one end to the other it is a most beautiful city i wish you could see it it is prettier than is it not he realized that the question was but he pretended not to notice it is quite different you know paris has two million people it is more like boston or new york and yet much finer than either i have a book at the hotel with many elegant views of paris and long descriptions of the sights which shall be glad to bring you if you wish she thanked him quietly and he ventured to ask what especially interested ner in paris my husband is there she answered but he could make nothing of the words beyond their ordinary significance indeed has he been long away asked the with a facility that astonished even himself he left home three months ago he stayed a few weeks in london and the rest of the time he has been in paris and does he intend to stay much longer i do not know the new sensation that wanted was coming to him with a vengeance never had he felt as he did when he heard this wife speak of her husband as if he were a mere acquaintance of whose movements she could not be expected to have accurate information he listened in vain for any trace of bitterness and his wonder grew with every word she uttered it is strange to me that you should not have wanted to go with him he said most women regard a trip to paris a first trip as the event of a lifetime but he added before she could speak i forgot you have young children believe she assented and gave him their ages then yoa could easily have taken them per may we pray toe you f the man i have crossed in where there were twenty or thirty children they are as happy playing about the decks and as any of the older people let me urge you not to neglect such a chance again she received this in silence and he began to con a great respect for her it was more than loyal this clever concealment of her thoughts it was artistic ah paris is indeed lovely he cried throwing back his head as if in reverie the streets are so long and broad the public squares are filled with

such fountains statues and beds of bright flowers the are so superb the river winding almost all around the city is walled with white stone and crossed bv many bridges under which the pleasure boats dart like at night innumerable lamps the where thousands of men and women sit out of doors at little tables eating drinking and while the play inside the life in paris is one perpetual holiday i do not wonder that your husband finds it hard to leave there was much too to suspect the deceit of which she was the victim she was not satisfied she never had been since that day when her aunt had poisoned her ears with her that was all he should be but she certainly had no intention of communicating her fears to this stranger so she answered him that her husband was an who had gone abroad on business solely and would undoubtedly return as soon as it was finished many a man has gone to paris with that intention and failed to carry it out smiled the of the city affects one until be bear to awake from the delightful dream take my advice mrs and see it next time for yourself when you have done so you will be less likely to other poor mortals for their thinking that it would not be wise to make too long a stay the first time he remarked that the evening was going to be lovely and rose to go the usual civil request not to be in a hurry was given and met and then she parted from him with the same dignity and courtesy with which she had him welcome the case grows mused the young man to himself as he strolled along a that led into the adjacent woods one would think that woman just the kind that a fellow like would want for a wife provided he wanted one at all which i could never see the object of he said something about a brain companion now that s nonsense a man whose brains are in a constant state of excitement needs a quiet little woman like that one who will give him an occasional chance to instead of always talking shop when he needs a rest she s pretty almost handsome to begin with she s not up in the ways of fashion of course how the deuce should she be when she was never outside the county in her life she s not well read though by this time that has become more his fault than hers i ll be bound that cross old aunt never saw the use of offering her a book she s naturally bright and would respond to cultivation unless i am awfully mistaken if i can get on sufficiently terms i ll talk to her and see what mat we you i wonder how much she know anyway the next morning letter came to him from forwarded from his permanent address in new york expressing regret at the circumstance that had compelled him to leave europe so suddenly and declaring that paris lost half its charm without him there was something else in the letter also that was of greater interest to the had decided he wrote to go to germany and attend to his business there in person instead of leaving it to his as he had he feared this would keep him abroad for several months longer but it seemed the advisable thing to do the letter ended with these words i have taken the liberty of sending your address to miss the boston lady of whom i spoke to you with the information that you are likely o be in that city at some time and that she should send you a card of invitation to her i have frankly told her that you are a man whom nobody need hope to convert into a but that you are after all a very good fellow and i would like to have her meet you of course you are under no obligations to accept if you get the card and not obliged to like her or the crowd you will there but i would go if i were you was well pleased with this paragraph he was in no hurry to have return to america and an invitation direct to miss s spare him the trouble of hunting for one in a way as he had intended to do a double stroke of he said to himself as he finished reading the er and yet what the is the whole thing to me anyway her husband s he away the day at a table with a who was waiting over to see a customer an when it was nearly dark he took the book about paris under his arm and sauntered down to mrs s house a servant showed him into the parlor and in a few minutes entered and greeted him cordially he exhibited the book as his excuse for calling and when the lamps were lit he turned some of the pages for her and talked about the illustrations she told him the name of hei husband s hotel as if he didn t know and he found several pictures of scenes in the vicinity with which she was greatly interested in five minutes he could walk to the avenue de i opera that you see here he explained he can look from his window on the built to the of napoleon i if he wants a little stroll before breakfast it will not be too much to walk around the and return by the gardens of the thus he went on turning the leaves and making his comments in the easy way he knew so well and he found her much more deeply interested in it all than he had expected she very few questions but she made a delightful listener and was evidently

grateful to him for the pains he had taken while they were thus engaged a nurse called mrs away for a few moments and when she returned she told him that she had been to kiss her children good night upon which he begged her if it was not too late to allow them to come in for a minute the elder was dark not too dark like her mother while w fair they were mat w mat tou f pretty children and they went to the stranger without they had never been taught the art of shyness and you go to school i suppose he said to after at random a few mild compliments no sir not yet she answered but mamma has taught me to read and my nurse tells me a good many things about the earth and the sky i shall go to school next year i think the mother met the inquiring eyes with an affirmative smile i have been showing your mamma a book of pictures of the city where your papa is staying said unable to repress his anxiety to hear what the child had to say on the all important subject that weighed on his mind i hope she will let you see it to morrow s eyes dilated and her face grew radiant oh shall i see the very house he is in she cried clapping her hands please mamma show me just that one picture to night as no objection was raised took the book and opened it i cannot show you the very hotel he lives in said he as leaned over his shoulder in feverish expectation but if you were on this avenue that you see here pointing to the opera and were to turn that corner and walk a very little way you would be in front of the building it is very pleasant as i have been saying to your mamma i have been there and the child could not restrain herself you have been there then you must have een him he exclaimed her husband s she was fairly trembling with excitement both her little hands were on his arm and her eyes were gazing into his mr did not say he had been there this summer my darling corrected the mother your papa has been there but two months you must remember the child was disappointed a great lump came into her throat as she realized the error she had made was relieved at his happy from what promised to be a you miss your papa very much he said kindly oh so much she replied but we think he will come back very soon now then s family had not been of his change of plan he had taken pains to write about it to an and let his wife and children wait was sure he could have choked him had he had him there then he spoke to the smaller one how is it with you my little do you miss papa too no me doesn t was the reply she is so little sir said before her mother could speak she is only three children do not remember very well at three do they sir r the heads of both of them and began to think that he could make one of a party to a rope around the neck of such a father as they had then he bade the little ones good night telling to sleep well and be good children at the door paused and spoke to him again we pray to god every night she said may roof to bless papa and mamma would you car very much if we prayed for you too the question staggered him as he had never been staggered in his life i should be glad to have you he answered but his utterance was thick and he felt stifled when returned from the visit she paid to the little ones who must have their mother s kiss as the very last thing before falling asleep she found him standing are you going so early she asked in a slightly disappointed tone for she liked this man already and knew that the evening would be when he had gone i only came to night to bring the book he said i did not intend to remain long but i will again if i may i hope you will she responded cordially you are always welcome he walked in the silence of the woods that night until it was very late how could a child s words the thoughtless of a little one of seven affect a grown man so a man too who had never troubled himself about prayer and who had not always led the best life he knew would you care sir if we prayed for you he heard it over and over and he was pleased to remember his reply i should be very glad to have you there had been nothing wrong in s mind that evening before spoke those words but if there was the slightest possibility of harm to that household in the depths of his heart the childish voice had made an end of it forever i her s such a wife and such children and a husband i what blindness could have so affected and then remembered that he had not yet seen chapter vii when love has it has probably been the experience of most who have sat upon either in or out of that they have found themselves coming to a decision on the merits of a case some time before the first side had finished its evidence had declared in favor of the fair witness who had been the only one yet in the box before it occurred to him that there was yet another to be heard after a third call at the house he decided to absent himself from

for a few days he wanted to see miss whose invitation came promptly to hand and he also thought it best not to allow the to note that he was too constant a visitor at the home of the deserted wife arriving at boston he went to young s hotel which was in those days the especial and popular place for the of single gentlemen and as he had no business of greater importance he visited miss s that same evening which happened to be a thursday there were thirty or forty other persons there when his name was announced but for a few minutes love has had eyes for her alone he was conscious of a disappointment when the slight delicate came forward to greet him he had imagined her a sort of whose physical charms would far the modest creature he had just left in when a man preferred the society of another woman to that of his wife thought this ignorant young gentleman the cause must be one to impress itself instantly upon the had few of the claims to beauty that he had noted in she had neither her height nor her complexion nor her brilliancy of eyes nor her of outline nor her of carriage she was to his mind quite insignificant in contrast to the woman with whom he must always compare her these were the first impressions perhaps the others would come later on an unusual for those white hands of hers almost a trembling seized them as they touched his fingers and it she gave him a clasp that was quite cold after a few she said in a whisper do not mention mr s name here i will explain why later then she introduced him to a group of which mr was the most conspicuous figure and turned to greet some guests who had just arrived you are a of course said to by way of beginning a conversation i am a citizen of the world was the reply i place no country nor people above another ah said the other you are evidently like myself a traveller not as much as i mean to be i have only spent a few months in southern europe and a year in germany i shall go again before long perhaps we shall meet there said as i expect to winter in italy which of the countries of europe do you prefer among those which you have seen france came the quick reply and why france t because it is the for revolution thought another full of his subject but for miss s the name of would have been immediately on his tongue others were listening among the number mr mr miss and miss it seems to me said that france is particularly well governed just now she has had many years of peace and her progress in the the arts and in has been how could it benefit her people to have a republic this question loosened s tongue and for the next ten minutes his reply delivered in the most rapid and impassioned manner drew nearly all of those present to his end of the room when he paused turned to miss who had approached with the others and inquired whether a discussion of this kind was perfectly agreeable to her being a stranger he said he did not wish to any of the rules but he would like to his ideas on the subject in question a little further say all you please she answered smiling that is just what we are here for at that proceeded to reply to he had just heard when love has while a republic may be the most righteous form of government he said in substance an has merits that should not be overlooked no city like paris for instance could bo reared by any mere it took power to tear down the old city and it in its present loveliness one of the first things that would follow the overthrow of the empire would be the destruction of the provisions for the safety and comfort of the very classes whose hands are now arrayed against it intelligent power in a few hands is necessarily better if honestly administered than the rule of ignorant masses paris is better governed than new york or philadelphia or washington it is true that the french emperor takes eight million dollars a year to support his establishment but in america the innumerable rings rob the people of ten times as much without returning an equivalent there may be countries where great power is abused but france is not one of them and so he went on for fifteen minutes or more and after that replied and the guests of miss sided some with one and with the other and the evening wore away on the whole enjoyed it he wondered at the which he had shown for h had never before made an argument in such a public manner and he flattered himself that he had done pretty well when miss bade him good night she asked him in low tones whether he could make it convenient to call upon her the following afternoon to which he willingly assented who was near enough to note that there was a secret between them a thing that in his heart because th re never was one with himself s passed down to the street with him and they walked along for some distance together it is a pleasant place to spend an evening said noticing that his companion seemed inclined to be you like it do you was the response yes if i were to remain in the city i should go there often you do not expect to remain in boston said in a tone that rather implied pleasure at the information oh no not more than a week or two at the most then you will miss the bright

particular star of the circle said with an odd his name is you may have heard of him thought quickly he did not mean to break his promise to miss and yet he wan ted to hear all he could about s connection with the house the simplest and easiest way that of was decided upon i have heard of mr he said i have a friend who knows him and who tells me that he has decided to remain away for some time longer than he at first intended several months more i think he said looked thoughtful presently he asked with a vain attempt to appear indifferent do you know whether his wife is with him it was precisely because the question was such a thorough surprise to that he escaped the trap set for him and merely echoed his wife i don t know positively that he is married admitted but that is the opinion of when love has fled miss the subject i have a little curiosity to know that is all if he has a wife she must know it they have been intimate friends for a long time eight years i am told he said this more as if thinking aloud than as if talking to anybody miss seems to be held in high esteem by her friends suggested there surely can be no no suspicion looked out into the night and repeated the words of miss slightly varied suspicion of wondered whether there was any trace of irony in the answer but he would not show that he thought of that exactly what i said he replied the class of people who frequent her would not her in that case all classes go there said no one has to bring a of character to enter a reception of that nature but you are a man of some experience in the ways of the world supposing it turns out that he is married what is the why friendship i suppose do you believe in that sort of thing was trying to get at s opinions not to air his own so he merely said why not let us look at it for a moment for the sake of the argument only you know mused the other if has a wife whom h never speaks of never brings into society what is the reason husband s friend strained relations probably given a man with a wife with whom he is on bad terms and another woman with whom he is on good terms what follows friendship why to be sure he had ceased to disguise his sarcasm and his knew that for some reason he was very bitter on the subject i seem fated to your arguments to night said smiling allowing that mr is married which is only a guess a let us say and that he fails for some reason to produce the body of his wife before the of public to use a legal phrase is by no means the only possible explanation the lady may be an invalid who cannot leave her room she may be averse to all as so many women are in either case she may be fully aware of what her husband is doing and glad to have him cultivate so refined an acquaintance it is at all events something it seems to me of which the world at large has no right to demand an miss s character is supposed to be above question your very presence at her house shows that you have confidence in it you would hardly continue to go there i think if you seriously doubted it oh i would go anywhere said abruptly i intend to write novels by and by who says that is married asked after reflecting a moment on the peculiar of the reply oh nobody says so it seems to be in the air people are constantly asking each other about it it anybody could say so that would settle it it s a remarkable thing said slowly love has fled that no one thinks of asking miss the question looked at him again with that direct inquiring gaze of his would you do it if i knew her as well as you do and wanted very much to know i think i would i should seize the proper time of course when it came in naturally in the course of the conversation a contemptuous smile greeted this answer there is a proper time to kill a said he but though somewhat handy with a gun i never succeeded in an old one yet between the flash and the arrival of the shot the creature out of harm s way now a is a very wise and bird but he is simplicity itself when compared to a woman like this if you don t believe me try it sometime well here is my corner good night s interest in miss was not lessened by this conversation and it was with a feeling that the new sensation he was about to assume a deeper interest that he presented himself at her door on the following afternoon she met him in a loose robe of white goods tied at the wai t with a cord which gave her something the appearance of a her hair was rolled back from her high forehead and her face seen by daylight was somewhat paler than it had been under the gas i wanted to see you to day she said after the ordinary greetings had been exchanged because i could say little to you last night in the presence of o many people mr writes me that yo re a most intimate friend of his that statement her husband s friend would of itself make you welcome in this house o t besides that i have taken a great interest in you personally on account of what you said in the course

of your argument last night she was certainly candid but the frank way in which she spoke surprised him a little yes and i have been friends from childhood he said he has known you for a long time also i believe quite long eight or nine years ah before his marriage then he did not think it very good to come to the point so soon when the words were out of his mouth but he had the joint in her and struck at it blindly she met him without apparent yes it was some months previous i expected at that time to be a wife soon myself probably he told you of my my misfortune her voice faltered as she uttered the words and he nodded a reply to the question she paused a moment and then said i need not ask you if you left mr well he was quite so and happy he had not anticipated the was it the friend or the jealous mistress who asked it i can hardly say yes to that he replied does not seem to me as bright as he used to be i was separated from him for several years and on meeting him again i find a great change and one that i do not like he has lost much of his old cheerfulness his head is full of and ideas like those of mr when love has fled ill whom i met here last night they may or may not be correct but i think they are bad for a man of his temperament they weigh constantly on his mind his spirits have lost their he sees less than he ought of the of the earth to his surprise this statement only brought a touch of sunshine into her face he knows as i do she said that a great is coming and that it is a time for those who wish to help it onward to adopt a serious mien standing as he does to day on ground which must so soon echo with the tread of an arisen people perhaps be with their best blood he does well to personal pleasure he smiled at her earnestness as we can never agree on that subject said he perhaps it would be as well to talk about something else i am glad to say however that our friend in his desire to save the down trodden of a does not forget the more important business of his journey he is using all efforts to secure the that he wants for his invention perhaps when he has made a million or two he will develop into an like the rest of us you do not know him cried miss with enthusiasm it is only the hope of gaining a fortune that he can use in our cause that spurs him on think there is no doubt that when he is in possession of his magnificent income he will devote it all to hastening the of and the of throughout the world v s smile faded all he repeated every dollar for and nothing for wife and children husband s her self possession gave way in a moment and tht nails of her white hands buried themselves in the flesh children she gasped and in a breath he knew that he had revealed a secret which he had not intended to do why not children as well as wife he asked pretending not to understand perhaps you are one of those who believe that a man s children should not inherit his goods but you would hardly claim that the father who is responsible for their existence ought to leave them to starve while they are young and helpless i can only think you do not mean to be taken literally when you say that mr should give all of his coming fortune t advance his theories we ask no one to neglect making proper provision for his relations she stammered he has a a child then thought of and his heart grew very hard and cold i said children he replied i know i understood you but sometimes people use the she was hoping against hope and the agony of the doubt was visible in every he thought it best to tell her everything now he had gone so far there are two the elder seven the younger three if i had not supposed you knew you may be sure i should not have alluded to the subject a criminal on the rack could hardly have suffered more than she did at that moment and she felt compelled to bear the pain with the fortitude of a martyr when love has mr never spoke to me of of such things she slowly i knew he was married and i supposed i understood i mean i thought very likely there was a child i did not know there was another and only three years old you say so he told me said fearing lest the next question would be whether he had himself seen them you have never met mrs i believe she shook her head making the greatest effort to appear calm there was no reason why i should mr and i are engaged in a social we publish a magazine together his private affairs or mine are never alluded to in our conversations all that i ever knew of his marriage is that it was sudden and unfortunate her voice had regained most of its natural strength and she looked more like herself again how unfortunate in what respect he asked determined to the matter as far as she would permit i do not think i ought to any more she responded you are his friend and if he has not chosen to tell you anything i should be at least as he has told me a good deal said i know he does not consider her

his mental equal if that is what you mean she bowed an affirmative is not that quite enough to justify the use of the word unfortunate in the case of a man like she asked he admitted m but her husband s into a marriage of this kind in which the wife is an innocent victim does he not owe her a which the previously existing of mind cannot shake miss s agitation while it had been well subdued left her a more easy prey to the of her she wanted to justify and herself in the eyes of this persistent man probably you consider marriage a sacred thing under all conditions she said i do not a man or a woman has not only no obligation they have no right to throw away all the possibilities of a lifetime on account of one deplorable error i may as well speak plainly had continued the constant associate of an ignorant country girl he would inevitably have sunk to her level he has a mind too noble to be thus destroyed the thing to do when one that he has committed a great mistake is to seek the remedy in the instance of which we are speaking i believe an effort has been made to do this or at least partially if the wife had been as wise as the husband there would have been a separation long ago it would have been better i am sure than continuing a marriage which is only a pretence and an injury to them both to say nothing of the the children so under such circumstances smiled making new arrangements at the pleasure of either would seem to you i presume he said she frowned in spite of her determination not to do so my views of the marriage relation are not as you seem to think lighter than those of most but when love has more intense she replied to live with a woman after love has fled seems to me nothing short of a then new arrangements at the pleasure of either are of course quite proper he persisted i did not say that but excuse me do you not think it it is not easy to make a rule to fit all cases she responded like an animal at bay what may be right for one may be wrong for another he decided to throw everything into the scale then and there but we are speaking of this case he said the case of and his wife and you and me she cried and you her slight bosom with the quick am short no one has a right to question me she answered proudly you are going too far she was not angry he could see that very well but she had suddenly grown quite determined miss said quietly i do not know how we got into this strain in our conversation i can say with truth that it was not by me believe it or doubt it as you please i am speaking as your friend and s now can you two afford to brave the opinion of the world the last words brought a ray of light into her features that chased away the darkness that had lingered there the cause that us she said is so great that beside it ordinary attractions do not deserve to lift husband s friend be even named what compared to it are and children and lovers they are they will be gone to morrow but the of mankind the return to generations of their long stolen that is something that will endure forever in the meantime what is to become of the asked has ever proposed a separation from his wife and if so what provision would he think it proper to make for i know nothing of that she answered i only know that his family hangs like a about his neck him at every step he takes if you are his true friend you will advise him to himself he will soon have money enough and will be able to satisfy her he nodded with a thoughtful air you have never seen her i think you said never then how can you say so coolly that dollars will her for the husband she will lose because i know the type she replied growing earnest for eight years she has been his wife and yet he has spent nearly every hour away from her has she followed him remonstrated done any of the things that a woman of force of character would have done no or i should have heard of it how long do you think would have endured that sort of treatment not a month if she has been content with nothing but her support for eight years it will content her still oh it makes me hot with anger when i think of such a creature holding such a mat in chains when she not in when love has t her a single element needed to round out his life i miss clasped her nervous hands above her head and a tremor passed through her frame a woman s opinion of her lover s wife is not likely to be of the fairest he said stung by the way in which she had spoken of mrs she fairly under the words what do you mean she cried was never any more a lover of mine in the common of that term than you are nothing ever passed between us that the whole world might not have seen and welcome he is my friend my my my partner but my lover no my views of marriage are as i told you than yours never while another woman could claim him even by the shallow fiction of law could he be any more to me than he is but let me do him justice by no word look or has

he the rules in all his intercourse with me he was enough to tell her that some people had thought otherwise yes she answered seeing me reflected in the mirror of their own minds what they think is nothing to me so long as none of them the subject and that the most intimate of my friends have not dared to do you are the first who has had the to me and for some reason which i hardly understand i hare condescended to set you right i think it was because i wanted you to believe in me and you do do you not it was an appeal uttered with startling earnestness lit her husband s friend and he replied with that he did believe in her she leaned toward him caught one of his hands and pressed it don t think i am she said i make no platform for others i no man or woman who find themselves unable to bear the weight when a marriage them i speak only of myself and she released his hand almost as soon as she took it but in the brief space that her fingers touched him he realized what an influence she might have on a man who loved her if she chose to exert it her had beaten time with his for twenty seconds you do not expect mr very soon he said not until late in the autumn she replied with a touch of sadness in her voice i need him just now very much but it is necessary that he should stay forgive a woman s curiosity but you said something about the opinion of people in relation to us did you hear gossip connecting our names last night he bowed how did it come about a question arose as to whether wa married yes the answer was that it was strange if he were that his wife was never seen with him her eyes dilated with gratification i think no one in my circle really knows she aid and you will not tell he asked why she cared whether they knew or not m because it would give rise to petty why do bee lit and perhaps injure us in the business we have to do the world is very big is it not when a man as well known as he can have a family within a hundred and fifty miles and no one here the wiser he assented though he did not share her evident delight and soon after they parted she inquired whether he would probably attend the next and he told her it was doubtful as he had some private business that might take him out of town but whenever he returned he said he should certainly see her when had gone turned to her mirror and was not surprised to see a bit of color in her cheeks she thought she had not felt better since went away then she recollected all at once what she had learned about the little and she wept for an hour as if her heart would break chapter viii why do vou her back to the village of back to that bit of modern rode harry the flying train sped merrily through the fair land of the rising ground of and the country of the traveller alone in a corner of his went over the events of the last fortnight foot by foot the space he had traversed again he saw at the church her eyes fixed on the clergyman but her her husband s heart he no doubt very very far away he saw her on her own premises under the pine trees and then in her parlor watching him turn the leaves of his guide to paris in every look and act there was devotion to the absent one who so little deserved it all then he found himself thinking of the domestic joys that would be possible with a partner like it chilled him to think of such a woman left like a wild rose to bloom and fall by the confirmed bachelor as he was it seemed to him that had he met a girl like this ten years sooner all his life might have been changed knew nothing of the world but it would have been exquisite pleasure to teach her she had never travelled beyond the of her own county but how much more delightful she would have been on the voyages that had taken him to every than a companion who had seen everything before and could find nothing to awake more than the most languid interest her simple manners might cause a smile in some refined circles but had he had this wild rose to develop all that would long since hare been past the train stopped at a station and he looked out at the people who were gathered there as the wheels began to again it occurred to him that he was dreaming of impossible things he must think not of what might have been but of what was he had not met in the golden days of their youth she was now his friend s wife n greater chasm could be imagined between them than this these reflections gave him a sort of chill ad to the surprise of his over heated neighbors he why do you visit asked the porter to come and close the window next to him then there passed through his mind the particulars of his interview with miss his up was that she was a clever intellectual woman for it must be remembered he had not seen her in tears he was surprised on the whole at her statement in relation to the innocence of her relations with or rather surprised that he believed her as he unquestionably did had a notion that he could read character in faces had her statement come to him in the form

of a letter he might have at it because he was not an expert in hand writing and all the pointed in an opposite direction but he had seen and heard her and no shadow of doubt was left that she spoke the truth as he thought it all over he could not tell whether the state of affairs that he had found would tend to or the thing he most desired the of the husband and wife if miss had held for eight years and more by the mere strength of her intellectual what was to prevent her from holding him if he had not been drawn to his wife during that long time by her beauty and sweetness if his charming children had no influence to keep him at home what could do it to came in the guise of a revelation he had never seen anything like her but to she was now an old story and what was there to throw into the scale it seemed a hopeless task that the in tht car had set himself to do at the house landlord in him heartily he had taken a great liking to who had away many a hour n hi company both about the quiet hotel and in making various to places in the vicinity by means of a horse and from the landlord s well stables he had said nothing to mrs about his intention of leaving town for a few days feeling that he could not do so without conveying an intimation that he thought her more interested than there was any reason to suppose she would be in the movements of one who was so recently a total stranger to her he thought as he ate his supper that it would be a good idea to wait a day or two before he called on her but as he strolled out with cigar lighted the inclination came too strongly upon him and he turned almost involuntarily toward her house arriving at her gate he hesitated till that minute he had really believed that all he meant to do was to pass the house unless he made this mental she should happen to be out of doors and see him but it was too cool that week for comfortable sitting under the shade trees and he saw a light in the parlor that where she was one of the curtains was not drawn low enough to wholly hide the interior and he could see her at a table reading probably the volume he had left with her no one else was visible and her quiet attitude implied that she was alone clearly it was an opportunity not to be thrown away tossing his cigar into the street he swung back the gate letting it purposely behind him and rang the bell a moment later he was receiving a pleasant of recognition and an invitation to be seated in the parlor why do you visit her ist i am afraid you have come for your book she said pointing to it on the table where she had just laid it down i thought once that i ought to send it to the hotel but i have been very busy and have hardly finished it however you are quite wrong he interrupted not wish ing to lose the advantage offered by the opening i have no use whatever for the volume are welcome to keep it as long as you like i have been out of town for several days and only returned on this evening s train while i like very much and mean to spend some time here i have almost no acquaintances in the village outside of mr and his family so when i strolled out after supper and happened to pass your house and saw that your parlor was lighted up i thought perhaps you would take pity on a and allow me to inflict my presence on you for a few minutes she was used to plain straightforward ways this country woman and she answered him from her heart i have told you before that you are always come here mr and i should be sorry to think you had passed the house without calling if you have so few friends in i shall hope to set all the more of you you are very kind he replied much impressed with her frankness i think it must be impossible for one like you who has lived so long here to understand the oppressive loneliness of the place at first to one who like me has passed all of his life in much more busy it is true i came here for the very change of which i speak the change from the of travel and of cities to the calm peace of the country but at first the im husband s the lack of animation of crowds of the rattle and noise to which i had been so long drove me mad when you add to that the absence of any one to talk to except the hotel people and the occasional transient guests there it is no wonder that i found it difficult to stick to my resolution and remain i do not wish to alarm you but i fear your husband will experience something of the same feeling when he returns from europe though of course he will have the advantage over me of wife and children to the effect he had not intended to utter the concluding sentence it may almost be said to have uttered itself he had got into a habit of letting his words flow as they pleased when he talked with her there are undoubtedly advantages to be acquired from residence in cities not the least of which is the habit of saying what you do not mean and the quite as one of doubting what others say to you whose life had

been passed among primitive surroundings was unfortunately ignorant of both of these accomplishments more than this she had no notion of the extent to which had discussed her family affairs she had no idea that a gentleman who happened to stay a week at the hotel would be likely to hear anything whatever about her private history she heard his remark without the least suspicion and replied with the frankness that she applied to everything mr is obliged by his business to be absent from home a good deal she said i think he has the feeling that you have expressed about country places he never seems content while in ti pushed the opportunity to say do to ft that he supposed he was mistaken then in the supposition that she had passed the whole of her life there no you are not she replied with slightly increasing color since i was brought here a child i have never been twenty miles from this spot my husband thinks it is the best place for the children is famous for its health you know when he travels he has every moment occupied and the constant change from hotel to hotel and from city to city would he thinks be unpleasant for me there was a good deal of hesitation in this speech and marked each with the deepest interest he had no doubt whatever of her loyalty what he wished to know was whether she was contented with the life she was leading whether she was willingly separated months at a time from her husband if she were really satisfied that things should continue as they were why should he trouble himself about her he felt for a moment that there was truth in miss s of a woman who could endure it for eight years without a protest then he took a look at the face before him and marked the slight flush that had come with her answer he meant to know whether she cared and how much he might not find out that evening but he meant to know and you never feel here during these long journeys when you are without him he asked taking care not to put too much meaning into his tone i i have the children ah to be sure he replied i suppose they re in bed before this hour i have thought ef them her husband s friend often they are great company for you especially the elder one still it must be a to have their father gone so much not only for you if you will let me say it but for him i never married nor do i think i ever shall but if i did i would never consent to go into any business that would take me away from my family it seems to me that no however great would for such a loss i might make occasional but to travel without them month after month year after year it would simply be impossible for me i hope for all your that mr will make his fortune early in life and retire from business it would be quite like another when you had him all the time again this was bold enough if what he wanted was to provoke a response the rounded bosom of the wife rose and fell with a rapidity that revealed the agitation she was trying her best to conceal he offered her an opportunity to speak but she could not trust herself with words just then i once knew a steamer captain he continued seeing that he was making an impression who was obliged on account of his profession to be absent from his wife five weeks at a time he told me that she had all she could do during the first year of their marriage to keep him from throwing up his which was a very good one as those things go i crossed the atlantic with him several times and after once himself to me on the subject it seemed as if he could talk of nothing i ve got the finest boat on this line he used to say and i draw as good pay as any of them but i m not going to stand this all my life with me on the sea or at liverpool and my and the little ones at why do you visit her ii new york no sir we re just saving every penny we can get our hands on and as soon as there s enough to pay for a decent interest in a sailing vessel i ll change my and go as an ordinary it s against the rules of this line for an officer to have any of his relations aboard even if he pays their passage but on a or i can take them all and there s no one to hinder the last time i was in new york i met him in the street and his face shone like the brass plates on a new engine i ve got a craft now he said where i can take them all and we re going to sail next week for the cape of good hope my cabin ain t quite as as the house we ve had in and the back yard is rather and the profits won t be likely to come up to the salary i got on the steamer but we ll be together as he grasped my hand with his great nearly all the i realized all the happiness he felt and congratulated him warmly before going to a store for a bottle of he threw in the at the end for he saw a drooping at the corners of her mouth like that of a child who is on the point of crying he was afraid to her say anything and he went on you know the saying mrs that

old maids have the best children it must seem quite ridiculous to hear a bachelor over the delights of constant association between husband and wife but my theories are harmless ones or will be if they don t bore you too much i am not single from conviction that it is the best state in which to live but merely because the woman whom i could love as i think a wife should be loved never came across my path when i do marry if you chance to know a husband s me then i will show you a pattern of devotion i met once out in africa an english nobleman who was returning with his wife from a tour of hundreds of miles through the heart of that savage country she had been with him for three years where no white woman had ever gone before dressed for convenience in a semi masculine costume carrying a gun and riding a horse with as much ease as any man in the party the husband told me that he had got ready to go on this journey without her and went to bid her good by when they both discovered that they simply could not endure it it was impossible to give up the expedition and there was nothing for the wife to do but pack a hand bag and go along she took a comb and brush and a little mirror of course and just as few other things as was possible for three years she had been he told me not only no to him in those but a real pleasure and assistance i almost envied that couple i assure you if i could find a woman like that i might give up my own condition of single he laughed at this in a way that was quite and she could not help smiling a little it was easier for her to listen to this man than to talk to him he thought it best to leave the subject where it was and accordingly began to discuss the paris book which he took up and opened by questioning he found that she had read most of it and that it interested her i have never read many books she said simply but i mean to now the children are less care than they were and i shall have more time may i send for some of mine and lend them to you he asked i have rows and why do you visit ut rows of them in new york doing no good to anybody you are kind to offer it she replied a but i prefer to buy my books and keep them i n r ould like you to give me a little list of some that think i would need though if it would not be too much on the contrary he said quickly i shall be delighted what will you have have you any choice among the poets history that is always interesting novels books of travel and adventure you see there are so many books one never reads half of them i will write you a list just a few that i think you will like though very likely there will be some that you have already you need not be afraid that you will include many that i have read she admitted i have never cared much for books but now i want them yes she repeated i want a good many of them i mean to read much and your advice will be of great value before he went away that evening he led her into a discussion regarding and its surroundings and she gave him much information regarding the place and people talking on a subject with which she was familiar her countenance threw off its partially constrained expression and she grew animated i suppose you have relatives here he said he had finished laughing at one of her descriptions only two she replied growing suddenly sober an unmarried brother and sister of my father they are quite old fashioned people my never goes anywhere and my aunt took offence at mv marriage and now she never calls husband s friend either i might almost say i have no relations in at all it did not seem strange to her that she told him this she had known him nearly two weeks and was over again after that night he called often there was nothing else in that interested him spite of the little with which he met the few inhabitants with whom he had occasion to discuss its beauties of scenery he yawned away the mornings over newspapers and the latest light literature he disposed of the afternoon either at the table when he could find any one to play with or exploring the country roads when he could not he did not mean to call on mrs every evening but he usually managed to see her at some hour in the twenty four he attended every local affair that was worth going to and many that were not and it happened curiously that she always knew he would be there and managed to be present herself a local band gave monday and wednesday evenings on the common there was a praise meeting friday night he had not quite got himself up to the point where he attended the saturday evening prayer meeting but he rather liked the singing especially since he found that s voice was one of those he would hear there were several sunday school and society at lake grove in which he developed an astonishing interest and she was usually on the committee of arrangements sunday there was the sermon of course which he never missed he could sit in mr s and see her for an hour on and he was pretty sure to drop in after supper and many other times h why do you

visit her happened to walk home with her from some public occasion and talk half an hour at the gate before they parted in this way he found it worth his while to remain in all the rest of the summer to be sure he went away occasionally for a few days at a time to new york or boston generally boston miss gave up her thursday evenings during august but received regularly on sundays there were so many of her followers she said who were unable to leave with the fashionable crowd which thronged the and mountain that she felt it her duty to open her doors at least once a week even though she had sometimes to come from a long distance to do so once or twice remained over until monday at her request for private but there was very little said on these occasions that is worth all she seemed to desire was to him of her regard and to avail herself of h s information in reference to certain events that were they always spoke about in a general way but both were careful to avoid being drawn into another argument in which they would be sure to differ at the sunday evening affairs who never failed to seemed to grow week by week those who knew him best were completely at a loss to account for his manner mrs st john remarked several times to miss that he had become so dull she was almost sorry for bringing him but could never be dull in the eyes of miss she listened to every word that he uttered as if it were the speech of an she could see without the least trouble that husband s friend he had taken a jealousy of for which she was quite confident he had no just grounds in fact he seemed displeased at every sign of confidence which miss had with any of her other guests and was clearly the of men one evening he left the house in company with and as soon as they were alone he launched into the subject that was him i want you to tell me one thing he said nervously i demand it as a right as a matter of between man and man let me know without do you love miss until he reached the words themselves had no conception of what he meant to say he had supposed that the coming question would refer entirely to but as he glanced at s pale face he could not help seeing that he was terribly in earnest such an idea never entered my head he replied candidly his inclination to say that was none of his business then why continued the other in a voice why do you visit her in private a little at this you have been acting the spy have you he aid coldly yes cried when a man is in my condition of mind he will do anything i love her she knows it i think everybody knows it when i first found it out was in the way he had gone out of the city but people were always talking about him when they mentioned her name four months have passed and still he does not return some are saying that he never will i was do t set f j fe just beginning to have hope when you came she pays more attention to you than to any one else who her you go to her house on other days and remain for hours why is it if there is no love between you why i say and he paused on the overcome by the violence of his emotions found his angry feelings melting away before the evident suffering of his companion mr he began slowly the three or four which i have had with miss have been solely on business matters if i had any intention of marrying assure you she would be the last person in the world of whom i should think in that connection as far as i am concerned you may set your mind wholly at rest searched his face and seemed satisfied of the of this answer but about he asked suddenly can you tell me whether i am in danger from him i have no right to say anything about that was the reply i think however that mr has no intention whatever of offering marriage to the lady in question but she loves him m m they are friends of many years standing that is all i am quite sure that matrimony is thought of by neither of them grasped s hand warmly thank you he exclaimed with you have given me new life regarded him with great curiosity it does not follow he pursued that miss will look with favor upon your suit i incline to the belief that she is single from choice and her husband s friend to remain so she is not young he added point past her at least and too full of tion and purposes j should say to think much of anything else but would not so easily give up the hopes which he had formed i know what you think he said that i am too much her junior i have no doubt she is three or four years older than i this should be no objection on her part and if i am content who is to care she is bound up in you say well i am no less so she has not an opinion on that subject which i do not share why should she treat me as he does he looked so pitiable that found his increasing to his great surprise if you wish me to advise you he began and short that is just it well then i should say to begin with that women are not won in the way you have adopted

did not speak but he listened attentively how may a woman be won pursued speaking like a professor of the science by exciting in her breast admiration at first and affection afterward no man can excite admiration who a bad temper at the slightest provocation who never is seen to smile and who shows on all occasions such conduct must breed aversion no matter how the lady might have been inclined toward the broke in at that savagely m how easy it is to preach you would have me mile i suppose and act t e art of when why do my heart is being torn by the coldness she shows to me and the warmth she gives to others j the boy did just that replied he denied having stolen the fox which was at the moment him to death under his coat he did that merely to avoid being proved a thief cannot you do as much for a woman you love a groan was his only answer the man whose hand can never expect to hit a bull s eye said the english language is full of to fit your case faint heart never won fair lady none but the brave deserve the fair i do not say that you can ever marry but i do tell you that your greatest need is courage yes courage he repeated putting his hand on the other s shoulder and i will add this if it will do you any good i wish with all my heart that she would accept you and that the ceremony could take place to morrow why asked looking at him i have my reasons if there is any way in which you can aid m then i may call you certainly here is my address both here and in new york i am absent a good deal but my mail is promptly forwarded i cannot leave you without repeating that i do not think miss desires to marry added as they parted but for all that i wish you well and shall be pleased if i hear of your success only remember two or three things go to her hereafter with a cheerful face don t k like a thunder cloud if she speaks to husband s x man don t press your attention and above all things remember that rome was not built in m day and that jacob served fourteen years for au p the wore on did not go to boston again for some weeks but stayed in where things were more to his liking steadily he had grown in the good graces of mrs until he listened for his step as naturally as she did for those of her children and found herself growing impatient if he did not come at his usual hour sometimes he took little and to ride in his wagon and both of them grew very fond of him he could not take their mother that would have passed the limits even of decorum but he generally contrived to let her know in which direction he intended to drive of an afternoon and he somehow happened to take the same roads with her little ones and meet him at some place where they could rest their horses under the trees and gain another hour s chat together the two or three farmers who chanced to see them while thus engaged never gave the matter a second thought they took off their hats with old fashioned courtesy to mrs and lost nothing of their esteem by raising his own with equal grace in return not a look was ever exchanged not a word was ever spoken that all america might not hav seen and heard if only all america were not so suspicious and unreasonable had procured the books he told her of and read them with most of the conversation which they held referred to the great poets or why do you visit or and their works he knew so much that interested her now that this new world was so suddenly opened up her respect for his knowledge grew with every day they were together to her mind he was an of all learning but once when she hinted as much he laughed and said he had wasted the time that he should have devoted to study and was called upon too often to realize the depths of his own ignorance if you call yourself ignorant what must you think of me she asked with self oh you will soon your he said smiling had your opportunities been as good as mine i should have had to blush more than i do now for my hours since i left college i have had nothing to do and have done a great deal of it you have formed a taste for reading and will soon be familiar with the best authors when i leave you will have more time as i shall not be coming in to disturb your evenings she turned very white and was conscious of a momentary you will leave she not yet but by and by i suppose i shall have to go i have stayed much longer than i at first intended you have made it very pleasant for me here he said this ready to the expression if she wished it but she did not seem to take alarm it is you who have made it pleasant for me she replied with her eyes on the ground he laughed thinking it would cheer her and said he was glad if he had done so but he added m you know you are expecting your husband home her husband s soon after his long absence he will hardly care to share even a little of your time with strangers she called to the children without replying telling them to return at once to the pony carriage they had wandered into an

adjacent field and came back with their hands full of wild flowers drove back to town as was his custom by a road and was much astonished and annoyed when he happened to glance at the register of the hotel to see the name george written in a bold hand he immediately sought out the landlord and called his attention to the signature i do not want that man to know that i am here he said you may send my meals to my room until further notice as he turned around he found at his elbow and knew that every word he had uttered must have been heard by him but he was not in the least disconcerted extending his hand he exclaimed with incredible what the devil brings you down to this god forsaken place mt husband tou know him f chapter ix my husband you know him mr george had made rapid progress since that evening when he and had talked so long together after leaving s house so marked was the change in his that miss could not help noticing it and it very impressed her she treated him with more cordiality than before and raised his hopes so high that he restrained himself with difficulty from a too of his love but still between him and the object he had in view always arose like a he heard a good deal about him from miss and others and whispers that he was soon expected home began to trouble him seriously it was hardly possible tc maintain the serenity of expression upon which he had resolved the question whether was already married was often and determined to settle it if he could it was not advisable to make too many inquiries of the circle at miss s and for some time he slowly but one day while looking over an old boston he hit by pure accident upon the right thread accompanying the name of s firm were these words house at mass here was a clue indeed reference to later showed that the words last quoted were missing which convinced that they had been omitted either by special request or on account of husband s friend change in residence at any rate it was an easy thing to go to and make somebody there would be sure to know the family and in case they had moved away the would undoubtedly have the new address the question of wife and children could be solved much easier where the lived than in boston as there was but one hotel in could not very well avoid running across about the first thing he did neither of the men was glad to see the other there for each felt that his movements would now have to be to some extent suspected from the first the real nature of s errand and saw that it was likely to interfere with his visits to mrs he could not however have imagined the extent to which the lover would go in his desire to remove from his path he could not foresee that he would make the acquaintance of miss and pour into her too willing ear under the promise to conceal the name of her all that he knew pr guessed about s visits to miss thought at first of telling him the truth hoping that it would his stay but in order to do this it might be necessary to explain some things about which he did not care to be in this way several weeks went by during which the two men became a constant nuisance to each other they had to pretend friendship when they met and they played a game of together once in a while but neither was in the least deceived soon found out what he came to learn and had the additional satisfaction of getting aunt to help him in his work he might have left husband you know town then except for his wish to watch whose presence there troubled him not a little he went to boston each saturday not liking to miss seeing the object of his adoration on sunday evening but he always returned on the monday morning train had it not been for this brief might have had the unpleasant experience of living in that dull village week after week without even speaking to the woman whose presence chained him there when she asked him why he did not call oftener he made replies which caused her no little distress he had always seemed so frank about everything that the least symptom of hesitation gave her much uneasiness she assigned every reason but the right one to his changed manner and the situation grew very unpleasant for them both miss was not as may be imagined willing to leave in ignorance of what she had learned when declined to do anything but wait until her husband came home her aunt paid an immediate visit to the office of the village lawyer mr and directed him to draw up without delay a new will for her brother the lawyer knew the well enough to be sure that would sign anything that his sister told him to and readily promised to set about the work at once he was rather than usual that week however and miss got quite uneasy has said anything more to you about the new will she asked her brother when nearly had gone by only that he s very busy and is going to write it as soon as he can how long did he think we were to wait husband s for him snapped the woman her black eyes you tell him to morrow that if he doesn t get it done this week i shall go over to yes if anything should happen to you continued miss every penny of our money would go t those after i am through with it i

not remember when he had ever been in such a temper before he walked on until he was comparatively calm and then though it was monday night he bent his steps towards the residence before he reached there he believed he had succeeded in all traces of excitement from his face but in this he was mistaken saw at first glance that something unusual had happened you are not well to night mr she said oh yes i am well enough he said nervously taking her hand and holding it to her momentary consternation i have just had a talk with a scoundrel and it has me a little that is all but you must not call me mr again my name is she repeated yes he said suddenly discovering that he was her hand and it that is my name your husband must have spoken of me to you she stared at him wildly her husband s friend my husband you know him i have known him for twenty years then explain why you came here under the name of don t ask me too much to night i did it for his sake and yours but the man i have just left has been telling in the village for his own purposes he admitted to me that he has been talking to your aunt she uttered a little cry and sank into a chair she cried clasping her hands together did you say yes i don t know what anything but the truth has your aunt been here to poison your ears with them i suspected it let me urge you to your mind of all that she has said without a minute s hesitation the wretch from whom she obtained them is unworthy of the slightest he spoke very rapidly and his words seemed to overcome her with joy why am i here he asked as as before because i love your husband because i your children because i love you for i do love you and yet i think not with more love than i have a right to give to the wife of my dearest friend i love you and i love and my greatest wish is to see you as closely united as a husband and wife should be i am not going to him for what he has done or is doing that would not be my right but if there is a deeper possibility of love between you i wish it might be yours he is coming home in a week or two i received a letter from him saturday and he ought mt husband you know i never to go so long from you again as soon as he comes i shall see him i shall tell him i the violence of his emotion overcame him and he pressed his hands over his face h looked up again she was standing beside him how could he leave a woman like you and stay away month after month he exclaimed seizing her hand once more you are worthy of any man who walks the earth she trembled as he touched her you are very kind she responded in a whisper i can never thank you enough for the interest you have taken in me he looked into her face i do not love you too much no i am sure i do not he said very slowly i should have left any time when i discovered that you do not wish me to go he added no not from but from the house at this time yes i am sure it would be better but you have confidence in me yes oh yes he rose walked to the door more firmly than usual paused at the threshold half turned back nd then passed swiftly down the walk and into the street x tub spy there is a proverb to the effect that the good wilt even of a dog is to his enmity miss had learned this lesson much better than had it took her but a very little while to discover that george could be a very disagreeable personage when he first came to her house she was much attracted by the bright way in which he discussed social issues and thanked mrs st john warmly for bringing him to her attention but when he fell in love with her as she a little later his complaint when he ceased to say anything that had not in it some touch of irony when he began to make hints about to be surly at the least attention she paid to any other masculine guest and to drop suggestions of a desire to see her in private she was not long in changing her mind she could have settled the matter by conveying to the young man an intimation that his further presence at her was not desirable but the probability was that this would only transfer the field of his operations she did not like him as an friend she was not likely to be better pleased if she converted him into a pronounced enemy her intention therefore was to let matters take their own course in the b v that be would what the spy discovered see the folly of his conduct he was not the first man who had been stricken with a severe attack of affection for her she believed the affair would run its course and die at last of its own accord the sudden alteration in his manner on the night following his first conference with surprised miss greatly the side which he presented her on that occasion was one which she had never seen he her on her looks became specially attentive to several gentlemen with whom she found it necessary to confer at length and was in general as much unlike the former mr as one could possibly conceive but though she was much puzzled

by all this it did not throw her off her guard she knew well that something unusual must have happened to cause this change and she her time to discover what it was when more than a month had gone by and his improved continued she was obliged to admit to herself that she could make nothing of it and then there came a day the one following his stormy interview with detailed in the last chapter when he boldly to her door in the middle of the afternoon and sent up his card with the message that he wished to see her on a matter of importance miss s reception evenings were open as has been stated to the very circle of people of all shades of opinion and of all of society her list of individual friends whom she saw on other occasions was the smallest perhaps possessed by any lady in boston so generally was this understood that few outside of her ever called upon her except by request and those who did were almost invariably met with a not at borne that polite fiction which has become almost a to very busy or very retiring people the servant took mr s card and carried it with his statement to her mistress there was a moment of and then miss directed that the gentleman should be shown into the drawing room she had thought it over very rapidly he might be there on some errand that would prove he might on the contrary have something of importance to communicate in either case the wisest way was to see him for if the former supposition proved correct it would be easy to make this visit a final one so miss laid down the pen she was using and went into the drawing room to meet her visitor who rose at her entrance and bowed profoundly i trust you will not think me she said before he could speak if i tell you at the outset that i can only spare you a very few minutes i am reading the proofs of my magazine which appears this week however if your business is really of importance i must my other work until i have listened to it she took a chair him to resume the one he had and assumed an attitude of attention which disconcerted him not a little he did fancy seeing things put on such a purely commercial basis i came here miss he began struggling to hide his confusion to say something to you that j believe is for your interest i may be mistaken b it i think it is worth your while to hear me she had not the least idea what was coming bat she bowed and uttered the brief answer what the it is in relation to mr dan ell he mid think ing it wisest to fix her attention at once she changed color in spite of herself m i do not know she responded slowly how there can be anything in reference to that gentle man about which you could feel it necessary to speak to me he regarded her attentively as he replied i have come here because i think you do not know i may be mistaken but i think so he replied with deliberation in one sense it is true tt is no affair of mine in another considering the regard i have for you but she broke in upon him to the point if you please mr if there is anything that you think necessary to tell me i pray you to do so without delay for i assure you again that my time to day is precious well in short replied becoming exasperated i have discovered that mr is a married man yes he continued the expression of her countenance as she received the information he has a wife and children living in the village of in the western part of this state he paused to mark the effect of this shell and was disappointed miss had quickly recovered her and was regarding him with an icy stare well proceed she said again proceed he echoed why what more is there that needs to be said u then am i to understand that this is all is it not enough he cried interest do you imagine this matter has to her husband s me she asked each word with perfect distinctness it was now his turn to stare you you are through with him then he stammered explain yourself she demanded sharply it strikes me that your last expression demands it the coldness of her manner his uneasiness why he ejaculated i thought everybody thinks that and you were more than ordinary friends i don t mean anything unpleasant you know but i supposed that there was an understanding an engagement or something of that kind there have been lately that he was married but very few of your acquaintances believed them they all said you would not treat him as you do if if he were you know and when happened to find out for certain why i thought it my duty to tell you as i couldn t help believing that you were being deceived she drew up her shoulders and surveyed him with an expression of contempt i fear you take me for some other woman she said do you know who i am my name is he felt like a standing before the face of the of as she thus launched personality at him did you think that chose hei friends before finding out what they were did you imagine that you could come here and tell me anything new about a man whom i have known for years and years i v before ae was married and i have known him ever what the ft y could tell you the very of his children the fifth of may the

sixteenth of august i am at a loss to know what put the idea into your head that you had made a great discovery then that it was not advisable to anger him too much she burst into a hearty laugh i suppose i ought to thank you she said more for i am sure you meant well you could not possibly have a wrong motive in going to all this trouble when were you in i left there this morning he replied he liked being laughed at even less than the manner which had preceded it indeed she cried and how did you leave our friend your friend perhaps not mine he retorted and his name is if you please it is the same thing she replied lightly have you two fallen out i thought you were friendly as could not very well explain the cause of his difference with he thought it best to turn the course of the conversation must be very good natured to send a man like that over from europe to entertain his wife he sneered he has been there all summer for nothing else going down to her house after sunset and staying till midnight or longer he did not care much for absolute truth when he had a to tell about an enemy if the husband stays abroad much longer there will be no need of his coming home at all had at last heard something that the wanted to know s saw that was j s friend observer than she had given him credit for being he had learned in some way that was s friend she wondered how much more he had learned and adopted the plan of as the best method of persuading him to tell everything he knew mr probably thinks that he knows his wife and his friend she said pleasantly shook his head with a why should go there only after dark if everything is as it should be i should say to avoid the of and why do they ride out in secluded country roads in the afternoon taking different ways to go and return but meeting where they can be together for hours was startled from her perfect by this statement you do not mean to assert that that is true she said quickly ah but i do i have followed them more than once yes several times she was silent for some seconds his exultation at being able to reveal something that she had not previously known was plainly visible a great tumult was going on in her mind let me understand you plainly mr she said presently for this is a serious business do you say that mr and mrs are in the habit of meeting in out of the way places apparent appointment i do he replied boldly entirely what thb ft his face fell a little at the question oh she has the children with her of but what of that they are too young to understand what is said she had all she could do to conceal her disappointment at the answer the children that puts quite a different aspect on the case now she leaned towards him and smiled just what have you seen don t be afraid i want to know he was so pleased at being asked for his confidence that he never saw the trap into which he falling but it was not easy to look her in the eye and invent why there was nothing very terrible aside from the fact of the meetings themselves that did not look like mere friendship for the absent husband you know they just met in the road and rested their horses did you hear their conversation no i could not get near enough for that the children stayed with their mother they usually got out to pick flowers in the field near by but they were always in sight oh yes and their mother talked with mr she in her carriage and he in his assented and that was all yes leaned forward and laid one of her bands on s as he in his great surprise looked up he saw that her dark eyes darted flames you are a bad witness she said husbands i am afraid something is the matter with vision he stared at her is it reasonable she vent on rapidly that a would drive day after day to meet a gentleman merely to talk to him a wife let us say whose husband is absent in europe and who has never seen him six times a year since her marriage would she not have offered her cheek if not her lips and would not her companion have accepted the challenge how can one conceive of a man like that spending a whole summer in the ridiculous way you suggest mr you do not like to tell me the whole story he protested that she was in error adding that he only regretted that it was not so as he had reason to wish no good to no you are wrong you are forgetful she replied still with the eyes fixed on him you must try and think if you cannot recollect better i you to visit some town near where or or whatever name he goes by will not suspect your and there watch again and the next time you must write down your observations taking care that you miss nothing your memory is treacherous he could not fail to understand her she had almost told him in so many words that he must himself at her call it did not him as much as he could have expected but it did arouse an idea that had lain for some minutes if miss asked such a favor as this of him he might make it the basis of a claim in return i cannot conceive of any request of yours that i

should refuse he said i would ask what thb l i nothing better than to be your slave for life you cannot be to the feelings with which you have long inspired me her brain was on fire she hardly seemed to him if you waste no time she said you will get the evening train without difficulty to let me see to that is only five miles from and a good point from which to make observations she rose from her chair as if to hasten his departure would you like to write to me she added above all things you may do so and when may i see you when your has sufficiently improved when have something worth coming to tell he looked at her with hungry eyes and my reward he faltered she started slightly it is no time to talk of rewards if you discover anything that leads to a reasonable suspicion your duty will be plain you have no time to lose go t her s chapter xl you have child he caught her hand quickly and kissed it then with a hasty good bye he left the house the minute that he was out of sight miss i manner changed she held from her the hand his lips had touched as if it were an thing her eyelids drooped and her rigid frame relaxed the strength she had suddenly summoned seemed to leave her rising wearily she to her chamber where she washed away the physical taint of contact with this man whom she but even as the soap and water covered the place it came vividly across her mind how impossible it would be to wash the dark spots from her mind and conscience for had a conscience one that burned and pricked her whenever she its and at this moment it rang a in her ears which seemed as if it would her forever when the hand was to all outward appearance clean again she returned to the drawing room and dropping into an easy chair tried to think why had she sent on that wicked mission why had she stooped to make use of such a tool when the result must inevitably be to place her under obligations no end of annoyance she heartily wished as she sat there that she had not been so there had not been time to consider the opportunity had come so top children also that she could not resist the temptation she could write to him or telegraph him even now at bidding him do nothing about it but what then if could only be persuaded to seek a separation from his wife by some means less danger she turned to her mantel on which was his photograph and taking up the portrait she pressed it to her lips oh my love she cried in spirit why have the divided us so cruelly bound by your own rash folly to a woman who is not your equal held in chains by a fancy that your duty lies in that direction is there no help for you is there no help for me must i descend to the of ordinary women in the mad hope to gain you how much longer can i live in this vainly for the drop of water that should cool my tongue she was aroused from this by the maid who came to say that the s boy wished to know if the proofs were ready perhaps it was well that the necessity of labor compelled her to forget for the moment her troubles she plunged at once into her work and was soon making alterations and with as firm a hand as ever it was a brilliant number of the magazine that she issued that month everybody said that miss had a right to be proud of it at nine o clock that night when the last of the proofs were finished and after she had eaten an apology for a dinner her appetite not being improved by the events of the afternoon she went again into her drawing room and sat there alone i husband s with her head buried in her hands never had she felt io lonely never had life seemed so little worth the living but when her spirits were at their lowest ebb she was roused by two quick strokes at the street the skilled knows the touch of a brother and can detect it years after in an unexpected part of the country knew that only one man could have rung that belt though she had supposed him four thousand miles away there was no doubt that was at her door the color that had deserted her face rushed back over it her eyes brightened her white lips grew red her thin nostrils dilated she sprang up nd took several steps toward the door and then something with a suddenness that was very like a shock paused set her teeth together and walked slowly back to her chair hardly was she again seated when the cause of her emotion threw open the door of the room and with rapid strides stood before her all his joy at being with her again after six months of absence all the of his hopes long deferred were in that one word she held out her hand not the one that had kissed and coolly asked him to be seated his astonishment at her manner was plainly evident he hesitated several seconds in sheer amazement staring at her in the vain expectation of learning the reason for his strange reception but pride came to his rescue and he somewhat took the chair she indicated h l did not expect you so soon ht said also not to let him guide the conversation how did it happen he could not understand her coldness but he would have died rather than have told how much it affected him i found

that i could catch a faster steamer at he replied and so i did not go to liverpool it made a difference of three days and i wanted to get home as soon as possible yes it must seem a long time six months said and he responded that it did and thus they went on for the next half hour talking of little things each well aware that there was no heart in either questions or answers he told her that he had filed his for in all the countries in europe and that the business promised well he had in fact received one very handsome offer for rights to take effect as soon as the were allowed he talked of paris and and london and and as he went on with his details he knew that she cared nothing about it all at last he decided that he might as well know now as later what had so altered her manner towards him and at a pause in the conversation be abruptly well what is it r she glanced up what is what the cause of my peculiar reception want to know i have a right to know tell me your reception is as cordial as i have given to any gentleman since you left i wait he interrupted i am not asking for much considering all that has passed between us in upon him husband s considering all that has passed t what has ever passed between us to give you the right to count yourself on a different footing here from other men he was incredulous of his own powers of hearing as he her words i have come here as your friend for more than eight years he said quietly you have never treated me as you have to night and you know it well you have written me letters within the last three weeks and none of them in the vein you now i am not complaining i am not saying that you are wrong now or that you were right then but i think i have a right to ask the cause of the change his calmness which she could not help feeling vas greater than her own was and the programme which she had laid out was not easy to continue if there has ever been between you and me a cordiality greater than that which has existed between myself and others she said in a voice not perfectly firm there are reasons why it should end hereafter it is better it is wiser for us to assume towards each other only the ordinary friendliness of business partners do you not think so yourself she hoped he would answer that he did not but he merely that point is for you to decide he replied and yet i feel none the less justified in asking you what has led you to this decision she was silent for a full minute although she twice made an attempt to speak then she said in s firm voice you have a wife have children al o very true he replied and a shadow crossed his face but that you knew before had calculated neither the strength of this man nor her own weakness as she uttered the next sentence she raised an face to his you have children also he understood it in a moment she had learned this in his absence you have deceived me she went on passionately throwing down all reserve i remember well all that you said that day you came to me after after professor died you were married then that neither of us could help you believed it your duty to support the girl you had wedded in your folly that i did not object to though i thought it then better both for her and you that you seek an early separation on that we made an agreement you and i i was never to think of marriage and you were to be a husband in name only ah how well i remember th were every one your own you said you loved me that you had never for one moment ceased to love me and i said that i would take you at your word i told you that i would accept no attentions from any man but would wait though it might be until my hair was white or until the grave closed over me for you i have kept my word i thought i was dealing with a man who was above his fellows i have loved you as no inferior woman could without doing in all that time a single act that could lower me either in your estimation or my own but she paused her lips trembling you it was impossible to complete the sentence and an she gave up trying her frame shook with sobs her s waited until she grew calmer and than proceeded there has evidently been a misunderstanding between us and this is not so strange when we consider how this agreement as you call it was brought about i came to you at the time you refer to i admit in a state of excitement i had committed the greatest error of which a man can be guilty and the fact that i found you still free added to the effect of my action i knew that i had married one woman when every throb of my heart was for another you told me then that your love for me was as strong as mine for you there were three of us to be punished for the sins i alone had committed if i could have borne all the pain most gladly would i have done it but that could not be the girl i had married had a heart that might also be broken yes and it is not becoming in you to sneer at that statement

country girl that she was and is she too loved me the children have reconciled her to my almost perpetual absence they have smoothed the way for her for me and let me say it for you do you not see how she had th children and you had me i have hardly been a month at my home counting the minutes and adding them together in all the years since my marriage every hour that i could spare from business has been yours how could i in common decency have done more she held her throbbing temples with her hot hands and when she spoke the bitterness was gone from the pleading tones oh you cannot understand she said in a choking voice how could you being a man a you have children al o know what a woman like me can suffer in all these years while i have kept this ivory exterior the rack of pain has torn me day by day you have been here it is true i have heard your voice have clasped your hand have looked into your eyes but how could i forget even for one instant that you were not mine you went to i knew that and it almost killed me to know it but i did not know i did not suspect i did not dream that you on her the caresses that were denied to me you expressly told me he interrupted that i did not want them yes and it was true i did not wish your kisses but i did not wish them given to another i would not have accepted them never at any moment since you told me of your marriage a caress from you would be only a mockery while the law held you in another bond and so my children poor little things must come between you and me he said gently for he could not help seeing how she suffered they are to separate us is that it not as far as the cause is concerned she replied striving to master her emotions but i never can feel as i have felt that you were as much mine as hers i must this terrible love that has shown its power to give me such vital pain we will work together still but that is all he shook his head with decision i could not do that he said i already feel most uncomfortable here i never could forget what has been no he added we must give it all up we must never see each other there is no middle course she wondered if h meant it if he husband s give up seeing her and she knew that if he did it would be her death blow the fury of her passion had passed and she felt it time to she said tenderly could you give up all our relations as easily as that is there no deeper sentiment in your breast after the professions of these long years but what can i do he asked helplessly if you cannot forgive my poor babies for coming into the world the younger of the two is nearly four years old and my wife who has seen me only five or six times in the last two years how can i treat her any worse than i have she has never uttered a word of complaint never a hint of discontent and yet i presume she has feelings like other people as long as she is true to me i must recognize the law s relation miss caught her breath and you do not question of course you do not that she is true he smiled with the confidence of one who could afford to laugh at a suggestion like that it is beyond all doubt he replied she is innocence itself and if you should find yourself mistaken he looked up sharply if she were criminal why in that case there is only one course open to a man of honor he had said all she wished him to say and she managed to turn the talk towards the topic of where they could meet on common ground it was late when he left and she succeeded in a promise from him to call again soon for the purpose of discussing an article that had been submitted for the next magazine it was with the great joy that she heard his acceptance of the proposition now that she had spent the force of her storm she could not bear to think of its possible effects came the next day and the next and so two weeks went by he found time to attend to his business and to go to miss s and to see her in private but he did not find time to visit his wife and children and all the while a mysterious man who with a farmer in continued to haunt the wood and roads of and the of the house chapter xii haunting the railway station had had her way her brother tool that he was in her hands had signed the new will s name was not mentioned in it a lot of foreign missionary societies seaman s and orphan were to get the dollars that he had contrived to make and she to save after their dust had been gathered to that of their fathers though both the were attendants at divine worship neither of them had any conception whatever of real religion they went to church just as they paid their taxes because it was considered a necessary and proper thing to do in the community in which they lived they probably had a dim her husband s idea that rent filed away for half a century would constitute a sort of preferred claim on everlasting salvation a kind of against fire in the next life as a policy in the or the

state company was in this miss had picked out the societies that were to benefit by her brother s from a miscellaneous which lawyer procured at her request none of them were to touch the money during her lifetime should she survive it was easier to select her than one might think for the main point was not so much to decide who should have the money as to make sure that the never got any of it her bitterness against her niece had been much increased by her persistent determination to await the return of her husband and to hear his side of the story before taking for granted all that her aunt told her as long as we had only suspicions the old lady had said darkly i could forgive your foolish with a man who has been away from you almost every hour since you married him i have brought you proofs that should satisfy any reasonable woman if they are not sufficient for you you need only to make a visit to boston and find out for yourself m he is my children s father had answered i must wait until he comes before i can decide yes and let him smooth everything over with his soft tongue was the reply will not lie to me if he has done wrong he will admit it when i ask him the direct question exclaimed aunt unable to the railway its herself longer if that is your final decision you and i are done forever all that has made was left to you years ago by his will but i will have it altered this very day our money shall never go to the wife or children of a man like that while they cling to him with such obstinacy do you hear you will never get a penny from us so the new will was made and all knew it before twenty four hours as they knew almost everything else that should have been kept secret thought little and cared little about it she had never been in want of money enough for her moderate needs and aunt s threat had for her very little significance what she did think of night and day was her husband for whom she had developed a more absorbing passion than ever since these charges were brought against him she could not deny that his conduct had been most peculiar that he himself for very long periods and wrote seldom and briefly but she had always accepted his explanations that business affairs were pressing and that his time was taken up with things of moment which he could not well neglect there had been times when she had doubted whether he loved her as much as a man should love his wife but it was incredible that another woman had been given the affection that she had been denied still the story that her aunt had brought determined her to learn the truth at whatever cost if had been guilty she would leave him but first this must be proved beyond either by his own confession or other positive evidence at this period she had only two sources of consolation one was her child tea the other was husband s the little girls were growing prettier and more intelligent every day she felt the greatest pride in them though it was now mingled with a sort of terror as she thought of a possible future when she should have to tell them that their father had been a wicked man from whom she had to flee looked remarkably like him and though she had her mother s dark eyes and hair bore an resemblance to the the elder child with a perception far beyond her years was quick to notice the melancholy that had come over her mother and to extend her sympathies why is it that you never smile any more mamma she said is it because papa does not come hush child hush answered the mother frightened that such a thought should find in the little brain wound her arms around her mother s neck and kissed her gently i dreamed of him last night mamma he was on a big ship and coming right towards me and when he came near i waved my handkerchief and cried out to him but he did not see me and his ship went sailing on but dreams do not mean anything for i dreamed once that i was dead and lying in a and when i awoke you were bending over and kissing me said very little about anything she kept to her amusements all day long being as well satisfied when she was alone as when she had a companion if talked to her about their papa she would shake her head carelessly no me doesn t know any papa she would say me never seen im came every day for since haunting thb railway ton had left town he saw no need for special his sympathy for mrs continued to increase as he noticed the sadness which now marked her every mood and expression at times he felt so against her husband that he could him with a good will and again he hardly knew which of them to pity most at these latter times he used to feel that his friend was to a who upon a desert when an that is his by right lies within a hundred paces he had seen enough of to know that he was far from being a happy man much of his sadness laid to what he called his doctrines but he thought a wife like ought to be able to bring light into the face of any man even a rank bachelor as he was it seemed to him little less than a crime to cast aside the love of such a woman and he felt that the effect must

fall heavily upon the head of the s position was a very strange one there was so much that he wanted to do and so little that he could accomplish he had come there at first from motives of mere curiosity and the course that he afterwards adopted grew upon him unawares the change in all the habits of a lifetime astonished but did not dismay him he believed in the first place that was not he believed all that had told him of the purity of their relations and he felt that there was no such chasm to bridge as if the opposite had been true if he could show the full value of the treasure he had neglected there was great reason to hope that he would assume the right position at last g he used to picture to himself the united family the happy wife the fond husband and father and at such times he used to wonder why his own heart grew sick within him and why he felt like from the place where all this good result had grown from his unselfish efforts wrote to quite a month at least certainly much oftener than he did to his wife s answers were all from new york where he sent them to his and dealt solely with the ordinary affairs of the day when a letter came to him dated at boston and stating that had already arrived in america he was somewhat surprised as he had not expected him quite so soon it made him a little nervous too as he reflected that the must now be very near he was glad was in the country of course he was for had he not been hoping all the summer for his speedy return the sooner he reached the sooner the work of reconciliation could be begun but something was the matter with the he grew paler and neglected his meals and he began to haunt the neighborhood of the railroad station there was one train from the east that stopped at at about ten o clock in the morning and another at about eight at night all the other trains from that direction dashed contemptuously by the little village as if they had something of more importance to attend to than its insignificant interests went regularly to each of these trains thinking it best to welcome his friend at the threshold of the town he paced the platform sometimes half w hour before the train was due according t ov the printed posted on the walls of the wait ing room ho heard the of the carriages in the distance the shrill scream of the a mile away the roar of the approaching mass the hissing of the steam at night he saw the huge light come bearing down upon him like an demon there was nearly always somebody who alighted the mail bag was thrown off a trunk or two and a few express the conductor cried all aboard the wheels again and the long serpent vanished around the bend he went to the station for days and days and saw this repeated like a dream that comes and goes and never changes he saw this always but there was never any as the long time went by he grew bitter again was at boston five hours or so away from his wife after months of absence and did not think it worth his while to pay her even a brief visit it was even worse than this for showed in response to his hints that she believed her husband still in europe and had no intimation of the date when he might be expected it was growing outrageous it was becoming chapter o ground one day in one of his walks about the town he met miss he knew her well enough to bow to her after the fashion which recognized all people after the third street meeting bill husband s he had never spoken to her nor she to him time however she halted in the path and fixed her dark eyes upon him looking as she leaned on her heavy cane like some old about to a spell over an unlucky stop a minute young man she said in tone very like a command i wish to speak to you he paused not displeased at the occurrence for he thought she might have something to say worth his hearing he knew that she was mrs s aunt and landlord of the house had told him of the prevailing concerning the new will you are a friend of she said in a grating voice i know mr was his reply and you know his wife my niece w slightly not as well as i do her husband he added with a vague idea that it was better to tell her that before she proceeded much farther she peered into his face in a like way did he send you to he send me here certainly not why does he not come home very very black were her eyes at that moment and he did not know what to say i know it is not his habit to make long calls when he comes she went on the most he has done in the last three years is to arrive on the morning train and leave at night but it is more than six months since he was here last and he not only does not come but he does not write you are his friend and you probably know his reasons regarded the old woman with ground degree of curiosity he could not get angry with her as he felt he ought if i knew anything about mr s affairs i certainly should not reveal them to you he said you are not i fear any too friendly in your feelings towards him miss struck her cane savagely upon the ground ought

i to be friendly with him she cried has he acted in a way to deserve my friendship do you think he came here and took from my house a girl who was to all my daughter almost without so much as asking if he might he married her when she was only eighteen a mere child who could not have known her mind and then the old lady choked between her wrath and her sorrow and then he left her within a week and she has hardly seen him enough since to know whether she has a husband or not i suppose you think i ought to be very fond of that man and to love my niece better because she preferred him to her and kin who took her when a child and would have left her all they had as if she were their own you are his friend and you can speak for him is he justified in going away for the better part of a year and then returning to america without even sending her a letter to say he is here she knew that too did she i am not the keeper of mr s conscience he replied his conscience she retorted you would have a fine time finding it i think he arrived in boston three weeks ago i know you see now is he coming here again or was his last call a final one his wife knows all about his conduct she has the c her husband s very name and address of the woman for whom he deserts her then thought he ought to interfere i know the lady to whom you refer he said and i think you her she and mr a magazine together i am confident that their connection goes no further miss s eyes flashed again tell that to some one besides me she exclaimed with tell it to his wife probably that is what you are here for you can make her believe the moon is made of green cheese but you can t stuff such nonsense into a hard old head like mine she shook the hard old head until the black bonnet threatened to fall off i have given mj niece every chance she continued after a pause if she prefers the sort of life she is living and the sure result that must follow to her father s sister and brother very well it is an old and true saying that he who makes the bed must lie in it when the time comes that he leaves her entirely and she is and comes to me for help i won t even give her a crust no i will stand and let her starve she makes the choice with her eyes open flushed a little mrs will never come to you as a beggar he said himself up what will she do demanded miss when she is left with her two children to support he lowered his voice if the time ever comes miss as god grant it never may when your niece needs pecuniary id i shall make it my duty and pleasure to relieve oh dangerous ground her i have a large fortune for which i have had as yet but little use it will be open to her at such a time the surveyed the author of this statement with more interest than before her gaze wandered over his form from toe to crown be care ful she said you are on ry dan ous ground how is it dangerous your words betray you sir she replied i do not understand then it is time you did do you think in the event you speak of that you could retain the friendship of mr if he knew you gave money to his wife it would shiver his good feelings towards you as a hammer would shiver glass after he had entirely deserted and failed to supply her with necessities asked yes in such a case i should not be long in making my choice said he i should have to sacrifice my and think only of my duty nonsense said miss why should you have a duty to perform towards the deserted wife of more than towards any other woman look out for yourself young man your feet are on ground that is very dangerous he felt the force of what she said and hesitated before replying then her voice took on a kinder tone there is something in your face that i like i am inclined to judge you differently from any man i know but let me tell you candidly what i should think of anyone else in your place i should her husband s that he was standing by the tree ready to catch the fruit when the bough fell beneath the repeated blows of the man whose duty it was to preserve it he was betrayed into giving her more of his confidence that he had intended heaven knows i would do anything to prevent the of that bough he exclaimed i believe you she replied and for this reason i tell you still that you are standing on a no man ever successfully arranged a difficulty between a husband and wife without being himself a sufferer you cannot unite these mill stones but if you could you would be ground to pieces between them i am not afraid he responded earnestly miss searched his face again with her restless eyes i tell you as a friend you have stayed too long in she said you can do no good here and you may do much harm how can i do harm and to whom to yourself at least to your friend s wife possibly i can hardly think that your interest in her welfare is genuine he answered growing suddenly red after what i have heard you say to day it to me likely

that mrs may need a friend and i am sure she will never find a truer one than i miss listened with more patience than could have been expected but you ought to know she replied that no man can show such friendship as you call it to a woman whose relations with her husband are at fault without doing more injury than he can ever oh repair i am out of patience with my niece it is true but i should not like to see a worse thing happen to her than she has suffered already you understand i do not wish her good name he cried out in pain as if she had pierced his heart with a knife miss not so fast she exclaimed interrupting him i do not mean that i should have any doubt of my niece s honor under any circumstances i think i know her well enough for that but the of public gossip no one can stop you can never convince the world that it is an innocent proceeding to take the side of a woman in conflict with her husband or to give her aid after has separated from him what must i do then he demanded growing desperate for she seemed to be weaving a net around him she struck her stick again with a characteristic motion upon the walk leave go on your travels cease with what you cannot help if i were her brother he began but you are not there is no position in the affair that can be explained if tongues begin to wag he thought it over for a minute and then returned to the argument there is force in what you say miss but it would have more weight with me if it came from some other source just consider the case as it presents itself to my mind are so angry with your nice for continuing to live as mr s husband s friend that you openly declare all relations over between you common says that you have already altered your will so as to cut her off with nothing you have told me that you would let her starve in case he deserted her if she applied to you for aid and she seems to have no other near relations to help her and you have done more than this you have caused her to suspect her husband s and have done your best to a collision whenever he comes home now i have no selfish motive in whatever i may do i have no to foster no to carry to the bitter end both mr and mrs are my esteemed friends if they become happily united my mission will be finished if worse comes to worse and either of them either of them miss need my assistance they shall have it i have given you sensible advice she answered you must be your own judge about following it a man may smoke a cigar in a powder magazine for months without doing any harm but if a spark does touch the powder it is then too late for repentance with these words she turned abruptly and left him there he walked slowly back to his hotel pondering upon her strange warning and trying to weigh the and of her suggestions he had known for a long time that there was something unusual in the way he regarded the affair now the matter was presented to him as it appeared to an on not in judgment to be sure but capable of forming an opinion and knowing what others might do and think above all things he would not wish to cause suspicion to rest on mrs and he realized that there was truth in the that ho had just heard on dangerous ground ft it he remained much longer he might do her much more harm than he could possibly do good he began to stare the idea of departure in the face and when he comprehended how much it meant to him to leave and how little he cared for the rest of the world his spirits sank very low he went as usual at eight o clock to the station and he saw as usual the train arrive and depart without the object of his search he would have been greatly surprised had it been otherwise for he had quite given up expecting to see him when the train rolled off he walked over to mrs s resolved to tell that he was going she received him as she always did now with a sad smile of welcome and he saw that she had recently been weeping he dared not ask what caused those tears he led the conversation into ordinary topics for a few minutes in hopes to see her countenance but in vain at last despairing of reaching the point by he came to it directly i do not know as you will see me again very soon after to night he said i think i shall be obliged to go away to morrow i am sorry she responded with a nervous start a i wish you could stay a little longer i expect my my husband very soon he has written said another tremor passed through her no she answered never thinking of but mr the told me that he saw him in boston yesterday said he had been very busy since his arrival but that he should come as as possible you you have not heard r her husband s he was ashamed to lie to those honest yes i have heard he admitted but i did not know how to tell you i do not know how to tell you anything he proceeded his voice shaking i have wanted to help you and i have not known what to do and i am going away she struggled to command herself and succeeded though it

was a sore task how long has he been in the country she asked three weeks he answered and at boston all the time i think so his eyes could not leave the carpet his face was on fire mr she said bravely you told me a few weeks ago that the stories about my husband were to the best of your belief do you still say that he bowed a mute assent w then why why i ask has he stayed three weeks in boston without even sending word to me that he had left europe i ask you as his friend what explanation he can make felt his head swimming i do not know i cannot tell you he stammered i believe him of crime but i cannot account for his actions you ought not to ask me these questions and i ought not to answer you she had an exterior of wonderful coolness as she heard and spoke excuse me i have no knowledge of the ways of the world i have only lived in i do not know how much i ought to confide in you but this i will say he must explain everything to me to madness or i will never consent to go on bearing the name of wife to him hush he said do not say these things i am going here is my card with an address where mail will always reach me if you ever need me understand need me write and i will respond do not think i want to go but it has become my imperative duty i shall think of you every hour if i ever utter a prayer it will be for you when the right time comes you will see me again but now i must go she buried her face in her hands and did not look up as he left the room all the light seemed to have faded out of her life opened the gate with a shaking hand and heard it latch with its sharp click behind him before he had taken twenty steps he met a man who barred his progress stop said the man i have a word to say to you it was chapter xiv stung to society has thrown such bars and gates around the possession of that species of personal property known as women that every on domestic preserves should know well the perils he may encounter will do for a chicken thief but bullets are to be the correct thing for a husband s i though thoroughly conscious of the of his purpose in all that he had done felt a chill similar to that which the of a revolver to the neck when he heard his name called in that strange manner and recognized the voice as that of the man whose wife he had just left he knew that the color had forsaken his cheek but he resolved to put on the best front he could ah is it you he said holding out his hand did not offer to accept the welcome he had a constrained look as could plainly be seen in the fairly clear atmosphere of the evening for three or four seconds studied the face before him and at the end of that time he knew that a physical encounter at least was not one of the things to be feared but what to call the sentiment that gave the peculiar appearance to his friend s face he could not tell i have offered you my hand he said at last and you have refused it as i have done nothing to deserve this i ask for the reason when replied his voice and manner were those of a person who wishes to hasten the business before him he spoke quietly almost at times and his gaze was fixed alternately on the ground on the adjacent trees and on the sky everywhere in fact except upon his companion you ask an explanation he began well i do ot intend to give one for i consider it a i know how you have passed the summer you have not acted the part of a friend and the best way is to cease pretending to be one still i am not here to find as much fault as you might think natural i do feel outraged you can well believe that but to madness perhaps i am also a little to blame you knew my secret you knew that i had a wife who was very young quite inexperienced and whom i undoubtedly neglected you had seen her photograph which showed that she was comely i presume it was an opportunity that you could not resist bit his lips until the blood came he folded his arms and looked at the speaker without a word then proceeded some men would say most men in fact that i ought to kill you i do not care for their opinion i have and standards of my own when i heard of this i had a good while to think it over and i found that there were two men who must be tried together i was one of the two the guilt began with me years ago when i married this girl without loving her and it has grown ever since through my constant neglect i said to myself this harry is a pleasure he has no serious business in life the course he has taken is the one that ought to have been expected it was outrageous surely to select the home of his bosom friend for but many another has given him a precedent i left my fold if some wolf has entered i ought rather to blame my own than to curse the conduct of a creature that has after all merely acted out its nature so i came down here to night not to assault you not even to

blush to of t thus your devoted wife the mother of your children god how could even for another woman so have changed you still seemed unmoved you deny everything then he said i wa hardly prepared for that and yet it did occur to me that you might do so but your violence is ill timed i assure you that i have proofs proofs exclaimed in a tone of mingled rage and astonishment indeed yes plenty of them you cannot wish to drive me to produce them as i have told you i much prefer the way but if you compel mt i shall bring forth my witnesses turned toward his and the word liar in his face he could not bear to touch him and yet it seemed impossible to resist it is evident that i shall have to tell you said with a that seemed when compared to the heat shown by his companion you have been in for months and have visited my wife almost every evening admitted replied but does character count for nothing is the kind of woman who cannot meet her friends in her own residence under the roof that covers her children without suspicion say nothing about me leave me out of the question do you claim that this is true of your wife shook his head slowly her husband s friend it is useless harry i did not wish for th scene you and she have driven out in the forest and met there time and again you have been watched and the children were they not always with her the children replied are very young lifted his clenched fist i can bear no more of this he cried raising his voice you will force me to doing that which i shall be sorry for there must be ways to get rid of your present wife and secure the one you seek for without this is a woman whom no temptation could persuade to to you or to anyone who has poisoned your ears with these tales i repeat that they are lies lies i came here and found her i hav e visited at her house i have sometimes met her when out driving and we have stopped to talk but never the suspicion of a thought that you and all the world might not have known has passed between us i am about to leave a minute before i met you i said good bye to her as i was going away in the morning every that you make against her is and i cannot trust myself to listen to you any longer let me suggest that you calm yourself was the quiet reply you are excited for a perfectly innocent man the extraordinary interest that you take in defending my wife would be considered by some as in itself suspicious all the affection that had learned to feel for swept over him hi hand dropped to his side and his voice trembled to madness a i do take an interest in her he said earnestly i have learned what a treasure it is that you have cast aside i have hoped and prayed for the day when you would return that i might try to persuade you to treat her in a manner more with her worth it seemed to me that i could show you your great mistake she is not the uninteresting woman you have represented her with a little cultivation she would adorn any circle i have seen the sweetness of her i have noted the tender way in which she always speaks of you never even by complaining of your conduct she has known for some time that you have returned from europe though you were too busy with your affairs at boston to write her a word and all that she has done has been to excuse you and hope each day for your advent never a murmur has escaped her though there were traces of tears that she could not hide and a of spirits that of the loyal heart that was breaking the husband listened attentively she was doubtless indebted to you for the information that i was so near he suggested by no means i held my peace fearing to add to a burden that i could see was becoming already too great one of the the whom she told her of meeting you and when she mentioned it to me i tried to pretend ignorance but could not her aunt miss knew all about it half the town for what i know she was aware that you with me and when she told me what she had learned i could no longer deny it let his gaze fall on the patch of grass which bordered the walk at his feet her husband s perhaps she knows more he said slowly u perhaps she has heard of of miss she has really and for that knowledge she was not i presume indebted in any way to you on the contrary i have done everything to shield you smile if you will i am not smiling you are incredulous however naturally then i will tell you no more returned angrily if my reputation for truth me nothing i am foolish to waste words on you let me only repeat before i leave that your wife is the purest woman i ever met and that in her as you do you are casting aside a pearl the like of which you will not find again i had hoped to see you restored to her in the intimate relations which she has a right to demand and expect after the glimpses of your inner self which you have given me to night i can only hope that you will carry out your purpose of her i can conceive no worse fate for such a woman than to spend a lifetime in your company

he had turned on his heel and taken a step away when the branches of the hedge that enclosed the were parted and s face appeared it was a face white with excitement and she looked more like a spirit than a living soul both men started at the unexpected apparition have heard every word she said in a voice that was full of surprising firmness and i have something to say to both of you will you come into the house was astonished even more than to at her manner at once so gentle and so commanding he did not like to the scene but he thought it the better way to and he started toward the gate without speaking waited a second wishing to escape if possible are you sure you want me also he asked her i want you both he waited no longer but followed at the steps of the house met them walk as quietly as you can she said and speak only in low tones i would like not to disturb th servants they into the parlor with the of each of the men felt how much this action increased the of the situation having closed the door softly mrs faced her companions with great self possession my upon you was wholly accidental she said addressing her husband i had gone to my room in which a window happened to be open i heard your voice and i could not help listening when i discovered whom you were talking with i thought it would be a pleasant thing to surprise you it was only when i was near enough to catch the drift of your conversation that i found it advisable to pause she looked at him hoping that he would say something but he did not stopping to take a deeper breath she continued i have been a child all my life tonight in one moment i became a woman you wish to leave me it shall be so were you to ask it now with all the apologies you could make i never be a wife to you again i will g tr m her husband s friend as soon as i can get ready and i will take the children with me if you wish to help support them i presume you will have a right to do so i do not know how bad you consider me when you think i first became but you do not doubt i suppose that you are the father of and for the first time a of deadly pain crossed s features no no he cried in a hoarse whisper there was no need of saying that there was a question i meant to put to you she went on but i no longer care to have it answered when my aunt told me that you were living in boston with another woman when she went so far as to me for my blind faith in you i said to her will not lie to me f will ask him but now it makes no difference you have doubted me and whether you have been true or false i care not for eight years i have professed to be your wife you know how you have treated me you know how i have borne it i have had no friends no intimate acquaintances this summer mr came here he has been a brother to me never anything more in word deed or i believe in thought he has acted like a brother to you also he told me that the stories about you were now there is only one thing more you have made against my honor to night which will forever divide you and me i only ask you to say before you go whether you still believe them was powerfully affected by his wife s words he had never heard her utter anything beyond the most ordinary expressions and her new eloquence to positively astounded him was this the woman whose ignorance he had so long pitied and despised in spite of her extreme he saw also that she had a beauty of face and a dignity of carriage that he had never noticed she was standing as were also both the others and her full dark eyes did not as he looked up at her if you deny it he began i do not she interrupted i cannot stoop to deny a thing that has never entered my thoughts that would be as impossible to me as the murder of my children aside from what i may or may not say candidly do you believe i have been i want your answer he looked up again but could not endure the gaze which she fixed upon him then he looked at in whose face was pictured the most intense sympathy for the accused woman there was no guilt in either countenance and yet he had heard i have been told he began again excuse me but you are not answering me what can i do he broke out in desperation when they come to me with witnesses when they pile up the most evidence i have told your friend here i have told mr that i do not wish to accuse you in public i am willing to go farther than that and say i never will accuse you i prefer i have said i preferred to let all the of our separation fall on me i am sure i do not see what more i could offer you would not like to be brought into court in a suit for divorce and confronted with evidence i would exclaimed his wife earnestly oh you do not what you are saying husband s i da if there is any way it can be accomplished i shall insist on it if there is any person however contemptible who dares accuse me of i

wish to be brought face to face with him before some that can decide between us i shall then be able to leave the court room with either my guilt or my innocence established to day some is abroad with invented stories i cannot put my hand upon him he can talk and not only you but possibly others will listen to him i entreat you bring this matter into court without delay i want to know who it is that charges me me with she drew herself up until she seemed the of the three and no american judge or jury would have hesitated a moment in her an innocent woman i repeat said somewhat confused that i did not wish for any scene it seems unnecessary to say all of these things i came here ready to do anything in reason for i had with my first anger and conquered it i am aware that i have been much to blame but i believed in you and was only led to doubt by testimony that i had testimony too she answered and my reply was i will ask him that is not the usual way of deciding things he replied but if you have evidence against me it is your duty to then it is also yours you are wiser than i in the ways of the law and it is for you to begin her calmness disconcerted him i do not wish to injure your good name he i bad much rather protect it if i can and to then there are others to be thought of your self she knew that he referred to the children she leaned an arm on the mantel marble by which she stood feeling suddenly the need of support and by a strange coincidence the door opened at that moment and the little ones were seen peering in dressed in their night clothes oh i knew it was my papa cried the elder starting to run toward him it is my darling papa come back to us again the mother put out her hands and drew the child against her skirts before she reached her destination it was an act and one that she knew on a moment s reflection she could not defend looked up into her mother s face you are not dressed you should not have com in like this without permission but i heard his voice and he has been gone so long exclaimed the child herself in tb folds of her mother s dress then she gazed at the entire party in turn and knew that something unusual was the matter came slowly along her hands clasped be hind her her father made a movement to attract her to himself but she walked straight to and paused at his side why it is papa cried ashamed of the conduct of her sister me don t know im was the positive reply m knows mis r he tales me to wide i think it is time i should go said in a tone of distress indeed i must say and good bye again in a few moments responded mrs then to the children you must run back to bed it is too late for you to be up hesitated clinging to the skirts t i kiss my papa once before i go she asked her voice full of tears no was the firm reply you must obey me i am not pleased with you for coming in without asking leave dan ell s color had fled he took hold of the back of a chair to steady himself do you refuse my children leave to kiss me he i do she answered but they can kiss him f he indicated who had stooped in response to s fingers and was receiving the baby lips on his cheek yes if they wish lost control of himself then all i say is he began wait a minute commanded his wife raising her voice they must not hear you she disappeared for an instant with the little ones during her absence the husband like a man of reason you have gone too far he exclaimed when she returned you have extinguished all the mercy that i had for you i shall make your shame public and compel you to surrender the children you are no longer fit to own try it her eyes flashed when a court says they are yours you may take them away until then they are in my charge and your touch shall not them to i beg you both to remember where you are exclaimed speaking for the second time i know where i am retorted i am in my own house where i can say what i please in your own house echoed the wife he bowed i beg your pardon he said i forgot it was a present to you from me i believe well i will go you and your lover are welcome to it strode before him pale with anger insult me no more he cried between his teeth i shall leave to morrow as i told you i am now going to the hotel mrs even to please you i cannot remain longer my presence is evidently only an good night saying this hastily descended to the street as he opened the gate he caught sight of george who stood near wearing an smile then it flashed upon him all at once who had told the which had led to the scenes of the evening stung to sudden madness struck the man a blow that him to the earth like a log and without pausing to see whether he rose or not he walked off in the direction of the house ebb husband s chapter xv s if ever a man was uncomfortable harry was so when he reached his room that night and dropped into a chair to muse

landlord over and then surveyed himself in the mirror to make sure that he was awake will you be so kind as to tell me what you are talking about he inquired sh said mr again don t talk too there s no train out of before eight o clock and the be after you before that if he don t find you here he ll drive over to sure as you re living if you re ready in fifteen minutes i ll put you and your bags into my and you can get the new express at war where there s a with the northern if they found out i took you that won t prove i her husband s friend the reason for yer off i don t care a rap any way taint criminal to give a man a ride as i knows on an by i like you an i did like you and i goin to see you locked up right out of my house if i can help it though all of this was in a whisper in the dead silence of the room each word was perfectly clear to the person to whom it was addressed but he was still quite as much in the dark as ever as to what it was all about mr he said i may be very dull or very stupid but i do not in the least understand this who is it that wants to lock me up and why the landlord opened his mouth very wide wall now he said in an injured tone you ought to have more confidence in me than that i don t ask you to admit anything you were when i came up and somebody have to drive you over if you ve got any one else please to tell me interrupted impatiently why anybody needs to drive me over to or anywhere else i intended to leave town on the eight o clock train but i know of nothing that should cause me to take such methods as you propose the landlord s expression changed to something like admiration you think it s best to stay and have it out then he said oh don t bother me cried i tell you for the third time that i don t understand you why can t you answer a plain question what is there that i should run away mr evidently thought this the moat man he had ever encountered tm s you wasn t down to g house last night i s he said yes i was and didn t come home and there wa n t no row and that george who used to live here didn t meet you as you come away and you didn t have no blows with him s face showed that he comprehended at last do you mean to say that he is contemptible enough to want to have me arrested for that he asked wall no replied the landlord slowly he ain t done about it that is he ain t likely to do much about it just now neither i guess he was found where you left him they carried him into mrs s and he ain t spoke but the night watch as found him heard about you bein there and as how it was probably you as hit im an he s gone off to the who lives six or eight miles up the mountain an if we stand here much longer he ll be down with a pair of irons and clap you into the lock up i guess you understand it now an ll appreciate the need of lively was much disturbed by this news he had not thought of since he dealt him that sudden blow and had had no idea till now that his hurt could be of a serious nature how did you hear this he asked jim my come to wake me up an tell me replied mr you see jim happened to be along with the watch when he found an he helped to carry him into the house mrs was still up and she and the did her husband s all they could for him till dr come jim hung round and heard the doctor say about of the brain an that such cases was very when they came out the watch never said to jim but went and up his and started up the mountain road jim he was goin home but he hid till he see the watch start off toward s and then he legged it here and woke me up in a i like that he says you an i don t want no harm to happen to him so if you ll rouse him up i ll be the mare and have everything ready i flung on my clothes as soon as i could get into em an here i am this was a pretty kettle of fish to be accused of an assault at least and perhaps a murder tried to think what it was best to do all his instincts the proposal to run away but on the other hand he did not relish the prospect of being shut up in a miserable country lock up or to be held for trial perhaps during long months while the question of s recovery lay in doubt he decided that it was better on the whole to sink his pride and put a long distance between himself and if the man dies he reflected i can come back and defend myself if he gets well he has got no more than he deserved i did not mean to hurt him seriously then he addressed himself to the landlord i will be ready in five minutes here you can take this bag now and i will be down as soon as possible with the other one mr

looked at his watch there no time to he said briefly s we can jest about the train if nothing breaks down don t put too many into yer packing nor be too to see that yer hair s parted straight yer won t be likely to meet no ladies between here an war come down the back stairs and don t make no noise when arrived at the stable the bay mare was ready jim seized his and placed it under the seat with the other jim had received many an extra dollar from that summer for the fine care he had given the latter s pet saddle horse but he drew back when an attempt was made to press a twenty dollar bill into his hand no i thank you not this time he said positively i wouldn t have you think i done this for money you used me mr and i d do a good deal more n this to get you out of a scrape i know that but you had better take it jim was the pleasant reply no thank you insisted the man away look out goin down the steep hill at mr if they come here i ll throw em off the good bye and luck go with you be s chapter off the scent the mare bounded off with quick short steps and the found themselves making splendid time on the road to the the train is due at said the landlord consulting his watch but sometimes it s a little late we ll make it either way have you made up your mind how fur you ll go before you leave the cars why to new york of course you might as well stay in as to do that more n likely an officer be there for you let me see started for s about two o clock he ll there at three and back at half past four sure with the carriage they ll drive to the hotel and find you gone by the time they ve got that through their heads it ll be five then they ll go to which ll take till quarter of six that ll catch the other train an they ll see you re not there by ix o clock they ll come to the conclusion that you went from war an they ll the out of bed and telegraph the new york police to you it s a close and you d better not it replied that he saw the value of the advice and would profit by it i s pose you re not used to this business pursued the landlord as he his reins it s a kind of science i ve done of it in my time it wouldn t sound well in the village but i t mind you under off the s ht ihe circumstances th war i did a httle business on my own account that took me through the lines if they d caught me i d a swung for but twas table an a man must take chances there s enough bad things about wars an if there s any good in em at all why not take advantage of it i one jest like this one when a fired a shot at me in the woods near i was along in the inch bv inch when pop went his gun how i did run i d been back to before now if i hadn t let up you see when the got pretty large i and went out to save my country i got all told that time but i didn t like the job after i got into it so i cleared out an north they was higher yet when i got back to new york an the fever to help this glorious union came on me too strong to resist i signed a second time for in cold cash and was sent to the mountain air there made me and i soon left ag in by that time i had formed a sort of habit an i couldn t stay nowhere i jest kept an till the war was over the landlord chuckled softly to himself as he spun this but was too much occupied with his own thoughts to make more than the reply there s war said mr as they gained the top of the hill he pointed to a village that could be seen several miles ahead i ll drive down within twenty or thirty rods of the station and then turn into a road in the woods you d better hang on till you hear the whistle to ee if anything looks suspicious then if all is safe you can aboard without any one me if there s any trouble i ll be with the mare and we ll give em a chase they won t i guess it s all right though nobody s passed us on the road and there one chance in a thousand that could have got to and round stay on the train a couple of hours and then leave it quietly and double on your track like a fox i ll never forgive you if you let em you after all i ve done i won t replied but there s something you can do for me i shall want to hear how the man gets along and i ve no one to rely on but you supposing i give you an address to write or telegraph to you could manage it so that nobody would suspect couldn t you you can bet your life on that responded the landlord leave me a false name and i ll send you word every day as long as there s need of it you can write to me safe enough if you disguise your hand on the envelope thought a minute and then

took out his card case and wrote joseph care bank n y city handing this to mr he said send your news there and i shall not be long receiving it i cannot believe the man is hurt so much it was just one quick blow you wouldn t mind me what the row was about said mr i ve all your secrets this far and i m interested to understand it all you know sighed heavily i can t he answered the affair is the business of other people it is one of those cases where was to blame and yet where a oft the great deal of trouble must come i wish i wish you wouldn t ask me anything more there were no suspicious looking people at in fact was the only passenger who appeared on the platform and in two minutes from the time the engine halted mr saw the smoke of it disappearing in the direction of the new york state line he drove back to by a partially different road from the one on which he had come and reached his stable yard as the town clock was striking four half an hour earlier true to the time table which the landlord had and had driven up to the hotel and pulled the front bell as no one responded after a delay of a minute or more they pulled it again upon which jim emerged from the yard rubbing his eyes as if aroused from the sleep don t make such a noise he said in a low voice though in fact beyond the of the little bell the two men had been as quiet as if a funeral fc r ere in progress the ain t well he left word that he mustn t be disturbed the men left the as quietly as they could ind approached the with a mysterious air i suppose you know what we re after said n a sly wink no i ll be hanged if i do replied the well we want that mr who he that s up to mrs s jim stared at them with an expression of utter stupidity it s a nice time of night to be calls he growled daylight good enough for you her husband s friend you d had the whole house woke up in a minute more the eyed the man with a look of official pity for his ignorance it s my duty as an officer to arrest him he said dr says that may die we can t stop to think of the time of day when there s a murderer to be took if you ve got a key let us in and we ll take him off quietly if you haven t we ll have to rouse the landlord that s all the law he assumed an air of importance the law sir cannot wait the convenience of any one but that each minute might be worth much to the fugitive with the officer for some time longer he brought to bear every argument he could think of to cause delay dr he said was an old whose opinion wasn t worth a sou mr was a gentleman and ought not to be locked up on what was after all only a guess as no one pretended to have seen him strike the injured party it was a disgrace to the house to have it entered in the night time on such an errand then when swept all of these considerations aside the declared that he knew enough of law to be sure that no one could be arrested like this without a warrant and that he should advise mr to snap his fingers at the until he had such a document in his possession there s no use in talking any more said mr losing patience at last i m going to arrest that man warrant or no warrant and the sooner you open the door the better when a murder s been committed it s time to catch the murder er and it won t do to i loo long on a fine point off the if you do anything to hinder us jim i shall proceed against you for interfering with an officer in the discharge of his duty this awful threat seemed to frighten for he made only a muttered protest in reply and after more and trying of various keys he opened the door as requested and the officers went softly up the front stairs it took them but a moment to discover that their prey had flown and they returned in a state of great excitement he s gone they cried in chorus when they reached the again gone bag and baggage you don t say so exclaimed jim staring at them when did you see him last demanded the excitedly seemed to be his memory why he was here at supper last night he said i talked with him myself oh yes an he started toward the station just before eight o clock as he s been for a long time p he brightened p he took the train then shook his head in response to an inquiring look from the i tell you mrs said he was there with her husband as late as eleven o clock he s been back since and packed up you know what she said as well as i do he continued harshly left about eleven and her husband a few minutes later and she told us all she heard was her husband s voice two or three times after he passed the gate calling where are you and then his steps walking quickly down the street the men must have had their row just before that her husbands friend and th poor fellow had good reasons for not answering when called him well s he added to the consulted his watch

to s i m goin down to call on mrs said he profoundly i don t pretend to understand this whole thing but i ve got an idea she wouldn t ike to do mr any harm i m jest goin to tell her as gently as i can that she s be n a too much when the landlord reached the place he met dr at the gate he s not recovered consciousness yet said the doctor in response to the inquiring look which him i have left orders for everything to be kept quiet but you are a sensible man and can go in if you like mrs welcomed the landlord sadly and readily understood by the motion of his head toward an inner door that he wished to speak to her alone pretty dangerous ain t he he asked when she had accompanied him to the parlor she immediately assented you know who they suspect yes she said but it was a very faint yes indeed he s got away from the officers this time an i don t think they ll him but ft they do it s on your evidence they ll have to rely to him she looked thoroughly frightened on mine yes you ve given em all the points they ve got so fur you ve told em that he was here and that when your husband left he and there wa n t no answer now you wouldn t like to have any harm happen to mr i m sure oh no no she cried faintly then take a little advice from an old man what s known you ever you wa n t big enough to appealing to the law walk put a patent bit on your tongue an keep it there see that all your are pulled up tight and don t let the reins crossed double the hold back and lay right back in the they ll be after you a dozen of em before they through don t let any of em make you lose your head ag in after this odd combination of good advice and stable lore perfectly intelligible however to the woman who heard it mr went into the other room and took a look at chapter xvii appealing to the law returned to boston and went to his room in anything but a happy frame of mind he resolved not to visit miss for a few days for he knew that if he did so he could not very well avoid telling her the particulars of his visit to but habit is a thing which the best of us for many years he had gone almost daily to her house when in the city and it is not strange that he found himself unable to keep away now that he had so much on his mind as soon as the sun had set he went to see her thinking that he might as well undergo what was before him now as later i am going to tell you everything he said in answer to the mute inquiry that shone from husbands her eye we have had words high and she has dared me to do my worst miss had herself to suppress her emotions but her delight at this news was so great that she well nigh broke the she succeeded however in herself and waited to hear the whole of his story which he told concealing nothing what shall you do she asked as he concluded consult a lawyer and if he it apply for a divorce at once is not the evidence rather weak she thought it good policy not to appear too much in favor of his scheme not if can be relied upon i wonder what became of him after i went into the house probably he got at having to wait so long he is a queer fellow how long have you known him only this summer he would not you do not think he would said hesitatingly she studied his face with an inward alarm and asked what could be his motive what motive could he have in getting involved in the matter at all responded thoughtfully i do not think he likes but that would hardly explain the pains he has taken perhaps he has a strong sense of justice suggested miss he is like ourselves a and his sympathies would naturally be on your side a greater motive should not be needed than to do what is right if you begin to suspect a appealing to the law man like him you may end in suspecting others of your friends perhaps even me he shook his head at that and seemed lost in thought for several moments i had no idea how disagreeable such things are he said at last last night was the first time i ever spoke harshly to my wife i wish i could have escaped that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth miss made a gesture of impatience it seems to me she said that you take this too much to heart a wife who has been deserves no such exhibition of tenderness i cannot say half i think because i see you are inclined to doubt motives but the woman who has deceived you once may have done so many times before straightened himself up in his chair as he answered no i do not cannot believe that i have neglected her came with his smooth tongue and sympathetic ways and she fell a victim i am very much to blame very much indeed i should not think you would talk of a if that is your feeling she replied coldly ah said he but it is necessary he repeated the expression he had used to her before there is but one course open to a man of honor she saw plainly that it would be necessary to urge

him to his work before his mind had time to change m if you wish my advice she said you will either proceed in this matter without the least delay r give it up altogether give it up i can t give it up he exclaimed w s then you must go to your lawyer to morrow and have the papers served as soon as possible your witness is ready now and your facts are easily i should think however your wife would prefer to have the affair settled without any more than is necessary when she comes to think it over she will not he replied sadly she is determined to her character as she calls it and by heavens i don t wonder at it it is a terrible thing for a woman to go out of a court room as an it would be better if the grave closed over her then he stopped the thought him she has to think of her children the woman could not afford to allow him to dwell on this subject that is an old excuse for she said she should have thought of them before oh does not ask he interrupted she defied me to my face a smile a most smile rested on miss s mouth she said you have the most innocent for a man who should be somewhat in the ways of the world i fear to say as much to you as i ought because you know i have always regarded this marriage as injurious to you and have felt that you should broken it off at all in its earlier days i knew that some such as this would bo the inevitable result of the course you were pursuing then there is another thing for me to consider her expression grew harder if i understand you rightly she to bring me into the affair appealing to law with what i do not care to guess in common justice to me you will have to present your case in all its strength or my devotion to your highest interest will be to the world there is no limit to the hatred of a woman who finds herself detected and exposed i have a right to ask of you at least as much protection as she who has disgraced you and now to turn your better side toward the public marked with her own wicked listened and seemed convinced yes he said simply you must take to a before he is put under other influences she proceeded earnestly have his story taken down and sworn to this is not a case for soft measures if she that there shall be a fight see that she is met with suitable weapons if you prefer to give it up to forgive her and go back to your old life now is your time any other man would have noticed the sarcasm with which she uttered these words but he did not seem to i can t give it up he said again no i must go on i will see a lawyer to morrow but the next morning when he dragged himself unwillingly to his attorney s office and began to tell his story the legal gentleman stopped him to inquire whether he had read the morning papers on learning that he had not he thrust into his hands a column or more headed mysterious affair at the correspondent who covered the western district had made up a very story out of the assault on for which he was highly m her husband s commended by his in a letter which accompanied their next check his detailed the finding of lying unconscious in front of the house and gave an interview with dr in which the opinion was expressed that his chance of life was precarious the article further stated that mrs positively refused to be but made up for this by a narrative of the adventures of messrs and who had no scruples whatever about talking freely a good many beginning it is said and our correspondent from a source helped out the which was to suits for in case the matter that it contained should prove read the story through and then turned to the attorney the thorough astonishment that he felt was visible in his face a devilish queer thing eh said the lawyer very replied and very disagreeable he added if there s anything i hate it is this sort of it is intensely unpleasant the lawyer shrugged his shoulders it might be unpleasant for his but it was merely business for him in response to questions told the lawyer his story of which minutes were made in an way in a book which adorned the desk went with you of his own accord said the attorney in did he go what would you say willingly i should say eagerly mr was the reply why should he have been eager i have no idea appealing to the law mr wrote this down with some reflections of his own and then proceeded with his torture and he behind when you heard coming out of the house yes how do you account for that i told him i wanted to speak with first alone then he did not seem to wish to avoid meeting him no you were in the house with your wife and not over twenty minutes you think about that left first yes you went away not more than five minutes later continued the lawyer consulting his notes assented and when you came out you called s name several times loud enough to be heard some distance and there was no response exactly within that five minutes then if is the man who him the blow must have been struck now what was the motive said he could not answer that question can said mr it was jealousy i have been in business for

thirty years and i tell you there could have been no other reason both of these men are in love with your wife felt a rising indignation he found it impossible not to experience a sensation of personal notwithstanding all that had happened at any charge which concerned his wife s honor he her husband s to had come to preliminary proceedings for divorce but he wanted some kind of bounds set yes sir continued the lawyer confidently one of these men was jealous of the other there were quick words and quick blows i should say that had in your wife s good graces and had a violent pain in the head mr he interrupted if you think such things as that don t say them i am not here to listen to your i want a divorce in the easiest way the lawyer looked at him as the must have looked down upon napoleon with all his thirty years of experience in his gaze i can serve the papers he said but while your main witness lies in his present condition we can do nothing more if he should die there would be very little left to work on oh is liable to recover consciousness at any moment was the impatient reply the best thing to do it seems to me is to have one of your men go to without delay and take his as soon as he is able to speak very well i will have that done and after that all we can do is to wait that is all only mr paused it would be as well you know to be in your movements for a while i wouldn t visit miss he turned to his notes miss any more at present the could not help a little under the searching gaze of the lawyer why we are nothing whatever but business part we own a magazine together appealing to the law certainly i understand but you had best keep away broke out hotly i shall do nothing of the sort it would be in itself a suspicious thing after all these years i shall go there as usual and people can say what they like mr smiled grimly we have a proverb he said that the man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a there is a still more foolish man the one who a lawyer to advise him and then refuses to take the advice i have paid a doctor before now to medicine and then thrown it away responded more good miss s character is too high for their shafts have your own way was the lawyer s reply but don t forget that i told you during the four and twenty hours which elapsed after the body of george was found near the in front of the house several officers of the law besides and had heard of the matter and interested themselves in it one of these a man named was soon struck with a phase of the case which had escaped the others nobody suspected himself of having done the deed to the mind of mr there were strong pointing in that direction and had come to together in a on that all information seemed to agree one of them had left town hastily without the other a very odd fact except on the theory that the officer was why had no suspicion rested upon this man simply because mrs had said that she heard him calling s name after he left the house and did not hear any reply now this according to was utter nonsense if mrs did actually hear s name called as she claimed that did not prove that her husband had not had words with him and struck him it was possible also that the wife had invented the story for the purpose of her husband as was quite natural or it was easy to suppose that after having struck the man had run back to tell his wife what she was to say in case she was when the and jim found the body long after her husband left she was still up and dressed mr decided that he was justified in asking the court for a warrant and while the new york police were searching aided by who had gone on for the purpose he hastened to boston and laid his hands on soon after he entered his office that morning after his talk with lawyer chapter xviii under arrest i have a warrant for your arrest on the charge ot murder said mr in response to s look of astonishment what he exclaimed feeling the earth under around him at first he never thought of or the affair at all for the murder of george continued mr you went from boston to night before last you returned alone breathed easier when he found what the accusation was but it immediately occurred to him what his lawyer had said about the effect of the death of his witness and he grew faint again when did he die he asked this morning replied believing everything that might lead to the detection of crime he rallied at the end he added narrowly watching the effect of his words and told the of his murderer it was impossible not to be affected by this and started violently who was it he exclaimed you the prisoner seemed dazed for a moment then he drew himself up and looked at his with an air of supreme contempt you see this warrant said feeling the need of up his statement though all the of stood at his back it would be better for you not to deny the thing probably he suggested you did not intend to strike him so hard found his tongue at last there must be decent men on your force he said they might at least have sent one of

them for me as you have a warrant that seems to be regular i shall go with you without the least but if you insult me again i will not be responsible for myself george never said husband s that i touched him and you know it as you stand there mr drew out a pair of as his answer i shall have to put these on you he said i could have taken you without them had you been civil held out his wrists put them on put others on my ankles if you like but do me the favor to talk to me as little as is necessary he touched a bell with his elbow tell to come here he said to a boy who answered the summons mr was general manager of the and his surprise at seeing in irons was pronounced you will please step over to mr s office and tell him that i have been arrested and taken to said quietly i want him to come there at once to catch the eleven o clock train if he can shall we go on the he asked of i have nothing to say responded the officer i am going to do as you requested bit his lips never mind give him my message he said to who disappeared with if you have a dollar s worth of property i will make it cost you dear for this he continued to false come high sometimes the officer who had a snug sum laid by in real estate felt a cold chill creeping along his he wondered if he had been too you won t gain anything by threatening me he have to do my duty that war under arrest he touched his pocket is issued by the court and i must obey it he called a carriage and entered it with his prisoner twenty minutes later they rolled out of the station bound for mr succeeded in boarding the same train and mr who had now become quite uneasy willingly consented to allow him to consult with his about eight o clock that morning george had found himself staring at the curtains of his bed after a long blank of which he remembered nothing slowly it came back to him that he had been struck a heavy blow by and had felt himself falling to the earth he recalled it all quite clearly the ride with the husband the approach to the house the sound of s voice the request of that he might meet him alone the half audible conversation between them the unexpected appearance of the wife upon the scene the vanishing of the entire party within doors the long wait the re appearance of the recognition and the blow he wondered how long he had been ill he knew that impressions were not to be relied upon in such cases and he fell to imagining that weeks or possibly months had passed soon he began to think of in whose behalf he had taken the risk which led to his present situation when they came to him as they would certainly do he tried to think what replies would best serve the errand he had set about he knew that miss wished to convince of his wife s guilt why perhaps from her husband s friend at something perhaps from revenge but what was it to him what her reasons were he had set out to do her bidding like some knight of old caring only that he should be sure of his reward at the end this affair of his with had complicated matters was an opponent of the force of law his grievance must be settled by himself if at all since it could not help miss s plan there was no need of bringing his enemy s name into the matter he decided as he lay there that in case was suspected he would deny that he was his and his knowledge of the man if no particular person was accused in the midst of these he heard the soft opening of a door and the whispering of voices he deemed it the part of wisdom to a little longer the first comer was the nurse who had been engaged to care for him at night after a hasty look at the patient the nurse signified that the other visitors could enter they were mrs and landlord it was the third visit of the landlord he had received that morning a letter from who was resting in a little village in the and was anxious for the latest information from he has lain just as you see him said mrs in very low tones dr said last night when he left that to day would decide whether he would recover or not if he does not have his senses before night the probability is that he never will found some difficulty in himself when he heard these words nothing but the under y semi darkness of the room prevents his countenance from betraying him had he then been so near to death it was very strange that it was mrs s voice to whom could she be speaking it is hard for you to have him here replied mr if he gets well enough to move you must not continue to undergo the strain i never saw you looking so pale and ill oh no was the he shall stay here till he is quite ready to travel or her tone sank still lower till the end i was ill before this happened in fact i have not felt well for more than a month i would not have him removed for anything there would be a risk in it the doctor says the injured man listened with pulse in her house of her hospitality of her sympathy it was too much you haven t heard nothing from his relations

now out on and you cannot touch me at this moment you are no longer an officer in the discharge of his duty you are a and a tramp and i warn you once more not to interfere in my affairs dr he continued if you think you ought not to answer my question i shall not press it but if you can it may relieve me of an unjust which the press of several states have cast upon me i see no reason responded the doctor cordially why i should not reply to what you ask mr did not recover consciousness until about ten o clock this morning and since then he has not mentioned your name there is no in your answer none whatever i thank you strode to where mr stood on the edge of the crowd and looked him in the face under what did you get a judge to issue that warrant for my arrest he demanded before to morrow night i will put an attachment on every piece of property that you own i assure you sir i shall this affair to the bottom dr who had re entered the house came back and whispered something in his ear your wife wants me to say that you are welcome to come in if you wish tell her i do not care to he replied taking mr by the arm and walking off with him in the direction of the hotel husband chapter xix an letter in making this response had no intention of the feelings of his wife and certainly none of conveying any such impression to the man of medicine he was not thinking of or of what she said or of the projected divorce he was thinking only of and it made him very i am glad you did not go in said lawyer when he heard the nature of the doctor s request they might accuse you and your wife of you are after all only out on you know there is a case against you i am sorry you had those words with the officer they will sound badly when repeated furiously good heavens what you lawyers are he exclaimed do you think i can be insulted in this manner arrested imprisoned posted all over the country as a murderer have all my family affairs discussed in the newspapers and keep as cool as a snow bank i haven t killed any one yet but i fear i shall if i am driven much further at which the lawyer shrugged his shoulders and looked down on his again from the height of his thirty years of practice the next morning had improved so much that the doctor felt no hesitation in allowing ah mr to see him but when the in man found what was wanted he refused positively to make anything in the way of an the only object that i have said the lawyer to him is to relieve your friend mr of an unpleasant suspicion under which he is laboring he has been arrested for this crime and held to answer his reputation is of some value to him as you may imagine and you can easily clear away everything consulted with the doctor a moment before he replied i have a natural to legal proceedings of any sort he said finally i would not take an oath because to me it has no but i can meet your wishes in a more direct way you may invite into this room any officials whom you please mr himself if he likes to come and the i will answer any questions that may be put to me in regard to this matter in the presence of them all it was not the regular legal way to do the thing but mr was wise enough to see that it was the best he could get and he immediately assented to the proposition he went out and engaged one of the newspaper man who was a to take notes of the subsequent proceedings and to submit them in writing as soon as possible with an of their then he went to see who approved of what he was doing but declined to be present and half an hour later he had gathered a company of over a dozen people in the sick chamber ready to begin his proceedings it is mr s desire explained dr her husband s friend to make his statement as explicit as possible but as he is still weak i cannot allow any unnecessary mr will you put your questions as as you can the lawyer hemmed and the held their ready your name is george began mr the injured man smiled faintly and responded in the affirmative how did you come to be in your present condition i was in front of mr s residence was the assault committed by mr i think not sir there was a slight sensation in the room and many eyes were turned on officer who lost color and shook his head as if incredulous had mr as far as you know or believe anything whatever to do with the assault no sir that is all that i care to ask said mr i appear here only as counsel for mr then spoke will you tell us who did assault you he asked with the air of one who would now show that his judgment was smiled again that would be impossible sir he replied the was much disconcerted impossible he echoed why because i do not know the sensation this time was most pronounced officers stared at and ay stared at each other was all their week s work to go for naught you do not know repeated mr did you not see that night yes when i approached the house with my friend i saw him mr or mr whichever his name is for reasons which i need

not i remained in the background and the others entered the house together i was while waiting outside was a disappointed man but he held on to the last did you see mr come out yes smiled the witness finding much amusement in the anxiety that was depicted on the s face he hated all officers of the law as a matter of principle i saw him come out and walk away did you speak to him or he to you not a word did he see you r i cannot say how can you be positive that he was not th man that you i have not said i was positive of it i only say i do not know ah then it might have been said the brightening yes or dr or you the expression fled what do you know about it asked i know that i was standing a little way from mr s gate among the trees by the roadside and husband s i know that some time after i found myself lying in this bed that is all withdrew at this and officer thought he would try again you could not swear it was not mr said he delighted at the discomfiture of any of the law i could only swear if i chose to swear at all which i do not that mr had gone into the house and seemed to be still there that mr had gone in and come out and that i appeared to be alone and you saw no other person none now gentlemen if you were to gate me for a week i could tell you no more and i must wish you all good morning the next day in his retreat read this interview from the official report in a copy of the new york times and was intensely surprised he could not tell what to make of it on its face it seemed a very noble thing in but it had a suspicious quality not like the sound of true metal it was not easy to nobility to a man who had deliberately attacked the character of a woman like perhaps it was a to tempt him out of cover when other and positive evidence would be presented for all knew some third party perhaps himself had witnessed the assault he decided to remain quiet for the present it may not seem the part of a hero to hide himself when he is wanted to answer to a charge oi which he is undoubtedly guilty but am had never claimed to be a hero and here was nothing attractive in the prospect of an in court or a term in prison a fishing rod and a boat in the lakes of the hills suited him better at that season he wrote to an attorney in boston whom he knew a mr asking him to look into the matter and ascertain whether it was safe for him to appear and give mr took the letter to and at once placed himself in communication with landlord to whom he showed his the wary landlord however patience and thus a week went by during that week had abundant leisure for thought he saw no one except his nurse the doctor and mrs and made rapid progress toward recovery sent a message to him by dr saying that his attorney believed it wiser for him not to enter the house but that he would do anything else for his comfort that might be suggested but there was nothing that any one could do for him that was not being done his sole desire was to reach boston and see miss again he and for one bright glance from her eyes one tender smile that should tell him that what he had done was appreciated as soon as he could sit up a pen and ink were furnished him with the caution not to tire himself he wrote to whom else could he write to her every word breathed the of his devotion the passion of his love i have obeyed you he said in every respect he believes her guilty and nothing will convince him to the contrary who me as you have probably read in the paper fled and i her husband s friend could have had him severely punished but what was my revenge to yours i have made a public statement that i do not know my for i knew that in case he was arrested he might not be available when the time comes that you need him i could not consult with you but i have tried to do as you would wish think of my situation here under her roof to by her very hands i have had to every feeling but the one of loyalty to you never before did man feel such love for woman i would be true my promises though they carried me through the gates of the in a few days i shall be able to travel and then it will be only a question of hours when i shall be at your side he had just strength enough to the envelope and the stamp when he sank back on his pillow exhausted dr took the letter to mail and as he was leaving the stopped to talk a moment with mrs our patient is improving fast he said see he has just written a letter she never knew what induced her to ask the question it seemed so totally unnatural to some of his relations no he held it up to her to some lady friend perhaps a sweetheart there are moments when each of us is surprised at his own mental strength read the name on that envelope and recognized it as that of the woman of whom her aunt had told her the woman had kept from her for nearly the whole of hi married life but

she did not start or turn pale a v u c i am going to the post office she said quietly and i can put it in the box it will save you leaving your carriage he thanked her and placed the letter in her hand then he drove away and after seeing that he was out of sight she re entered the house went to her chamber locked the door drew the blinds and sat down with the on the table before her she read the name and address again though the letters danced before her eyes she turned the envelope over was not sealed in his weakness had neglected this important act though in her present mood would have opened that letter if it had required a cold to do it but when she saw it lying before her without even this expected barrier to an inspection of its contents she was startled the meanness of reading private correspondence touched her she dreaded to do the thing she had resolved upon had anything less important been at stake she would have sealed the letter and sent it on its way no pecuniary interest hardly the question of her own life or death would have tempted her but her reputation was in the scale and everything must give way before the she thought there might be some word here some hint that would show whether her husband s relations with this woman were what her aunt had claimed she never dreamed of the discovery she was about to make and when she had read the letter and realized the plot of which she had been the victim her indignation was roused to the highest pitch i will go with it in my hand and ask him what her husband s friend he means was her instant resolve so thi is the serpent that has himself around us this creature that i have nursed back to life would rob me of all i hold dear on earth he shall explain it to me he shall know that i have discovered his and then sick or well out of my house he shall go she threw open the door of her room and was about to descend the stairs when she heard the voices of her children calling her after turning back to attend to their little she went again into her chamber and sat down to think her excitement had had time to lessen in a measure and she tried to consider which was the wisest course to take the final result of her was that she put on her bonnet and went down to the office of the village lawyer mr he was the same lawyer who had drawn up s latest will and he knew most of the secrets of the household as he did of all the other within half a do en miles he could have recognized each individual skeleton in all the of and vicinity had his knowledge been put to the test and it with its correct name before mrs had spoken twenty words he interrupted her to say that he knew all about her with her husband and that she might confine herself to the latest phase of the case at that she showed him the letter and when he had read it his professional and physical eyes opened very wide indeed this was written by the man who is lying sick in your house he said she assented how id you get it am letter she told him it is a serious matter opening a letter that is ready to mail said he you have laid yourself liable to imprisonment it was she replied no fear at this dire announcement responded mr well what do you wish me to do i wish you to tell me what am to do she replied with slight impatience you want to retain me is that it why yes i suppose so twenty five dollars please she counted out the money she had known lawyer for a long time and his blunt ways were no surprise to her do you want a divorce he asked when he had the bills safely away in his pocket i am sure there will have to be a separation she faltered i could never live with him again he is willing is he not was the next question yes she hesitated but he me of of all sorts of crimes and we must show him that he has been deceived by this man how can we show him that why by this letter he will understand at once that there has been a conspiracy between those people the lawyer shook his head we can t show him that letter he said tt must be to night you can make a copy of it if you are willing to run the risk and will keep it under lock and key i don t advise it mind it is a dangerous thing to do is your husband still in husband s friend u i think so i understand that be is still stopping at the house i will see him if he is at all inclined to be sensible i think i can make that letter of use you may make a copy on your own responsibility but you must never show it to a living soul unless i give you leave whatever you do mail it to night just as it is in time for the evening train or my plans will go for nothing mr sat and thought for nearly an hour after his fair had disappeared it was a favorite proverb of his that a man who has two hours in which to do a thing should spend the first one in deciding how to use the second to after satisfying himself about the course he had decided to take he wrote a brief note to mr asking him

to call at his office and to bring his attorney with him if mr was at hand who was lounging away the afternoon in his very dull fashion at the hotel was thankful for anything to vary the monotony though he had no idea what wanted he summoned mr and together they walked down to see tb lawyer i wife chapter xx i represent your wife present your wife was the statement of mr as soon as he had welcomed his visitor and gone through the ceremony of introduction to mr there is something disagreeable to any man in meeting for the first time a legal gentleman who is to use this phrase and felt a chill creeping through his bones i represent your wife repeated mr and again i understand that you intend to obtain a divorce from her if you can on a certain which you propose to bring now i think you would dislike to accuse her of anything of which she is not guilty in other words that you are not in the matter i think i am able to show you by satisfactory evidence that you have been deceived by a person mr put in a word when do you intend to give us your reasons for this extraordinary assertion mr mr replied that he proposed if mr desired it to put him in the way of proving that his were true within fifteen hours before i say what i will or will not do mr interposed i must remind you that my wife has also made against me i would like to inquire if she is willing to withdraw them her husband s friend if they can be shown to be as at yours are against her said mr i may safely say they will be abandoned at once at the if but he assured mr that it had been his full intention when he came to to allow his wife a separation with complete honor to her name and he added that he should still prefer his original plan which he briefly as he had given it to there will be a good deal less trouble in the world put in mr when people learn to their business affairs to men of the law if you had come to me in the first place mr and sent me to see your wife arrangements could have been made and all avoided to this view mr warmly assented as no doubt mr would have done had the third counsel in the case been present and all the other members of the bar for that matter what is it that you want me to do asked you said something about a conspiracy i did responded mr are you prepared to undergo a great shock to your feelings to find that one in whom you have placed confidence has set deliberately about your ruin i think i can put into your own hands the means of a plot of which you are the victim it will require nerve and courage on your part but if you will agree to play the cards according to my instruction the game is in your hands listened but he told the lawyer to state his proposition you must go to boston to night on the late train and take a cab to your residence seeing i in the morning as early as half past eight o clock you must make a call on your friend miss c a sudden start betrayed the surprise of the he to speak but suppressed the inclination go on sir he said i want you to see your friend before she ha opened her morning mail in which if i do not mistake there will be a letter post marked you must possess yourself of the contents of that letter mr paused and met his eye with an smile a truly ingenious plan he said but before i agree to do an act which appears on its face the most contemptible in the world will you tell me what i am to expect to find in this mysterious communication the lawyer sat back in his chair and with a pencil that lay on the table possibly that your supposed friends are your worst enemies and your supposed enemies your best friends he replied slowly it is not for me to say you have been married for nine years to one of the loveliest girls in if you prefer to believe her guilty of that from which her soul would revolt you will neglect this opportunity to prove her innocence do you charge miss miss c with being one of the against me he demanded charge no one with anything by an accident i am in a position to give you this advice follow it or not as you please if you get possession of that letter do not part with it husband s friend mr who had looked on with somewhat sour countenance now interrupted do you advise my to steal that letter mr smiled i should have no hesitation in a man to commit a little crime when it will prevent a great one he replied the letter in question will probably be mr will be able to read it before he whether it is worth carrying away could not help a growing distrust of mr whose story seemed to him quite absurd how could he possibly know so well the contents of a letter and even whether it was or was not in a sealed envelope have you anything more to say he asked rising nothing was the response shall you follow my suggestion we will consider that subject together said mr mr will remember i trust that you are his wife s counsel not his we wish you good day sir on the way back to the house the extraordinary proposition was discussed at length and both men found themselves quite in agreement

about it they feared that there was a trap of some sort involved in the affair and thought it would be the part of discretion to let it but as the day wore away grew more and more uneasy in his mind if there was really a scheme to deceive him and especially if miss was in any way concerned he wanted to know it as the hour approached when the evening train was due he could bear the suspense no longer he suddenly i represent burst into mr s room with the announcement that he had decided to go to boston it happened very oddly that the same form of reasoning had been going on in the mind of the attorney who however disliked to be the first to state his change of opinion and after a moment s consultation they decided to go together if you are determined to do this i may as well accompany you said mr wishing to make it out a of his advice in case anything went wrong if there is such a letter as has been described and you should get hold of it i ought to see it as soon as possible was not accustomed to lying awake much in bed but he got very little sleep that night as soon as daylight appeared he rose and ate a slight breakfast after which he strolled across the common to kill the interminable hours he had made up his mind at whatever sacrifice of his feelings to possess that letter from if it was in miss s mail he concluded that the easiest method was to the post man on his early delivery the letter him well and the plan worked to perfection if you have anything for miss i will take it as i am going directly there he said and half a dozen letters besides newspapers and magazines were handed to him as soon as the post man disappeared into an adjacent store glanced hurriedly at the letters yes an envelope post marked was among the number he hesitated no longer though his fingers trembled he took out the note and began to read it husband s he looked first for the signature and his heart beat violently as he proceeded with the itself i have obeyed you he believes her guilty what was my revenge to yours i have tried to do as you would wish think of my situation under l roof never before did man feel such love for r the reader s eyes grew misty the revelation was too horrible if what it implied were true all faith was dead on earth he tried very hard to be cool his task was only begun this letter might be a there was but one way to prove its he must sit in the room when she read it and mark her face and attitude mechanically he returned the letter to the envelope and this time he sealed it he would leave nothing to excite her suspicions he put all of the mail in his pocket and rang the bell the maid who admitted him looked surprised at his early call but as she showed him into the room at his request he explained that he had just arrived in town he said he was in no hurry that he would sit there and read the morning papers till miss was ready to see him as soon as the girl left the room he placed the mail carelessly on th desk and taking up a morning herald began to read she came in half an hour it seemed a asked him to go in to breakfast with her when he said that he had already she suggested that he bring his paper in and keep her company but he declined on the plea that he would delay her and that he was absorbed in long i represent your wife article on the of which he had in reality only read the head lines miss saw that he was troubled about something but knowing much of what had passed at she was not surprised after taking her breakfast she returned to him and as he seemed still engrossed in the newspaper she asked leave to open her mail to which he assented by a nod taking up her letters she them one by one and laid them down again until that from was reached when she divided the envelope with her paper and plunged into its contents the expression of her face which he watched narrowly changed several times as she read and at the close she could not repress an exclamation of impatience turned at the sound bad news he asked no she replied slightly confused and yet not wholly pleasing a business matter he asked again rising from his chair and stretching himself no it is from a friend merely it is of no special consequence his eye rested on the envelope and he surprise why it s from she could not prevent him taking it up without exciting greater suspicion but it was with much uneasiness that she saw it in his hand yes i have a friend who is staying there for a little while she said he forced a laugh oh i know the writing he responded why didn t you tell me at once it was from he stood in front of her and she tried hard to laugh he husband s too but she was more frightened than she had ever been in her life well it is from him she assented i should have told you in a minute more but i didn t like to encourage such a feminine trait in you as he kept up the of a smile and asked her what had to say he is at my house you know he said or rather i ought to put it at my wife s yes there are

only a few words he is hardly able to hold a pen but he says he is improving and expects to be out soon he pretended to turn away as if to resume his chair then with a quick motion he snatched the letter from her hands i don t believe that s all he said holding it away from her in his left hand and still pretending gaiety i believe he is making love to you i am jealous and i shall read it for myself her agitation was now extreme she rose to her feet and made several vain attempts to reach the letter which he held far above her head but she was no match for his greater size and strength ana in a moment she took a new tack mr she said i want that letter if you do not give it to me at once all friendship ceases between us his face grew very grave it must contain some momentous secret he replied when it leads you to say a thing like that by no means she answered i am for a principle you have no right to read private correspondence even if it were only a bill from my baker l represent you i was convinced by this time that lawyer had known what he was about and he had no scruples now about pursuing this matter to the end if i read this letter i understand we are to be no longer friends he said i have said it and i mean it replied miss will you cease this levity and give it to me not after that statement i am not a good man to threaten i shall read it his voice had grown stern and she knew that further were useless her quick brain set at work to the effect of the storm that must her manner changed instantly and she burst into a wild laugh read it by all means she cried with affected read it and make out what it is if you can for it s all greek to me the blow that mr received has evidently unsettled his never too strong brain glanced over the letter he had no need to read it again for every word was burned into his memory when he looked up his face was very dark you don t understand this said he not at all well i will explain it to you this man led on by your suggestions and advice has been lying about my wife the queen like air that all of s circle knew so well came back to her do you believe that she asked i do and on that evidence she pointed to the letter m on that evidence he replied husband s she looked him full in the face you can say this to me because i am a woman i if i were a man you would not dare i have been mistaken in you some day i will force you to admit that you have me the eyes that beamed upon him filled with sudden tears and he did not know what to say this man has forced his love upon me all the summer she went on rapidly i have done everything i could short of actual insult to him for until this hour i believed my heart wholly the property of another man when he came here and told of his discoveries at i thought it only my duty to introduce him to you the blow he has had has unsettled his reason beyond doubt he says in this letter that mr was his though he has given a contrary statement to the press he now seems to be laboring under the delusion that your wife because she has treated him kindly is innocent of the crimes which he formerly to her he is an unfortunate fellow whose may deserve your pity but certainly not your you have believed him in preference to me let it be so quite confused somehow found his hat and cane and left the house with a consciousness that his head was in a whirl but the letter that wrote was still tightly grasped in his hand i am a woman chapter xxi i am a wicked quite unconscious of the catastrophe that he had george at the dr finally said that he could leave in a week information which mrs received in silence since she had been made aware of the of her guest she had never entered his room she could not trust herself to speak to him for she had a nature that was a stranger to the first outburst of indignation under which she had resolved to order him forth at once gave way to a more reasonable frame of mind as a sick man he should have the of her house as long as he needed them as an individual he was wholly to her and she could not do her feelings the violence to come again into his presence he noticed that he saw her no more but he had no reason to suspect the cause and consequently gave the matter little thought what troubled him most was that he received no answer to the letter he had sent miss he gave himself a thousand fears which did much to his recovery ten lines from her thanking him for what he had done or suggesting something else that he might do would have abundantly repaid him for those weary days he had no one in whom he could confide there was nothing to do but wait the fortnight which he passed in the house seemed endless but at husband s friend last a day came when he was allowed to be assisted into a carriage for he was still weak and be driven to the railway station where he was placed in a of a engaged for him in advance

he took along the nurse who had attended him and as the train sped towards boston he felt a new animation stirring in his veins none of his relations had taken the pains to visit him though a cousin had written a few expressions of regret at his accident was not a favorite in his family his views had made a breach between him and the others that time had only to there was no warmer welcome awaiting him at boston than that of his landlady whose interest in him would have ceased abruptly had the price of her rooms not been except for the presence in the of the universe of one person he would as have been toward any other city in the world to meet that was the hope the joy the of au things and yet why had she not written and answered his letter that evening he sent her another passionate note written with all the that was in his heart and begging her to the earliest possible hour for their meeting he excused her in advance for the reply to the other letter but her not to keep him longer in suspense in response to this his messenger brought a card marked simply friday evening nine o clock he could not understand the quality of the answer nor the reason for the three days delay which it but he tried to content himself with the prospect and improved so rapidly as the time approached that be t ix a wicked woman had no hesitation in making the visit without taking his attendant with him bidding his driver remain until his call was finished he walked leaning on his cane up the steps of miss s residence once in the parlor he could hardly restrain himself in the joy of anticipation he waited with excited nerves for the advent of the woman he loved ay worshipped above all else on earth when at last the door opened and she appeared he rose and took a step toward her with an exclamation of pleasure on his lips but as he caught a glimpse of her face the cry of joy was stifled he stood to the spot unable to proceed to retreat or to speak a word that quick look at s face had shown him in one second that there could be nothing more between them why he knew not but it was beyond all doubt you have done me the honor to call she said with bitter irony proceed with your business in his weak condition he could not remain stand ing any longer and he sank again into his chair i have been very sick he feebly you should have died she answered harshly yes that night you were before you ha t time to blast the lives of others he felt that it could do him no good he knew that all he could say would be useless but he had a great longing to know what had caused this u whoever i may have miss he aid i have been true to you you have ruined me she cried you have acted the part of an the only man in this world who is worthy of a moment s thought bat been torn from me by your i husband s friend his brain she was beside herself with rage the only man i what could she mean one of us is certainly insane said he pressing his hand to his forehead i do not know what you are talking about she stood looking down on him as if he were creeping thing that she to crush with her heel you wrote me that letter did you not and read it what could i say to him in explanation you had not veiled anything it was all as plain as the sun he believes me guilty of to destroy the fair fame of his wife stared at her like one stricken with madness believes you he echoed and you have not done it is that your meaning never i did not tell you to invent lies all i asked you to do was to watch your letter made it seem to him that i had been your partner in a conspiracy it was infamous in you to write it with all the dangers to which correspondence is subject i it destroyed my only hope my only joy in existence he heard but he could not believe his senses you you loved him loved him she repeated the word with a deep groan of anguish loved him i worshipped the trees under which he walked i would have kissed the soil his shoes had pressed and now he is gone from me forever he was too stunned to rise to the angry mood that would have been natural to him i want to understand he ventured in a trembling voice what was it you wished surely ray i am a wicked only desire was to do as you would have me thought i thought she interrupted him sharply you thought how could i help what you thought you thought no doubt that after he had got free from his wife that would the breach between him and me he saw for the first time the trap into which she had planned to lead him you made a for me and have fallen into it yourself he said gently but though i cannot comprehend the reason i feel no toward you i would serve you now as willingly as ever if i knew the way she heard him with profound surprise she had expected a terrible exhibition of wrath to match hei own you would serve me she echoed yes he said eagerly with my life you do not love me that knowledge makes my future a blank i placed all my hopes on your love now nothing is left tell me anything i

chapter xxii returns to left miss s house with he went straight as in duty bound to mr s office the lawyer read it over and wa forced to admit that it was a very suspicious looking document you wouldn t get very far toward a divorce with that in the hands of the court he remarked but how are we to know where these plots and begin and end all that is not gold mr i can see a dozen possibilities about this letter beside the one that appears on its face s brows contracted as he inquired what the lawyer meant by that well let us look at it for a minute how did you come to the knowledge that this letter was m s friend might be we will say in existence from your wife s attorney people do not often expect the fairest of advice from the counsel of their opponent in a case it was natural that i should suspect the motives of mr what s his name mr but i thought there could be no harm in seeing what card he was playing so i consented to come to boston and go through this performance as he told us there was a letter and we have it in our hands though i must admit not by a strictly legal method i have read the letter and it looks very bad for miss and very favorable for your wife but that does not prove in the least that it is a genuine document for heaven s sake tell me what you are driving at exclaimed and do it without any unnecessary delay mr smiled quietly with the air that a man should have who looks back on thirty years of practice at the bar softly mr softly i must choose my words and my manner of speech in order to put this matter before you as i think it requires we must look at several theories and a case will illustrate one of them perhaps better than anything else supposing that this wished to clear your wife of suspicion could he have taken a better way why should he wish it you will ask why he has lain for a fortnight in her house attended by her and her servants gratitude may have overcome every other feeling indeed sir something much stronger than gratitude may have developed in his breast during those trying days the listener drew a breath of pain was this lawyer going to accuse the whole world of falling ill to love with a woman whose husband had not been able to develop a passion for her after nine years of married life do not forget mr he said that it was on the evidence of this man that i came at first to suspect my wife he must have a very complicated set of motives if what you suggest is true exactly and so do most men if you them carefully now tell me all you know about him very little was the reluctant admission miss introduced him to me it was not necessary that i should know him intimately to believe his straightforward story men have been hanged i suppose you know on the evidence of beggars he threw this in as a bit of self justification and was rather pleased at its sound but now that you have this letter which seems to alter the complexion of things so much what do you propose to do responded with some impatience that this was exactly what he had come to the lawyer s office to find out you want a divorce said mr the question is how to reach that aim in the easiest and most manner glanced up quickly pardon me he corrected i do not want a divorce that is based on the slightest of the main facts at issue my wife and i are not it is useless to deny that if she would consent to a of the tie that us i gladly avail of it but while there is the least doubt of the tales i have heard against i shall proceed no farther her husband friend the lawyer replied that this was very and just what he should have expected from a gentleman of mr s high standard of honor but his disappointment was none the less evident in that view of the case everything must rest in for the present he said for as i understand it you think the letter you obtained this morning opens up a reasonable doubt decidedly how would a special do said mr opened his eyes for what purpose he could watch my wife do you mean mr assented not if it was the last and only resource was the firm reply i will never pay any one to dog her steps but if one could follow the lawyer eyed his with admiration that s not a bad idea he said so it happened that from the minute that george left he was by one of the keenest men that could be found in boston when he visited miss the marked the feverish impatience with which he crept from his carriage to her door when he came forth again the same eyes saw his weary look his still more feeble steps and when his letter came the next morning it so completely with the report of the that it seemed pervaded with n air of absolute truth added to this there soon came the news that had bought tickets returns to for france and a few days later his sailing was announced mr held various with during these days but he was to tell the truth fully as much troubled as his both of them agreed that divorce proceedings could not longer be thought of on the basis they had taken and tired of the whole affair worn out with the strain upon him went back to his

counting room and tried to drive away his mental trouble but when the evening came he missed his visits to miss nine years of habit are not overcome in a month in spite of everything they kept up the mutual direction of the magazine she sending him articles to read and he returning them with his comments written on slips of paper sometimes brief notes were necessary but they were always in business phrase miss was too wise to attempt anything more at present she hoped time would bring all around right again and was glad that the gave her an excuse for continuing even the present unsatisfactory relations with him her large circle of acquaintances and followers over as much of the affair as they had knowledge of the fact that had a wife and children was no longer a secret as the newspapers which had been full of the assault case had not omitted to t abundant to the most minute circumstances connected with it that matters between him and his wife were somewhat strained was also apparent and when there was added to this the fact that he came no more to miss s there wa c husband s genuine flutter among the circle that there no one not even mrs st john with her boasted intimacy had presumed to ask a question though they were all to use their own expression dying to know what was the matter the general opinion was of course favorable to miss as her were quite blind in their devotion to her miss had expressed it perfectly when she had said in response to mr s question suspicion of the hostess herself bore the increased scrutiny to which she was subjected with remarkable though quite the of she had always showed a very quiet manner in public she was like an whose mind is torn by most distressing news but who must proceed with her part in the play as though nothing unusual has her had never been as fully attended as they were that autumn all the regular comers continued to be present many who had dropped off took the opportunity of coming again and not a few new people suddenly discovered that they had long felt an interest in miss and her theories and persuaded friends to introduce them to all old and new she was the same dignified obliging lady and the events instead of her standing as a social power improved it in a marked degree s continued absence was reckoned by most of her friends a point in her favor as they supposed that his marriage had been hitherto unknown to her soon learned through mr wai returns to lace and also from mr that the grand jury had failed to him the absence of the party in europe and the readiness of many witnesses to swear to his statement that he did not know his made confess that the case might as well be given up now as later officer suffered for some time from apprehension on account of s threats to sue him for false arrest but when time wore on he began to conclude which was the fact that the threat had either been forgotten or the intention given up went to new york not caring to return to boston or and passed a time there he wanted very much to see mrs once more and have a final explanation with her but he did not see any way he felt that he ought not to begin a correspondence while she and her husband were talking of a divorce even if she had given him the right to do so he knew that she was in all probability without a single adviser and yet he feared that a friend like himself would at this time be worse than none at all weeks were passed in these unsatisfactory reflections he learned from landlord in whom he had come to have confidence that ing new had concerning the trouble between and his wife the husband had not again visited and she had never left the place even for a day the landlord also wrote that mrs went out much less than usual and seemed anxious to avoid company so far as he could learn she had not made up with her aunt miss an air of pervaded the where she lived with her children and the four servants had been reduced to one her husband s friend during those days tried more than once to read his heart he searched diligently to see if there was a single unworthy thing in the deep affection which he felt for the abandoned wife but he failed to find it he would have wished to have her nothing but what she was loyal self sacrificing good and true could there be anything wrong in wanting to make her life brighter he had given her happier hours in the summer that was past and who had been the worse pacing night after night from union square to fifty ninth street he tried to think whether it would be best to go to her tell her how much she had his sympathy and his assistance if there was any way she could accept it at last unable to bear it longer he decided to go having a little business to see to in boston he took himself first to that city on the evening of his arrival he encountered mr washington street and through him learned for the first time of the between and miss anxious to hear everything possible concerning the affair he invited to dine with him when the champagne had loosened the tongue of his guest he was put in possession of all the news and gossip that he could and do people say he asked when all the points of the narrative had been given well said they say many things the general opinion is that

miss declined to receive when she learned that he was married went abroad on account of his injuries which you remember they at first ascribed to you though of course he added in a burst ol to after dinner generosity of judgment nobody who knew you believed that with his wine glass and let do most of the talking but finally he said feeling that it was necessary s family claim him now i suppose indeed no said his guest he hasn t left the city once i know his mr it s a mighty queer affair all round that night searched his heart again and found it still innocent of and he determined that the next night should see him in if he were yet alive he wrote to landlord to meet him with a carriage at as he did not wish to set all the in by the ears when he reached the station it was dark jim and not his employer waited for him explaining as they drove away that mr had been called off on other and imperative business though grateful to for the service he had once rendered him could not be as confidential as he could with the landlord at first as they rode along they exchanged only but after awhile jim got to talking about the assault case and grew interesting he related the entire story of the morning when escaped and chuckled with glee as he told of the discomfiture of and grew very uneasy as they approached the house the possibilities of the contemplated interview staggered him he did not exactly know what he intended to say or do but he could not doubt that the visit was with great moment he began to think that he her husband s friend ought to have written to her of his intention but it was too late for that now be it for good or evil he must see her that night he instructed to wait for half an hour in the vicinity at the end of that time if he did not re appear the man was to return to his stable and expect his customer to reach there considerably later five minutes will tell how i shall be received thought if she wishes to see me our conversation may be a long one he went softly up the steps and pulled the bell with so light a touch that it hardly at all but the little sound it did make attracted attention within for some one was soon heard approaching and a moment later the astonished visitor stood face to face with the surprise was mutual but s was much the greater i beg your pardon he stammered i came to see mrs is she he began to feel a nameless alarm she is not ill miss s black eyes pierced him through and through come in was her only answer she led the way to the parlor more than formerly with her heavy cane he wondered that he had not heard and recognized the sound of that stick before she opened the door and he was very much afraid he should have run away had he known it and had time she handed him a chair and sat down when he did why do you wish to see mrs asked that is rather a peculiar question u it mt r returns to ordinarily yes to night no he hesitated feeling than before that something out of the common had happened young man pursued miss you will remember that i told you once that you were on dangerous ground let me repeat it now you can do nothing for a woman who has trouble with her husband nothing but what will injure her and yourself miss he replied more firmly i do not know by what authority you have become the guardian of mrs toward whom i have reason to fear you have not always acted the part my errand with her is a brief one but i cannot it to you will you oblige me by informing her that i am here the maiden lady grasped the stick she held with a motion i like you young man she said and i don t know why unless it is on account of your whatever your intention was in coming and i am not going to say it was a wrong one you have arrived too late mrs has left this house and she will not return he could hardly believe her and yet why should he doubt the explicit statement gone he exclaimed to her husband do you think i would be here if she had cried the woman angrily no my niece has gone as far as possible away from him as she ought to have done years and years ago i have bought the place and all of the which she did not take do you think i gave her that money to go to him no no i she has se n his face for the last time i trust r her husband s friend why was he so glad to hear that he knew that he ought not to be tell me only this he said quietly was she well when she went away and do you think she will be happy miss s stern face relaxed under the pathos df his manner she was not well she replied how could she be after all that has been on her mind for the last year when she gets to a new place and this trouble leaves her there is no reason why she should not be happy she has youth and she will not want for money no she added as he looked up he will need none of yours as long as she keeps from her husband i shall see her needs supplied if she is ever from him i will have my will made

the after a long debate was fain to be content she felt that it was a victory to secure the separation perhaps the rest would be reached in time the result of the conference was an agreement that should take the house and pay her a certain sum for it it was necessary that she should take money enough with her to live on for some time and probable customers for such a place were not numerous had an idea that he might dispose of it to a party who wanted to establish a young ladies school the house could be enlarged with wings so as to do very well for that purpose not a word was to be said in of mrs s plans the things she wanted to take with her were to be sent off by and she was to make her exit with her children without exciting the least suspicion of her purpose everything was carried out as planned and had not been gone an hour that night when called at her door she went at first to boston where she stopped at a hotel until the morrow intending then to continue her journey to a small town in the western part of no child ever made a more novel trip she had never ridden five miles on a steam road in her life the towns which she passed seemed innumerable and lit up by as they were i love you s larger than she had ever conceived possible when he rode through the streets of boston she was overpowered with the rush and bustle and felt her heart sink at the thought that somewhere in the midst of it all was the man who had sworn to love honor and cherish her till death when the next day came she did not take the early train on the boston road as she had intended a new and overpowering desire had come upon her she wanted to see the woman who could hold for so many years the husband whom she had failed to impress she had determined during the long hours of a night when little sleep visited her eyes to try to see she knew the address well that day that she read it on s letter it was impressed on her mind and no ordinary lapse of time could it she knew nothing about the city but she ascertained that could be obtained and shortly after breakfast she left her little ones with a maid at the hotel and was driven to miss s house it was a wild idea she did not even know what she was going for she felt nothing except that strong wish to see her rival she could not imagine what she should say when she got there but go she must the of the new light was astonished to hear that she had a who would not send up her card thinking it might be some on whom it was not worth while to waste much time she told the girl to show the lady into her room where she was writing at the time as mrs entered the room the maid with drew j husband s what can i do for your asked miss politely nothing it was a dignified answer but certainly a very strange one miss who had risen from her chair looked at her visitor with some doubt of her but the handsome lady who stood before her gave no other indications of a mind and she dismissed the half formed suspicion i understand she said that you wish to see me it is true about about anything in particular no just to see you that is all it suddenly occurred to miss that the lady might be one of her unknown admirers you had heard of me she suggested yes will you give me your name yes it is miss took several paces backward and leaned heavily on her desk long weeks of mental distress had made her very nervous there was something quite alarming in this apparition with the large eyes and speech what do you want she almost shrieked what do you intend to do i only wanted to see you to see what you were like in eight years i could not make my husband love me you held him here i wanted to discover what there was about you that he preferred to me i do not see anything you are not as fair as i you are no taller or better your voice is not as sweet how did you do it each sentence was uttered with the utmost de i love you i and there was twice the ordinary pause between them miss was much disturbed you have heard idle i fear she said mr and i have merely a magazine together his family affairs are nothing to me and for a long time now he has not even called here it is six weeks since i last saw him looked at her with gaze why do you say this sha asked he can be anything more to me i far away with my children his children you taught him to believe me do not deny it i saw the letter that man wrote you but how you hare attracted him she looked miss over from head to feet i do not know then she went her way and an hour later a physician s carriage stopped in front of the house miss was quite ill from the shock and had to her literary labors for some days it was a month before found mrs during all that time he had persisted in his to discover her retreat at last he hit upon a clue which revealed it to him when he knocked at the door the children had gone to bed and the one servant a girl of fourteen had gone out to spend the

evening with her parents for a moment stood at the threshold looking as if she was about to you do not wish to see me i will go he said in a low voice and yet i have much to say to you come in she responded i was surprised that is all i am very to see you very glad indeed husband s friend h entered closed the door behind him folded his arms and ignored the chair she offered let there be no misunderstanding he cried passionately vou shall never say that i came under false i love you she looked frightened and drew a little away from him it has been months since i have seen you he went on blindly god knows how i have been able to endure it as long as i could visit you i could bear the rest but when i was nearly desperate and went to your house and found that you we e gone then i learned what it was to endure i have done nothing since but search for you i thought perhaps your eyes would with joy to see mine i thought she put up her hand to stay him i am a wife do not forget that a wife he repeated bitterly and what a wife you have the yoke of the ox without his food and shelter your master has loaded you with burdens and then thrust you aside you no longer owe him any you know that my heart is breaking for you that my arms are outstretched to receive you and you can talk to me of him i only know she answered slowly that i must not listen during all the months that we have been acquainted this is the first time you have ever uttered a word to me that i ought not to hear you can spare me much pain by not doing so again he took the chair at last and as he sat down he drew a long breath of desperation be it so be after a moment s pause your your youth your bloom to this i lot you a wa i heartless man whom you still wish to call husband sacrifice me i am of no account compared with what you are pleased to think your duty sacrifice everything but him throw away the next eight years as you have the last and the next eight after that no one can compel you to do otherwise forget that i ever you differently and now farewell oh not so soon she answered as he was about to rise i am sure you are very welcome here tell me what has happened since i left for i have heard nothing what did my aunt say to you she told me to dismiss you from my mind he replied gloomily but i could not do it i should never ask you anything inconsistent with honor you can easily procure a divorce that will make you as free as though you had never wedded afterward if you love me you can become mine oh what is the use of this terrible struggle he broke forth you do love me i know it is it a greater sin to this marriage that hurts and you than to maintain it when the result is the ruin of two lives she clasped her hands over her eyes n a sudden of pain have mercy she ejaculated feebly you are the stronger and it is not well that you should tempt me i have not lived as much in the world as you but instinct tells me what is right i have chosen the difficult path every word you speak makes it harder to tread tell me one thing he leaned toward her and his breath her brow you e her b her honest eyes met his and all the answer te needed was in their depths i am not as good as i ought to be she said gently you came into my life when i was very lonely i grew to like you before i knew what i was doing if it was wrong i shall be punished but when i discovered it i did all i could i came away hoping to forget you hoping you would forget me i cannot do this all alone you must help if i do love you it is as hard for me as for you that we must be separated let us bear the load together he caught eagerly at the word together he echoed if we only could i mean she stammered you your share and i mine and how long must this last he inquired u is it to be endless supposing he hesitated supposing that death mrs started at the suggestion never by the remotest could i promise myself to another man while my husband is alive she answered you know my sentiments you ask me if i love you secure in my determination to do what is right i may admit even that if i could have foreseen the end earlier i could have saved us both from what we suffer to day but our only safety is in remaining far apart tax touch op chapter the touch op he made another move as if to rise but sank back in his chair and was silent for several minutes you are willing that i should come and see you sometimes he said when he broke the silence would it be best he suddenly drew his chair nearer to her and folded her in his arms can nothing move you is it possible that you can go on forever under this mistaken sense of duty and never awake to a knowledge of what you are doing you are a woman in years you have been called a wife you have borne children but never till now have the arms of a real

love you in the innocence of childhood you made a contract with and he made a like one with you he was to love and cherish you till death you know he never fulfilled one of his bargain while for these eight years you have been true to yours now that he has deserted you wholly and let him go out of your mind forget that he lives give your life your soul your love to one who would give up all else he holds dear to purchase you the slightest happiness you are wavering already you feel that this is the way your course should lie my darling touch my lips just once and i will take it for your answer ihe did not struggle in his arms as he half anticipated sh would but her great eyes were bent her s him and he read in them a deeper pain than he had imagined she could feel you know so much more of the world than i was her response that i want you to answer me a question is it right from your own that you should embrace me like this would it be right as the people you know interpret right if give you my lips to kiss he broke from her and paced the floor like a savage no no r he cried it is not right but i am no longer responsible for what i do my love has carried me away from myself and after all who can tell what right is i have embraced you who is the worse for it if i should kiss you who would suffer the evident distress under which he labored told on the young wife her sympathetic nature aided by the high regard which she had for him strained her resolutions to their utmost in spite of the reflection that his arms ought not to be about her there had been bliss in the moments when she felt them there her heart had beaten more rapidly at the proposal she knew that the longer the conference lasted the harder it would be to resist him we have nothing to do but to summon all our courage she said going to where he stood we must not act like children who cry for what they cannot have men and women have gone to the even to the stake with smiling faces let us be very brave now and say good bye her voice faltered at the final word and he very gently put his arm about her again it may be right it may be wrong but i love you it may b right it may be wrong but i thb touch op cannot give you up the strength to wait until you can be my wife is all that i shall be to find the strength to go forth leaving you tied to a man for whom you have no reason to care a man who has any claim that he may ever have had will never come apply for your divorce on the ground of desertion your husband has offered to give you that without a contest it will take six months perhaps a year before you are free must i wait longer than that for you his words moved her powerfully she looked him full in the face a sensation as if her brain wa in overwhelmed her if you should kiss me once just once before you go what harm could it do she repeated in the tones of a sleep she took his face between her hands just once on the lips she continued in the same dreamy tone just once i something rushed across his mind like a he saw with horror the pit on the edge of which they stood all his strength he took a step backward no he cried his hold of her you were right and i was wrong until you are free i ought not to touch you your aunt told me the truth i am indeed on dangerous ground i want your promise to be my wife or at least i want you to say that you will apply at once for a separation from your husband in the meantime we must not trifle with ourselves to day you are married a kiss from you to me means he ground his teeth together as he said it for he realized the of the disagreeable word why you are my brother replied her trembling at the i may give you a kiss may i not r he straightened himself up with the new strength that had come to him no i am not your brother he said i am your passionate lover i am your husband that is to be up to this hour have never done anything you have never done anything to make us look back on our acquaintance with a blush we must not begin it takes so little to cause regret for a lifetime i know you are going to be my wife you have not said it but it will have to be the first kiss i will give or take from you shall be on our wedding morning she closed her eyes and shrank about the as if his words hurt hen was right in the first place she replied as nt finished my husband lives and i am his till death it is true i would have kissed you do not me on that account i hold your friendship very dear i care enough for you to marry you if i were free but not enough to take the step yo suggest to free myself i am afraid i cannot make you understand but i will try if you were not in existence i would apply for my divorce to morrow it is because i am placed in the position of seeking for the purpose of my present union

but to make one with you that i cannot bring myself to do it he contemplated her silently for some time trying to think what it was best to say let us be honest with each other he said at last we can afford to be that answer my questions as you hope for heaven she bowed her head and x love you you no longer for husband r she indicated a negative still you propose to continue in tne chains at matrimony with him as long as you both shall live t i must she faltered and if he should decide as he has the right to do to live with you again oh no not that never she exclaimed he smiled you do not know the w be mi compel you but he would not how can you tell r her cheek at the thought and she raised her eyes to his again there was a look of terror in them i wanted to know what your intentions were h said you purpose retaining of your husband nothing but his name what good will that do you is it a better name than mine r she did not answer and he persisted hoping to change her view you intend to remain his wife in name only supposing he to rid himself of even that claim you have deserted him he need only the court and show that fact to procure his freedom that will leave you with a tinge of disgrace which you would not have if you took the disgrace she repeated vaguely yes you will be in a position which you will not deserve then if you marry people will say tm s but i should not marry again the replied then people could say nothing he saw that he had used the wrong argument and he returned to the original proposition on the other hand if you apply for the divorce all of your friends will believe you justified everybody in has given you their sympathies all these years has every agreement that he made with you why are you so afraid of causing him uneasiness r she trembled visibly i wish i had had more experience she said i can do things from impulse and forgive myself but i dread a deliberate act that may be full of momentous consequences i have no doubt my attitude surprises you a few moments ago you clasped me in your arms and i did not protest a moment later had you not stopped me i would have given you my lips to kiss i had no time tor reflection in your embrace i found peace in your kiss i knew was the joy i had never known and now never shall know i would have accepted it then without a thought of consequences but to apply coolly to a judge to wait month after month to appear in a court room and my story for that i have neither the strength nor the patience if would do it instead i should be glad if there is any i will bear it though the people who have known me all my life will understand how little i am to blame and yet to marry after wards how could i r he took up his hat and held out his hand for a farewell it is evident he said bitterly that when yo talk of love do not understand in th least what th touch lips the word means i shall be better able to bear my loss when i remember how little you are willing to sacrifice for it all the tide of passion that she had held back swept over and bore her onward like a flood she threw her rounded arms around s neck and strained him to her bosom i love you more than you can ever love me she cried try as i may i cannot conceal it tell me what i ought to do i can bear disgrace the of my conscience anything except to lose you forgetting what he had said so short a time before he pressed his lips to hers write to mr he whispered before you go to bed to night telling him to proceedings immediately i will she answered brightly let me get the paper now and you shall tell me what to say she opened the writing desk and sat down to it but he hesitated to dictate the words it seemed awfully like a plot there is no need for me to word your communication for you he said bending tenderly over her shoulder all you want is a simple statement that you wish a separation for desertion and as soon as possible ask him how long it will take if there is no opposition she looked quite happy and raised her lips to his again and where are you going to be she asked i must write and tell you his answer i will return here a week from to night he replied she frowned prettily out husband s friend a week r oh that is a very long time i how we have changed in the last five minutes he exclaimed yes she laughed i have tasted something which makes me another creature i did not the touch of your lips would be so i am drunk harry drunk with my love for you he felt a certain horror creeping through his veins at the change that was in her this woman whom he had adored for her faith and loyalty even while he cursed the unhappy ties that bound her and though he kissed her again he left her with more than he had ever felt before chapter xxv it is too late engrossed in his business knew none of these things the question whether his wife was or was not faithful had never been settled in his mind she had elected to

on which a two dinner was spread or in little halls up dark side streets consulting always consulting with a crowd on the situation was looking very badly his face was pale and it would not have required a physician to convince one that the limit of his life was already fixed among the for such the associates really deserve to be called none were more in earnest than he i shall not live long he said one day but i hope to see a vacant throne in france before i die no one in the circle to which they belonged imagined that the two americans had known each other in their native land they never came or went together they never engaged in mutual conversation each seeming to prefer talking to others of the party which was usually made up of many it would have surprised any of their acquaintances as much as it did to find at his door one evening and hear his feeble voice saying i want to talk with you there was no reason that knew why he should not admit this man he had refrained from intimacy with him mainly because his presence recalled scenes which he was only too anxious to forget and not because he had any reason to suspect the double dealing of which he had been guilty so h received hint with a show of civility and waited to his errand it tt too late ft i know you do not like me mr was the way the visitor began and i will make r stay as short as possible i came to ask you a question which might seem impertinent if i did not intend to explain it in advance you are too honorable a man to my motive as you and everybody else can see i am on the down hill road travelling at break neck speed if i could ever have been your rival which i am far from believing that time is passed i only came here to ask how soon you are to be to be married stared at him with a newly awakened pity he thought the brain had failed even before th body if you will think a moment he responded you will recollect that i have been married a long time do you not the incident at took a newspaper from his pocket which he slowly unfolded my mind is quite clear he said i know what i am saying read this paragraph and you will sec that you are married no longer read the paragraph had received the news before him a divorce had been granted to against her husband for desertion you see spoke up s thin voice that you are free you can marry as soon as you like all i want to know is when it will take place i do not think you will refuse to tell me i cannot understand what you mean replied his former suspicion re asserting itself it appears that my wife secured her husband s divorce as you say beyond that i do not know what you are talking about s pale face grew a shade at this announcement it can do you no harm to tell me he said wistfully it is true that i love her and shall carry that love to my grave but it is also true that she loves you that there neither is nor ever was the least hope for me i gave up every thought of it when i crossed the sea i expected to die without another glimpse of her but last night i heard you say you did not intend to leave france this year and i knew that meant she would come here for the wedding i thought perhaps you would consent that i should be present for i am quite reconciled she has been unhappy for such a long time nothing else in the world will bring back the brightness in her eyes and i have done with selfishness think of it again when you consider everything you will tell me i am sure as he went on speaking the error under which he labored dawned gradually upon are you speaking of miss he asked yes responded eagerly of whom else could i speak in that way then you are making a mistake was the reply i assure you i have no intention whatever of another marriage as for miss i have not even written her since i came to europe last autumn our business has been the eyes of the opened wider than is that possible he ejaculated why she loves you with all the devotion that such a woman t if too an feel for the man of her choice for years you were attached to her what could have come between you he paused a moment and then added suddenly it was not the silly letter that i wrote when my mind was wandering i sent you a note explaining that nor could it have been jealousy of me when i searched for her heart i found where it had gone she frankly told me that i had no chance whatever it cannot be that anything has you you were made for each other something must be done if there is a standing it ought to be set right the strangeness of the situation presented itself to s mind in spite of the pathos of this appeal but he knew no way except the straightforward one of truth nothing can make possible a marriage between miss and myself he said it is true that we were deeply attached friends before i entered upon my own unfortunate union i liked perhaps even loved her at that time she was engaged to professor and i supposed she would soon be his wife after his death our mutual liking kept us much together i neglected my own family in a way

which i cannot defend and yet which i could not have helped without every feeling in my heart the affair of last summer has wrought a great change in me which subsequent events have my experience was not of a kind to induce me to attempt a second one besides this i have met with pecuniary i have lost not only the fortune i considered certain but most of what i had saved before i my invention i should have nothing to offer a wife husbands f i am a discouraged broken down man whose have left him heard him with surprise but at the last sentence he seemed filled with a new animation i have some money he said it is yours if shook his head no the fight has gone out of me i found that a firm of in discovered my process before i did six months ago if i had had money enough i could have done something it is too late now and i do not feel any regrets after a while i shall return to the united states and begin life over again the more thought about it the he became that nothing would move this man to accept his offer you are not sorry about the divorce he asked no i had time to prevent it had i chosen to do so your revelations made it impossible for my wife and i ever to live together again but they did much more they my faith in all women how could i marry again when such a wife as mine could prove the pale face grew paler yet its owner was ready to sacrifice everything even his reputation for truth in the interest of the woman he loved there is something i ought to tell you he said in a low voice i have written it out and left it to be sent to you after my my death but what you say makes me feel that i ought to tell you it is a a confession was suddenly interested but he did not make any verbal reply he only listened intently cannot live long pursued and if it it too late x tou choose to hasten my end it will matter little but i want to tell you the truth about your wife entirely forgetting the man s helplessness caught him roughly by the throat and seemed about to him then and there you villain he cried what do you mean then it occurred to him that he was making it impossible for to answer and he released his hold still however maintaining his attitude of hostility the was too much overcome to speak for a few moments and recovering his senses brought him a glass of water which he drank do you mean that she was demanded when the other gave signs of being able to peak bowed and there was ao truth in th report you made none was the reply but continued still half incredulous why did you invent the what could hav been your object p i hated mm yes the two man sat looking at each for minutes if you believed in anything i would make you swear to this said at last it is true replied the other true as that i hope for a in france i have no reason for lying to you now was convinced but he felt no of resentment for the bearer of the tidings husband s friend if you are indeed speaking the truth to day said he you are self accused of a most cruel act you have my wife the mother of my children you have taken away the reputation of en innocent woman and for what to gratify a toward another person from this hour forth i shall refuse to speak to you under whatever circumstances we may meet nothing but the knowledge that death is already close upon your track prevents my the summary vengeance that you deserve he opened wide the door of the room as he spoke and added go t one word just one gasped you will do justice to miss go she is in no way to blame for my folly she loves you deeply she go or i shall forget your weakness and lay my hand on you was the fierce reply g and never attempt to speak to me again as long as you live the frail man lingered no longer that night s landlord received notice that he should be away for several weeks the next day he was on the ocean bound for new york pacing the deck of the steamer alone day and evening he seldom spoke to any other passenger rapidly as the boat sped on her way the voyage seemed long to him when he reached boston he called upon his attorney and learned that the divorce being was still open for a contest he directed mr to prepare at once the proper papers denying the of desertion and setting forth the fact tf li too late that h had been travelling in foreign lands on business while the suit was in progress then he went to where he found a deserted house in the yard of which the early summer weeds and grass were rank there are few things more than one s old home and finding it in this condition it seemed to him as if all his family had died he hesitated about inquiring of any of the neighbor and was what to do when landlord of the house drove by and him my family have gone away it appears he said as the landlord in his horses more n six months ago was the reply i guess they didn t look to see you round these parts ag in he added can you tell me where they have gone asked not thinking it worth while to notice the quality of the answer

wall it s out of sure said mr an out of the state if i m any nobody knows miss she could tell you but that ain t that i think she would there was no friendliness in the landlord s manner and moved silently up the street as it was he felt that he had no recourse except to call upon aunt miss and her brother were standing in the yard of their house when he arrived at the gate and both of them showed great surprise at seeing him bowed with that entire absence of either love or hate in his manner for which he waa famous miss straightened her thin neck not husband s and stood a whose gun it in a position u cavalry i have come to see my wife miss said i find the house empty and am told that you can give me her new address not for another year of life would the have the exquisite pleasure which she felt in the reply she was able to make your wife mr is it possible that you have married again so soon he under the unexpected thrust you know who i mean he answered during my absence i understand certain proceedings have been taken but they are not final and i am in a position to have them set aside your niece is still my wife and i have strong reasons for desiring to see her will you tell me where she is her face was distorted with rage at his announcement thank you not she replied bitterly the unhappy girl whose love you abused for so long is out of your she has taken the first step to tree herself from you it will take only the lapse of a few months to make her divorce absolute if there is one of sense left in your head you will make no attempt to annoy her further who had been them both with the calm gaze of an ox turned away to drive some out of a shall find her with little trouble answered miss when i do i shall have something of importance to tell her after she has heard it she shall decide whether she still wishes a separation from me you have always hated me and i am not surprised at your attitude but my it is too late j s wife my wife understand shall decide entirely for herself he strode away without waiting for the reply which in her wrath she would have thrown at him engaging a carriage at the livery stable he drove to the country seat where he asked to look at the papers in the case of as he anticipated the address he desired was there now of me the next day he was at and when his wife opened the door she stared at him with a vague alarm don t let me frighten you he said i have something to say which i could not very well write and so i came in person i shall only stay a few minutes may i take a chair the children were playing in the rear of the house and the maid was engaged in the kitchen there was no one to what they said i have not come to justify myself pursued the man hurriedly i know i have never used you right in one sense i have always been true to you yes i swear it before god but in another i have all the sacred promises i made when we were wedded i realize as i never did before the of my but that if not what i came so far to say for two weeks ago i was in paris and i took the long journey entirely for the sake of this brief conversation in the first place i want to beg your pardon for the suspicions that i entertained against you and to say that the person who made the charges that i then believed has confessed that they are entirely without foundation you have entered a suit against me for i thought that you had mb s your vow i was willing that you should hav at separation now that i am convinced of your truth i want to offer you again my love and support not the kind of love you had before but the love you should have had and the life by my tide that you ought to have led first tell me that i am forgiven i was deceived say that you pardon me s tears fell fast how shall i hope to be forgiven if i do not forgive she said and can you is there room in your heart for me she looked him full in the eyes as was her habit though her own swam it is too late the love which i gave you during those long years of neglect is dead i harbor no resentment i wish you every happiness but i can never again be your wife he had expected the answer indeed he could hardly conceive how it should be otherwise but it hurt him nevertheless i ought not to be disappointed he said with an effort i make no claim on what i threw aside when it was all my own but there are the children who will care for them the mother s instinct brought the blood to her cheek a who has cared for them since they were born i am no less able now than before the re mine and mine they shall remain the husband hesitated a minute will you answer me a question he asked pet do v u love ha ry it might have been the most ordinary question in the world judging from the calm way in which be put it it might have been the most judging by the way she received it have you come all this distance

to insult me t she demanded no only to settle my future course if you art to be separated from me you must rely upon some one if it is to be say so that is all i wish to know i have no toward him when you are free from me you will be your own mistress tell me is it to be she buried her face in her hands and her silence was a sufficient reply for him well then it is harry you are to have a husband and i am to lose a wife is it not fair that should have the charge of one of our children sh sprang to her feet and above him in her excitement which one she cried which one of them do you think you have earned the right to take from me tr m me who bore them nursed them taught them t speak and have never slept beyond the sound of their voices why they are only babies you have no home to take them to unless unless she paused you intend to your name to in spite of all he managed to maintain the of his the question of my ever marrying any woman bu f you is beyond debate said he i have neither seen nor written to miss for eight months you can complete your divorce and marry whom you please but one of the children i have a right to claim and you ought to it without contest lit nt husband ran to tht window when could both playing on the lawn they would not go with you unless you used force she said turning toward him would you tear them from their mother against their will they are too young to understand he replied but i will leave it to them if you dare let them decide i will abide by their choice confident beyond expression that the test would him tapped upon the pane and m to the little ones a minute later they came in shouting in childish glee each to be ht t at the threshold there was a sudden pause put her tongue in her cheek and crept softly to her mother s side stood for one moment like a little statue and then into her father s arms papa papa i she cried you have come home to stay where did she get it this never fading for the whom she had not seen a dozen she was old enough to remember him t no little one said whose eyes had become all at once very moist hive not come home to stay i shall have to go away again very soon and travel many miles across the sea and be gone a very long mamma and i were just talking about it as you came in i told her i wished i could take one of my children with me because there are times when i become very she thought you were both too young to leave her but she said if either of you wished to go with me she would consent so she called you in and we are wait ing tor your answer t the child looked grave her little face grew very did as she heard him are you obliged to go she asked slowly yes there is no help for it why can t you take all of us f u it is not possible i cannot explain it he said i must either go alone or take you or heard her name spoken and lifted her head from her mother s lap i won t go off with no man she i shall stay with mamma well how is it with you the child looked from one of her parents to the other and her little bosom heaved mamma she said you have had me all my life and papa needs me if you are willing i will go him then she burst into violent sobbing she has decided said the father quietly chapter mrs is very ann had given her word and though she thought heart would break she never dreamed of keeping from her father after she had offered to go with him it was arranged that he should return to boston and come for the child a week later the sad task of preparing the little wardrobe was begun it almost hie mother s c the garments she s husband s friend preparing were grave clothes she felt that might never return but she had given her promise while engaged in packing the things on the last day before her husband was expected made his appearance a few words broken by sobs told him the story is a very odd child was his comment of course when you accepted his proposal you had no idea that she would be willing to go i should never have imagined it possible she replied and yet ever since she could speak she has been fond of him she used to get worked into the most frightful fits of temper when aunt spoke of him she was one day when he came to see us at s refusal to recognize him even the articles that he had touched seemed to become sacred to her papa s chair papa s plate papa s were held by her far above all similar furniture when you reflect how little she has seen of him it is most remarkable he watched her silently for some minutes as she resumed her labors how you must have loved him in the first months of your marriage he exclaimed suddenly why do you say that because there is no other way of for s it was born in her she bent her head over the trunk as the memory of those days came back to her again she walked with him through the pine woods again she heard his

gentle voice and felt his strong arm yes she bad loved him indeed i did love him she said looking up i loved till that moment when i heard him doubt m is i loved through all those years of neglect but those words of his killed my love with one blow he leaned back in the and looked at her are you sure very sure that it is all dead he asked i sometimes fear that it may revive no i ought not to say i fear it if it would make you happier i ought to rejoice she arose and stood beside him but you would not rejoice harry you would be very very sad he took the hand she held out i want to do what is right at whatever cost to myself he said and something tells me that i ought to go away from you and stay until the complexion of things is altered go away she exclaimed is he to take and am i to lose you too it pleased him to hear her say this but he persisted we are both of us a little touched by insanity said he you are still a wife and will be until the six months when your divorce is to be made absolute think back one year and imagine yourself listening to words of love under circumstances like these her eyes dilated do you feel guilty r asked nervously sometimes i feel this way that i am degrading you i feel that we are acting too the least thing that i ought to do is to go away and stay till you are free she beat the carpet with her foot and why do you not do it r it is so difficult she took a chair more to vary her posture than mr husband s anything else and clasped her hands her knees but it must be done she said yes i see it clearly now it must be done then you ought to leave this village said you ought to go somewhere where there is movement in order to divert your mind not to new york i shall be there a good deal but to some other of the large cities say to philadelphia if you needed me it would be easy to send word after a little further talk this course was decided en and though it gave a pang to them both they parted with only a verbal good by fearing to trust themselves with even a clasp of the hands came for his daughter at the time agreed upon he had written to begging her to make the parting as simple as possible and the mother gave up her child with dry eyes and a forced appearance of contentment herself wept vehemently but still in her determination to go when the carriage had gone felt as if she had only one living child left and with no one to help her she took up the burden of existence again with a heavy heart but there was one thing she had neglected to provide against miss had not been consulted in the disposition of the child and when she what had been done after it was a tf w she fairly boiled over with rage she wrote her niece a letter declaring that by this action she had all claim to her further good and that she need expect nothing whatever from her from that time forth as you have preferred to listen to the man who ib test as so disgraced you rather than to me your choice is your own said the letter never again will i give a thought to you never shall a penny of mine find its way to your pocket i di own you completely go where you please do what you like but never let me see or hear from you s cheek burned with indignation as she read her only design in consulting with her aunt had been to gain moral support not pecuniary aid she had accepted the small sums sent her with some doubts of the propriety of doing so to have it thrust in her face as if she were a beggar was too humiliating she had declined s proposal to divide with her what he had left and now he was on the sea and could not be reached even were she disposed to write to him the sum that she had on hand was very small it would take her to philadelphia but would not provide for her and very long after she got there it was evident that she must seek paid employment upon arriving at the city of love she consulted the newspapers inexperienced as a child she set out to answer some of the which seemed to offer engagements suitable to her capacity she was surprised and disappointed at the small compensation offered hardly more she had paid her cook at there was one exception an old gentlemen who wanted a housekeeper and who said that would be no objection whatever he told her to fix her own salary but there was something in his manner she did not know what that alarmed her and she told him that she would have to think about it when she reached her room she was glad to remember that she had not given him her address her husbands wrote to her but she thought it best not to answer him just at present through the kind offices of her landlady she got half a dozen children to teach the of english but the sum received did not quite suffice to pay her rent and the cost of the meals which she cooked herself over her little stove she began to grow rebellious one evening she her watch for twenty five dollars it had cost one hundred and was coming home when she encountered on the he knew the

moment he saw her that she was in some new trouble and though she resolved not to confide it to him she had told him all about it before they had walked four blocks together a the old he exclaimed in allusion to miss and how long would you have fought it out like this without letting me know i hated to write of it to you she answered clinging to his arm i could not accept when there is no way in which i can repay them no way he uttered the words like a cry no way in september just as soon as the law will permit i want you to take my name don t oppose me any more you must have a protector it is outrageous for you to go on as you have been doing and darling little too it will break you down you are not used to it how dearly she washed she could agree with him but she could not there is no need of saying such things to me she said i cannot marry you and that being the case i cannot accept your assistance u what wig you do then he out m is starve haven t you had enough of this but if i cannot lend money to you i can to won t refuse it from her best uncle take me to your house and let me talk it over with her at first positively refused to show him where she lived but he plead so hard to b allowed one look at his little niece that sha with heightened color she led him into the barely furnished chamber that was parlor kitchen bed room everything to her and her child s delight at seeing him was boundless he made her say a hundred cunning things to which he called her mother s attention as tending to prove his side of the case and when she grew tired he assisted in her and held her in his arms until she was asleep before i go he said as he laid the child on tha pillow and stood waiting with an instinctive knowledge that he ought not to remain much later i want you to promise that you will accept the money i am going to send you to morrow you can call it a present a loan or what you please but you must take it without a word her voice trembled much as she tried to answer him i have been thinking a great deal since i met you to night and i have tried to reach a right conclusion if i were entirely alone in the world i could earn my own bread it is because of that i have had to refuse situations offered me i appreciate all you say and i have faith in your goodness if you will take my my baby you may have her the suggestion staggered him tt take he exclaimed take the child from you you cannot mean it i i know she stammered that it will be hard i have missed so much and is like half of my heart but i cannot take your money i can let you spend it for her without feeling the sense of shame that would come if it were for myself you can place her with some kind lady who will be a mother to her and i i shall get along very well i have no doubt a bright idea flashed into his mind if you will let me select the lady who is to care for her with pleasure she responded u for i should have perfect confidence in your choice and you seek a situation he added with a smile yes consider yourself engaged she was not to be caught at once with this attractive though it was and she protested that he ought to take her proposition more seriously you cannot understand said she how degraded i should feel to accept your after the talk of love that has passed between us it will be hard for me to earn my living i never dreamed how hard until i tried it but it can be done mr has and he will not let her suffer you may take if you will be so kind and when both hands are free i can battle with my fate alone again there swept over him a wave of passionate longing whether she were another man s wife whether she were ever to be his what mattered it he loved her and as before at her cottage at still well he took her in his arms useful you talk of hiding away from me he cried his voice shaking who is being punished the most life to me without you is i want you i want you to hold next to my heart while existence remains to me we shall both have to overcome the foolish notions due to education you gave a soul all goodness and purity to a man who has trodden upon it like the swine upon the pearls he has every right to you even the law has stepped in and barred him out you are mine now and i shall never resign you never never he had one arm around her shoulders and held her head back so that he could look into her eyes all the woman that was in her pleaded for him you are too generous she began i ought not to allow you to say these things his lips touched hers it was a caress as gentle as that which a mother gives to her sleeping babe i have done with listening to you he said gravely you are not a fit person to with important to morrow i shall engage a house for you and and you must go there a blush her features careless one she replied have you no

thought of appearances i could no more go to a house that you had hired than she paused for a sufficiently strong why what would it indicate in the eyes of the world he saw it as she did now that the matter was presented to him i am afraid common sense is both of ms he admitted you are right of course although i should not come there my paying the her husband s rent might make talk i will therefore send a of money not to you don t flatter yourself but to you can use it as you please in her interest i will keep away if i can until september confound mrs what an idiot she is disengaged herself gently from his clasp and stood gazing at him with eyes of affection no harry mrs is a very useful personage she has a mission to you have over persuaded me and i will accept your last offer for s sake but she paused and her voice grew i can promise nothing more sometimes it seems as if i could not live without you and again the frightful thought of two living husbands me you are too noble and generous to make this money the basis of any claim i am sure of that or i would not touch it and now we must say good night jf there are as we are taught in infancy angels whose mission it is to record the struggles of men toward what is highest in their natures they must have filled a page for as he pressed the hand of and went his way the next day decided that it would be best to engage a small of furnished apartments for herself and rather than either a whole house r a boarding place the sum which came directed to miss was sufficient for their necessities for months in advance time passed by she heard often from but never saw him she had become quite reconciled to her lot when one day to her infinite astonishment her aunt presented herself at her door her first thought was to refuse her is useful but she feared a scene in the hall way and she silently escorted the grotesque figure into her sitting room when the door was closed the two women stood regarding each other with anything but friendly looks i am not going to ask you to sit down said in a voice whose firmness surprised even herself if you have any business to with me you can attend to it standing miss s sinister eyes flashed as she let her gaze wander about the room when you were at she said i wrote you that t should have nothing more to do with you but i cannot let my brother s daughter sink so low as this without an effort to save her i came to ask you to return to not to for there you would cause talk that would be unpleasant to both of us but to some quiet town n the vicinity where i can supply your needs and prevent further disgrace to your blood felt all the that was meant by these words but she made no reply she was like one ever since you first met the wretch whom you afterwards married continued her aunt i have noticed a change in you all the advice i have given has been wasted i thought when i wrote that letter to that it would bring you to your senses i imagined that you had had enough of it seems that i was mistaken there were other depths into which you could descend and you a goodness girl are you going to stare at me all day like that have you no reply to make husband s for answer stepped to the door of th room flung it open and pointed to the oh you turn me out do you screamed the but i tell you i will not endure it i will inform the police and have you taken into court you shall not go on in this way you the into which the woman s nerves had been wrought proved too much for her she staggered to a chair where her evident weakness began to alarm her niece i am growing old said miss when she regained her voice is growing old we have saved our money all our lives for you when you exhausted our patience i had a new will made giving the property to missionary societies it was not what i wanted to do but your conduct compelled it but bad as you are you are of our family and i would rather you had our money than any one else leave this place come with me and i will destroy the will that you i think i have not long to live and i want this matter settled before i die could not trust herself to speak her only desire was to bring the interview to a close what do you say repeated miss will you not give me an answer the extended arm with the hand pointing to the street entrance was the only reply she received then god forgive you moaned the aunt may he judge between us i am too weak to walk back to the station will you be kind enough to let come one call a carriage there is something in insult that tht natural compassion in the veins of women s heart would have melted with pity at the very useful sight before her had its victim been a total stranger as it was she saw and heard only the hard woman who had trampled on her tenderest feelings and crowned it all by an accusation that she could not overlook leaving the room she rang for the of the building and sent him for the carriage as requested luckily was out walking with the maid

and the aunt and were the sole occupants of the apartment when the returned asked him to assist the lady in the next room to the street and herself remained out of sight till she was gone she knew that if she trusted herself to say a word she should break into reproaches and that the safest policy was silence but when she heard the carriage roll away she felt a little guilty after all it is very hard to do exactly right she to herself but there is a limit to what human nature can endure she heard from once a brief note saying that he had arrived safely at paris and that was well he made no allusion to the past and gave no definite address it was clear that he had burned the bridges behind him and left her to follow her own course when september came that september that had waited for the cable flashed the news that napoleon iii was a prisoner of the and that his empire lay a crushed and broken thing under the feet of the conquering army was advancing upon the capital of france its march would alter the destiny of a nation but to husband s the mother it meant but one thing danger to th child she had surrendered had spent the summer in a ceaseless round of the watering places vainly hoping to hasten the dull dragging days when september arrived he felt that he must know his fate he could wait no longer he wrote to that he was coming to visit her and her by all that she held sacred to let no foolish considerations stand in the way of their speedy union when they met he saw in her eyes nothing that encouraged him you have heard the news from france she said anxiously i am very uneasy about if the surround paris she will be in great danger why did i let her go i have regretted it every moment since i do not think she is in especial peril he replied but it will be easy for you to ascertain if you desire we will go there on our wedding journey she at the suggestion it is hardly fair she said that you should use my mother love to influence me i wish i knew she was safe i have three times and received no answer as i did not know s address i have tried to reach him through the american or it does not seem wise for me to go knowing nothing of the country or the language but if i had some one a friend who would their eyes met i will go he said quietly it matters little to me where i am so long as you will not give me your love heart is useful oh harry she cried my love and ray heart were yours long ago if it must be he continued not noticing the interruption that you will not trust your life in my keeping one part of the world is the same to me as another i will go to paris on the next steamer and send you word what i learn but i shall not return to america i have borne as much as i can and my native land has grown hateful to me she came close to him and placed her hands on his shoulders i do not deserve such devotion she whispered i wish oh how i wish that i could it better he put his arm about her in the old familiar fashion i ought not to complain he said love that you tell me is mine i ought to be happy why am i not i wonder why do i grow sick and pine for the substance as well as the spirit but if i am to catch the next steamer i must be in new york to night bring in for me to kiss and i will go miss was not troubled with scruples her delight at seeing was she sat on his knee till the clock warned him that he must depart and her place very reluctantly at last stood for some minutes with s hand in his reluctant to break the hold that seemed now so slight the sea has its dangers he said in a low voice i will pray for you if i should perish what should be my last thought her husband s friend that i have done what i believed right she replied weeping that i love you and shall be true to that love as long as i have life he knew that if he gave way in the least his fortitude would be shaken and with a gentle kiss upon her cheek he silently withdrew before he slept that evening he read over his will made the previous spring the bulk of his property to and her mother should it ever be in those terms it might excite comment from the people who are always ready to think evil on the other hand they were the ones he loved best on earth and they would need his care even after his death yes the testament should stand there was a couple on board the steamer a happy pair who and all day long in their chairs upon the deck heard accidentally that the bride had recently been from an first partner with whom she had led a dreary life what a difference there is in women he muttered to himself but the more he thought of it he did like less for the contrast shut f ik chapter hut up in paris was in time to get into before the german army invaded it but he was not in time to get out again as soon as he could have desired he found with little trouble not through the american officials from whom the ly kept aloof but by

a quiet investigation made fr a member of the force whom he engaged for the purpose was too much wrapped up in the main object of his life to devote a great deal of attention to his former friend he received him in fact without exhibiting either pleasure or regret but ia answer to questions he stated that was quite well and that he had no intention of allowing her to return to her mother it is only fair that i should keep one harry he said when you are to have the other two bit his lips i am to have neither of them he replied i came here at mrs s request to ask you to let me save from the extreme dangers that surround paris that is my only errand if you positively refuse i have only to telegraph her mother to that effect and pursue my journey toward the east took a newspaper from his pocket and held it up some kind friend has sent me this th announcement the divorce has been made absolute i do not see why you should husband s your happiness surely there is nothing a the way how could he have loved this man almost like a brother for so many years mrs is perfectly free he answered and purposes remaining so looked surprised i must inquire the reason he said what stands between you now you do was the quick reply she has an notion that a woman should not have two living husbands pulled his moustache for some moments that is nonsense he said at last if she applies it to this case as far as she is concerned i am as if i had never existed the law joined us and the law has dissolved our union she is a good girl and i seriously hoped you were united before this time i tried to right myself last summer but it was too late she refused to live with me again and there was nothing more to be said i took and came here where there is likely to be enough soon to all my attention i have grown very fond of the child and i could not think of parting with her if you can secure a you had best go without delay paris is going to be an uncomfortable place for men with your views before the winter is over with my views repeated then i should think it a poor place for any american if you refer to me i am not an american was the quick reply no i am a frenchman while this conflict lasts napoleon is as i predicted to you that he would be that day at the arch of but there is still much to be done our shut up in rulers are almost as as those we have i fear the french have little chance of the responded with no recognized leader whom all are bound to obey they be at the mercy of the the will enter these gates before christmas unless aid comes from some unexpected source smiled let them enter the have no wish to keep them out the french people must be before it can hope to arise triumphant let the in our walls and spread their armies over our streets eventually they will have to retire and out of the chaos the people will come to day we have only exchanged a for a i welcome the as part of the discipline we need but you who love for itself alone can have no object in remaining so i say to you again procure your before it is too late sent a to saying briefly that was well and that he could not induce her father to release her but when he sought his he found that there were innumerable difficulties in the way after weeks of fruitless effort the of the city began and he found himself doomed to remain within the walls a document with which minister provided him made his passage safe about the city but the of his imprisonment became almost he varied the monotony of his life by calling frequently upon to whom her father gave him free access and who remembered him perfectly the child wept when he spoke of her mother and sister husband s whom she admitted she missed sadly but she did not wish to leave her father the perfect devotion that she had for him was almost like worship it could not be accounted for on any ordinary to her he represented all that was good great and noble the hour or two each day which she passed with him were her happiest moments she was under the charge of a who assisted her in her simple lessons in english and in acquiring the tongue which she absorbed with astonishing readiness before s arrival she understood practically everything that was said in her presence by the who called upon her father and she had no difficulty in making herself comprehended she was given a full part so far as such a young mind could be in the constant conspiracy that was going on around her her father desired that she should be present whenever he had visitors for he thought no age too young to that hatred of oppression that was his own ruling passion it delighted him to hear the earnestness with which she would utter such expressions as a les and la on such occasions he would pat the head and respond ma she knew that she had pleased him and for there was no higher standard than this among the people who gathered at s apartments were many women some of the most pronounced were of the so called sex mistaken they may have been in their but they made as unselfish and as earnest a band as were ver engaged in any cause they up us paris ly their

masculine in disdain for personal consequences and faith in the success of their principles one evening was surprised by an unexpected addition to their ranks a mile brought with her an american lady for whom she gave her fullest it was knew it was but he had to admit that she was greatly changed she had now abundant threads of white in her hair and many of those lines that tell of suffering about her mouth and eyes he was not willing to follow the hint that her quick glance gave him and pretend that he did not know her he preferred to say coldly i think i have met miss in america and then he went on with the business of the evening as if nothing had happened the republican government is not likely to make additional trouble for itself by any of us at present he said it has quite enough to do to resist the siege if however we should be placed under arrest it would only hasten the revolt that is in the breasts of our friends the national guards and lead all the quicker to the opening of the gates to the for one i hope the contest will be a prolonged one i want it continued until the temporary masters of france become as to the people as were their imperial our country is eighty years behind the true hour of her destiny except for the unhappy of the first she would have taken her place before the end of the last century we must see to it that she is not controlled by another man on horseback when next we find her bleeding in the dust husband s friend these sentiments were warmly by all present and similar were made in impassioned language by many others both men and women arrangements for carrying on the were made reports were received from various and new life was into the movement it was one of the peculiarities of the french that most of the leaders were men of foreign birth and none of them were more trusted than his labors his marked devotion made him conspicuous even in ranks where such qualities were the common property of all when the meeting broke up miss told her friend mile that she had a little business to with mr and remained after the others had departed but when she found that they were alone she could hardly trust herself to speak the cause promises well she managed to articulate after an embarrassing pause i should answer yes and no to that he replied the test will come when we have to rely on these french to fight the government forces i will say however that i have high hopes you were surprised to see me here yes how did you manage to pass the there is no guard so strong that it can keep a woman from the man she loves she answered with set lips the reply startled and did not please him for god s sake he said is this a time to talk of love when we are all lying with our necks under the knife i have but one sweetheart one wife one hope france a look of pain and sorrow shot across her face shut up in paris you know that her absolute decree of divorce has been granted she said yes and i am glad it is so she will marry probably she has done so already added the woman it would be all the same to me he responded wearily but you are mistaken he is here in paris here she cried with a start here he called at this house this morning he has been in the city for some weeks her look of incredulity faded slowly away what is he doing here he cannot be in sympathy with us no he is only waiting an opportunity to get away he was caught when the siege began she eyed him narrowly and he calls on you are you friends with him he took up a book on the table a life of and turned the leaves i am no longer the friend or the enemy of any man he said i am only the friend or the enemy of principles s affairs are without interest to me i care no longer for anything but the and as she gazed at him with new inquiry he added my little daughter who is here with me she could not help a blind and jealousy of his wife s child her at that moment you took a child from her then i left one and took one she agreed that it was fair but of what interest are these things to you f we can never again be more than the merest mo husband s friend the past as far as you and i are concerned buried she was a picture of audacity as she replied a why she demanded harshly because i wish it so he answered with all my time all my energies all my thoughts are embarked in the cause of the freedom of france my life has hitherto been full of errors i will keep it as it should be henceforth there seemed little use in talking to him but she did not know when she would have another opportunity do not forget one thing she said your first mistake was when you married all the others grew out of that one perhaps so i will not dispute you he answered but what is the use of discussing it now there is this use she said you have never heard my whole story and i have waited here to tell it to you will you listen he took out his watch impatiently and bade her proceed if he must hear this he thought it quite as well that it should be now when you first knew me she

said i was engaged to be married to professor he had taken me when i was a little orphan adopted and educated me when he asked for my hand i did not know how to refuse him for there was no other way to discharge the heavy debt i had incurred he was the kindest and the best of men he admitted that he had been in love with me ever since i was fifteen years of age he alluded to our of years and said he did not v i it me to marry him unless i could bring to him my whole at that time the thought of love for another hut up in park v ad never entered my head and t promised to t e his wife on my nineteenth birthday in the i met you and before i was aware of it all the affection that had waited for a touch was awakened moved uneasily in his chair evidently much disturbed he began in a tone of protest hear me she replied u for my story is not a long one i cared for you from the first day we met but even on that afternoon when you declared yourself i did not realize the full extent o my feelings i supposed my promise to the professor almost as binding as a ceremony and the thought of breaking it never entered my mind when he entered the room and found me with my arms about your neck you remember how kind he was when you had gone he took me on his knee and said there was yet time to our contract and that if i would say the word he would consider our engagement ended then he left me and for days we hardly saw each other the more i tried to think i ought to marry him the more i could not your face always came before me i wanted to see you again and test my heart in your visible presence but you did not come and i did not know where you had gone the next thing was your letter informing me that you had taken a wife the world from me as i was reading it professor entered the room the suffering oc his face taught me my duty i thought of all his years of more than tenderness and i him had made up my mind but he was never deceived my spirits could fe the former i ms husband and more as the wedding day approached and though i did my best to conceal it he knew how unhappy i was you know how he went to the house and how before the ceremony was performed he was dead after the funeral his lawyer handed me an envelope directed to myself and i found two documents within one was his will me the whole of his estate the other was a letter dated three weeks before in that letter he stated that he had a that he should never live to marry me that he was destined to a sudden death in case his proved true he begged me not to spend too long a period in mourning for him but to give my hand to some good man without needless delay a fear came over me as i read it that all was not right with him a physician at my request made an and found that he had taken poison was interested at last that is dreadful he exclaimed yes she answered looking at him he killed himself that i might be happy you know the scripture says greater love hath no man than this no one has ever been told of it you i and the doctor are the only persons who know the professor had no relations and ten years have passed that is why i feel safe in confiding the fact to you there was a momentary silence and then said i confess that i hardly see your object is it too much she asked that such sacrifice should bear its legitimate fruit until a year ago you were all to me that you could be and still maintain to your foolish marriage now you are shut up paris o for nine years of my life those years that ought to be worth most to a woman i gave every thought to you you have no right to cast me off he looked sufficiently astounded well he said i never thought you would come to this thought she exclaimed scornfully what do men like you think did you imagine i was made of stone or iron i was eighteen years of age when we wept in each others arms because of what stood in the way of our union i was only nineteen when i found myself an widow unable to shed tears over the grave of my benefactor because his death left my path the more open to you then you returned to me have you forgotten it with of an love and i took you for what you were or rather for what you seemed i have endured all the that a sensitive mind can feel knowing that you were hers by the law and mine only by the light meaning of a word you never realized what agonies i passed through in those years for i have always tried to turn to you the face of a resolved to perish rather than let you know the fire that was me i talked of social of everything but love i sat with you day by day listening to everything but that which i hoped and prayed for a declaration that you like me had borne ail that you could bear sometimes it seemed to me that your calmness was like mine assumed sometimes it came upon me as i know it now that the affection you had felt for me in

my had died and been buried month after month year year i endured it for at least i had her husband s your presence with me but when you came do more my fortitude gave way he murmured something about the of such reminiscences and the pain that would from calling them up but she would not cease i was an attractive girl when you first knew me i have portraits that tell me i was almost beautiful i am an old woman now see i am growing gray i am nine the woman you married is about my age but i might be her mother if looks could count i have seen her tall and fresh and ruddy she came to my house to show me how much she ought to be preferred i wonder that i let her depart alive she had borne two children to you two i did not know till came from europe and exposed the secret but she is gone she is no longer your wife and it is time you did me justice with these words arose with dignity and took her departure and sat there for a long time till it dawned upon him that her mind had probably become affected by the strain upon it and that she was in a measure for what she said in a few days the german cannon began to throw shot into the city and little found herself confined to the limits of the house and garden in the her father was now very busy and only saw her for a few moments each night and morning except when a meeting was held at her rooms when as before she was always allowed to be present the provisions grew short and the horrors of famine began to prevail around them but with foresight had filled his cellar with an abundance enabled him not only side by bide to supply his own table but to assist many of his friends who would otherwise have suffered much weary of idleness offered his services to the government and bis medical knowledge found him plenty to do in the so the terrible winter passed away till one day in march the hated walked into the city and soon after william the was crowned german emperor in the palace of the great at chapter side by side this is not a history of the french the terrible events of that spring of in paris have been told and re told until the world is familiar with them threw himself into the popular cause with all the that was in him he was a member of the of supply and defence was called citizen by his with important affairs slowly the forces were overcome by the better fed and better soldiers of the government everybody with the conditions knew that it was only a question of days when order would prevail but the held out with desperation on the i th of may assisted at th of the her husband s friend of genuine satisfaction as the great bronze structure fell he imagined he could see falling with it the tyranny that had man for centuries he remarked with pleasure that the statue of the first napoleon which had surmounted it was broken in pieces and that its head was severed from its body but the joy of the was of brief duration within a week the actual taking of the city had begun and in a few days more only the most of the had any doubt that the end was near government troops penetrated to the place de la and the place de opera others took possession of the and still others occupied the de the and the in es those in charge of the defence from their quarters in the hotel de issued orders to resort to the ancient system of and these were erected in all directions by were arrested and pressed into the service under threats of was stopped one morning on his way to a hospital and ordered to assist the who were throwing up upon his refusal in terms more energetic than polite he was about to be executed without further when george appeared upon the scene he like was a member of and his authority to save the american he was a mere wreck physically but the excitement of the contest kept him on his feet the members of the national guard always spoke of him as the ghost what can you gain by holding out any longer said to him when they were a little removed from the scene of his late imminent danger it must be evident to you that your cause is utterly side by side hopeless the will shoot you all down like dogs in a few days more that is true was the response most of us will die here but what of that as the blood of the has proved the seed of the church so our deaths will do more than our lives could accomplish for france and humanity posterity will be compelled at least to own our have you heard the women who went yesterday with a demand for a for the in the place du royal each one wore for a lover or brother whom they had sworn to there were no horses to be had and they dragged the machines by hand first their skirts about their to prevent them their march a people like this can never be wholly crushed our cause is just and as for our lives what are they it is but a few years at most that any of us would live if we sacrifice ourselves for liberty do we not die well the last struggle took place on saturday may th three quarters of the attacking army were in a semi circle the two extremes of which rested on the the portion following the to the d

general advanced by the du temple general attacked by the prince everywhere the resistance was furious at the of the richard and the prince stood a sixty yards in length as the obstacle was in front the troops advanced by the and succeeded in placing the between two fires the slaughter that husband s ensued was terrible the ground was dotted with blood and lay in heaps here fought his associates not to yield an inch of territory until the latest moment at last the remnant of the fell back that evening the were taken with about eight thousand prisoners the of also fell into the hands of the troops and general took the and cattle market of la such fury of attack and such desperation of resistance can hardly find a parallel in modern warfare the national guards who were left from the general destruction plunged into when night compelled a of the more active many of them got drunk on wine and stronger and whole districts women and children were not only in the street but even in their own no accurate report of the committed can ever be made but in their the guards spared neither friend nor foe they seemed to realize that order would soon be restored and that they must make immediate use of their freedom tired out with the work of the day citizen ate his loaf of bread at and issued his orders for the morrow though he must have realized how hopeless was the contest of his broken ranks against the and victorious of the enemy he gave no sign of he had taken his life in his well knew his probable fate if he did not fall in battle a speedy execution was almost certain to be his doom the already taken had been down in crowds the government he was quite bide bt mm ready to follow them had he been offered a to escort him safely beyond the lines he would not have accepted it such is the to which man can rise either in a good cause or a bad one citizen had lain down on a in one of the buildings in hopes to get a few hours of sorely needed sleep when the at his door came to say that some one wished to see him immediately when the visitor was admitted s face covered as it was with traces of smoke end powder darkened still more for he recognized at once the features of george do you come on business of the state p he demanded sharply no replied not raising his eyes but it is a personal matter of the greatest importance s voice was as hard as steel when he replied there can be no personal matter between me and you i forbade you ever to speak to me and now repeat the he looked at s face as he finished and something in it alarmed him it is not about about f s head hung yet lower speak man cried i can bear it is she dead the drooping eyes were lifted to tho father face m worse he answered for a minute s heart so strong in ail the of the day grew sick and faint tell me ail he said but remember i do t want your sympathy i a nothing but the fact a white ago i slowly husband s met a number of national guards all they were carrying away your child and several women by force i followed them for some distance hoping to get help to effect a rescue but all the other guards that they met laughed at the tears of the and greeted their comrades with remarks finally i spoke to the men who carried offering them all the money i had with me for her they refused with oaths and continued on their way in desperation i fired into the party killing several of them and received this wound in return now noticed for the first time that one sleeve of s coat hung limp at his side a bullet had shivered the bone of his left arm the father broke into apologies but the man stayed him we may be able to overtake them if you can find any of the guards who are sober he said i will not wait for that cried throwing on his coat and taking up a show me where they are i am a match for twenty of them alone but before they had gone a hundred paces a guard stopped him with a letter it is about your child citizen he said this was the contents of the note at the midnight dear some of our men captured a party of a few moments ago and i found with them the guards who had her were too drunk to resist and being taken with arms in their hand were promptly shot i shall take the best of are of your child till i see you again but will you ot take this opportunity to save your life i side by promised by the that if you will surrender at once you shall be allowed to depart freely harry leaving in the street returned to his post with the feeling of one who is partially the next day he fought like a demon before night he was surrounded and taken prisoner after a desperate resistance having secured the deep attachment of the general in charge was enabled iu spite of all to save him and to s surprise he was marched off to a prison instead of joining the others who were destined to immediate death the bravery of the american surgeon and the value of liis services also secured to him a document ordering the same disposition for two other americans supposed to be among the captured but he could not find them in time one was a defiant woman in the prime of

of according to the decision of a judge he was no longer her husband but the near presence of the great brought back all her old affection do you know me she asked him gazing into his sunken eyes yes he responded with an attempt to smile and i know him also my wife and my old friend i have come across the seas to see you she went on i hoped that i could do something for peace at last you i wanted to take you back to america where we be happy again no he said i have never made you happy and i never could he he pointed to who had retired to the farther corner of the room he is the one who can do that i want you to love her harry as i ought to have done promise me then his mind wandered for a few moments if he will not fight for the let him die he exclaimed what does he say that he cannot disgrace his uniform how could one disgrace the uniform that him a of i love france i love her as a bishop loves blood as a christian loves gold never trust one who makes a parade of her virtue to day is the crowning sin of woman to morrow it will be something else they say it is drink that keeps down the laboring classes if i were one of them i would drink myself drunk and never live to see a sober hour what have they to gain by consciousness i cannot kiss you no one can give a true love kiss unless his soul is on its knee if a city like this can supply the people with music why not with bread if it can give free water in the public fountains why not in the dwellings of the poor if the authorities can pay priests why not doctors every man believes in a god otherwise he thinks a shakespeare or a the greatest mind that ever existed why have they brought me here i demand my privilege to die with the rest then he roused himself and said feebly where is they told me she was can you not bring her to me her husband s held his hot hands can you understand me perfectly she asked he nodded she is such a child i fear it would give her too great a shock but if you wish it he shook his head no i was very thoughtless she ought not to come but she loves me very much and her heart was in the cause did you know that had an arm broken when he tried to save her i thought i would never speak to him again but i thanked him for that have you seen has her he will take good care of her and of you is the other one well they are good children i have been a bad father teach them to forgive me if you can she told him that they both loved him very much and that they had nothing to forgive and her tears fell fast i am sorry very sorry he went on for the way i used you i thought my happiness bound up in another but i was true to you through it all i neglected you but i was not as bad as you might have thought it was all a terrible mistake then you remember how i blamed harry i saw afterward how wrong that where is he i want to see him came forward and the dying man put their hands in those of each other i am only sorry for one thing said mrs on the day that she found herself entitled to bear that name and that is that i let you kiss me and take me in your arms so long ago i cannot at last excuse myself for by the ties of law i was then the wife of another but i was your husband s friend he answered it cannot be that you intend to let that little slip distress you she laid her hand on his shoulder a little slip she echoed you would not call it a little slip if i should do the same thing now with some one else ah he cried with a start that would be a very different thing she laughed softly at his earnestness and as they were talking the children came to join them and how do you like your new papa she asked came and to s side lifting her rosy mouth for him to kiss but burst into sobbing i am glad mamma is to be happy she said when she could speak and i am sure i like you and i hope you won t think me naughty but oh i did love my father so much and took her in his lap and his own eyes filled as he soothed her against his breast the select novels of alone hidden path moss side sunny bank s husband at last my little love s temptation the empty heart from my youth up husbands and homes true as steel the novels of are of surpassing excellence by power of character drawing and descriptive facility they hold the reader s attention with the most intense interest and fascination all published uniform cloth bound price cents each and sent free by mail on receipt of price by q w company new york books by edward bat an of new york the heroine has all the charm of s in new york surroundings new york sun it would be hard to find a more charming cheerful story new york times altogether delightful express the comedy is delicious union it is as wholesome and fresh as the breath of doth illustrated i net the middle wall the times union says of this story of the south african

who wish to do so to obtain my novels in that form the constant demand for even the very earliest ones that they have found a permanent place i only to my readers ask those critics who feel it necessary to attack my stories violently to read at least a portion of some volume before they their and to those who have so often given me more praise than i deserve i credit me with the intention and desire of entertaining and my readers and i shall be content at this date i am but unable to do much work to those who have sent expressions of sympathy i return thanks it is much to know that so many whom i have never met were induced to send messages of to my loved ones when they supposed me beyond the reach of their words when i am sufficiently recovered i shall be impelled to renewed efforts to please my million readers who have been so steadfast and loyal to me cambridge mass may their marriage bond chapter i a contemplated union the handsome old fashioned of mrs at near boston were filled with a happy company mrs had heen a resident of the town for many years and invitations to her evenings were held in high esteem by for many miles around the people one was likely to meet there were seldom either or lions but were selected with the idea of making a cheerful group capable of pleasure to each other and occasions where the danger of being bored was reduced to a mrs though hardly yet out of the had been long a widow at the moment when our story opens she was standing with her handsome daughter in the centre of an animated circle engaged in conversation though still so young she had an abundance of silvery hair which she had never taken any pains to conceal their marriage bond she was of build with a good color a bright pair of dark eyes and a charming expression of countenance in her dress she was but simple she was not a in the school which throws a young woman back into the of youth merely because she happens to be of her husband neither did she think it to parade her loss on all possible occasions though she felt the blow keenly she had with great between the perpetual black and veil that make one shudder at a certain species of woman and the frivolous actions of another variety which becomes a sort of for the of the rising generation she was possessed of a fair fortune and the estate on which her residence was situated was a beautiful old place many acres which seemed destined with the growth of boston to be very valuable at some time in the future miss the only daughter of the lady then in her nineteenth year was unquestionably the fairest object among the many good looking women present plump without being stout a little above the average in height with a lovely complexion and an abundance of fair hair arranged with exquisite taste she was as pretty a girl as one might find in a long journey she was most and her manners were a happy medium between the ways of the and the airy pretensions that so many of her sex think it best to affect simply charming was the expression of all the men who saw her and the same verdict was wrung unwillingly from the lips of many women whose envious eyes wandered over the beautiful picture oh there s no denying that is pretty their marriage bond ihey would say in despair and i wonder who taught her to dress with such perfection i never saw her when she wasn t a model for a though i don t believe she any more on her clothes than hundreds who can t approach them in effect two young men stood on opposite sides of the room from mrs and her daughter them as closely as was consistent with good breeding between the pauses in the conversation they were having how beautiful is to night said one of them whose name was as if the expression was forced from him in spite of himself to whom the remark was addressed did not take his gaze from the object of its she is on the whole the finest girl of her age i ever saw he responded in a low tone she would be proud to know that you said so replied with a laugh i believe you are considered the best judge in the state feminine beauty according to all accounts is one of your as if he did not like the intended compliment in this connection i wonder on what the base their information he said with a shade of coldness i know well enough that my name gets mixed up in half the in the neighborhood of boston and yet nine times out of ten there s not the faintest excuse for the talk perhaps the reason is that i have a sharp eye and a quick ear nothing me more than an interesting woman who has begun to take the bit in her teeth i like to know one of that sort to converse with her to litter veiled allusions and watch the effect even to somewhat the scope of her imagination but to lay every pas to me is a gross injustice not only to h their marriage bond myself but to others who boast of their and are cheated out of the credit that properly belongs to them there was no the vein in which the closing words were uttered i have evidently fallen into the popular error smiled i should have said that your shoulders were broad enough to carry all the weight piled on them still if i were put on the stand i can t recollect a single bit of