Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-11-17
FContinued from first page

iOh hicb PeEO.l
of him as Bessie herself might have spoken
six months before, as Bessie has. oh
how often. thought of him in her own
heart. A noble, upright, manly young
fellow, he calls him strong as man and
tender as a woman.
II want to introduce him TO you some
time, Miss Bessie the good old doctor
goes on, "but not just now. The poor
fellow is hardly up to ladies' society at
present, for he has just had bitter PAD
blow, and Ii takes all his manhood to I'VE
it down. Ii was a cruel, shameiu, thing
in any woman to throw away such heart
as his, and for such a cause"
Bessie gasps. She can not articulate,
can not form question amidst the contu-
sion in her mind. and the doctor goes on :.
Poor fellow he started in lite with
such bright prospects, and now he is so
cruelty weighted. lie had just entered
upon the practice of his profession when
all the money which his father had lett
him was lost by the bursting of the
Bank. That was bad enough, just when
he needed it most to give him fair start :;
but the worst was, that the girl he was en-
gagged TO Tilted him in the most shameful
manner. The very day after the failure,
he received note from her releasing him
from the engagement, which, under the
changed circumstances, he could not fail to
feel burden The jade might at least
have had the decency to wait week or
two; bat no !. she must do it at once, and
crush the poor fellow utterly
''Who was she ?"
The words sounded strangely 10 Bessie
As they fall from her lips; she hardly
knows her own voice. but the doctor no
tees nothing.
Il don't know. He never would tell
me her name. He is tender of her even
yet, little as she deserves it.
The doctor talks on, but Bessie hears no
more. Gradually, out of the whrl in her
brain. thoughts emerge and form them
selves clearly. The - Bank ? Why
that was the one in which her fathers
money was. And so the same blow which
had crushed their fortune had crushed
Ralph's hopes too, and she had never
known it. That, too, was the reason why
he had not come that evening. And she,
base, ungrateful little fool that she is, has
thought that Ralph was a mercenary
coward. And he-what has he thought
of her all these months? She remembers
the vague terms in which her note was
couched, for even then she had not dared
to formulate her suspicious against him.
Yes, it is easy enough to see how the mis-
take had arisen but how can it be cor
rectedP All this time Ralph has been des-
pising her, has been learning to outgrow
his love for her, and is 1t likely that he
would despise her less or love her more
If he knew the truthp And while Bessie
thinks, the old doctor talks on, unmindful
OF her fit of abstraction, unit. they reach
the gate, and Bessie awakens from her
thoughts in time to hear his last words:
$50 asked him to visit me here. with
a view to taking him into partnership, for
/ am getting too old TO be flying about the
country like the Wild IIuntsman, at the
call of every old woman who chooses to
get up midnight panic for the benefit of
her family, Perhaps have been indis-
Greet in telling you all that have, Miss
BESSIE but know can trust you with
Ra'ph's secret
Trust her with Ralph's secret" The
words sound like burlesque TO Bessie,
but she answers mechanically, and bids
the old doctor goodnight. Aunt Rho
danthe finds her standing on the porch
where the doctor has left her.
... ''What ails you, Bessie P'' she says.
"Why don't you come INF ?"
"Aunt Rhodanthe," exclaims Bessie,
suddenly, IL have seen Ralph Dormern
She does not mean to speak the words,
is hardly conscious Of what she saying
but she must 60 on now; and the whole
comes out. Aunt Rhodanthe stands in
gray twilight and listens, with face as
cold and gray as the evening sky.
..WellP" she says, when Bessie has
finished. "t
CoSTINUED Tomorrow.