The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-11-06

bring himself to sign his uncle's name
to borrow his uncle's name, he called
it. If he only dared to put the case to
her. But of course this could not be.
Her pure hands must not touch pitch
even in thought.
"How much should a man be willing
to do for friend?' he asked her sud-
denly.
"There is no limit to true friend S
service Helen replied, instantly.
Amy Lees voice fell in: % Yes, there
is. Wrong-d6ing is the limit. You
wouldn't have friend disgrace himself
to serve you, would you?"
Sometimes an angel speaks through a
mortal in this way, and we call it pre-
sentiment, foreboding, the shadow of
a coming event. Philip stared at Amy
curiously. al had not loved thee,
dear, so much, loved 1 not honor
MORE" She repeated, softly, and
moved away.
al don't agree with ANY," Helen
said, when her sister was out of sight.
al hope | would be willing to peril my
soul for any one l loved. And if were
guilty of a crime for his sake, believe
the recording angel would wipe it out
with tear, as he did Uncle Toby's
OATH
Philip went home and signed the
check.
The bank where it was to be present
ed was 80 miles away. The creditor of
the Lee sisters accepted it with COM
plaeency. Keith Trapier's signature
was known and respected. His nephew
had apparently embraced prompt meas
ures to communicate with him. The
check was forwarded at once to Firm &
Co.
But an unexpected contingency had
arisen. Mr.. Keith Trapier was dead.
His widow, who disliked her husbands
nephew, had not seen fit to commune
cate with Philip on the subject, but she
had sent cable dispatch to the bank,
directing certain business matters to be
seen to. The forged check was dated
some days after Mr.. Keith Trapier's
death. 1t could not fail to excite imme-
date suspicion on being presented. 1t
was traced back Immediately to Philip.
Firm & Co., disposed to be on the
best of terms with the powers that be,
consulted the brother of Mrs. Trapier,
who lived in the same town with them,
as to what had best be done. Mr..
| Stevenson shared his sisters prejudices.
| He was overcome with horror at the dis
covery of Philips treachery. AforgeryP
There was only one way to deal with a
1 forger. The young man must be arrest
ed Immediately.
Meanwhile Philip had lived under that
| dark and haunting cloud of dread which
precedes a misfortune. He felt it COM
| inc so surely that when the officers of
| the law walked into his office and ar
rested him one morning it was almost a
relief The worst was over. And his
regret and unhappiness were less for
himself than for the women he had tried
to help, when it was explained to him
that the check had been protested. But
there was still a loop-hole of escape for
them. The constables had had very
tedious trip up the river. The steam
boat had run aground, and thus her
passage had been prolonged. By
curious coincidence this was the very
day when Farmer Giles had promised to
pay. The hard creditor would accept
that payment now, perhaps.
But he would not He availed him
self only too gladly of a legal bubble to
obtain immediate possession of the Lee
place. Philips offense had been all in
vain. All that remained for him was to
invest his entire worldly means in the
name of Helen Lee, and to notify her of
the fact through a lawyer. She was not
formally instructed as to whom she was
indebted for this benefaction. She
must have guessed, but as she had far
rather not know, she did not pursue any
inquiries on the subject. She was very
keen-witted She never met Philip af-
ter his disgrace-that is, not until years
had passed-but she wove a coherent
tale out of the loose threads of facts in
her possession, and her conjectureS
were not far wrong. She was assured
in her secret soul that Philip had sinned
in order to save her from trouble.
She and Amy did not give up their
home, after all The hard creditor pro-
posed to handsome Helen to stay on
as his wife. Had she been free to
choose, she confessed to herself, she
would not have chosen him; but she did
not consider that she was free to choose.
She was not fit to cope with poverty.
And there was Amy. 1t was her duty to
give Amy home.
So on the day that Philip was con-
signed to the penitentiary for 10 years,
she married Mr.. Gray.
The only person who shared Philips
troubles, who sorrowed over his dis
grace, was his old colored nanny. She
had nursed him from his cradle; she
worshiped the very ground he walked
on. When this terrible misfortune
overlook him, she eXtenuated what he
had done in her faithful heart, and
hated those who, as she considered, had
hunted him down. She staid on in the lit
tie house where he and his mother and
she herself had kept house for years,
winding up their small affairs as was
best for his interest, selling off the fur
niture, packing up the few and uncostly
articles of apparel and of persOnalprop-
erty that had been his mothers. While
his trial was going on in the county
town he wrote to her, and she carried
his letters to the clergyman of her par
ish TO read them and answer them for
her. When he was sentenced to the
penitentiary she followed him there, and
took up her abode just outside the walls,
seeing him occasionally, and supporting
herself by taking in washing.
Before leaving her old home she went
to see Helen Lee, who had then been
married week or ten days. Helen
came out to speak to her on the same
piazza where She and Philip held the
fatal conversation we have recorded.
Nanny Jones stood erect before the
young wife, her arms folded calmly, her
bright dark eyes scanning Helen. She