The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-10-15
CHAPTER ".
FAILING IN LOVE AND DUTY.

CHAPTER ".
FAILING IN LOVE AND DUTY.
Philip st. John did not 90 to London
to see his brother, but sent him a letter
and a cheque instead, for he did not
care to leave Erica alone at Grayle
House. She seemed not at all her usual
self, sometimes sitting for hours, silent
and musing, grave and sad, he thought;
at other times bright with a sort of
feyerish excitement of manner that was
scarcely natural.
Was it his fancy, too, that she seemed
now and then to shrink from him,
while leaning upon him more than she
used tOY She had, indeed, been the
cause of his remaining at Grayle instead
of going to town, for she had seemed to
dislike the idea of being left alone, and
asked him if it was necessary for him
to 60, and yet had discaimed any exact
wish TO keep him from his brother. In
truth, she dreaded with a wild fear that
Walter should tell Philip the name of
this friend of his who was mot of
Philips sort"
Her mind was on the rack as long as
Arnold was at Rington-distant about
sixteen mAes from Grayle-and she
lived III these days on suspense, tortured
by thousand fears, and more than all
by the necessity of this miserable 81
lence she deemed herself bound toman-
tain TO her husband, aud which was a
tacit deception.
one evening late in September the
girl wandered down to the beach where
Poynter's boats lay.
1t was quite dark, and fresh breeze
was blowing in from the sea and lifting
the loose trcsses that fell on her shout
ders
Philip had ridden over to a village
some miles away to see a friend, who
was staying there, and he would not be
back until late; SO, weary and sad of
heart, Erica had pat on her hat and
thrown shawl round her and come
down To commune with the sea, as she
used TO do when a child
The sea was as sorr0Wful as herself,
she thought. and muttering softly to
her as the waves came rolling in almost
TO her feet
There was something in the desola-
ton Of the scene that exactly chimed III
with her mood. The dark mass Of wa
ter stretching away, it seemed, into in
ilnitude; the bleak rocks rising up to
right and left; only here and there a
light cleaning from some house up on
the hills; the perfect stiffness that was
intensified by the sullen wash Of the
ocean.
Erica stood, her fingers lightly inter-
laced, her hands hanging down loosely
before her, the large, mournful eyes
looking out with fixed, changeless gaze
into the darkness.
Did it cross her then that she was
keeping her vow at tremendous cost,
a cost that outweighed the sanctity Of
an oath made even to the dyingH
1t might have done so, but the very
words so burned into her brain to her
were jnstihcation lat whatever cost to
yourself or to others" They shut up
any lOophole Of escape. She could not
see one ray of light in all her darkness,
no end to the misery that had fallen on
her.
She was so absorbed in her own
thoughts that a step crushing the
shingles did not rouse her. II She heard
it at all she probably deemed it that of
some fisherman going home, and she
started and sprang back almost a pace
at the voice that fell on her ear, as she
saw the man who stopped before her
Arnold" she said, under her breath,
why have you Gomez
"To see you, dear coz Arnold re-
piled, coolly. Il went up. to the house,
and the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, | sup
pose by her venerable looks-told me
you were down on the beach, so ! came
after you.n
What made you 60 to the house?n
said the girl, quickly and sternly.
Because | knew st. John wasn't
there answered Arnold, laughing. 81
saw him over at MelwOod, and took care
TO ascertain from Poynter that lie
wouldn't be back till late. Poynter is a
treasure. lie knows everything
How long are YOU going to stay at
Rlngton?" asked Erica, without reply
ing TO his remarks.
The races come off In n week or two;
shall leave after that; if my horse
that is, Fent0n, you know--wins | shall
be the richer by several hundreds; if
he loses | shall have to make myself
scarce
You, and such as YOU" she said,
Slowly, ARE enigmas to me. Can you
choose HE that literally hangs on the
chance of one horse distancing another
in given space2 Can you like a life
that is one agony Of suspenseYo
zone gets used TO it, he said, shrug-
ging his shoulders, land, besides, YOU
make so much out Of nothing. What
you call AN agony of suspense, is a
sort Of pleasurable excitement. | sup
pose you can't understand it. There's
something eXhilaratng in the thought
that you may be rich or a beggar TO-
morrow, as the turn Of the dice or the
running of n horse may decide"
mo, | don't understand 1t. | only
know, Arnold, that this life of suspense
He started, and a look of shocked
wonder came into his face; then he laid
his hand on her shoulder.