Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-12-13

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might be ,nOFe than Kind 10 himi III
never gueSss II, His own heart nigh
have startled his intelligence. but b,
ney'r que,Ilonei u,
Never any ~ these, until he st0Os
one night With y telegram from his en-
PLAYERS IN his hand Ills vacation
which was 10 have lasted for a mont
longer, must close, lilo had only oH'
mOrs day 10 remain,
In the light OF coming parting h'
knew II all Al last,
~ cannot co." no said, ~ cannot
leave her Hut ! must"
lie Thought littiei then no said
"if ! had only known ishould hay,
gone long ago, For her peace and
mine | should have gone, see II
now"
Miss Maude Walton waited Longer
than usual that evening for tho eusto-
mary invitation for walk along the
beach,
Guy Crawford felt that farewell
must no short, and he knew that. Ia
honesty, II must DO hard,
Together in the moonlight night
they walked along tho sands, The
grayest crisis IN their lives stood before
them.
lie could not know how much Of life
and happiness lay within the reach OF
his hand II heput II forth In truth and
honor, lie could not guess how much
the woman before him would shut back
behind her lips and never utter, though
the silence slew her heart, II coward
and q traitor sought what she might
say,
III am going away tomorrow. !
have received telegram which makes
II imperative"
"Yes." she answered. with much
the look that aheathen prlestess might
wear who found a law In the idol she
served.
but q look OF faith In his truth came
back 10 her face as no continued:
"Yes, am going ought 20 have
gone before, never knpw-God help
me until tonight that l loved you,
| have been blind to my own heart, |
must tell you love you'll do; but
we can never be more than friends"
you have not asked me TO give
you any hope"
"No-nor shall !, have no right
TO do So"
a true woman would never let q
lack Of wealth deter her"
~ know IT,"
IL refused each OF my cousins to-
day"
IL am sorry. Since ] can never
win you for my wife wish some
noble man the good fortune which
cannot be mine"
zone Of my cousins Is not q good
man. One Of them Is as great o
scoundrcl as ever lived"
"You should find some little excuse
for him In the fact that no loves you.
No man can be wholly bad who truly
loves n good woman"
"llo doesn't love me. He merely
pretends he does"
"Mercly pretend,. don't under
stand"
"I'll explain to you. I have a small
fortune from an aunt; but my fathers
fortune was left with strange con-
ditions. lie loved my cousins almost
rs well as he did me. lie Wanted me
to marry one of them, hut did not care
to say which one. II lis wishes were
carried out ! was to have half his for
tune and each Of my cousins sixth.
Unless marry one Of them lose my
share, and IL will be divided among
them. Unless each asks me except
for the reason that ! am already en-
gagged to one Of the Others he loses his
share, to be divided among the rest.
Two Of these men love me. One does
not. But my share of half million
dollars would be u temptation to any
scoundrcl, wouldn't it,"
perhaps so. ! can scarcely say
how low a man might fall. Which
one is it?"
A look Of puzzled horror settled
down on her face.
al don't know which one and
never SHALL" she said
"What do you meanP'
He came step nearer.
"Tell me why you have not asked
me to be your wife, while you still say
you love me, and l will tell YOU"
"You will not believe me. You
will think / am a mere triher."
"Tell me the truth, no matter how
strange it is"
"Well, l will. Somewhere in the
world | have wife living. never
saw her, l never expect to know her.
I married her one night at her fathers
grave, with a revolver at my head.
She was closely yelled. My captors
and hers were in disguise. love you,
but a minister married me to her. The
rascals forced him to give her a regu-
lar certificate; my name is in it. 1t
is legally binding. I think it is even
binding, since l chose it de-
liberately rather than death"
"Guy Crawford, my name is in that
certificate, too, and the cert ificate is in
my pocket. One of my cousins was
the leader in that plot which robbed
me of my fortune. God only knows
which one of the three it was, except |
the coward hirelings who helped him.
Had you tried to win my promise to
be your wife without owning to this,
should have carried my secret to my
grave with me. But love you, and
have tried as hard as woman modest
ly may to win you. l think have
loved you ever since that terrible night |
when you became my husband. Are
you satisfied to take what the gods |
have sent your" -4.
CHAPTER III.
Our closing scene is five years later.
The marriage which had taken place
II, <hof ro;py iOht bod haan cNpp1n.