Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-02-16

me; that you will take your place here,
ENJOYING the society of my friends.
maintaining your position as the heir Of
Calthorpe, and spending what time you
please in the pursuit of your profession.
With the one exception mentioned, L
make no condition regarding your
conduct. According TO my view of it.
the arrangement is very good one for
you"
Maurice threw away the end of his
cigar. and made a hasty movement to-
ward the door; but checking the i'm
pulse which the remembrance of Lucy
I inspired to leave the room in silence,
he returned TO the hearth
II do not know how TO answer you.
wish to be frank, and know that If
were to speak as feel at this moment
YOU would call me fool Enough for
the present then. that l fully appre-
ciate your kindness, and have no desir
TO pretend TO undervalue the benefits
which you offer me; but this passing
fancy. as you call IL. has a stronger hold
upon me than even / understood until
you explained your wishes to me-"
Mr.. Calthorpe rose and quietly rested
his hand on his sons shoulder. There
was n serious expression on his face, and
he looked much older than he had done
during the whole of the evening.
my dear Maurice" he said, earnest
ly. most people think there is some
good natureHin me. You sometimes
give me the impression that you think
me too cynical and too selfish to be ca
pable Of understanding the emotions
which are stirring in You just now. That
Is mistake: can understand them,
and L like yo' all the better for them.
i do not ask you to give me any answer
either now or in the future; / make no
condition whatever; only ask you-to
be my son.
Maurice was for moment be.
wildered; it was impossible to doubt
the sincerity of his fathers craving for
sympathy; and grasping the delicate
hands spasmodically in his own. he said,
huskily:
Il shall do what can to please you,
! father"
He had not called him father for a
long time now; and in that moment the
two men were drawn more closely to-
gether than they had ever been before.
CHAPTER ".
IN A MIST.
| Early on the following morning Maui
! rice received a letter from Colonel
Cuthbert. stating that important bust
ness called him to London. and that he
must therefore postpone their meeting
until his return few days hence.
Maurice was not sorry to find that he
should have the day almost entirely to
| himself. The conversation with his
father had disturbed him much. and he
was anxious to- think out the whole po-
stion alone. During the night he had
come TO the conclusion that whatever
he might try TO do to satisfy his father,
he. could not give up Lucy Then there
had come to him brave resolutions to
force the hand of fortune by sheer,
| logged work. Men had done il before
under much more difficult c;rcum-
stances. and surely he might do it. too.
! There were other means of saving the
estate besides the contemplate one Of
/ buying it back with wife's portion.
| That he felt he could never do
Vague schemes occupied his mind ali
the morning. but none of them took def
mite shape. He only knew that think
ing OF her he was strong and confident
of success. He longed to haze some
token from her hand to show that she
was thinking of him; but he could not
/ invent any excuse for writing to her
without startling her by the deliberate
/ declaration which he desired to make
/ only when he was standing beside her.
! He was also anxious to let his father
know the decision at which he had ar
/ rived, but delayed doing so in order that
] he might be able at the same time to Law
before him some plan of action which
might offer reasonable prospect of re-
deeming the property.
Mr.. Calthorpe did not alludc to the
subject again; he took long walks and
drives with his son. talking as ii there
never had been any breach between
them, and discussing improvements of
land and buildings with as much COM
placency as IL his rent roll were unin-
numbered.
At the end of a week Maurice pro-
posed to 90 to London for n few days.
To this Mr.. Calthorpe raised no obiec-
ton. but asked him first to arrange GER
tain matters a1out the drainage of the
home farm. When that had been done
he discovered something else to detain
Maurice; and so 1t went on for another
week,
Colonel Cuthbert returned to Holly
ford. nd paid hasty visit to his friends
Mt Calthorpe. He had n private inter-
view with Mr.. Calthorpe. which appar-
emily afforded that gentleman much
pleasure. To Maurice the Colonel ex-
pressed his regret that he would not
have the opportunity he had desired to
cultivate h friendship. as ne was leav-
ing England on the following day and
would not return for at least year.
Without understanding why, Maurice
felt rs If he had lost an intimate friend,
and the only one to whom he could have
given his entire confidence regarding
the matters which most disturbed him
at present
That night he wrote to Lucy. 1t was
a brief note. simply desiring that his
room should be ready for him on the
following Monday, and expressing a
hope that everybody was quite well. A
very cold and formal looking note it APP
peared; but the girl would have heen
sorry for him-Or perhaps amused-ii
she had known how much it cost him to
write in that apparently quiet manner
Every word was glowing with affection
in his eyes; the simple name was like a
star shining upon him as it was slowly
. formed under his pen; and to him the
commonplace "yours faithfully had a
meaning more intense than all the terms
of endearment which the dictionary con-
tanned.
"What a fool | ann he muttered.
smiling at himself rs he tenderly closed
the envelope, "and how ridiculous she
would think me If she could only read
under the hnes-would sbe9',