The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-04-20
BY THE GATE OF THE SEA
CONTINUED FROM FR-T /. OF,

" You are quite sure she is innocent and
good, fhiI;' asked Trcgarthen, looking
askance at him.
81 am as sure Of her innocence and good
ness as ! am Of my own heart beating at
this moment
" Sowas |, returned Tregarthen. Don't
you see PHIL he added, that you are
somewhat indiscreet. This lady is my wife,
and 1t IS little hard that | should be
asked either to incrimnate her or to con-
done her crimes. Let me hear no more Of
her Your love excuses you now, and your
ineXperlence alone would be extenuation
enough for so well-meant u folly Phil
accepted his rebuff in silence but he was
none the less sure that he was right, and
that some dreadful error had separated
Arthur and his wife. Let us change the
question: said Tregarthen. &" Tell me Of
your studies Who is your friend, Mr.,
Marsh am out Of the world here, and
know nothing Of him, though you speak Of
him as being famous
Phil had no heart to talk, but he an
swered Tregar,hen's questions, and won
dered all the while what the mad speech Of
an hour ago had meant There was no
trace Of madness now The youngster
knew well enough that he had made fool
lsh move IN attempting to influence Ire
garthen by mere impression of his own,
and yet he was as certain as he could be
of anything that his impression was the
true one But Arthur seemed frozen into
indifference and Phil had no evidence to
offer, even had his benefactor been eager to
demand it, The lad was anything but a
fool, and yet it had seemed to him quite
natural TO suppose that he should com
down here, hot as he was with sympathy and
by mere touch thaw the heart which had
been frost-bound all these years. He had
mlscounted the relative forces The frost
had conquered the fire, and his own heart
for the moment was almost as cold and
dark as Tregarthen's,
Iregarthen ceased to question, and the
two walked side by side in silence Phil
began to muse, and while he unused, the
fire began 10 burn again.
" Arthur, he said, suddenly, "there are
things we can't prove that we are sure Of
all the same, I'm sure-I know-that she
as innocent Of any greater fault than that
deceit. know | give you pain, Arthur,
put | should deserve nothing you have
done for me if | didn't speak. Let me
bring you together If you could see her,
II you could hear her, you would believe
her
Tregarthen looked at him, and saw there
were tears in his eyes.
1t is well to have a good heart, Phil
be said, gently, "base as the world is,
Keep your beliefs in goodness. You are
happier, and will be happier for them, till
the bitter day when you must lose them
| Virtue and honor are fine things to believe
In He laughed there and went on:
Hopes tOOthsOme dish when one-and-
twenty serves it piping hot. Hopa served
bot-Hope gone cold-cold Hope in the pot
.-nine days old 4 nauseous mess, Phil
No relishing it, Take it away
! There was tone in this bitter badinage
which was more affecting to Phil than even
she tenderness which had preceded it. Ire
garthen had given him a right to love him {;
and he loved him, and he was young and
enthusiastic, and sure with the certainty
Uf enthusiastic youth.
"You are wrong, Arthur he cried al.
most with passion Virtue and honor
live after one-andtwenty. You prove it
! yourself. You are virtuous, and a man of
! honor, and do you think that you are a
| sarity in nature! | haven't seen much of
che world, but | know it's a better world
than you think it, You have had a cruel
experience, Arthur. You have eaten worm
wood, and everything tastes of worm
wood
Very well, Phil said Tregarthen,
quietly. "The flavor will last me my life
time. The coffin-worm will scour well if
he scours it all away and gives me leave to
rise for judgment with a clean tongue
Phil sighed, and offered no reply ~ have
had sometimes half a mind of late said
Tregarthen speaking suddenly, and with a
new vivacity, "to put this pretty world to
the test, as l could do, but l shrink from
debauching altogether men who may not
yet be wholly given over to the devil
Who is your honest man in the world, Phil
your one incorruptibe, unpurchasablem
Here was the craze again, thought Phil,
miserably. He would at least be sure of
that.
How would you test the world, Ar
thur =
That's my news, Phil, if chose to tell
it, Tregarthen answered. "Tell me your
honest man, and | will buy him, and turn
him to whatever creed you like
Buy Thomas Carlyle" said Phil sar-
donically. Even madness-if Arthur
We're really mad, and had not some
curious meaning yet unfathomed-de-
served no courtesy on theme like this.
How do you propose to do it" Ire
garthen laughed allowingly, as a man
might laugh at a childish puzzle offered by
a child. "What should it profit HIM, of all
men in the world, ;" asked Phil, " to gain the
whole world and lose his own soul What
could you offer himM
my pulse as yours doth temperately
keep time, and makes as healthful music,n
said Tregarthen, stretching out his hand, as
il to invite Phil to test him. "Look me in
the face. Am | mad-disordered Is
there any sign of mental arrangement in
me Do speak in cool blood and in pos
session of my faculties And do you
know me for man of honor, who never
I lied in his life Well l tell you there is
no virtue that would not sell itself, and none
could not buy"
All this was painful, but, much as he
| suffered in the process, Phil determined to
examine Tregarthens mind more closely.
"You mean" he asked "that you your
self-you personally-might buy all the
virtue in the world ~ Tregarthen inclined
his head gravely.
" | mean nothing else and nothing less
than that" he answered; "but as | told
you just now, power and responsibility are