The Red Cloud chief., 1884-03-21

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her. 4 don't know she said, but il
you will go after her, she will tell you,
1 am sure, and you must make it uI
with her. l am Grace's slave and
yours. so L came. Nov, Miss Fairfax,
will you explain? How have l offended
your"
1T is not that you offend me. but
I'M sure | offend yOu,'' said Mabeile.
looking up with a face literally aiiame,
and confronting the calm, bronzed face,
and the steady dark eyes of Philip
fixed earnestly upon her own. A look
of surprise was dawning in them as he
said:
"Ofend me. / am afraid I am still
in the dark. How could you by any
possibility offend me? l0uF"
81 mean that even to look at me mus,
arouse painful recollections in yOul
mind. 1t can not be pleasant to you fol
me to be here, after-oh. you a no,
have forgotten the last time we met
and-and-Angelar
The word was out, and a dead silence
s%upervened, during which, after one
flash from Philips eyes. his c%ountenance
scarcely changed. He looked thought,
fully at the head of DIR. johnson, while
he still gently stroked back the ears OF
that companionable friend of man; and
the movement of his hand maintained its
regular. uneXcited rhythm. Mabelle
sat looking at linn Lreathlesslv. and
doubt, fear, bewiiderment, succeeded
one another in a mad chase through hel
mind, as she saw, first that dubious
flash of his eyes, then the still more
dubious half smile which curved his
lips, and then the unshakable gravity,
without a trace of sternceSS Or dis
pleasure. which followed. He did not
speak: he seemed to be lost in refiec-
ton, till ut last, looking up to Mabelle.
after what appeared to her a week
of agitated emotion, she found his eyes
as calm. as steady, as serene as those OF
a child.
..Are YOU angry?" she murmured,
timidly touching his arm. Il did not
mean to say that; but, oh. | have
never forgotten it, and now L believe
you hare"
Philip arrested the hand, and held ii
in his own as he said:
ado you think HE so vindictiyc, Ma
BELIEF"
"You have been so dreadfully in
jured!" she said.
You really believe me so vindic-
tive" he repeated. and though he was
amused he found he could mo- smile.
Il remember you suffered dreadfully at
that time. You were punished for a
sin which you could not have commit
ted if your life had depended upon it.
You were ill. and before it all came out
you had endured fortunes. / remember.
Grace wrote me about it at the time,
but at the time. instead of pitying you.
l was. l am afraid, hardening my heart,
and cursing your sister"
A little quick sob broke from Mabelle
as she tired 10 draw her hand away, but
could not. and Philip went on:
'.And il is you who suffer still. You
are SO constituted, l suppose. All the
consciousness of your family was
bestowed upon YOU, and You have too
much of it. and others have too little.
And YOU imagine me nursing anger in
my heart against you: cherishing envy,
hatred and malice all these years. l
must say you have as nearly As posi-
BILE succeeded in offending me. 1t
shows me that l must have behaved
abominably in my first moments of dis
illuSiOEism for YOU TO have thought thus
of me-
Of course. BIZ this time Mabelie was
dissolved in tears, with DIR. johnson by
her side in an attitude of profound
melancholy, his head and ears dropping
with a dolOrOus curve. She managed
to say, however:
''And YOU mean that YOU have quite,
quite got over-forgiven. l mean that
..Inever loved your sister for one mo-
ment, after | found she had lied to me-"
he said. in a voice whose hardness dried
Mabelle's tears like magic. .'On the
contrary, | hated her with an unreason-
ing. contemptuous hatred-a bad feel
ing--fOr, after all, she was made SO.
What enraged me was that | could not,
with my love for her, shake off its eff
fects upon my mind and character.
That was impossible. Ny love for her
had made me soft, [ suppose, and her
deceit made me hard: and hard and
rough l shall remain all my life in conse-
quence. No doubt you know. Miss
Fairfax, that there is said to be a tide
in the affairs OF men and there is also,
generally speaking. a time when the
stuff of which a man is made hardens
into shape, and no after-events can do
more than somewhat modify the cor
ners and outlines of that shape. Moth
ing short of smashing him TO pieces
making an end of him-can 10 more.
When your sister Tilted me forgive the
world am apt to speak rather too
plainly for the ears of young ladies, 1
know
..But not for those of women who re-
spect the TRUTH interposed Mabelle,
decisively. though i'm a smothered voice.
No; that is well said. You are
like Grace, l see. and prefer straight
forward expressions. Well. when Your
sister Tilted me, the stuff l was made
of took a very rough. marred sort of
shape; it got a twist. and nothing can
yer make it straight again. or turn me,
into an agreeable. or gentle, amiablj
character. But it did not make me al,
utter brute. as you seem to think. ID
did not deprive M of the power to dis
tinguish between your sister, to whom
Truth vas a stranger, and you. I'd
whom she was the dearest friend--''
"Oh, if you could ever forgive me!
II have thought too much of it. L
was all the world to mel hated II en-