The Red Cloud chief., 1884-02-15

There was Angela, slowly advancing,
and that man who carried her roll Ol
music and looked earnestly into herface
was Mr.: Fordyce. Certainly there was
no possibility of a mistake in the mat
ter. They advanced slowly. paused
at the gate to exchange some parting
words. when there was a shake of the
hand, a look from the gentleman, &C
companied by a bow in which there was
more of good intentions than of elegant
performance; an appealing glance from
the lady.
Mr.. Fordyce walked briskly away
down the street, and Angela rang the
| front-door bell.
"Why, child, you are almost in the
dark; l can't see my way" she said as
she came in. ado let us have the gas
lighted. and some tea. l am dying fol
a cup of tea
angela, was that Mr.. Fordyce who
came with You to the gate:g"
"Mr. Fordyce?' repeated Angela. in
a changed vO:ce, which strove to break
into an Indifferent laugh; eyes ma bell.
it was. Dear old thing he is! What
| them"
Had he walked far with you?"
"From Carlton Road, Just above the
Berghauses. 1t was there / met him."
land he turned back with you'"
He did. Really, L have had enough
Of this catechism. You are not 4 cheer
full sister. Here am /, half dead with
cold and fatigue, and You begin TO cross
question me as if l werd a witness sus-
pected of dishonesty. You do forget
yourself strangely, sometimes"
She rang the bell sharply and desired
the servant to bring some ca. Then
she lighted the gas with her own hands,
and when Mabelle looked mt her. she
saw.a flush on her cheeks and a light,
as of triumph, in her eyes.
The words of the verses she had been
reading seemed to ring in Mabelle's
ears. Was her sister without it-that
moral quality which holds compacts
sacred
Vows once made. kept evermore:
Truth maintained 'twixt friend and foeY'
Or was she one of those women who
will pu:sue any by-path through life
which promises most ease to the feet,
and tie ~pleasanteSt banks to rest upon.
even though TO do it she must 90 forever
with "a lie in her right hand?:"
The tension of doubt and distress be-
came almost unbeatable to the young
girl. The cloud which for n few weeks
had been lifted, settled more heavily
than ever over her head. Perhaps
Angela might not suffer, but she did.
Whenever she saw Grace, she felt an
impulse to cover her face with her
hands: she wished she could sink into
the earth and be forever lost TO sight.
When she saw the letters in the thin
foreign envelopes. with the outlandi sh
stamp. and the round black address to
Miss Fairfax. and saw those others with
the small, clear. delicate tracery. adj
dressed TO philip Massey. EsI., H. Il.
NJ. Consulate, Y. China" Mabelle
felt as if the world were upside down.
were one vast. black, hideous lie, and
she 4 part of it.
For the first meeting between Mr..
tOrdyce and Angela, which had shocked
her and sent a chill foreboding to her
heart. was not the last: but. warned by
the result of it. Angela had never again
allowed Mabelle 4 chance of expostu-
lating with her. Her affairs were
~c!everly managed. The girl could now
only guess. surmise. suspect; wear out
her heart with conjectureS which she
could not subStantiate, and rack her
brains with consideration of the prob
lem whether she must leave Philip to
his fate or betray what she thought of
her sister, and possibly be found wrong
after all.