The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-04-20
BY THE GATE OF THE SEA.
A N OVEL.
BY DAVID CHRISTIE MURRAY.


CHAPTER XII.
The situation was sufficiently embarrass-
ing. At the moment Mrs. Iregarthcn,
Marsh, and Phil each felt it TO De nothing
less than terrible. Phil was an especially
sensitive lad, unusually swift TO like peo-
pie, and spicndilly certain Of the accuracy
OF his own secret intuitions He had met
nobody who had 50 impressed him as Mrs.
Tregartheu. He was sure that she was as
good, as pure, and as womanly As she
looked-a, pure rs the sweet, prosecuted
Bertha in the poets comedy. The faint
smile he had twice seen upon her face had
fingered in his mind as that Of saint in
pain lie had identified her with the part
be had seen her playa thing always easy
for ardent youth, and common enough in
the experience Of actresses who are not
models Of all the virtues, or embodiments
of wit and sweet temper That for once
the natural fancits Of a raw lad were JUS
titled was nothing to him. He could have
been quite as certain Of their truth if he
had pitched on a new Jezebel. And lie had
called this suffering incarnation Of good
uess-tO her tace-a worthless woman!
The poet, for his part, had the misery of
knowing that he was responsible for the
encounter and the shocking result which
had sprung from it.
a better artist would have told this story
better, and would have wasted less time on
uou-esscutals but it is not too late to say
here what should have been set forth
earlier An intellectual fop had grown
into a man and had put away childish
things, the man had fallen in love, in no
better on worse fashion than common, and
his passion had ripened and sobered into a
most tender friendship and most profound
respect, He saw genius in Mrs. Ire
gartuens work upon the stage sorrow
uncompainiugly endured and undeserved
in her daily life; and to his mind
after many years oi intimacy, her soul was
an entire and perfect chrysOlite. He loved
her STILL as a poet and a gentleman can
love woman who is out Of the reach Of
desire, and the phrase the hapless Phil had
used went through him like knife
Mrs Tregarthen was true 10 her in
stincts, and was persuaded that here, as
always, the guilt was hers, She had en-
trapped the young man into this terrible
position.
Forgive me" she ssid brokenly. Il
wanted to hear of him. have not heard
Of him for 50 long"
Forgive me- said the poet almost in
the same breath with her. " / would have
died rather than expose you to this indig-
nifty and yet l did it,"
Phil stood silent, but his face and atti.
tude were enough for retraction and apol-
ogy. He had to believe in Arthur in spite
Of everything, his savior and benefactOI
| and friend, but he believed none the less il
! Miss Churchills goodness. The unknown
! Mrs. Tregarthen might have been guilty OF
! anything in the world but this unhappy
lady was maligned. The mere fact that
/ thousands Of men have been just as certain
as himself, and have proved themselves
| mistaken, was, Of course, nothing 10 him.
| The other fact, that he was right, made his
infatuation none the wiser. But now and
then, even in this poor world, the soul has
happy hopes that are justified, and beliefs
in goodness which are not thrown away.
Dear friend said the actress, speaking
through her tears, let Inc tell you the
whole truth l was to blame. l have
known it, bitterly, always. But | have
never deserved to be thought a worthless
woman" Both hearers would have gone
to the stake in support Of that postulate
without a seconds hesitation. "When my
father died, Lima and | were left in pow
erty, and | came to London as a governess.
There We're private theatricals in the house
where | was engaged, anl | was asked TO
play in them. | was praised 50 highly that
| thought | might succeed upon the real
stage, and that would have enabled me TO
do 50 much for Lana, We had looked at
the ErI to see where to hire our dresses for
the private .theatricals, and | saw adyer-
tisements there for actors and actresses,
| looked again, and answered one or two Of
them, and at last got an engagement
She Went on with her story, telling it
plainly and without ornament, and grow
Ing more and more self-possessed as she told
it, She told Of her first encounter with
Lorrimer, her professional engagement
with him, and her receipt Of the letter
from Messrs. Lane & Carter, which in
formed her Of the disposition OF her uncles
| property.
a" had been known all this time as Misc
Churchill she then said, but when re-
turned to Gorbay took back my own
name and tried to forget the stage alto.
gether. 1t was at this time'-and here
again she began to falter-" that l met Mr.
Tregarthen but it was not until we were
engaged that found what an antipathy he
had to the stage. lie thought that no good
woman could be an actress without losing
refinement and purity Of mind l was
frightened, l was afraid of losing his af-
lection. hid the truth from him, but it
was discovered by accident after our mar.
Iidge. Some one who had known me on
the stage spoke to me ON the idand-he
was one Of picnic party, or he came
with the archaalogists, and lie insisted
| that | was Miss Churchill. | tried to dis
miss him, but he was impertinent and
would not go. l told him at last that |
had been Miss Churchill, but that | wished
TO meet no one who had known me by that
name. My husband overheard me.
knew that he would never forgive me my
deceit, and | left the island and came to
London. He never forgave me-he never
tried to find me-"
There she broke down altogether, and for
wAiIe cried unrestrainedly.
1t was hard measure for the poet. To
have been popinjay and a jackanapes
once upon time is common to the
| experience of many honest men, but it
does not often carry with it SO severe
| punishment as was dealt out to Ronald
Marsh, Here he had been magnanimously
/ nj fyEf ILL -.