St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-17

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tent was sleeping heavily.
The girl turned again and looked him full
in the face. lie fancied he could trace in
her eyes some regret for having judged him
too harshly. and her voice was more cur
dial. though In all her intOnations when she
spoke 10 him, then and afterward. he
thought there was a suspicion of disdain.
He never blamed her, and he knew instinct
lively that if his old social standing had been
still his that element in her voice would
have been rather more pronounced.
There Is very little hope, / am afraid. I"
she said. gravely. Had Mrs. Hartley any
friends who can help her? The doctor said
he would require constant cBre."
''She has been earning for them both for
some time" said Dick. ''and her hands are
full already. / do not think she has any
friends who are likely 20 be OF any use. If
ever you are i'm need OF a helping hand
hope you will rely on me. / can easily sit
up with him at nights and never feel il. -
And indeed, he looked as IL he was so used
10 sitting uD all night that few additional
times would make no difference to him.
Thank YOU" said Iris. and was silent
again. The real or imagined hauteur in her
voice annoyed Dick unaccOuntably.
UNLESS you are TOO fastidiOus.r he said.
in a sudden tone Of bitterness that astOunded
/ A4lu4ct4l. 10 l4ht Aclp a. tue 4lduuS OF
| poor BLACKBOARD like me-"
The girl looked at him with a strange
blending OF compassion and repugnance in
her eyes.
You could have been a gentleman ifyOu
had wished" she said calmly. ''lf YOU are
what you choose to be, why blame me for
taking you at your own valuation?"
! There was something terribly true and
| relentless about her words. and Dick WINGED
under them, as the most violent reprOaches
had ceased to make him vince.
Thank you, he said. You show me
what l have to expect from people of a
/ higher moral standard. And yet what
right have you TO assume that am worth
less?"
1T is your own epithet-" she returned
TRANQUILITY. ''But-fOrgiye me-tO a certain
extent men write their characters in their
| faces"
Dick nearly swore a heavy oath, but he
checked himself Just in time. and spoke i'm
tones of exceeding suavity:
What excellent discrm nation YOU
have. Then you have aScertained that my
character is too far gone 20 allow of my as
sOciating with you. to however small an eX-
tent. in a work of mercy"
a half smile broke over the girls face.
faint and transient, and yet il lit up the
whole eOuntenance and softened It's youth
full austeri;y.
81 did not say that she returned, re-
lentingly. "WhO am l that l should look
with scorn on any human being?" (This,
by the way. she should have thought OF be-
fOre.) Indeed, il YOU care 10 give it, |
believe that we shall be grateful for your
help"
Thank you" said Dick. his anger melt
-
81 am at your service"
He sat up that night with Hartly, fulfill
Ing mechanically whatever offices were re
quired of him, but thinking very little Of
the invalid. and a good deal about Iris En-
derby and his own social status. He fell
10 drawing the most invdiOus comparisons
-''trenchant parallels" as Henry Kingsley
calls them-between himself and his old
companions, who had walked in the light
as persistently as he had walked i'm the
darkness; between himself and his own
relatives leading unimpeachable. if prOSaic,
lives in the West end. When he gave place
to Mrs. Hartley, and slept az last il was to
dream of bishops, prayer-bOOks and church
Institutes, every thing calculated to awaken
a sense of sneaking deficiency, and he
awoke still drawing invidious comparisons.
There passed five strange, wild weeks.
Dicks life. II is not pleasant for a man
to be sconed, knowing that he deserves
scOrn, but before a week was over Warning
ton was so madly in love with Iris Enderby
that he thought he would rather be Scorned
by her than wOrshipped by any other
woman. He did his utmost. humbly and
persistently, to win her federation. To do
him justice, it was always her federation;
never her love. Dick had most of the
vices i'm the calendar, but there was no
cold blOOded calculation about him. and but
little concern. lie knew that he had moth
ing TO do with Iris EndeTby. yet he was
fain n cOnciliate her by word or action by
the delicate courtesieS that please women.
He had been gentleman once, he said bit
terly to himself; he would try to fall into
the old ways again for the last time. 1t
was easier than he had thought.
But Iris never changed. She was always
courteous, sometimes kindly, but the look
of scon in her eyes seemed to Warning
toms embittered vision never to pass away.
For five weeks he saw her daily-deft,
tranquil, gentle, the light of that dark time:
at the end of those weeks Hartley died.
His death was sudden at the last, and only
Warrington and his wife were with him.
Iris, who was TO have watched that night
came an hour later. When she entered
with flowers in her hands, for she had
brought fresh ones every day to please the
invalid, Warrington was alone in the room.
A dull pain was upon him, heavier than
his grief for the dead man. the hard. bitter
consciousness that he should see Iris
no more. He rose as she entered,
and though he did not speak, his look
warned her of the truth, and
she glanced hastily at the quiet face on the
pillow. Her lips quivered. and the roses
dropped from her hands and were scattered,
spots of glowing color on the dingy floor.
Warrington, hardly knowing what he did.
fell on his knees and began 10 gather them
up, and wild longing TO speak At all haZ-
ards. To call her his saint, his divinity.
''Give me a rose. " he said. huskily.
The girls voice faltered as she answered
him, but it had a ring of indignation in it
that touched him to the quick.
This is no time to talk Of roses" she
said. pasSi )nately.
ION. you do not understand" he ex-
claimed holly. "You have no pity for the
living"
He did not glance up as he spoke, or he
would have seen a strange look pass over
her face. 1t passed like a shadow-was
gone; she turned away, and the next mo
ment he heard her voice, all sympathy,
speaking to Mrs. Hartley. Then, feeling
like an arrant coward, he skunk back to his
own room.
Iris left an hour later. Some relatives of
Mrs. Hartley had come. and she could do
little more. Dick reappeared as she was
quitting the house TO offer his services as
escort.
"ghank you," she said, not unkindly,
but with quiet decision. Il would rather
walk alone"
lit is very late urged Dick.