The Red Cloud chief., 1886-04-09
CHATTER XII.

CHATTER XII.
Tn situation Wa sufficiently cm3---
raising. ~ the moment Mr.. Ig-
ga'than. Marsh and Phi each fit = 10
be- nothing less than terrible. Phi va,
an especially SENSITIVE lad. unusually
swift 90 iik" people, and -pl"Ha5!.y c.:-
tain of the ao"uracy 81 hi 0Hn --cT,t
munitions. II" had met uoioly whO
bad 90 Impressed him a. Mr.. Ir~gaT-
then. H. was -ur- that n. wa ~
good. q pur" and womanly a. she
looked IL rUTc ~ the sweet. poT-c-
cut"d Bertha ia the pOrts comedy.
Inc faint smile he had rwic" seen upon
her face had fingered in hi- mind -
that "f a saint IN pam. IL had id-nti-
lid her with III" part b" had seen her
rlay-a TIN" always cay for ardent
youth, and c0mmo enough IA the "N-
PcTirHcc Of actresses who are not mod
81 of al the NIGt--s, or Cinbv lIIu"ut-
81 Wit and sweet TEMPER. That for
once the natural fanc!cs Of 4 raw llI
were justified wa- nothing 10 him. II.
could have been quit" - certain oI
their truth If hr had pitched on a ncw
lcIrbcl. Aud he had called tai, suffer
iug Iuc lruation Of gopjEc>--to her
face a wpIlhic-s woman
The poet, for his part, had the misery
"i knowing that he wa responsible for
the encounter aud the shocking result
winch had sprung from II.
4 better artist would have tod hi
story better. and would nave wasted
ic-, tim" on nou-c--,nt.al-. hut i i, not
too lat" 80 say here what should hIy,
h"cn ST iurih earlier. An intellectual
ipp had .roWu into = man and bad pat
away childish thing: the man had
fallen in love. IN no better or wor-"
fashion than common, aud hi> passion
had uprnc! and -ubarci into . most
tender friendship and q mos. profound
respect. h SAW genius in Mir Ir.-
gaTthrn work upun the >ta1c, ~"rro,.
mr"mp'ainiu"iy endured and undo
served IN her daily lie. and T." his
m,ul. after many years Of intimacy.
her soul wa ~ entire and perfect
chn-oli,c. H. loved her still. 4, q
poet and a gentleman al love Il
woman who j. ont Of the reach Of de-
sire. and the phr.,>" the hapl.~, Phil
had used went through him like a knilc.
Mrs. ~IrrCarihcn WAS true Ia her in
>tinct~. and WAS persuaded that here.
a. always, the guilt was hers. She had
cr.trapp,d the Young man into this ter
rible position.
Forgive me she said. b~rok.nly.
Il wanted 10 hear # him. ! have moi
heard Of him for so long
Forgive me. said the poet. almost
-. a.. -,x. t,..l ,,.,l l.. II. l
have died rather than expose YOU 10
this indignity. and Vet | did it"
Phil stood silent, but hi> face and at
titude were enough for rctractation
and apology. Tie had to believe in
Arthur in spite of everything, his
savior and bencfactor and friend. but
he believed none the less in Mis-
Churchiil> goodness. The unknown
Mrs. TrcgArih"n might have been
guilty If ANYTHING in the world, hul
this unhappy lady was mali@ncd. The
mere fact that thousands of men have
been just - certain ~ himself. and
have proved themselves mistaken. was.
of course. nothing To- him. The other
fact. that hc WAS right, made his in
fAtuation nom the wiser. But NOW and
then. even in this poor world. the soul
ha> happy hopes that are justified. and
beliefs IN goodness winch are not thrown
away.
Dear friend, said the actress.
speaking through her tears. ..lrt me til
you the whole truth. was To- blame.
| have known il. bitterly. always. But
! have never deserved 10 hr ~iiougi; 4
worthless woman Both hearers
would have gone 10 ;hr >i.jhr ia sup
port "f that ro>;u,alc without e sec
ond's hesitation. when mr.. father
died Lima aud | wcr, lri. in poverty.
and | came tu London A. a g~uvrrncss.
There were private tinAtrical> at the
bose where | wa> engaged. and | Wa
asked {" play IN them. was praised
>" highly that | though. | might Sue
coed upon the real stage. and that
would have enabled mo TO do 80 mnca
fer Lima. We had looked II the Era
10 SEE where To hire our dresses for the
private thcatrical>. and saw advertise
m"nt> there ior actors and actresses. |
looked again AMI answered one or two
al i.icm. and n last | 20: sn uga@c
mcnt.'
CIV "Na' WI - Ahi A4tl ~tt.t. Af.Ilil- :.
plainly and Withou, ornament. and
@rowingmovc ana more cl:-po>>eS>ada
she told II. She told If her mr., encount-
er with Lorrsmcr. her OCCASIONAL en-
gaGrmcnt with him. AMI her receipt of
the letter from Nc>~r>. Lane X Carter.
which Informed her Of the disposition
Of her uucle'S property.
Il had been known all this time a
Miss Churchill" she said then. .'bu,
when returned - Gnrhav ! took back
nI oNu name. AMI ,vir,i - tor.,t the
s,agc altogether /. WAS a, this time
and here again she began IA ;alter-
that met Mr.. Tresarthcn: hat i, waS
not until We were engaged that found
what an antipathr he had IL the stage.
He thought that no good woman could
he an actress without losing refinement
and purity of mind WAS frightened.
| WAS afraid Of losing his affection. |
hid the truth from him. but il was dis /
covered hy accident after u marriage. |
Some n who had known me on the
stage spoke ~ NE on the i>lani-hc !
was one of a picnic party. or he al
with the archaeology SIS. and h. insisted |
that | WAS Miss Churchill. | tried ~ |
dismiss him. but he WAS impairment !
ana would not 90. | told him a; last
that | had been Miss Churchill. but !
that | wished 10 meet no one who had
known me hy thai; name. NV husband
overheard me. knew that he would /
never forgive my deceit. and lcf, the
Island and came 10 London. He never !
forg.vc me-he never ;ri,d 10 find
me"
Then she broke down altogether. and
for = while cried uraestraineily.
1, was hard measure for the poet. !