Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1886-05-29
THE BANK OF CALIFORNIA
BY PRENTICE
CHAPTER XXI

BY PRENTICE MILFORD.
CHAPTER xxi
RECONCILIATION. :
Some scales had fallen from my eyes II
saw clearly that il . woman loves a man, as
I had now good reason for supposing that
Blanche loved mo, It Is not her place that
she should be always giving evidence Of it
something in return My inherent
dislike to the, namby pamby Interpretation
Of love peculiar to Eastport had led me un-
consciously to suppress all external methods
of evinctng affection. Something now whis-
pered to me: Be more confident In your |
thought toward her. A woman needs to be !
gerry sure Of the love Of the mai she would
choose, and the greater her love, the greater
may be the doubt IS to its return from you,
unless such return be shown clearly, unmis-
taknbly.
met Blanche the next day. Possibly I
carried this thought in my eye for as it met
hers there seemed in the lighting up of her
features. Q, recognition of it. She took my
offered hand with q frank, winning smile,
and an opsnness Of manner which said moro
than any words could have done. Words,
after all, are but one means for conveying
thought, and not always the strongest.
She desired to return to the Bar as soon as
possible, being still anxious on her unole's
account.
We travelled on horseback. The moon was
at its full a. we rode back to the Bar to-
gether.
But my trials were not yet over. I had
the greatest Of all to meet. I was burdened
with q sense of over-much obligation to a
Three times had this girl stepped
in and served me at a crisis; first In loaning
me money; second in rescuing ne from the
high-binders; thirdly in confirming my story
at the trial She had performed all the
practical chivalry in the affair, and looking
over the whole matter, I felt a sense of
humiliation.
was silent. Possibly she felt my depres-
sion. Moods may travel from mind to mind
in close rapport as well as words
"What are you thinking of, JohnT said
she.
A month previous I should have evaded the
question, and said: "Of nothing in particu-
lar" Latterly I had come to the conclusion
that between some individuals, at least, the
fewer secrets of any sort the better; the
''some" being limited In this case to two.
It was hard work to speak my thought. It
seemed to resist my attempt to drag it out.
It would bury itself deeper than ever within
my breast. And when I hesitated it conjured
up Immediately a series of evasions, with
plausible reasons for using them.
Ishook them of and said: blanche, the
trouble is now that you've played the mans
part all through and I the woman's, and now
that it's all over I want to 60 and hide myself
somewhere"
"You feel, then, under too much obligation
TO- womanT
swell, that's about what l mean," 1 re-
piled.
Suppose" she asked, "our situations were
reversed, and you had been of the service to
me that you say I have to you, how would II
be proper for me to feel~
''Oh, WELL" I replied, "you know what's
generally expected of the man in these mat
ters." @
Expected by whom?" she asked.
by the world-people, everybody"
"And what right has the world-people
everybody-to expecta What! That the
man should bear off all the honors of knight
ly service, while the woman stays at home
and does fancy work! Has the world any
particular business in these matters, which
concern Blanche Seton and John Holder
Listen, John: there is q side to your case
o1uOA 44o IL / Aesh0 SUo AOoIVJ VI dTkuluS
it for you. I do so the better K
argue my own It is not, I admit, easy OF
pleasant for man or woman to act in opposi
ton to the worlds verdict or opinion in any
matter. Nor may 1t always be wise, Ger
tainly not profitable, so to do. The worlt
does expect the man to act the mans part il
all that concerns the woman. The world i
right also in this respect, though the mascu
line half does not always fully carry its sen
timents. But when a woman sees an oppor
tunity to serve the man she loves, will she re
fuse to SO serve him if the opportunity doe
not take the shape she desiresa Certainly
my womanly instincts recoiled from facinJ
the crowd that night in the hollow. Ce1
tainly, I had rather not have faced tina
court room full Of men, and in this country
where nov q woman is a show, stared a
and stared through with a sentimen
far more Objectionable than mer
curiosity. But was there any on
else to act at the time? Was I not CON
PEELED to do as I did quite as much for m
own sake as yours, for had l not SO don
would not my responsibility in the matter
had harm came to you, AVE haunted an
harassed me ever afterwards Was it nc
circumstance, after all, that reversed the sill
uation, and would you not do the same fo
mcs OF course you would. I should expec
it of you. 1 mean by expect" that I kno,
you have it in you so to do. Be assured
John, that if you wish to stand well with m,
you will not lack for opportunities to act Liz
a man. And now is there any other grie,
ancer'
''There is that affair of the fandane
house."
"Do you wish to exchange your presen
oopopopv for xn1,of NAV, A,I kLo- l.
night?" she asked, archly.
-. As some sort of luck would have il. W
were obliged to pass through a camp tbs
very night where one of these standing reve
was in full blast and quite open to our inspet
ton from the street. I turned my hes
away.
sit does not seem SO interesting to you q
formerly" she remarked.
''lt's not fair to hit q man when he's down,
I replied.
''Well, John, you know the way Of til
transgressor is hard. shall not punish 70
often by these reminders-say once Q yea
when your memory needs reviving."
-. CHAPTER XIII
AcK AGAIN.
All Eastport was shaken from center to eli
conference. People buzzed the news on IL
street. It was the first item dealt that NOR
Ing by Varney, the gossipy storekeeper, to b
customers over the counter. Deacon Hodge
who kept the grocery at the corner, was
full Of 1t that he filled Miss Pelter's pail wit
vinegar instead of the molasses she asked TO
Miss Pelter was so full of it that she did n,
discover the mistake until reaching hom
. In the pals bottom were discernible a pa
~ oDookoo1ao TNorp kLo Ioo4orfo I