The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-09-10

words ne ha0 heard him utter on the
lawn.
But at last all was over. and May was
his. How should he treat this beautiful,
new-fOund treasure? No sorrow, he
swore to himself, should ever cast its
shadow on her path. She should be
always what she was now, . beautiful,
pctted child.
Once, few months after their mar
Rage, letter reached him at the break
fast table. He broke the seal, to find 1t
q communication from his business
manager with detailed account of the
failure of . large firm. and their own
heavy loss thereby. 1t would be neces-
sary for him to give the matter at once
his own personal attention. 1t looked.
too, the letter said, as though panic
was imminent
Unconsciously he sighed deeply. In
3 moment May had sprung from her
chair. and was BY his side.
''What is it, Dick?' she asked.
Nothing, darling" he answered.
cheerily.
The lovely lips pouted.
''Show me the letter." she said, and
Outstretched her hand.
He shook his head.
ut is business. dear" he explained.
''But it troubles you, Dick?"
''Your imagination. May"
She said no more, and the man was
too absorbed by thought to note the
look of almost anger in her eyes. I'M
mediately after breakfast was ended, he
ordered the dog-cart to drive him to the
station. They were spending the sum-
mer at his beautiful country residence.
All day long the young wife was left
alone. and at evening, when Dick re-
turned from the city, worn. tired look,
quite new in it, was on his face; but
May asked him no more concerning it.
The next morning. the single letter
which the mailbag held was addressed
to her. She glanced up from its peru
sal with flushed cheeks.
'.Will Crosby has a six weeks fur
lough?" she said. eagerly. He writes
that he is coming to spend part of it
with US. You remember we invited him
when we were married"
''Ah, remember" asscnted her hus-
band-he had almost forgotten his old
suspicion during these happy months
Il am glad. dear. that his visit is timed
just now, for though had intended to
take a long summer holiday, business.
l find. will demand my attention in the
CITY,"
us any thing wrong. Dick?''
Wrongs? Nonsense, child! Don't
get such ideas in your pretty little head.
What could be wrongT'
And rising. and kissing her. as he
passed, he went out Of the room.
A few days later the expected guest
arrived. When Arnold returned one
evening from the city, the two were
together upon the lawn, and,
as in . dash of lightning. his memory
recalled to him the first time he had
looked upon . similar picture. A new
brightness, > new gladness, was in
Mays face. too. as she came eagerly
to greet him. A sudden sense
of pain and loneliness crept about his
heart The day in town had been an
usually perplexing one. A crisis was
pending in the near business future-a
crisis which babe fair to be commercial
he could disclose his
anxieties to none, and least of all must
his child-wife suspect it. Yet, the effort
to conceal them caused . strange con-
straint in all that he said or did. He no
longer sought to be alone with Nav,
until one day it came upon him like an
that she, too, no longer
sought him.
Lieutenant Crosby had been three
weeks their guest, when the threatening
storm burst Around about him. on
every side, Mr.. Arnold saw the houses,
which he had deemed solid as his own.
totter and fall. Each fall bore with it q
portion of his own fair edifice. How
long might he hope to Withstand such
shocks. 1t needed but one more blow,
and on one August day the blow fell.
Unless BY the next morning, before
noon. he could command a certain sum,
he. too. would be swept away with the
tide-a bankrupt. Just the amount
needed represented his wife's private
but to touch that never entered
his mind.
At least MAY was secured from future
want and he must leave her to build up
his shattered fortunes in 3 new land
She had never loved him! He was sure
of that: and latterly-latterly, he had
begun to realize that he had had no
right to tie her young life to his. Worn
and weary with these many thoughts.
be returned to his home. May greeted
him almost indiferently, only the next
to turn to young Crosby with
her most radiant smile.
Arnold's face paled. Yet what right
had he to murrnur? he told himself.
Had he not sworn to possess her at any
cost? And was he no; a ruined man?
Crosby. the penniless subaltern, as he
had called him, would have done better
for her than that. When dinner was
ended, he went to his library and closed
the door. For time be sat wrapped in
Perhaps an hour had passed,
when solitude grew unbearable.
He would rejoin his wife and their
guest, he determined. Tomorrow
tomorrow highland May
must know all. For the first time in
his life he felt himself . coward! But
tonight was yet his Tonight May
neither knew nor suspected the truth!
He rose and passed out into the draw
ing-room, whose windows opened on
the porch. His footsteps made no
sound on the carpeted floor. and he had
reached the window, when something
like a sob arrested his steps.
MAY, must speak, said voice he
As belonging to his guest
'.Do you think have been three weeks
under this roof without discovering your
secret? You are not happy. Your
LAUGHTER. YOUR 1aiety. is forced. What