The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-11

care W 80 Ia Win me on equal terms, IL might
be worth your while. Only the paper has to be
signed tonight, for on Monday the city acts, and,
II we are before them, as they don't really care,
IL Will De all right. There is no doubt it's a
great thing, and one worth doing" and, as ne
warmed his cold hands at the blaze, they were
30 white and thin that you could almost see
through them.
mo debut at all" said Francis. ITO tell you
the truth, 1 have wondered you never asked me.
don't know but l will look into it. Tonight.
you sayY Well, come along into my den, and
well examine it. How are you going to get Col.
Evans, though, if l dof"
Oh, easily. / take the last train over. The
drlver-l took a hack ut your st~ation-says !
have time, with economy. And IL | miss 1t
shall drive over.n
Drive overl In this weather! Twelve miles,
and the road rough as cobblss. Why, its impos'
sible!"
Nothing is impossible to a man in earnest, I"
said Kirk, 'and God knows I'm ~fearfuliy IN earn
est"
well, you musn't miss it theu.n
Il won't, Of course, provided | have your
signature first. Without that. as you will see,
it's of no use to go to Evans; with it, he will sign
at once, and my fortune is made, and yours con-
siderably enlarged. / shall leave all the details
of future management a good deal in your hands
and his-your experience is more than mine IN
that direction.
.'Well, come along. Well settle the matter
pro or con speedily. If you won't stay over
ulSut L WOulunE nave you 1850 tDdb raj
twice the money! 1t would be blood money"
But as they went their way to the den, Kirke
Outerbridge looked about him at the place
haunted by one fair presence, seeking, perhaps,
some sign of her. How should he have known
that it was upon Laura's open book that quietly
and unseen he laid the fresh and dewy bunch or
violets he had brought2
At the word business" Mrs. Louie had swiftly
and discreetly withdrawn; and now, coming to a
fuller comprehension of the event, she stood in
the adjoining MUSHROOM, whore she would still
hear the inarticulate murmur of their voices,
quivering with indignation.
Kirke Outerbridgei That wretch, that repro
bate, that dissolute, bad man. the swindier OF his
sisters; the utterly base and per-
SON, inside her doors! That creature here, speak
ing Familiarity with her husband, possibly, If he
missed his train, to stay all night,
to sit in the drawingroom, to sit at
table with her and her sisters, to speak with
thems She felt it a contamination, she felt 1t
an Insult, she grew more and more angry, ana
every moment seemed an hour while she waited,
and only served to work her into fresh fever.
There were some things, she said to herself, that
she could not bear. This sort of thing was one
of them. She would not bear II. She could en-
dure a great deal. but this was ALTOGETHER beyond
her strength or her Willingness. Francis could
not ask her to become the companion of men
who ought to be c~onvicts; Francis could not
possibly know about him; there was no time for
her to give warning; she had rather die nerselt
than see Francis the companion OF such a man.
Already she felt disgrace in the air, already they
were dragged down into the slime and corrup-
ton proper to such people, when suddenly hose
ran In saying Francis was calling wildly on the
universe to know the exact time for the last
train. he having lost his timetable.
Why, what is the matter with your she
cried. You look like the statue of a bronze
Fate here in the darkP
Wicked and trembling Mrs. Leuiel She knew
perfectly we'll the time of the last train. But
she answered directly. as calmly as she could
take her breath:
Francis knows that I never had any time ia
ble."
But what time is it now" cried Francis from
the den. Il don't mean of course by my watch
or by any of these absurd clocks of ours, but by
your real old reliable Jurgensen that never fails.
Finished writing, OuterbIldge2 Here's my name
.then-theress never a decent pen in this house!
Iou see, two minutes viii make or mar you. Ii
there are forty four minutes you can make the
train, and if there are only forty it's no use at
all trying, and you may as we'll stay here-you've
been in worse places-and be up bright and early
on Mond4y morning for the sunrise train, and
accomplish about the same thing"
ut is too much risk OF losing ALL, was the re-
ply, In deeper tones.
Louie, don't you hear meg' cried Francis.
There was but one IDEA in Mrs. Louie's head
as she listened. hearing everything with fatal
distinctness. He had to have forty-four min
utes in order to reach his train. If he had only
forty he would stay the night. and over Sunday.
and that night too. She felt in her infatuatiou
of horror that all the perfumes of Arabia would
not sweeten the house after that. Be rid of him
she must, be rid of him in any way. Who knew
what degradation he might work even upon
Francis in that timef Meanwhile Francis had
been Intervening the hackman who was thrash
ing his arms at the door, with sundry subdued
objnrgations, and had learned that the train left
at 6:l5 sharp.
did you ask me what time it was?" said Mrs
Louie from the distance, in the cold voice that,
from some little experience, in spite of general
loneliness, Francis ought to have known BODIED
mischief. wait a moment By this watch it
is just half past 8. 1t is a little slow. may be.
Poor Mrs. Louie! She had just quickly put the
hands back thirty minutes. She did not see that
wrought on Francis by this injurious companion
ship than had already been wrought on herself
by the effort to avoid it.
"Half past 5t' cried Francis. well, then, if
you will, You will. OFF with you! You can just
make il, and catch your breath. And good luck
to your fishing" The next minute the wheels
were laundering down the hill and into the high
way, rougher with its frozen ruts than any cor
duroy road heaved by the frost could be, and the
door had slammed, and the current of icy air had
ceased, and Francis was calling her again, and
she was drawing a long gasp OF delighted relief.
Yes, he can just make it, poorfellow, said Fran
els. And Louie thought with great content
thai il he didn't make it he could go to the inn
and there was an end of him so far as the Fern
croft family were concerned. And then she
looked round to see If Laura had known any
thing of this precious affair. The poor little
woman had a great deal on her hands in looking
out for other peoples souls. Mr.. Outerbridge
had really been sent out in the cold by her with
exactly fifteen minutes to do that which re-
quired forty-four. A blind sense of guilt was
just behind Mrs. Louie, and overtaking her. AS
a natural consequence, all at once she was very
cross, the ~vexatlon of a moment before coming
again to the top.
How came such a man as that in our house,
Francis" she demanded.
Such a man as WHAT" asked Francis, turning
in surprise
"As that creature who has just gomez"
'eOuterbrldge! What are you talking about2
Why, he is a friend of mine"
IA friend of yours!" And her tones spoke not
volumes merely, but encyclopedias.
Eyes, a friend of mine. And | should like to
know what you mean by that phrase that Great
ure! and the rising voices babe fair to put all