Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-01-28

as you"
"Mr. Ellingsworth," said Curran, as thai
gentleman rose TO his feet, ~ am very sorry Il
have brought such a scene into your parlor
it seemed unavoidable after what was said tc
me, and it seems likely TO prove more un
fortunate for me than for anybody else"
No one thought Of anything TO say. Mr.
Elhngsworth vaguely wondered where the
man picked up his neat way of talking, but
then the wealthy, after all, have no monopoly
of talent.
Curran cast 4 whitening look Of contempt
on the mill owner. ~ am sorry, too, TO be
| deprived of tho chance to win my daily
bread.n
He did not notice that the expression Of
the girls face had changed, Or that she had
started to come TO him, but there was @
| grandeur of wrath in his face and bearing
that awed her. She stood In the center OF
the room, with heaving bosom and fright
ened, troubled eyes, watching him out of the
door. Then her father came back through
the hall with his sarcastic smile finely curv'
| ing his thin lips,
How beautifully he had known how to pre-
serve his own honor. 1t would have been
base and ignoble in him to have crawled out
| of her parlor at the entrance of her father
and Mr.. Breton, self confessed unworthy to
sit in their presence. And for all their wealth
and power and vantage ground, careless OF
| what 1t must cost, he had thrown their in.
! suits in their teeth and shown himself a
! grander man, thousand times, than either
| of them.
The warm food Of returning feeling swept
| over her soul. She could not bear one more
cruel word against him now. Before her
father could speak she had hurried into the
hall and shut fast the door SO that she should
not hear the bitter sentence that was just
parting his lips.
What strange impulse moved her that she
should go TO the outer door and look eagerly
down the street, But her insulted guest had
not fingered. In moment more she was at
the gate and saw his tall form only at a
little distance. No doubt he was thinking
sadly, or perhaps angrily, Of her, as he
walked, and he could not guess that she had
repented, and was eager this moment to beg
his forgiveness, with all the sweet words she
knew Bertha glanced back at the house in
hesitation. She could see the slim outlines of
her fathers figure Swallowed on the curtains.
She could not hear what he was saying. 1t
was this
sit is one of Bertha's freaks All women
are subject to them.n
"But | don't understand" insisted Mr..
Breton, wiping the perspiration from his
n6aUeu luce. i uOH uuueiStduu now sne
can bring herself, girl of her notions, to
entertain n fellow like this. How long do
you suppose this has been going ONT Ever
since the dog adventure, very likely. If 1
were Philip
'But you recollect am only three days
returned from my trip, and am entirely UNI
able to tell You how many times she has met
this very striking individual. Don't hurry
yourself into mental decline by trying to ex-
plain on logical principles woman's per-
formances," smiled Mr.. Ellingsworth. "And
l wouldn't take the trouble to suggest mis-
givings to Phil. l would rather trust the
girls nature, and think know it, than de-
pend on jealous lovers reproaches. Why,
my dear friend, would stake my life on the
girls attachment to the traditions Of her
position. Our wives and daughters are
thrice more intolerable, unreasonable aristo-
Gratis than we. If she had been guilty of q
touch of foolish sentiment reaction is GER
tain, and she will only despise the man the
more because of her season of blindness
'But supposing the reaction came too
late,n suggested Mr.. Breton anxiously.
"Then it better not come at all" he con-
tinued THE very character you give her
would make three people perfectly miserable
the man she refuses, the man she marries,
and herself
But the girl who had stood at the gate In
her slippers, and with no covering for her
head but her golden hair fastened low on her
neck, had hesitated but moment. She
could not let Curran leave her thus; perhaps
she should never see him again, if he went
away without one word from her to soften
the blows she had let them give him. And
then ho seemed to be walking slowly, she
could overtake him in a moment. The UNI
even walk hurt her feet, her slippers
were so thin, and as she lifted her skirt
to walk faster a rude briar tore her soft
flesh, and then hung greedily to her to inn
pede her steps. She stopped and called his
name She had hardly murmured it, but it
seemed so loud spoken and SO tender toned
she blushed at herself, and dared not speak 1t
again. She might run few steps, and then
he would hear her voice more plainly. But
her dress chung so closely and her excited
breath came so fast that she gained on him
very slowly. There was no use, she must
lose him forever out of her life; he must al
ways think her cruel and ungenerons. She
leaned against the fence and sent one more
hopeless cry after him. 1t was more sob
than a cry, a piteous sob trembling with
gentle, heart broken reproach. Why, she
was sure he must have heard that; she had
never meant to speak SO loud. What could
she say to him when he came back to herr
She must try to be very cold and dignifed.
But wasn't he going to turni Why, her cry
was piercing enough to go mile on the still
evening air. No, he was further away, he
had not heard her.
Then she looked backed, and was fright
ened to see what distance she was away
from home. And as she stood looking, now
at his tall form drawing unconsljously away
from her, and then at the distant lights of
her home, the first hint of the desolation
that broods over millions of hopeless hearts,
came upon her soul. Her slippers were torn,
and wet with dew, and each step she took
bruised the tender feet that had never known
hurt or WEAKNESS. Her heavy masses of hair
had been shaken from their fastenings, and
hung at full length to her waist. She fam
cied herself some lost, friendless Magdalen,
for whom the world, that fawns on the for
tunate and proud, had only taunts and cruel
blows. And were there women who had to
face the world alone9 fight their own battles
with timid hearts9 earn their own right to
breathe, with sinking heartsl
''What was that, a step, mans step coming
toward herin To her excited Imagination at
that moment her beautiful home and TIE
elegant life she loved so well seemed things Of |
the past.
She gathered her hair into loose coil and |
let her dress trail on the walk to cover her |
feet. The man wore workman's clothes. |
She had hoped he might be gentleman. |
She tried to keep on the outer edge of the |
she would have taken the road il |
sac had dared. She looked away from the |
man, but she could see with beating heart he |
" as coming directly toward her. But per-
Lsps he did not see her, and be might turn |
aside yet God grant he be an honest man,
whose wife'S loving face was in his thoughts
1T this moment. There were such men. But |
instead of moving aside the man stopped
short just before her, aud she raised her big,
scared eyes to his face
why, Bertha, thought it was your
Sure ENOUGH il was PhiIiD Rreton He had