Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1890-12-26
The Evil Genius.
ADOMESTIC STORY.
IN WHINE COLLINS.
BEFORE THE STORY.
CHAPTER XXVI.

PaNctual To- his f!>hm-; appointment with
KIN. MI. SauAzin WIS CIT in the early
mnrluu- 49, un the pier.
<oia breath Of wind was stirring: the lazy
INST Law a>,rci, IN the farther shore of the
lake Iirgr and there only the dim tops OF
Tie hills rn>, like shadows cast by the earth
on the FAINT gray al the sky. Nearer at hand,
the water, Of the lake showed gloomy sur
face: no birds flew over the coloIlcss calm;
no passing insects tempted the fish To rise.
From time to time last left leaf on the
wooded shore dropped noiselcSSly and died.
No vehicles passed Us yet on the lonely road;
10 VOICES were audible from the village:
slow and straight. wrcatlis of smoke stole
their way ont of the chimneyS and lost their
vapor in the vapory sky. The one sound
that disturbed the sullen repose of the morn
inc was the tramp OF the lawyers footsteps
as he paced up AMI down the pier. lie
thought of London and its ceaSeless traffic,
its roaring high tide of life in action, and he
said to himself, with the strong conviction
of A town bred man: ''Iinw miserable this
is
4 voice from the garden cheered him just
as he reached the end If the pier for the
fittic.h time. and looked with fifty-fold i'll
terl>ity of dislike al the dreary lake.
There stood Kitty behind the garden gate,
with a fishingrod in each hand. A tin box
was strapuct. on one side of her little body
ana a basket on the other. Burdened with
these impediments, she required assistance.
Susan had let her out of the house, and Sam
uel must now open the gate for her. She
was pleased to observe that the raw morning
had Redeemed her friends nose, and she pre-
sented her own nose to notice as exhibiting
perfect sympathy in this respect. Feeling
misplaced confidence in Mr.. Sarrazin's
knowledge and experience as an angler, she
handed the fshing-rods to him. MY fingers
are cold" she said; you bait the hooks"
lie looked at his young friend in silent per-
plexity; she pointed to the tin box. PLENTY
of bait there, Samuel; we find maggOts do
best" Mr., Sarrazin eyed the box with I'M
disguised disgust; and Kitty made an unex-
pected discovery. You seem to know moth
ing about it." she said. And Samuel answer
ed cordially: "NOthingv' In five minutes
more he found himself by the side Of his
young friend-with his hook baited, his line
In the water, and strict injunctions to keep
an eye on the float.
They began to fish.
Kitty looked at her companion and looked
away again in silence. BY way of encour-
aging her to talk the goOd-natured lawyer
alluded to what she had said when they part
ed over night. You wanted to ask me some
thing" he reminded her. 'What is it?'
Without one preliminary word of warning
to prepare him for the shock Kitty answer
ed: II want you to tell me what has become
of papa, and why Sgd mas gone away and
left me. You know who sgd is, don't YOUR
The one alternative left to Mr. Sarrazin
was to plead ignorance. While Kitty was
instructing him on the subject of her govern
ess he had time to consider what he should
say to her next. The result added one more
to the lost opportunities of Mr.. Sarrazin's
life.
You see," the child gravely continued,
you are clever man, and you have come
here to advise mamma. have got that much
out Of grandmamma, if have got nothing
else. Don't look at me; look at your float
My papa has gone away, and Sgd has left
me without even saying gOOd-by, and we
have given up our nice old house in Scotland
and come to live here. tell you don't un-
derstand 1t. II you see your float begin to
tremble and then give little dip down as il
it was going to sink, pull your line out of the
water; you will most likely find fish at the
end of it When I ask mamma what all this
means she says there Is a reason and am
not old enough to understand it, and she
looks unhappy and she gives me kiss, and
1t ends in that way. You've got bite; no,
you haven't; it's only a nibble; fish are so
sly. And grandmamma is worse still Some
times she tells me I'm a spoiled child, and
sometimes she says well-behaved little girls
don't ask questions. That's n0nsense-and
/ think it's hard on me. You look uncOm-
Portable. Is it my fault? don't want to
bother you; only want to know why Sgd
has gone away. When l was younger I
might have thought the fairies had taken
her. Oh, no! that won't do any longer; I'm
too old. Now tell me-"
Mr.. Sarrazin weakly attempted to gain
time; he looked at his watch. Kitty looked
over his shoulder. ''Oh, we needn't be in q
hurry; breakfast won't be ready for half an
hour yet Plenty of time to talk of sgd; 70
on"
Most unwisely Seeing that he had to deal
with clever child, and that child girl,
Mr.. Sarrazin tried fiat denial as way out Of
the difficulty. He said: II don't know why
she has gone away" The next question fol-
lowed instantly: "Well; then, what do you
think about ity' In sheer despair the perse-
cuted friend said the first thing that came in
10 his head.
II think she has gone to be married."
Kitty was indignant "G0nef to be mar
ried, and not tell me r. she exclaimed. "What
do you mean by that?"
Mr.. Sarrazin's professional experience of
women and marriages failed to supply him
with an answer. In this difficulty he exerted
his imagination, and invented something
that no woman ever did yet 'She's wait
ing" he said, Ito see how her marriage sue
ceeds before she tells anybody about 1t"
child. II hope she hasn't married 4 beast,"
Kitty said, with serious face and an omin.
GUS shake Of the head. when shall hear
from Sydr"
Mr.. Sarrazin tried another prevarication-
with better results this time. you will be
the first person she writes to, of course" As
that excusable lie passed his lips his float BE-
gan to tremble. Here was chance Of chang
ing the subject "Pve got 1ishV he cried.
Kitty was Immediately interested. She
threw down her own rod and assisted her
ignorant companion. A wretched little fish
appeared in the air. wriggling. Its .
TOach;" Kitty pronounced. .'lt's in PAIN
the merciful lawyer added; "give it to me-"
Kitty took it of the hook and obeyed. MIR.
Sarrazin, with humane gentleness of hand
ling, put it back into the water. ''Go, and
God bless YOU" said this excellent man, -
the roach disappeared joyously with flick
of its tail. Kitty was scandalized. That's
not sportP' she said. ''Oh, yes, it is, he an
swered-'sport to the fish,"
They went on with their angling. What
embarrassing question would Kitty ask next?
Would she want to be told why her father
had left here No; the last image in the
ehilds mind had been the image Of Sydney
Westerfeld. She was still thinking Of It
when she spoke again.
II wonder whether you're right about
Sydp she began. "You might be mistaken,
mightn't you? sometimes fancy mamma
and Sydney may have had quarrel. Would
you mind asking mamma IL that's true?" the
affectionate little creature said, anxiously.
You see, l can't help talking of sgd, I'm 50
fond Of her; and / do miss her so dreadfully
every now and then; and I'm afraid-oh,
dear, dear, I'm afraid shall never see her
againV' She let her rod drop on the pier and
put her little hands over her face and burst
out crying.
Shocked and distressed. good Mr.. Sarrazin
kissed her and consoled her. and told anOth-
er excusable lie. Try to be comforted, Kitty
Pm sure you will see her again"
His conscience reproached him as he held
out that false hope. 1t could never bel The
one objectionable sin, in the judgment Of
fallible human creatures like herself, was
the sin that Sydney Westerfield had com.
mitted. Is there something wrong In human
nature, or something wreng In human laws:
ALI that is best and noblest In US feels the in.