San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-11-18

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!deSolately, feeling much as if her heart
had broken.
80 you have been at piece uI IIosu
mischief" he said to her,-''getting
yourself into a scrape when my back
was turned,-and now i suppose you
expect me to help you out of it, and
send that young man about his bust.
ness? Is that what you want? For my
own part, you know, L think the mis-
take is all on his side, for he is hun
bred times too good for you,-and you
don't care for him, you know; i wish
you did, for / would have you marry
him then; and make an end of it,-but
you've not sense enough to care for
him: you like puppy with oil upon his
hair, and smelling of ottar of roses"
said Mr.. Dunstan.
But at this point the poor little face
had begun to flush and the tears to
come; and then he paused moment
and laughed at her.
Have you grown wiser than that?"
he said. do you really care little
for that noble fellow" And then, al
at once, "Well, You may be proud
woman" he said. Il don't know how
he has come to care for you as he does,
but believe me when L tell you that
you may we'll be proud of his love for
you, for you will never have another as
great thing to be proud of while you
livep'
Upon which she nestled up to him,
and tried to make little spesch.-and
broke down, of course, in the middle Of
it, half laughing, half in tears.
But if the news of her engagement
had raised Mr.. Dunstan's spirits for the
moment, his first gloom soon settled
down on him again. He had come home
restless and irritable; as the days pass
ed on he spent most of his time alone;
he seemed to be too unstrung to bear
the presence even of the people who
were most familiar to him. He spoke
little to them when he was with them,
except sometimes when for few mo-
ments he would rouse himself, and
make an effort-always soon abandon
ed-tO seem once more like his old self.
He never uttered ESther's name, nor
asked for any sympathy from them
about her, nor cOnfided to them what
further plans for finding her-if he had
any further plans at all-were in his
mind. He lived his own life apart from
them, and they could only guess from
the cloud upon his face, and from
his silent stern depression, how deeply
the loss of her had eaten into his heart.
And now this letter had come, and
what was George Gilbert to do with itp
He sat in his own room, asking himself
this question. Between him and Mr..
Dunstan until now no syllable had ever
been exchanged that so much as APP
preached the subject of Esther's disap-
pearance: of Mr.. Dunstan's attach
ment to her he only knew from herself
and from Gabrielle.
1t was a question of which he would
not have had the decision left in his
hands if he could have helped it, for to
show her letter to Mr.. Dunstan was Tor
so he thoughtl to make all that would
follow sure. IF they once meet again
he will marry her." he said to himself;
and in his heart, though he was sorry
for her, he did not want him to marry
her. He thought that the risk of mar
rying her would be terrible risk to
run; he thought that she was wise
when she said that time would come,
if she were to become his wife, when he
would repent of it, and would feel bur-
dened by the shame that would have be-
come his shame then, and from which
he could never shake himself free.
And yet if he loved her we'll enough
to run all risks for herr He thought of
his own Gabrielle, and of how it would
be with ham if some hideous thing, like
this that had been said of Esther, had
been said of her. Would he call pru-
dences in such case to his aid, and
question with himself whether in con-
sequence of it, he should or should not
abandon her? His heart burned at the
bare momentary thought of such dis
loyalty to her. He knew that, if every
living voice were raised against her,
and every hand lifted to throw stones
at her, he would only the more closely
hold to her, and, with all the world up
on one side, and her love alone upon the
other, he would take her love, and con-
quer or defy the rest. Then, if this was
true of him, why should it not be equal
ly true of Guy Dunstan?
Had EstheT's letter come to Mr.. Gill
bert six months ago, before Gabrielle
had become dear to him, he would
probably have Obeyed her request, and
would have put it in the fire; but now
he could not put it in the fire. The
longer he hesitated, the more impOssi-
BILE did it become for him to do that.
He pictured himself as standing in Mr..
Dunstan's place, and the color came in
to his face as he said that he would
never to the end of his life forgive the
man who should keep such a letter as
this one from him. 1t was not his bust
ness to keep them apart, he said; they
having come back again through her. at
the moment. preoccupied brain. The
energetic voice ringing through the
house, the quick elastic step upon the
stairs, had a sound in them of resur-
rectinn ... ....
tie found Mir. DunStan IN MS sUuuy,
sitting in the listless way in which he
often sat. During this week that he