Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1890-04-11

u
not have guessed as much in q thousand
yearsi'
Jack would not have dared, muttered
/ Charlie aside, thus showing he was more
attentive observer than had supposed.
He next suggested opening the box On
some trivial grounds forget What
George Oblected5 but as she appeared so
well amused with her companion that she
ignored me entirely, 1 left them to them
selves.
They were going to practice archery to-
gether; so long as George was pleased
that was everything. But the arrival of
the parcel marked books" puzzled me-
My wife was not much of q French schol-
ar. I had never seen her read French
novel. If she procured them in this way
and kept them out of sight they must be
works of a nature which
PshaWi 1 was out of temper or out Of
spirits, possibly both. W hat did 1t signify.
as long as George was amused, what she
/ read? She was not a child. I sent round
to the stables to order my horse, believing
O ride would prove an antldOte to my
morose mood.
While waiting walked out in front and
/ lit q cigarette; it was the renewal of an old
habit which, with many others of my
bachelor days, had been almost entirely
laid aside.
a groom brought round the horse; I was
about to mount when Mrs. Armstrong ap-
| peared and handed me a note.
It was addressed in Edna Linton's writ
ing-Ikne that instantly-and the words
it contained, written with pencil in ap-
parent haste, were these:
Mrs. Dudley wishes me to Join the din
ner party this evening. What shall I
do? Please tell the bearer Yes or No F"
looked at the stOlid features of the
hOusekeeper who had brought the note,
wondering how much intelligence might
dwell beneath that stern exterior, but I
might as we'll have tried to see through a
stone wall.
Tell Miss Lynton--" But there I
| stopped.
An emphatic mo" struggled for utter
ance, but made no sound. Had 1 said
| that word the whole tenor of the future
! would have been changed-much evil
perhaps averted. But the pleasant fumes
of the rarely INDUCED in cigarette were
stealing over my senses. I took another
Whit. and said: Say to Miss LyntOn-
Yes Most certainly Yes repeated
by way of making the assurance dOubIy
! sure, then sprang into the saddle and was
gone.
My evil temper had vanished; my spir-
its rose like magic. 1 felt eXultant, with
out assigning a cause; reckless, without
inquiring of what.
After putting many miles between me
and Langdale Grange I drew rein in a
[ sequestered lane, assured myself I was
unObserved, and took from my breast
/ pocket the little penciled note. A smile
| came to my lips, a sun-ray seemed to
/ warm my heart as 1 re-read it. L held the
paper tenderly that she had touched. My
/ eyes dwelt on every wel1-knOwn character
! that formed each word; then-nOt in the
mad heat of passion, but humbly, rever-
/ emily, as though it were mementO that
! had come to me from the dead pressed
| the paper to my lips.
When I returned from that ride it was
dark, The clock over the Grange stables
| struck seven.
Dinner was to be at half past.
Feeling guilty and cOntrite, / made a s
hasty toilet as possible and repaired to
! the drawing-roOm in the hope of finding
my wife alone. Hawks was there, how
! ever, bending over her and fastening q
! bracelet; Edna LyntOn sat on q low seat
| near, turning over the leaves Of an album.
q know am late. Forgive me, said
| frankly, going up to GeOrgit; thus adher-
! ing closely to the line of conduct l had
/ laid down.
| "All right, Jack, she answered care
! lessly, without looking at me, then
! laughed out merrily at something Hawks
/ was saying.
Edna, raising her eyes, graveIy return
/ ed my bow, and at that moment DR.. Gas
! cOigne was announced. I felt his advent
| a boon. He came forward, looking bright
y
| George and myself, and seemed to bring
o Whit of fresh, pure air with him. He
/ spoke few pleasant words to Edna; I
mentioned Hawks by name.
I'VE are all friends here, he said, and
held his hand to the younger man. The
| dinner-gong sounded; he offered his arm
! to George.
How we'll you look, Mrs. Dudley" I
| heard him say as passed to lead the way
with Edna.
Yes, George looked well, and spIen-
didly handsome in her new black dress,
! glittering with jet, yet knew that the
! Light touch OF the small hand resting on
my arm thrilled me in a way my wife S
! gorgeous beauty could not do. Hawks
kept up a fire Of lively banter behind US,
/ but L was silent; my tongue seemed tied.
! When we seated ourselves round the din
| ing-tabIe I felt conscious of one pres
! ence only, and that was Edna's. 1t was
so wonderful thing that she should be
| so near! The soft folds of her white
! dress touched me. At her throat she
/ wore q little bunch of yiOlets; their per-
! fume seemed to fill the air. How fond
she used to be of violets in the days gone
by!
How it might have been without those
! ul-beWildering viOlets I can not say, but
as it was they did for me completely. A
! wave of intense feeling swept over me-a
! revelation was at hand. I was beginning
/ to see the Wretched, bare, most miserable
| truth.
Great God! Had not only ceased to
F.! love my wife-had I, in fact, never loved
her; but been the slave of mad, infaUu-
! ated passion that had burnt itself out al
! ready? Was Edna-who had been my
! first love-my only true love still?
Jack, DR.. Gascoigne Is speaking to
you.
ITO BE Continued
The COW-Catcher.
It Is said that the common COW.