The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-08-14

4
tell you. After this evening we must NJ
, meet again."
0Not-meet-again?" Nellie Sba'
/ repeated the words slowly, as II 81
4 could not grasp their full meaning. ii
! color surged to her checks and then r
T ceded, leaving her very pale.
"What do you mean, Walter? Whit
i, has happened? You cannot be in ca
nest"
!, "But am in earnest; l have brougl
myself to this after the hardest ment
, struggle man could possibly undergo.
, must be in earnest about this. 1t is m
duty; would be dishonolable if | di
! otherwise. But | am talking wildly,
random; hardly know what am sa,
ing or what to say or how to say it.
heard some advice to-day; it came frol
your father: am in honor bound to TO
low it. This is what he told me-"
Walter rather incoherently. rcc0unte
what Judge Sharpe had told him of til
case of Lewis versus Lewis, and til
comments he had made ON that case.
"And is that all?'' asked Nellie, whe
he had finished. She smiled little a
she asked the question, and close oil
server would have noticed that sigh o
relief passed her lips.
"All? Is it not too much? Knowing
that your father holds this view, can dt
otherwise than give you up2h
u thought you had more pluck" sait
the young girl with just suggestion O.
scOIn in her voice.
''It Is not matter of courage, but o.
conscience, of honor. Can go to the
man who gives me such advice as have
received, who tells me never to marry {
woman who is beyond my station fnan
cially, and ask him to give to me his
daughter who is dearer to him than al
else2 | am poor; ! have none but the
most problematical prospects,; while
you-well, | need not say more; you
can readily see my position"
"But l can't see it in the light in which
you place 1t. thought you had suffi.
cient faith In me not to believe that
would do as that dreadful woman did OF
whom my father told you. Your pros.
poets are certainly better than you repre-
sent them. Furthermore my father
would yield to my wishes"
81 do not lack faith in you; heaven
knows how strong that faith is; it is be-
cause l would feel that l had acted
treacherously toward one who has been
my best friend if held you to your
your promise, that have decided to do
that which will take all the happiness out
of my life."
Probably it never occurred to you that
the happiness of any one else might suf-
fer; it seems that am not considered at
ALL"
"You will soon forget; you will be
happier than | could ever make you"
"Oh, certainly, we women forget so
easily; it is only the men that remember;
only the hearts of men that are broken.
However, since you wish it so, it is not
for me to object"
ut is not what wish; it is what l
must do"
But suppose should refuse to accept
your decision; suppose | should assert
my rights. Suppose / should insist at
least on your trying for term of years
to bring your financial condition up to
what you consider the proper standard. I"
''It would be wrong to keep you bound
by promise to one who would have to
struggle perhaps for years and might fail
at last"
81 see it is in vain to reason with one
who is unreasonable; it shall be as you
wish"
Just then Judge Sharpe entered the
room, and the painful meeting was
abruptly ended.
A few months later Judge Sharpe's S
clerk came into Walter LOssing's office
one day and told him that the Judge
wanted to see him.
1t seemed to Walter that the judge
looked unusually stern when he re-
sponded to the latter's summons few
minutes later.
Come in here, want to talk to you,"
said the judge, as he motioned to Walter
TO follow him into his private office.
''Sit down. will come to the point
at once. am instructed by a client of
mine to bring suit against YOU. We have
certainly win in the courts; but we de-
sire to give you an opportunity to COM
promise the matter. You may wish to
escape the notoriety."
"a suit? Why, who could want to sue
me? / owe nothing; there is no cause,
no ground-you must be joking"
"Never was more serious. There is a
cause, and good one, as you will learn
presently. My clients case is flawless
She"
"Shel All! see some matchmaking
scheme; some advent"
"There, there, don't get excited; it il
nothing of the kind. The plaintiff in
this case is eminently respectable, as you
yourself will admit"
"Who is she? What is the cause OF
action? Why don't you tell me at once
instead of beating about the bush?"
''The cause of action is breach o.
PROMISE" said the old judge impres
sively.
'Breach of promisel Why l never -
"Perhaps Walter suddenly remembered
something; perhaps he detected pecu
liar expression about the old gentleman
eyes; perhaps sort of revelation can't
to him; at any rate he checked himsel
very suddenly and looked remarkabl!
sheepish.
perhaps you can guess the plaintiff
name nOw," suggested the Judge.
you see," continued he, as Waite
still sat like one stricken dumb, 18th,
young lady thinks that you have been in
fluenced by something that was said b
you in general way by one who intended
to make no specific application of his re
marks; and she believes that if the mat
ter is presented to you in the prope
light, no extreme measures will be neces
sary to make you see that you were alto
gether wrong in arriving at certain de
cision based on the case of Lewis versu
Lewis"
| Walter grasped the judges hand; h
said nothing; he couldn't have said any
thing just then, for there was great bi
lump in his throat.
81 need q partner" resumed til
judge; ~ have more work than l ca
manage alone; think you are just tn
kind of man l want; and then, yO
know, being partners, we could easil
compromise this matter which l hav
mentioned. You would have no objet
ton to such an arrangement, suppose?
I-Arthw Lucas In the Epoch.