Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-19
turned and crossed the street to avoid

her.
The girls face grew white and her
heart gave great stound. She knew what
that dumb show of her lovers meant.
He had seen her in the WOOD with
Mayhem.
Suddenly she plucked up courage and
hastily crossed the street to intercept
him. He must have seen her, but he
appeared not to take the slightest notice,
and would have passed on in silence had
she not cried:
"Mark! Markl Stay q moment, I
want to speak to you'll"
He turned and faced, her with bent
brows and blazing eyes; his countenance
being as white as her own and his whole
manner betraying his agitation.
''Don t speak to me?'' he cried pas
slonately. latter tonight never wish
to speak to or set eyes on you again. Go
away! GO, or / may curse you'll
She fell back from him as if his words
had been blows and he passed on quickly
without another word. She started for
a moment in speechless agony after his
retreating figure, then she went slowly
homeward, feeling that her heart was
breaking.
CHAPTER INTERPRETATIONS.
One Of the most unpleasant sensations
Mark Eliot had ever experienced was
that he felt when crossing the old bridge
in Balcarres wood he recognized in Wal
ter Mayhew's companion his own sweet
heart, Nellie Pemberton.
It is probable that Mark would never
have noticed either his rival or the
shrinking figure at his side if old Bob
Cubby had not cried: 'tGud meet,
Mester Mayhewi' Those words had
aroused Eliot 8 attention and IN glanc-
ing at Mayhem his gaze alighted on Nell
lie g face.
So great had been his surprise that he
almost cried out, and his even PAGES had
faltered for q moment. The he had
quickened his tagging feet and none of
his companions ever suspected that his
heart was rent by the keenest, the bit
terest agony that man could be called
upon to endure.
He had noticed the girl IS shrinking at
titude, and had attributed it to a desire
on her part to hide herself from him.
And the agony he felt at that moment
was intensified by having to be borne in
silence. 1t would have re-
have cried out-heaped curses
and contumely on her he had trusted so
implicitly. But the presence of his
friends tied his tongue. and he had to
walk silently on with the mad thoughts,
the unspoken curses seething in his tor
tured mind like seeds OF madness.
"Ah wonder who that theer wench is
wi Mayhew?' old Bob asked in an in
curious way, as they left the brook be-
hind them.
"Don t know - one of the others re-
piled. "Some poor foo of lass, that's
sartin. -
tits Nellie Pemberton!'' Mark cried
oarsely-scornfully. "Nellie Pember-
ton, Bob; the Factory Queen
MAY, nay, lad; thar't mist en!' ,,
the old man replied. "Hoo's too much
sense to be fooled wi that chap
''It is, tell you!' Mark said sharply;
as eager to expose the girl now as if he
had been her bitterest foe. He was man
enough to refuse to shield his own pain
and her disgrace even for a moment.
A silence fell upon Marks companion
after he had spoken. Each of them
knew that he and the beautiful factory
girl were lovers, and they felt in vague
position that Eliot was being deceived.
"Ah thowt, - Bob said after an awk-
ward pause, 'fthat thee ond that wench
were keepin' company. Hast quarrelled
wi her, Mark?
"No, never, Bob, - the young fellow
answered. "But you see how far she is
to be trusted, and would have staked
my very soul on her honesty.
No one made any response to this.
Each of them thought, as Mark did, that
Nellie was unfaithful to her lover-the
man whose uneXampled bravery had
snatched her from an awful fate.
That Eliot did not enjoy in the least
the lecture he went to hear passes with
out inquiry. He sat there in the thinly
filed little schoolroom listening in dull,
way to the lecturer, but his
thoughts were far away.
Again and again his tortured brain
conjured up that picture in the dim
wood, the swaying trees, the babbling
brook, the old bridge, the pair of figures
upon it, Nellie's white startled face,
her crouching attitude, his rival 8 evil
and the sneering triumph
ant way in which Mayhem had responded
to old Cubby's salutation.
Each detail of the scene came back to
him with a vividness, bitterness, that
was simply intoIerable. He tried to dis
miss the incident from his mind-to
center his thoughts on the lecturers |
words, but it was all in vain. Do what |
he would he could think of nothing save |
Nellie and her infamy.
At last the lecture ended, and Mark |
Ind his companions returned homeward.
His meeting with his sweetheart at the |
OPP of Mitigate. and what transpired |
hen has already been chronioled.
That night was the most unpleasant |
Mark had ever experienced. For many
hours during the long dark night he lay
ossing this way and that on his bed, his
mind still racked by burning thoughts of
What he had seen in Balcarres Wood.
The girl IS expressed wish to speak to
i'm had in no way decreased his distrust
# her. She had sought him, he thought,
linking that he would be glad to listen
o any excuses she might care to offer,
nd he had tried to show her that she
lad sinned beyond all hope of his for
iveness.
At length the young fellow fell into q
roubled sleep, and when morning came,
nd he sailed forth to his labor, his
mind had undergone some slight changes.
lie thought now that it would have been
User to have listened to NellIe's expla-