The morning call., 1890-06-01
CHAPTER IL


The next morning Mrs Finch was quite sur
prsed to find That the Judge did not lake her
OOd-huWoIed raiieTy in the same spirit that ii
was meant Pleading udispoSItion, he pushed
his coffee aside untouched and alter giving
hasIy glance 1T tile morning paper rose and lett
the room.
An Intense Revision of feeling had come over
him. Kitty Noan's pretty face was still hang
lHg on the wallis Of his memory, but II took on
the appearance OF siatula Painting seen al
close rdnge-cOaTSe, rough aud crude.
FuOi,' lie mutiered TO him ell, why was
not content 10 look at Il from the distance, from
safe distance? / was Old enough 10 know
better, was cid enough 10 know That would
only destroy my power OF doing good and hers OF
prOtliHg By II! In nigga niche this figure was
delightful, but how shall l ever llit 1t baca
again."
When Archer Plat returned from his morning
wall dainty enyelUre, addressed III a very neal
but schooi-gitllsh hand, lay upon his table. He
felt the blood linglng In The tips OF his fingers
Is he TOOK II up and broke il open. He had
recognized nifty NOau'S handwriting, ana
feeling almost OF dread came over him he
drew Inc le'tet from Inc envelope. For an In
slant The lines quyeled ana the words ran to
gether. but gradually hts vision cleared and these
words on Ihr tiny sheet stood out Will d terrible
diStiEctnvSS:
Bslousd Erisad-I an so hap v that would will
lngly die to-day Aad yet, NOT to-day either. From
the moment l set eyes upon your noble face and
listened To he mysterious music OF your voice l
loved You. | could nos he p loving You, and
may imagine how glad my heart when found
llat you !cohed down aii Smlled upon tue plain
little wild flower at your feet. But that know
thAt you love me II seems As II must die OF the
JOY thaI Thought gives me KNOW mat cannot
see you often, but you viii not be too cruel you
so noble and tender. so many thousand times better
than ordinary men, May 1 not write to you twice
weeks NATE.
Fool aud mailman :" exclaimed Plat, as he
dashed The letter down and began pacing lie
floor eXcliedly lit Is even wO; Sc tuan L Thought
lie worst could be. I'm criminal. Where
were Riy wits? Poor weak fool that was to do
Sucn thing man OF 80 and no wiser than
ihatl Oh, rs shameful It's a crime, that's
What ii is. I've committed crime aud may As
well calit by It's right name"
hen The more worldly aspect OF the case pre-
seHted Itself 10 Tie lawyers mind.
Here's pretty kettle Of 1Sh - lie blurted out
as he paused aud took look at himself IN Tile
milror-''a pretty kettle OF fish, indeed. Breach
OF promise case iii any event. Quite within The
rulings. Marked attention followed by a Clasp
ing IN the arms and KISS Judge y. Of Kings
County has even ruled that an actual kiss Is not
necessary, thai a mere approximation OF the lips
Is sufficient What an oui and out, downright,
egregIouS ass nave been. Serves me right II IL
does cost me 10000. or even more"
PlatPS hrsl thought was 10 Leave town for sew
eral months. but upon mature reflection tnat
seemed 10 INN 10 be flight, and flight would
be confession. he must stand his ground.
kltty'S letter was carefully locked up In The
strongest box lie had. but lie might as well Try To
get away from the air Itself Its words rang
Ia his eais by day aud glowed tn liues of fIe by
night Tie most exciting novel by Belot OF
Maupassant could not Danish them from his
thoughts.
hat terrible line. ''But now that know that
you love me-" crawleG over everything from
bOardbll 10 law reports.
Mrs. Finch saw little of bin. he dned out of
the house and spent most Of the day at The club.
When she dld meet HIM and question him con
corning MS health. for he had ElOTn sailOW and
heayy-eYed, he made some reply about losses ~
mining specuations" aud drew back inio his
shell OF judicial dignity quite out OF the reach OF
ordinary mortals.
The mystery however was somewhat cleared
up on Saturday night when Mrs Nolan arrived
with The basket Of clean clothes, The gOud
woman's broad, honest face was creased with
SOlicitude. Ii looked as If she had been washed
i'll iye-waIer ana "rough-diied."
Mis-. Finch, with woman's intuition, at once
OWNED that there was something wrong, aud,
calling Mrs. Nolan into her room, insisted upon
knowing what the trouble was. The pour
man at first attempted 10 conceal the truth of
tile matter by atIribuIing her appearance 10
hard work, the heat, etc, but finally PM MIS-
Finch into fun possession Of the faciS0 Of the
case.
KITTY was III love with Tie Judge and tile poor
girl had right IS be for tue Judge had made
love to he' and she had Hight 10 think that he
was IA honest and honorable man, ana Kitty had
written him letter, as she had a light to dp,
and tile Judge had right 10 answer II, but mad
not done 80. and now kitty would ueither eai,
drink nor sleep, but sat ali The blessed day mop
ing and grieying and growing thin and pale.
For a moment Mrs. tinch could only sit and
gasp, but at last her breath came and she ttied
10 every way TO Comfort MIS-. Nolan by letting
her that II would all come out right. that she
would talk With Kitty.
Talk with Kitty. Is 20 cried the Indignant
mother. - Faith, and II seems TO me, ma'am,
that Judge Plat Is The one ye should. be after
takln' wild, and no. me daughter Kitty"
That's what Mrs. Finch thought too, although
she did not dare say 50; but the moment tne
Judge entered the house that evening she pro-
ceeded to act upon Mrs NOian's advice.
- ] was just upon the point OF sending for you,'
observed Plat. quietly. "Sit down and let us
talk lie matter over. Act as my counsel IN this
terrible business; l retain you Get me out OF
the trouble and you shall have a splendid fee
I've acted like tool, probably worse. but FIRST,
ike sensible client, let me put you in possession
Of all the facts OF Tie case"
Mrs. Finch listened patiently, and with what
she knew already, her haif-malicious, hal!-mi,-
chieyOus smile vanished very quickly when the
MIifien PYluenca Mas SnhmitLan