The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1891-08-12
CHAPTER XIX

That evil genius who seems to devote his
time to aiding the schemes Of those whose
aims are vicious took charge Of Rhoda
Barr's note and placed it on Harlan's desl
at an opportune moment. Some weeks hac
passed since we saw him last, and he hat
begun to realize that both the bar and 8
baby have their drawbacks. He had wor
his first case but his second and third had
gone against him. Furthermore the time
had come when his daughter felt bound to
impress her personality upon the house,
hold at the most absurd hours, and Harlan
had discovered that the insomnia begot-
ten by a crying child is practically incura-
BILE.
He had again become nervous and irrita-
bic. His good resolutions regarding his
treatment Of his wife had ended, like a
cigar, in smoke. After she had fully re-
gained her health he had gradually for
gotten the promises he had made to her
as she lay in bed and had resumed his
former self-absorbed mode of life.
There was one new feature in his exls-
tence that exercised over him an influence
that seemed to him almost lndicrous. He
found that in spite Of her midnight dis
turbances, he was very much in love with
his daughter. When his wife and father
agreed that the youngster very strongly
resembled him, Harlan would feel his
cheeks glow with sensation of pleasure.
When the child had become sufficiently
mature to smile as he addressed her the
young fathers heart would beat tumultu-
ously. At last, he thought, have found
being who will give me the affection and
sympathy that my being Graves. In
fluenced by this conviction he wrote apoem,
signed it Rupert, /" and sent it to the Cen
f3f,su fya n
correcting the proofs thereof when Rhoda
Barr's note was laid before him. He read
IL through twice, glanced at tho printed
slips on his desk, felt their literary excel
lence and forgot their origin. Then he
wrote as follows:
my DEAR RRoDA:
Twill call on you tomorrow evening at
nine.
Yours as the Future Wills,
HARLAN"
"Tm an ass" he muttered to himself, as
he shut his desk and went across tho
street for cocktail.
! The following evening Harlan Otis arose
little after eight o'clock from a dinner
table that had been rendered conyivial by
the presence Of the Hon. John Upper In
man, who had come to New York for tho
purpose of seeing his first born grand
child. There had arisen some con-
straint among them all, at first
owing to the coldness of tho
elder Otis Ind the pomposlty OF tho
ex-Minister to Portugal, but the oily ten
denotes Of a well-served meal had over
come all this and Allce's father had been
gracious enough to lay aside his usual ego
tistic exterior and conform to his hosts
apparent mood. The result had been that,
as the wine passed around, q feeling OF
good-fellowship had arisen that made
Alice smile with satisfaction and told
Harlan that he could keep his engagement
with Rhoda Barr.
!" I'll be back soon," he had said as he left
the dining room. Then he had stolen up
stairs to the nursery, kissed the velvet
check of the sleeping babe, and gone forth
to find the woman who had pretended to
admire his poems.
About four o'clock the following morning
mm came out Of the Prince Royal, an
apartments house on Seventythird street.
He loOkedTp and down the street. No
body was In sight. Drawing revolver
from his pocket he put bullet through
his brain. As he lay there dying alone
and helpless, the dawn heard spirit sigh:
Hove my little girl. May tho world DO
good to her.
Two years later the following item APP
peared in a New York newspaper: alice
Otis, nee Inman, widow of the late Harlan
Otis, was married yesterday to John Ar
mold, NJ. D."
THE END