The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-12-20

would take it. Would you mind paying me
Tor 1t now, for L must go into the country
Tomorrow"
He gave her the check she asked for, and
she took Lorna away next day.
a month after she saw Ralph Webster
again. He had returned unexpectedly, and
he sought her out at Southsea, where she
was living with her baby. But they did not
meet as friends; she saw him with shock
of surprise. and he looked at her as she had
never seen him look before.
Mrs Wakefield he said, 81 have no
right to follow you here, but l came to ask
you a single question"
She understood the situation at once, and
was ready. II will answer any question
that yoa like to ask" she said.
He had magazine in his fingers, and he
opened it at page that she well knew.
Were not the title letters IF it. the whole
aspect CT it, burned into her brain? They
were part Of the crime thai she felt she had
committed.
There is story here" he said, 'that oc-
cupies very prominent place. 1t is called
Hand in Hand to Death l think that you
wrote it."
Yes" said Eleanor, in low voice, 81
wrote it,"
There is no one in the world except you
and myself that knows the whole of that
story. L told it to you because l intended
the next time saw you to ask you to be my
wife. l wanted you to have time to think
of it first. You might not have liked me SO
well after knowing it,"
She folded her child closer in her arms,
and bent over it, that he might not see her
face.
Il need not speak to you of such sub
Jeet now. know how much you value MY
esteem. my confidence. You have sold my
trouble 70 the world. Isuppose you sold it ?"
Yes, SAID Eleanor, in a Still, strange
voice; a was paid eS for it," She was re-
mem bering that she had changed the first
sovereign to purchase her railway ticket,
and that she had calculated how many
weeks it would keep her in the country.
=" knew that a. woman | loved might de-
spise me-" said Ralph, but | could not
guess that woman trusted would betray
me--for money"
She did not answer him anything. There
was that In his tone which made her not
care to defend herself. She had injured
him In deadly and cruel manner. Let
him say to her what he would. But he said
no more; be lifted his hat and went
A year after that found Ralph Webster a
successful man. He had written a novel
that hit the public taste; it was full of bit
teIness and scOffing, but the public liked
such bitterness and ScOffing, and bought the
book.
He wondered sometimes what had be-
come of Eleanor Wakefield. There was no
trace of her in her old lodgings, and the
more contributions. She had seemed to
Ralph noble woman. woman whom he
might love on an equal footing, with all
trust and reverence, without pity or for
bearance. And she had failed him strangely
and meanly, so that the sting of her offense
had not yet left him entirely; but it
troubled him little to remember that she
had made no defense. This had put him in
the wrong, and made him wonder what her
defense could be.
in tha ,,aI, l.
stepped into sIeeping-car that had only
one occupant. The lady who was seated 10
the opposite section did not move at his en-
trance, and 1t was only when he had been
IN his place some minutes that something in
her intense stiffness attracted his attention
She had desired him to forget her presence,
or not to notice it, but the effort defeated
itself, and his first half curious glance at
her made him rise and cross to her side.
MRS. Wakefield" he said.
Yes" she answered, ''it is Mrs Wake
field" Then she added. quietly. Il should
like, if may, to congratulate you on your
great success"
He looked at her more attentively. She
was in mourning, and she was much
changed. The passive attitude of her
hands on her lap told him this as well as the
tone of her voice.
You never followed up your success"
he remarked Mr.. Blakely told me that lie
expected great things of YOU
She answered him nothing.
Mrs. Wakefield" he went on vaguely,
hurt by her silence, which tormented him
with an impression of his own cruelty,
want to apologize to you for what | said
when we last met. 1t was too much"
" 1t was not too much. / have said more
to myself before and since. And yet" she
said, turning her eyes full upon him, :" do
not ask you to forgive me, because do not
repent. | would do it again, if the past
came back to me. 1t is right that you should
know how evil l am. do not repent. l
would do II again. Yet i hate myself for
doing it. Besides" she added, in a lower
tone. which she could hardly have meant
him to hear, "it spolt my happiness as well
as yours"
81 do not understand" he said
why should you understand" she an
swered. " 1t does not matter"
If it had been for fame" he said, 81
could have understood the temptation bet
ter. 1t would have been a higher sort of
temptation. But you did not even sign the
story and yon have not republshed it,"
II hoped" she said, shat it would be
little read and soon forgotten. You had
gone away for long time. thought that