Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1891-02-06

never SAM man III 4 Nui~r temper. len
my brother | am obliged 10 Him for his lio>Il
tally and won't take advantage of II any
longer That was Mr.. lItrbert'S message.
| tried to say word. He banged the door
and away lie went
Even KaudalS patient and gentle nature
rose in revolt AGAINST his brothers treatment
If him. He entered his sitin:-ru"m in ST.
l,uce. Malcolm followed and pointed tu a
letter on the table. Il think you must have
thrown il away by mistake, sir. the old man
explained. Il found 1t in the wa>t-papcr
basket" He bowed with the unlailing re-
slcct OF the old school and Withdrew.
Eandai's first resolve was to dismiss his
bluthcr from further consideration. Kind
ness is thrown away on lleih-rt," he tiougi;
IL shall treat him tor the future a. he has
treated me-.
Bat his brother was still in his mind. He
ulrii,rI M prt~iV'N i,';trI-ou the chance
that it might tuIu the current al Iii, thoughts
in a lew direction.
In spite of Mrs Presty, in spite of himself.
his heart softrncd toward the man who had
behaved So badly 10 him. Instead of read
ing the letter he WAS now trying To discover
a connection between his brothers visit to
the club and his brothers angry message.
Had Herbert heard something said among
gossiping members in the smoking-room,
which might account for his conduct? II
Randall had belonged to the club he would
have gone there to make inquiries. How
could he get the information that he wanted
In some other way?
After considering for while he remem-
bered the dinner that he had given to HE
friend m rot frr no nj tod
States, and the departure Of the lawyer to
! his club with purpose in view which inter-
! estcd them both 1t was the same club to
which Herbert belonged, Randall wrote at
once TO Mr.. Sarrazin, mentioning what had
happened and acknowledging the anxiety
that weighed on his mind.
Having instructed Malcolm to take the let
ter to the lawyers house, and, if he was not
at home, to inquire where he might be found,
Randall adopted the readiest means of COM
posing himself, in the servants absence, by
lighting his pipe.
lie was enveloped in clouds of tobacco
smoke-thc only clouds which we can trust
never to prove unworthy of our confidence
in them-when Mrs. Presty's letter caught
his attention. If the month had been Janu-
airy instead of July, he would have thrown
it into the fire. Under present circumstances
he took il up and read it.
81 bear no malice. dear Randall. and l
| write to you as affectiOnately as if you had
| kept your temper on the occasion when we
last met.
| "YOu will be pleased to hear that Gather
Inc was as thoroughly distressed as you could
wish her to be. when it became my disagree
able duty to mention what had passed be-
tween us. by way of accounting for your alb
| sence. She was quite unable to rally her
spirits. even with dear Capt Bennydeck
present to encourage her.
49,! am not receiving you as ought she
/ said to him, when We began dinner. but
| there Is, perhaps, some excuse for me. | have
| lost the regard and esteem of an old friend.
| who has cruelty wr0nged me- From mo-
| tives of delicacy (Which don't expect you
| to understand) she refraned from mention
ing your name. You still keep your place,
| your unmerited place, in the captains esti-
nation. lie asked no embarrassing Ques-
tons; he Was too eXquiSitely polite to at
tempt to insinuate himself into GATHERINGS
confidence. The prettiest answer that ever
heard was the answer that he addressed to
her. Let the true friend he said, take the
place In your heart which the false friend
has lost
He kissed her hand. II you had seen how
he did it. and how she looked at him, you
would have felt that You had done more to-
ward persuading my daughter to marry the
captain than any other person about her,
myself included. You had deserted her:
you had thrown her back on the one friend
left. Thank you, Randall. In our best in
terests, thank you.
1T is needless to add that got out of the
way, and took Kitty with Inc, at the earliest
Opp0rtunity-and left them by themselves.
AT bedtime went into GATHERINGS room.
Our interview began and ended in less than
a minute. 1t was useless to ask if the cap
tain had proposed marriage; her agitation
sufficiently informed me OF what had hap
Pened.. My one question was: Dearest
Catherine, have you said yeSY She turned
shOckingiy pale, and answered: 4 have not
said no. Could anything be more encour-
aglngr God bless you; gOOd-by for the pres
ent Ardbelld Prestv"
Randall laid down the letter and filled his
pipe again. He was not in the least exas-
perated; he was only anxious to hear from
Mr.. Sarrazin. If Mrs Presty had seen him
at that moment she would have said to her
self: ~ forgot the wretch was q smoker
In half an hour more the door was opened
by Malcolm, and Mr.. Sarrazin entered the
room.
There are no such incorrigible gOssips,"
he said, ''as men in the smOking-rOom of .
club. Those popular newspapers began the
mischef-and the editor Of one of them COM
pleted it How he got his information l am
not able to say. The small-talk turned on
that report about the charming widow; and
the editor congratulated himself on the deli
cacy of his conduct When the paragraph
reached me- he said, the writer mentioned
that Mrs. OrmOnd was that well-known
lady, the divorced Mrs. Herbert Linley.
thought this rather too bad. and cut 1t out
Your brother appears to have been present
but he seldom goes to the club and none of
the members knew him even by sight Shall
give you light? Your pipes out"
Randars feelings at that moment were not
within reach of the comforting influence of
tobacco.