San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-07-07

she had eSpouSed was not the man to
whom she had engaged herself could not
initiate against the stronger fact that
she had considered the man with whom
she had gone through the ceremony as
the contracting party. This no subse-
quent declarations would change.
That Hart Royal by suppression of the
fact that he was acting as proxy should
have invested himself with entire re-
~sponsibility as principal appeared to fol-
low as a logical sequence. And any ex
post facto effort to free himself from the
consequences of his laundering might
justly be considered as ~treacherous eva
sion, and would certainly be accredited
to a discovery IN his part that his i'm
p~ersonation of the dead man would be
barren of financial results-would place
him, in short, In the position of a baffled
and malignant impostor.
you see how it is" the poor fellow
TUNED. Tn caught in the trap by both
legs. If | hold to my marriage, I'll be
foisting IN a I'M a husband she don't
love and don't want, and that, too, when
she thinks she's married to somebody
else. And if | get a divorce in order to
free her, she may think, and the world
will say, that | do it because l can't get
hold of the money. Nobody had a hint
of the proxy business at the time, and
nobody is going to believe in it now. ]
wouldn't myself if / were outside of it
all. People will swear the whole thing
was a plant from beginning to end, and
that I'm shaking the bag because I've got
found out. There never was such a con-
founded mess since the world began!"
He actually stamped on the floor in
his impotence and bewilderment. Mrs.
Harris face was turned from him, but a
suspicious gurgle and movement of her
shoulders attracted his attention and
changed the current of his thought.
"Oh, it's tremendously funny, | dare
say!" he growled. Il don't see the joke
myself, but to an outsider l suppose it's
exquisite. 'Tisn't often one has the
chance of rejoicing over a man wrig-
Cling in a dilemma like a worm in a
woodpecker's beak. I'd laugh outright,
though, if were you. It's more decent
than staggering y corners"
A handsome face, in which amuse-
ment struggled with contrition, was
turned toward him, and two bends were
cordially extended:
Forgive me, John, and don't be cross!
I'm going to help you, l am indeed,
with wits and will both. Only l couldn't
forbear a quiet chuckle. You looked so
preternaturally concerned and solemn
and-and caught"
Royal was Modified. Few people could
resist the charm of Mrs. Harris manner;
it was invigorating'and comforting, like
sunshine. Catching her eye he expert
enced a sudden and delicious revulsion
of feeling, like that produced by a bit
of commonplace in an abstruse volume.
He bit his lip to keep from smiling.
Nina" he rebuked, 1.-The way you are
taking this affair is positively subversive
of morals. Instead of bowling at me
with indignation, and bounding on the
populace with tar and feathers, you are
acting as though the situation wasn't
past mending. And | believe in your
soul you are e~njoying-yes, actually en-
joying it with the fiippancy of a gamin.
What do you suppose is going to become
of you in the other country if you don't
fetch his folly home to the fool in this?"
His words were light, but they over
lay considerable emotion. He was CRATE
full to her with a gratitude beyond ex-
preston for her sympathetic cOmpre-
hension.
Something more satisfactory than
endless psalmody or aerial progression, |
hope" she smiled. "Mocking at those
in sore straits and grievously tormented
| hold to be my mission. Seriously,
though. I an sorry for you-truly sorry.
But after all, John, it isn't you that mat
tiers so much. The situation is and will
be much harder on Phyllis. You did it,
you know. When there is a smash up
the man who holds the reins and does
the breaking gets the most comfort out
of the affair"
The mention of his cousins name
caused Royals face to soften, and he let
the blood relation f]rankness of his com
panion's speech pass. His intercourse
with Phyllis, restricted as it had neces-
sarily been, had awakened within him a
tender, ~chivalrous devotion, touched and
materiaIized by admiration and a sense
of personal possession. Her acceptance
of and absolute trust in him, her sweet
ness, patience and courage, won on him
day by day. His professional instinct
prevented him from feeling any of that
Intangible, egotistic shrinking from af-
Fiction inherent in so many men, and
the hopefulness of her case caused it to
present no bar to her attractiveness.
Then, too, it is probable that the con
~sciousness that she was his wife-no
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