The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1893-11-01

leaned against a Iamp-post smoking
| and thinking IL rather a pity that
Kate's eyes should hs wasted ON Jim.
He was aroused by Jim rushing down
tbs steps, almost knocking him down
and swearing at him They walked
London that night. by way s. gtztting
up strength for the journey. The
! next day they started
Ruskin, who advocated once a
period of heightened probationary
absence for the young man in lov>e
probably foresaw the advantage OF
taking steps which would cancel fifty
per cent of first engagements Ped
don was not to be relied upon with
impunity His lung grew TASTY lnd
! strong in the bracing air of the rocky
mountains, but he fell Il love with \
settlers daughter just before the time
| when he should have returned to
| Kate. Halkett had noticed this emo
ton in its incipient stages, but Paddou
had not, nor had it even tinged his
| letters to Kate, when he contracted
prevalent form of fever and the set
| tiers daughter nursed him through it
As soon as he became convaleScent he
bestowed on her a new Colorado edi-
! tion of his old love for Kate.
/ Now. Paddon's illness had been
Halkett's opportunity. Whatever
swerved in him it WIS never his loyal
ty 20 his friends. He wrote to Kate
regularly, reporting the invalid's
health. When Jim regained GONZALES
cence it was promptly brought home
: TO him that he should resume manage
ment of his own affairs, but his new
sentiment barred the way to this At
| this crisis it seemed good to Jim Pad
| don, whose simple brain was not cana
BILE of dealing with two sets of emo
tions. to unceremoniously depart with
| the settlers daughter and marry her.
He considerably left note request
| ing Halkett to deal with his honor as
he sew fit.
| Geffrey Halkett was a gentleman by
| instinct. and at best but an amateur
liar He had the British aversion to
taking away mans character to a
! girl. After much deliberation he said
to himself: ''If 1 know Kate-and I
tlatter myself that do know her-she
would rather retain her faith in a
dead Jim than lose her faith in liv-
ing jim So he wrote that Jim had got
worse and died. He did not consider
himself in this, which vas to his
credit.
Then, being no longer required in
Colorado, he followed his letter home
On the way home common sense ar
gued with him and brought home to
him Tery forcibly that he had made a
mistake. Sooner or later Kate must
learn the truth. 1t would be better
for her to hear it from him now than
to have 1T brutally broken to her later
| wheP 1t might injure her more. 1t
! wa not pleasant mission, this mis-
sion Oh. confession on which he went a
short time after his return, but he
| comforted himself with the thought
that she would at least acknowlege
that all he had done was out of con
sideration for her
Godfrey Halkett never told any
one what happened at that interview.
As a matter of fact, the girl heard
him all through, and then, white and
trembling with Indignation, infinitely
scornful with herself for having al
lowed anyone to defame her lover
while she listened, she turned and
left him-not, though, before she had
pointedly suggested that he should
never enter the house again.
''She had never trusted him from
the very beginning" SO she said, ''and
now
Halkett took up his hat and went.
This man, who had thought himself
never to be astonished again, was an
obstinate man, but not too obstinate
to acknowledge himself astonished.
He wasted no time over useless argu-
mentS or letters but he went abroad,
and some time subsequently he met
Jim Paddon. The interview was short,
but satisfactory. All, it appeared.
that HallSett required of his former
friend was letter written to Kate,
telling her how matters stood. Pad
don demurred and Mrs. Paddon
thought HaIkett a nuisance.
81 may be sneak said Jim, ''but
I'll be - if I'll write myself down
one.
Halkett declined to enter into the
distinction. You can put it in
gentlemanly way, if you can, he said.
A man with only one lung and
bad case is no match for man with
two lungs and good case and rap
idly developing passion for woman.
In less thin a month Halkett was
home with the letter.
kate is devilish obstinate when
she is in bad temper" he said to
himself. 81 know what she'll do now;
she'll refuse to see me, and I'm not
going to trust the letter to the post.
Still. he wrote and asked her to make
an appointment. She replied by re-
| turn, naming day and hour. Halkett
gasped a little at this, but went for
walk to think how he would meet her.
He need not have troubled about
arranging speeches or lines of conduct.
Kate took the initiative at the inter
view, as he might have known she
| must. She was very civil, only rather
distant, and asked him why he wanted
TO see her. =
81 have brought you a letter." he
said.
She held out her hand.
He gave it to her She looked at
| the writing, and murmured an excuse
and left him.
When she came back there was little
! channad 4 hnnt her excnnt n hnsi ancu