Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-06-08
yes, I am alone, az you are aloney'

xeE, am alone, ID you UIc HlOue!
Paul looked as she spoke. The great
black eyes met his eyes unflinchingly,
and in them he encountered confusion
and supremacy.
The day came when Paul again went
to the railway station. Oh, how Joy
ously his heart was beating! He quite
disregarded the height Of the sun, and,
in spite Of habit, was boyish and buoy
ant. The train arrived and with Ella
and the children. Rapture and thank
fulness enthralled him. They were
well and restored to him. The pure,
cherishing fires would again TRANQUILITY
burn on the home hearth. Somehow
he had feared that IN evil would pre-
vent his reunion. How ridiculous?
Away with such vapors! Was he be-
coming moral hypochondrtac?
Il never was so delighted to see any
one in all my life!" he exclaimed, and
truthfully. II feel as Dives would
should he leap from the gulf into para
disc"
Hush, DEAR" said Ella, fondly. you
are always SO emotional, so excessive.
You are not looking ut all well. You
haven't studied nights, have you? You
need my care, I think, more than the
children do. Tell me-haven't the Re-
wells, the Munsons, the Robinsons, been
attentive? Your letters are always
so sweet, but so very, very unsatisfac-
torily."
Most kind and thoughtful"
"And the Duponts?"
"Oh, I'm sick Of the Duponts I only
want to think of you; that you are
with me, never to go away again"
The years rolled on, bringing happi-
ness and prosperity to the Minturn
household. Paul became renowned IN
his calling, his methods being quoted as
authoritative. Besides this he had &C
quired substantial literary fame. But
these successes, which might satisfy
the nostrils of ambition, were as moth
ing to him in comparison to domestic
affection. Day by day ELLA and he had
composed that ideal individuality
whose parent is love.
The old-time intimacy with the Re-
wells, the Munsons, the Robinsons had
continued AS for the Duponts, Robert
had died, confident in his wife, and at
testing his faith by bequeathing fort
une to her and the widowed Edith had
returned to her childhood's home at
Aberdeen. Affairs were in this settled
and satisfactory shape when one morn
ing, Paul, as usual, went to the library,
and seated within his private office,
luminous and official with a single ex-
ception. This letter, marked per
sonal," he tossed aside after he had
noted the postmark and recognized it's
superscrption.
IT ncyS1v
never did like him. What can lie Want
Of me?"
Doubtless this question required to
tantilizatOn, for in the midst Of his
correspondence Paul threw down his
pen, tore apart the envelope, and read:
MY dear old boy" (Now why should
he call me his dear old boy" growled
Paul, when I don't see him twice a
year, and that's twice too otter? Let
me see," and on he read with lowering
brows) 1--WE are in a deuce Of a
scrape, and no mistake; so grit your
teeth, keep cool and listen."
Our fair, and I may say mutual
friend, Mrs. Dupont, returned to Aber-
deem to reside some two years since
She is now involved in a most notori-
GUS esclandre, which fear she enjoys,
for she is thoroughly declassee and con-
templates going on the stage.
In brief, she has caused certain
Mrs. Manton to sue her husband for an
absolute divorce, and not only this, but
the wrathful lady has also sued her for
the alienation Of the husbands affec-
ton. Mrs. Manton's attorney is Able
Burgess, a man who knows no feeling
of delicacy or restraint in the pursuit
Of his clients interest. He has OBJ
tanned through an unfaithful maid q
number Of letters belonging to Mrs
Dupont. Whether he could succeed in
introducing them in evidence on trial
is extremely doubtful, but to influ-
ence public opinion they have been
published in an obscure sheet-obscure
no longer.
Among these excessively amatory ef-
fusions are several from me and one
from you-hinc lilac lacrimae! and they
have all been copied in the current
number Of Town Ructions, which I
herewith mail to you.
It is hard enough for both of us, but
for you, the moral married man, can
only advise firm denial and an appli-
cation for an injunction, though it is
rather late to bar the barn door. With
commisserations from your fellow mis-
cradle sinner, remain, ETC.,
J. Ashford.
The letter fell from Paul's grasp
Paul's head sunk down upon his desk.
Oh, how ashamed he was! 10 think
that he, the upright, must endure such
vulgar community with one whom he
despised and not be able to resent it!
Where was that sincere respect, which,
together with the public, he had paid
to himself? And yet he realized, and
there lay the bitterness, that the man
who had yielded to the facile tempta-
ton of On idle moment, the man who
had penned such sensational nonsense,
was not his own actual self.
No, that self was a man who loved
his home, his children, and, above all
else, his wife. Let casuists dispute and
skeptics sheer, he knew! Bait would
the world believe him? All, little he
cared! But would Ella? Alas! he
dared not seek forgiveness in her pure
eyes. No, an end had come. He had
sinned, and sin must be requitted.
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