The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1893-12-30


country. jim Paddon did not feel i'll,
he said, whereas, if he went to a place
haunted by invalids he would grow
worse out Of sympathy. 3ssE2 sE
The good-bys that night were said
IN chapters. Geoffrey Halkett left
first. and Kate's eyes were eloquent
when she thanked him. She did not
say much but he was satisfied. It was
at that moment that the emiaentlv
feminine thought occurred to her:
What d pity that Geoffrey should not
marry some nice grill" Then.old Miss
Temple said good-by to all and dis.
creetly left the lovers to settle the
rest. This took two hours and" three
quarters, during which time Geoffrey
leaned against a. lamp-post smoking
and thinking it rather a.apity that
Kate's eyes should be wasted on Jim.
He was aroused by Jim rushing down
the steps, almost knocking him down
and swearing at him. They walked
i London that night, by way of getting
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 love,
probably foresaw the advantage of
taking steps which would cancel fifty
per cent of first engagements. Pad
don was not to be relied upon with
impunity. His lung grew ,,lusty and.
strong in the bracing air of the rocky
mountains, but he, fell in love with
settlers daughter just before the time
when he should have returned to
Kate. Halkett had noticed this emo.
tion in its incipient stages, but Paddon
had not, nor had it even tinged his
letters to Kate, when he contracted a
prevalent form of fever and the set
tiers daughter nursed him through it.
AS soon as he became convalescent he
bestowed on her new Colorado edi-
ton of his old love for Kate.
Now, Paddon's illness had been
Halkett's opportunity. Whatever
swerved in him it:w1s never his loyal
ty't to 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 capa-
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 saw fit.
GeHrey Halkett was a gentleman bv
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 I know Kate-and.
fatter myself that do know her-she
would rather retain her faith in a
dead Jim than lose her faith in a liv-
ing Jim" So he wrote. that Jim had got
worse and died. He did not consider
himself in this, which was 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 very 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 it brutally broken to her later
when it might injure her more. 1t
was not pleasant mission, this mis-
sion of confession on which he went a
short time after his return, but he
comforted himself with the thought
that she would ut least acknowlege
that all he had done was out of con-
sideration for her.
Godfrey Halkett never told anv-
one what happened at that interview.
AS 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 Halkett required of his former
friend was letter written to Kate,
telling her how matters stood. Pad
don demurred and Mrs. Paddon
thought Halkett nuisance.
II may be sneak" said Jim, sbut
I'll be - if I'll write myself down
one" >,
Halkett declined to enter into the
distinction. you can put It in a
gentlemanly way, if you can," he said.
A man with only one lung and a
bad case is no match for man with
two lungs and good case and a rap
idly developing passion for a woman.
In less than a month Halkett was
home with the letter.
''Kate is devilish obstinate when
she is in a bad temper" he said to
himself. 81 know what she'll do now:
she'll refuse to see me, and Pm not
going to trust the letter to the post"
Still. he wrote and asked her to make
an appointments. She replied by re-
turn, naming a day and hour Halkett
gasped q little at this, but went for a
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 yerv civil on1v no 4harS