The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-01-27
sounded like a dry sob.

. OF course he did not burn it.
He produced it in an deliberately casual,
off-hand way almost as soon as he found
himself in Miss Langs presence that
evening.
ut is a letter of yours that you dropped
at the Edwards. Mrs. Edwards asked
me to give it to yeu."
Dolly opened her eyes.
"Why, how funnyl'' she said carelessly;
81 saw her this afternoon, but haven't
been there for month"
Truman lost his head.
"I-oh-hang it all!'-this last under
his breath-''neither have l."
Dolly stared at him. His face was a
most interesting shade of crimson.
II don't understand" she said impa-
tiently; seem to have lost the thread
of your discourse. What do you meanP"
He handed her the letter. She glanced
at it indifferently, dropped it in her lap
and looked up with big, blue, inquiring
eyes as if waiting for him to answer her
last question. He told himself with a
pang of hopeless admiration that he had
never seen such perfect bit of acting.
The feigning of Innocent Inconsistencies
could 60 no further.
''Well?" she queried.
Dolly" desperately, "do you think
you have treated me quite wellP"
Her color rose.
II? You? Treated you wellp" she
said, scornfully. 81 know that 1 have
been very patient Every time you have
been here for month, you have been in
per ectly fiendish temper, but 1 have
boen-oh, have been lovely to you'll"
81 have not been exactly happy" said
Truman dryy. ut was month ago l
first heard you were engaged to that
that Albany man, and the letter." he
faltered and cut himself short.
''And the letterp' repeated Dolly.
She hastily drew it out of the envelope
and glanced down the pages.
do you mean to say you read that
letterP'' she demanded hotly.
A miserable silence followed.
"And it was only this afternoon that ]
said that no matter how bad your TEN.
per was you were always gentleman ~
1t seemed to Truman that he absolute.
ly reeled under her words. She went
impetuously on:
'If you read it you deserve-you de-
serve to be impaled. Oh, l am glad you
are miserableI' she cried, viciously.
Truman rallied.
"What do you deserVe?" he demanded
rising to his feet and turning very pale
dolly, how dared you; how dared you
play with me as you have? You cannot
pretend that you did not know how
much 1 cared or how utterly trusted
you. Everybody knew it, fancy. but
-idiot!-was unashamed. 1t seemed to
me that the man who could know you
as had known you and not love yor
would be too poor a creature for belief
1 gloried in my subsection, and you-yor
were too divinely good to me. Dolly
how dared you? Don't you know wha
hearts are made OFF Haven't you one O
your own? What if he treated you so
oh, it was cruel, cruel shall never be
lieve in woman again"
The two young people stood facing ont
another, wrathful, breathless, excited
tense. Suddenly Dolly gave utterance tt
something between sob and laugh
and darted across the long room to thu
remote corner where Davenport stood
She came back as swiftly bearing hal
dozen other letters, all in the same bold
black hand. She tore off the envelope.
with fingers that trembled.
''Do you see that? and that? and that
never imagined man could be so stu
pid!"
Truman looked in silence. The frs
letter which she thrust before his fac,
was signed "E. M"
The next was signed "Elise."
The third read in full, ELISE Mackel
lar"
81 have told you dozens and dozens o
things about her. She is the one who i
an invalid, and she has nothing, jus
nothing to live for but her books and he
friends. She loves me dearly-and WHY
shouldn't she? 1 give her quite good
times when am there. And you reat