The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-01-27

said Mrs. Edwards musingly, ''as indeed
he ought to be. Dolly is such sweet
girl. did not discover to whom it was
addressed until found the envelope, Ia
ter, and then l was somewhat taken
aback."
Truman turned fascinated eyes toward
tho letter which was lying on the table
just under the lamp. One fold had fallen
back and he could see the beginning
quite clearly
ALBANY, the Sixteenth February.
Dear One
The words danced before Truman's
eyes, and he turned his head suddenly.
Must you be going?" he heard Mrs.
Edwards voice saying, and it seemed to
come from the edge of space, "Are you
sure you do not mind handing it to herP
1 shall be so much obliged"
"There!" said Mrs. Edwards to her
self as she heard the front door close as
Truman went out. There! was de-
termined Dolly Lang should not carry on
her heartlsss, desperate Irritation with
that nice young man any longer. Sucha
shamel And nice young men are so rare
just wish he would read that letter for
himself, but 1 am afraid he is too awfully
highmindedl"
81 am behaving like an abject idiot"
said Truman to himself one evening a
month later. 81 wonder what the Lord
made me for, anyO ay? Seems to- me he
wasn't justified in creating a man who
could make such fool of himself"
In truth, Mr.. Truman's conduct for the
four weeks past had not been such as he
could justify in his own eyes. He had
gone away from Mrs. Edwards on that
eventful evening in a stunned condition,
with Dolly's letter in his left inside pock-
ct. 1t had stung and burned there all
the way over to the Langs'. And-what
was worse-it stung and burned there
still.
He had net given it to her that night.
How could he? He could not do it I'M
consciously, as Mrs, Edwards had so
easily suggested, and he would not do it
IN any other way. COnfound the woman?
Why hadn't he had self-possession
enough to refuse to do her errand? She
had taken an unfair advantage, given him
a knOck-down blow and then thrust this
intolerable commission upon him before
he was himself again. What? Take
that thing out and give it to Dolly and
have her read his face, as he felt that she
must read it, and connect his misery and
her letter, thinking, perhaps, that he had
read it'll This was clearly as impossible
as to give it to her and make no sign.
Besides, so deep in his heart that he
would not acknowledge their presence,
were haunting suspicion and torment
ing desire. Did Mrs. Edwards know a
love letter when she read one2 And
what did that man dare to say to Dollyf
Truman was, as Mrs. Edwards supposed,
a high principled fellow; but there are
some emergencies in life which tend to
make one inpatient with his sense OF
honor.
He had gone to her house that evening
tried to appear usual, and madO @
wretched failure of it. Since then he
had been miserably temporizing. Every
day made it more difficult for him to
give her the letter; every day also made
it seem more impossible that Dolly was
engaged to some other man.
Dolly had been especially and fascinat
ingly gentle to him that evening, and, in.
deed, ever since. There was more than
a spice of mischief in her composition,
but she knew suffering when she saw it.
and she respected it. She even meant tc
alleviate when she could, but her kind
ness to Truman during these four weeks
had seemed to that unhappy young mar
the refinement OF cruelty. How could il
be true that she was engaged to some one
else when she was like that to himi
Why didn't he take his life in his hands
and find outP Why did he keep on call
ing, namely, unhappily, calling upon hel
on an average of more than twice week.
Why did he let that biting, burning, un
read letter lie in his inner pocket through
these weary days? 1t seemed to hin
that it exhaled a subtle poison which
tainted all the air.
Meantime, Mrs. Edwards had audac
iously and industriously Spread the re
pert of Dolly Lang's engagement to some
one out Of town, and it seemed to Tru
man that half the people whom he me-
looked at him with curiosity or com
miseration.
II mnst do something to put myself
out of this misery at once" said Truman
to himself. "In the first place, 1 will
either burn that letter up, or-else
WON'T
1t was seven O'clock of a raw Marcel
night. He was dressed to make call
he was, in fact, contemplating call upor
Miss Lang, but he had an hour before
him first. He turned up the blaze of the
student lamp, drew an uncomfortable
chair up to the table and sat down. Their
he took the letter out of his pocket anG
laid it on the table before him. His ex
preston was not pleasant: it was that Of