Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1893-02-23
CHAPTER Ill.

Two lGtteTS, MI, MuTbnHll,
Raymond Marshall took the rendered
mlssives from the hands Of the anti
quated postmaster of Hopedale, thrust
one, an ordinary business missve, into
his pocket careessly, but the other
his eye frightened and his pulses came
quicker.
From Edna, he murmured, recog-
nizing the handwriting on the envelope.
Something about the reception to-
night. hope that tresome Mr.. Brins-
ley is not to be her escort. 1t Is too
precious, too sacred to read here,
He reached home and went to his
room with q gay song on his lips, The
memory Of the girl he loved was al
ways with him, the possession Of a
shy, dainty epistle from her enhanced
its sweetness.
Rather bulky, he commented as he
carefully cut open tho envelope, as If
every scrap Of paper her hands had
touched was precions. Mr., Marshall
why what is this? Oh, Edna! joke,
a cruel hoax, surely.
The words died in gasp. With star
ing eyes Marshall surveyed the letter
before him, Then staggering to seat,
he sat glazing at it with colorless face
and chilled heart,
A formal dismissal, cold, precise
disavowal of all the past, the cruel
words seemed icy fingers reaching for
his heart to blight all the faith and
love of his nature with single touch.
Edna had written it--her slantlng,
Italian style showed in the chirography.
There could be no doubt Of that, but
The languagel-oh! what did it mean?
Briefly it addressed him as might one
q stranger. Circumstances, the latter
said, had in an hour changed her des-
tiny. All was over between them. 1t
was better so, since fate ordained it.
Remember her as friend their brief
Irritation" as a hayward caprice for
passing the summer months away
"Falsel Deceitfull will never be-
lieve it, painted the petrlhed Marshall
why! yesterday-the ring | gave her,
the pledges we made-oh! this is some
farce, some hidden dreaml What is
this?"
Mechanically turning the wretched
missive over and over in his nerveless
hands, Raymond Marshall observed for
the first time that it was comprised Of
two sheets Of paper
And striving to separate them, he as
certained that stray patches Of mucilage
held the lower page to the other In
few minutes he discerned that it could
not have been he intention of tho
sender to inclose the second sheet
That was accidental. 1t had stuck to
the top sheet and had been folded in
with 1t by hasty, careless hand.
1t bore writing-not Edna's writing
A dagger seemed driven to Ray Mar
shall heart as he tore it free, and the
bold, masculine chirography danced be-
fore his vision.
II he had been startled before, every
pulse stirred with fierce fire now. The
letter had evidently been received by
Edna the day previous, and was signed
with the name OF the only rival in her
affection to whom he had ever given
a thought, Miss Chambers cousin,
Edna's announced escort Of that even
ing-Barton Brinsley
The letter Of an accepted lover TO the
woman he loved, 1t betrayed decided
encouragement from Edna. 1t even
bore a slight ridicule Of MARSHALL pre-
tensions. Edna had endured thisl Edna
had played him false, and while her shy
lips were responding to his ardent ex-
pressions of devotion her hypocritlcal
heart was thinking Of Barton Brinsley.
The complication was maddening.
With eyes dashed with the insanity of
despair the tortured artist looked up.
He clenched the tell-tale sheets in his
hand as If they were the false heart of
the girl who had Tilted him, and that OF
the man who had stolen away her love.
IL will kill him! he choked out, his
soul ablaze.
And then, realizing the folly Of such
a sentiment, the right of any man Ia
honorably strive for woman's prefer
ence, with the bitterness of death COM
pretending that tie woman was the
deceiver, remembering his mother s
taunt once made that he had better
marry some one besides "a nameless
homeless, nobody" he Gained down
put on his hat, and walked from the
house like one in dream, his lips
firmly set, but sick at heart,