The herald., 1894-04-15

tOunueuly cola DlOOQeQ NO-W6ll--
that doesn't sound pretty-bur l mean
J believe you're human You've al
ept me at arms length-jtst far
so you could pull at my heart
when it amused you''-he broke
lenly-'I'm brute. "
,, Strcphon, you're true hearted,
hot headed boy, flying off ON tangent
one day and repenting the next, said
Mrs. Warrenton gently.
''As it is, Phyllis, why don't you offer
to be a sister to me?' he suggested
whimsically, smiling. Would you
mind if ] talked to you about myself a
little? Or maybe you won't care to hear.
But this is the last time we'll be in
Arcadia together, and though it viii do
no good 1 wanted you to understand
III I'd had a mother, maybe I'd be
bettor man. l don't think you ever
knc how much you have done for me,
boz d man. l loved you when you
We slip Of a girl in short dresses and
br and said to myself: 'She is good
ant 70. l win try to deserve her, and
th, viii win her.
: didn't win you. That was
har, ime with me. l was q little rock-
less afterward, and l drifted into the
| fast set for time, but l had my art,
and that kept me from forgetting my
self entirely.
81 have come regularly to you to be
teascd and smiled at, and you have
never seemed to realize what your light
est look or word was to me.
II havo been kept from the follies
and vices that have tempted me chiefly
by the thought, 4 will not deserve to
lose her respect
81 used to DIRE am Of life with you
as its inspiration.
"And so as | find l can never love
any other woman, and that my love for
you might make me forget all things
else and mako you hate me some day,
so have asked nice little girl to mar
ry me. She does not want my love par
ticularly, but my income and position,
and her family and my family think it
a good match. 1t is an experiment, and
III am the most unhappy Of men,
There was long silence when he had
finished speal1ing--a nonotonous silence
punctuatcd with the regular plash Of
his paddle and echoes Of laughter and
oar strokes from the rowers abroad on
the river.
He guided tho boat about q shadowy
bit Of island and then padded slowly
along tho holneward stretch of waters.
"You see, am mad fool, Phyllis, "
he whispered, "but you are SO cold, so
calm, so far above me, it surely could
not hurt you for nero pity to let me
dream tonight.
"Strepho:. " she sighed and touched
his sleeve lightly with her finger tips
"wouldn't it bo happiness if we could
be born again into another sort Of world
out Of these social tangles and sordid
limitations---into q simpler, honester
world?
"We've lived too long in this arti-
fetal world and grown used to the pate
de foie gras, and thoater parties, and the
symphony, and tho society, and Paris
gowns, and ling lish tailors, and summers
at Newport, and autumns at Lenox, and
the rest ever to go back to primeval Ar
cadia.
But if we could, you and If VIZ
could think maybe we could have
been old fashioned lovers too. Bat Tn
woman of tho world, and my heart i.
hard maybe, and I'm frivolous maybe,
and I tiirted with you to pass the time
maybe-but, Strephon, you are a man
Of tho world, too, and never Thought
you had heart -
Tho miles of water were swept back
slowly by the paddle. The little bark
swept on with tho tide; the boathouse
was in view in the shadows.
Suddenly he put down tho paddle. He
leaned forward and groped for her hands
with his, and as he clasped them TIC
trembling fingers closed on his with an
impulse Of strength seeking
Bending closely, he saw her face. Her
eyes were wet with tears.
Forgive me, )" he pleaded hoarsely;
''forgive mel" T."
There is SO little love in this world
that we cannot afford to be thanlzless
for any that is offered. God knows the
heart aches for tho lack Of it, 4" she whis-
pered.
"Once, dear, once for all the years
that have been, the years that will be-
Kiss me oncol'
She shook her head gently; her hands
slipped from his grasp.
eve have dreamed, F" she said gently
as they reached the shore.
eyes, we have dreamed" he repeat
ed. Kate Fields Washington
White Girls Marriages With Indians.