The advocate., 1894-05-09

was silent and thoughtful. Mrs. De-
lorme, who had not read the account,
was greatly agitated by what she
CLEANED from Mason's talk; and could
scarce refrain from betraying her &C.
quaintance with the blacksmith and
her warm friendship for him. One
thought mOnOpoized Graham's mind
What had happened to Lena? Sud
denly he looked up, and asked:
"By the way, Halle, what is the
name Of the family Lena went to see?
and where do they liver must make
some inquiry after her at once"
"Their name is Ruble. The man
works in the railway shops in some
capacity, and their home is somewhere
in the vicinity of the shops"
"Ruble? Works in the shopsP"
shouted Graham. "My God, Halle!
What if it shOuld-but, oh, no; it can't
be Lena"
Mason started, for the truth flashed
upon him.
"Why," asked Mrs. Delorme, inno-
Gently. "What about LenaH l do not
understand.
elena went there-She has not come
home. Have you not readP Look at
thisl" and he nerVously thrust into her
hands the crumpled morning paper,
with his finger on the passage referring
to "Miss ChipperWell."
MrG. Delorme read it, and understood
it perfectly; and her changing color be-
trayed her perturbation as she read.
But she resolved to screen Lena, what
ever might be the truth; and so with
assumed cOmposure remarked:
"What has this to do with Lena? I
am quite sure she has no young lady
acquaintance here of that name. Miss
ChipperWell? No, l have never heard
of such a person, and Lena tells me
everything"
"But-do you not seer" demanded
Graham almost fiercely. "Miss Chip
perWell-may she not be-may not
Lena have given that name to conceal
her OWn?"
"That looks to me like a very far
fetched surmiSe. Lena's chief charac-
teristic is her absolute candor. She
cannot be induced to act, much less to
utter, an untruth for any purpose,
however good or desirable. Besides,
this Miss Chipperwell is the wounded
mans sweetheart. How could Lena
Graham be in love with a shop black
smith? The idea is prepOsterous. You
are excited, or such a thought would
not have occurred to yOu."
"BlacksmithP" exclaimed Graham.
"Does the paper say he is a black
smith? l didn't notice that. thought
it called him an agitatOr."
'"The paper says nothing about his
being a blacksmith" said Major De-
lorme, as he froWned and looked
rather sharply at his wife.
Mason saw Mrs. DelOrme'S predica-
ment, and in order to eXtricate her,
ventured the remark:
"No, it was l who spoke of him as a
blacksmith"
Perhaps preacher ought to adhere
to the truth with more tenacious pre-
cisiOn than Mason did on this occasion;
but Mrs. Delorme, at least, was not
disposed to criticiSe the clerical lapse.
Major Delorme had been too much
bored, and Mr.. Graham too much dis
turbed to remember precisely what Ma
son really had said about his friend,
and so the explanation proved entirely
satisfactory.
"There is some mystery here" said
Graham presently. "The sweetheart
story may be the reporters invention;
but | am convinced that Miss Clipper
well is Lena. l must go there at once.
/ cannot rest till / know what this con-
duct means. Such intimacy with such
people is little too much democracy
for my daughter to indulge In. L shall
see about it at once" And he rose
from the table.
"No, do not go there. Your presence
might cause scandal. Should your
notion prove correct, your recognition