The Yale expositor., 1895-05-03


TO his own triumph.
But no one state of affairs can last
forever, least of all such a strained one
as this. 1t has been said before that
MIR. Paine was an enthusiastic ODD
fellow and II was his devotion TO the
duties of that order that first made him
relax his vigilance. 1t was to be a BAN
ner night, with the initiation or some
ten or a dozen candidates as Its lead
ing feature, and in the depths or MS
lnmost soul the old man longed to 60
But prudence said no. Painfully ne
argued II out with himself. Was his
duty TO the lodge less important than
his duty to his daughter?
Then visions of the society In session
and the frightened candidates came be-
FORE his eyes. He laughed to himself
Tor this hardened old tyrant had not
lost all his taste for fun. But Penelope
passing through the room made him
sober again as he thought OF all the
possibilities that might arise from leaV-
ing her alone. Then his apologize mind
Gal IL follows
able Injuries, and may be followed by
In these belligerant days the girl OF
leaving her alone. Then his apologize
mind said: lone night can't do any
harm. You can leave her alone this
one time and. after all, Ned Holburn
VIII be at the meeting, too; he'll want
to see the men initiated" He hesitated
and was lost, and, after seeing Pene-
lope securely locked in, he set off for
his lodge.
But love has won the reputation OF
laughing at locksmiths. and. embodied
In the person Of Ned Holburn, he went
knocking at Penelope's window. Some
thing in the character of the tap or
some subtle intuition which only love
inspires told her who II was and she
forgot her timidity enough to raise the
sash and opened the shutter a little.
Its me. Ned" said the ungrammati-
cal Holburn, eagerly, and there was
note Of deep pleading In his voice as he
added:
Its our only chance, darling. Get
your hat and climb out of the window.
I've got a chair here for you to get
down on"
Penelope said nothing and through
the darkness her face was not visible.
but moments pause told him that
she demurred.
You won't refuse me, little one"
he pleaded. This will be our last
be separated forever. You can trust
me, dearest; don't hesitate any longer"
Penelope went away from the window
for moment, and when she returned
she had her hat tied on and a shawl
thrown about her shoulders. Her heart
was beating very swiftly as she stepped
out Of the window on the chair and into
the arms Of her waiting lover. Holburn
"a fhnrnVtnh -Unino fallnw and he
had his buggy waiting at the fence.
They got in. he exultant. and the girl
all tremulous, and away they went
across the river to the old minister, who
was already famous for marrying run
away couples from three counties.
In the meantime the grocer, not find.
| ing Holburn, who was regular and
devoted attendant, at lodge meeting,
had grown uneasy and suspicious A
| vague foreboding, which gradually
grew into terrible fear, filled his mind.
When he could endure the suspense
no longer he was excused and started
for home. He had hardly entered the
yard when an open shutter Tapping
listlessly on its hinges arrested his at
tention and his heart sunk within him.
Penelope. he thought, would never
leave a shutter that way under any
| conditions. The key gave forth a hol-
low, lonesome sound as he turned II In
the lock and the sound of his footsteps
on the floor was altogether weird and
unusual.
Penelope" he called, with a trem-
bling voice, "Oh, Penelope"
But only the echoes answered him.
and the unwelcome truth thrust itself
upon him that Penelope was gone. He
1 i
the step bowed his head In his hands.
Just then the sound of wheels fell on
his ear and a buggy was driven up and
halted at the gate.
Then a man helped n woman to
alight. The grocer recognized her and
ran down the steps, crying:
Penelope, Penelope, amt you
ashamed-you've been riding"
But here the voice of Holburn broke
in:
Were married" he said.
"Huh! cried the old man.
Eyes. sir"
well, well, Penelope Paine"
"Holburn," said Ned, Proudly.
Penelope" went on the old man, ig-
noring his son-in-law. 81 never would
have thought it of you"
The girl was silent, frightened and
fearful.
And you, Ned Holburn, to think OF
you being a brother In the same lodge
and all of that and then playing me
such n dirty trick
II guess I'm able to keep a wife,"
said the young man, sullenly.
able to keep her; able to keep her'
That amt IT; it's the way you got her.
Penelope Paine, after all the raising
I've been giving you, do you realize
what you have done? You've beel.
guilty of clipping, do you hear?"
That's all right, faSler-in-law," said
Holburn. "Penelope's past so now and
she'll soon come to know her MUD.
When she comes to know 1t hope she
won't change; If she doesn't she'll never
regret this elopement." and he kissed