The Press., 1895-08-29
A TEMPTATION.

ssl Thorpe, he had no expectation of ever being 8 rich man, but as his affairs ap- pear at the present time he is on the broad Highway to future wealth. It all ,d arose from the fact that he took time by the forelock, the only way poor mortals have of ever getting even with him of the scythe and hourglass.
 Now, Mabel Thorpe did not expect her hero to swim the Hellespont of life with all his armor on, but she did de- mand from him, as she had right to I do, high moral standard, for she had not married him until she had seen, as she believed, his whole past life laid open before her as a book. There is no time when man is as weakly senti- mental and as religious as when he is trying to live up to the standard of a pure young girls ideal, and Leander be- came almost an angel
 I There are very few of us capable of making human angels of ourselves. l Good and evil are as consistently pres ent in our moral nature as light and darkness are in our atmosphere, and one serves as the complement of the other. To banish night we use the light of science, to counteract wrong we invoke divine help, but so largely is our world ly nature in excess of our spiritual pow CTS that we are constantly ill danger of erring to be forgiven-in other words, shining and repenting.
 Mabel Thorpe believed in an inflexi- ble uprightness. The command to do evil that good may come was to her a perverted text. She was not aware that there are si&s of omission as we'll as of commission, and that her unrighteous condemnation of sinners and her severe judgments were in themselves of sin full nature. The self righteous are often harder to live with than the sinner.
 Leander Clarke had been a good son, and he intended to be good husband. He was both proud and fond of his wife, but certainly regretted that he could not give her all the luxuries that she could appreciate, not even the grand piano that her musical talent deserved. But he went to work with a will to make her happy and hoped in a few years to be able to add all other needful things.
 Among the wedding presents of the young couple was one that far outshone all the rest-a superb set of diamonds sent by an uncle of Leander's s who was near to death and gave the residue of a large estate in this extravagant present Leander himself was genuinely sorry that such an undesirable gift had been made, but he argued that his wife was a sensible woman and would turn them into something more suitable to their condition in life-a piano, for instance, which was a necessity rather than 8 luxury. Whit was his surprise when his bride said:
 II never was so pleased ill my life. Diamonds represent to me the crystali- zation of everything beautiful in art and nature. I never dreamed that should possess such magnifcence.
 "But these havo ID associations, said her husband. "1'hcy are not heirlooms "
 "They will be. All diamonds were new at somo time. And are they not as- sOciated with the dear old man who gave them?"
 The dear old man had been terror ill the family and had only given the dia- monds to Leander's wife because he hated that nephew little less than the others, whom he hoped to make horri- ply jealous and angry and had succeeded.
 When Leander asked his wife to keep her diamonds in the bank, she promptly declined.
 "But you surely will not wear them, dear?" he suggested.
 "Why not?" she asked.
 "It would injure our prospects and not be consistent with our position. "
 'They were a gift to me. Surely have the right to do as please with my own."
 "The right, yes. But thought my wife had more discretion. I did not know you cared for gewgaws, Mabel" "
 So the first cloud came on the horizon of their love, but Leander was good tempered and Mabel satisfied, and it disappeared The truth was that Lean der had expected 8 handsome sum of money from this very uncle, who was a bachelor and very old. But age had not mellowed an ugly d;spc ,ition to thwart his relatives, and after raising the young man hopes he took malicious pleasure in disappointing them.
 The young couple began life in a pretty furnished cottage on the modern plan of chafng dish and hand painted china, and it worked like D charm. Ma bel presided over the dainty cuisine, the buffers pantry, the parlor, and really did wonders. Leander fell in love with her over and over again. But for the diamonds they would have been as hap py as larks.
 Did they hear 8 sound at night-it was @ burglar after those precious gems. They were afraid to leave the house alone lest thieves break in and steal, and one or the other of the two was compelled to be the hiding place of the Jewels when they went out together. Mabel did not care to adorn herself with diamonds when she went to market or to church, but sine could not listen to 8 sermon in peace if the gems were not about her. And somehow it did annoy her to carry concealed wealth like a brigand or a smuggler.
 But when Leander had chance to buy shares in the Little Cltawba Lum- Der company and to make as much in three months as he would ill year by his clerkship Mabel would not listen to the suggestion that the bank would ad- vance enough on the diamonds to enable him to make the investment.
 Then Leander discovered that his wife could be very obstinate woman. It was in vain that he laid before her the benefit that would result from tran sient disposal of the gems. She replied, not without logic on her side, that the Little Catawba might be failure, and then her precious securities would be forfeited. Leander, man fashion, grew