Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1896-02-27

ME? ] am not worthy the love OF such
woman as you. Or, II you must
needs waste your heart on me, why
didn't fate bring us together years
ago. | could have offered you love
with honor then; now can only offer
YOU love with dishonor"
She came nearer TO him and put her
hand on his arm. Dear" she said,
how little you know me even now,
or YOU would not ask that Question.
Don't you understand that Liz. to
make this sacrifice for you-that am
glad to give all | have for the sake of
the man loveS"
We'll, dear, YOU have deeds as we'll
as words to strengthen your belief. If
YOU are giving up for the man you
love, am | not also giving up for the
woman | love? Not so much, perhaps
but still, something"
There was a moments pause and
then she turned to him quickly:
Are you giving up, Ralph? don't
think realized that before. ! thought
II thought You had all to gain and
nothing to lose. | thought thought
THAT you were to bear all the loss,
he supplemented with grave smile.
Would that be fair division of le-
Dor Joan? don't think so,
She covered her face with her hands,
Il thought thought" she muir
INJURED brokenly. oh! Ralph, you told
me that you were miserable in your
home life; that your marriage had
been a family arrangement without
slant fret and strain Of living with a
woman whom you disliked and de-
spised were lowering your moral ma
ture, and making you hard and bitter
and cynical. You told me that | WAS
the only woman that YOU had ever
loved--the only woman in the whole
world that you had ever lovea-and
that | alone could make you happy
and lead you to better things You
told me all that, Ralph, or else or
else"
And | told you the truth, he an
swered doggedly. "As there's a
heaven above us, told you the truth.
But there are worldly and practical
considerations, too. Joan, though you
are so unworldly and impractical that
hardly know how to explain them
to you. In life-in a mans life more
than in woman s-there are things
of almost equal value with love, and
those things | am giving up for you.
Does that sound brutal dear? don't
mean to be brutal, but only to prove
how well love YOU,
What are the things?" she asked,
her face still hidden in her clasped
hands
He frowned uneasily.
ANY other woman would know
without asking. The things are OBJ
vious enough, though it isn't easy TO
put them into plain words, You see,
dear, to begin with, there's the good
opinion of ones fellow-men, and a
man who does what | am going to do
must forfeit that What do you think
will be said of me in the world when
this comes out? Sha'n't ! be called
brute and an outsider, and cut by
every decent man and woman of my
acquaintance for the rest Of my life?
1t isn't as if you were-as II you were
oh you must know what | mean.
rs that all?" she asked.
mo, dear, no. he answered, in the
same uneasy way. that isn't all.
There's my career, you know. al
ways had bent toward politics, and
meant to go into parliament some day.
/ might have made a name for my
self everyone said so-but that goes
with the rest"
Zone thing more, he said in a lower
tone; "there's-there's the boy. The
only living creature in the world that
l loYe-except you. The only one.
Some daySas soon as he's old enough
to under stand, no doubt-some kind
friend will tell him what his father
did, and then-then perhaps he'll
curse me-"
Another pause-a long, long silence.
Ralph turned once more to a gloomy
contemplation Vi the TuSHlHS SlTeulHi
while Joan, with her hands pressed
conyulsively on her thiobbing brow,
sought blindly for a key to the cruel
problem that fate had set her to solve.
Piece by piece, little by little, she
worked it out, according to her lights;
passing every detail in mental review.
until she had learned her lesson-but
at what a cost! All the pain and
longing OF lifetime seemed to be con-
densed into that supreme moment. In
it she touched the highest heights of
suffering, Che lowest depths of despair,
and drained to its dregs the bitterest
cup that life could offer her. Yet not
once did she faltcr or fail. At last
she uncovered her face and looked up
with a new light in her eyes.
Ralph she said, solemnly, thank
God it is not too late. What was going
to be can never be now. Oh! how
blind have been--how blind never
saw things as they really are till this
moment. | thought | was the means
chosen by heaven to save you from