The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1896-06-27

ever hgd taken: lie was 4O-just your
age. The sands of his life ran a long
tine. He would nave been IS in June"
Gerard took the ease. The grave eyes
I seemed looking back into his own with
familiar kindliness.
Tel me about il. Was he i'll? Did
he suffer much?"
Had ne been i'll should have writ
ten so. Ny letters told you of his grad
ual weakening Of body and mind
through many months. lie missed you
and Henry greatly as he failed. He
would sit hours at a time by his window
here and look down the road. think
lie was watching for one or both OF YOU
to come. And then. toward the last. he
sat often"st or the back porch. with a
lingering expression in his eyes. lie
seemed to bc taking a farewell Of the
hills he had always known and 50 soon
must leave. lie did not speak often of
you or Henry. You know he was a
rcticcnt man. The morning of the day
lie died inc asked when you were coming
home. and then he said: IF 1 could
only know them rcconciIcd-my two
boys IA hour or 50 later ! came in,
and he was sitting where you sit now.
with the album on his knee. | spoke.
but he did not answer" Tears were fall
ing fast over Miss AIMS withrred
cheeks. lie had died looking at the
picture of You and Henry. taken togeth-
er as children"
y blur passed again before Gcrard's
eyes. He could not see the tintype in
his fingers.
do you think hat Henry VIII BE-
herein timc?."
lie has been here through it all. He
came the day his father died"
The pronoun his touched Gerard.
1t seemed to put him at an immeasura-
bic distance from the still form which.
without asking, he knew lay in the
closed parlOr. rs mischi"yoUs little
boy. as wild youn" lad. he had received
the larger measure of tenderness. per
haps because followed by the larger
measure of anxiety. but in the ten years
of arrangement between the brothers
Judge Hoynton had turned most to III"
elder son. This had not been Unnot!ccd
by Gerard, though his rare visits home
! kept him from frrIin" the difference.
View interests had crowded ont the old
Excitement of hours spent or change
had put the even tenor OF Bloomington
days far in the background. Until this
moment he had not realized with wha;
strong bonds home associations still.
held him. The life of which he had
grown to think as narrow and primitive
and slow now seemed to have held tn"
essence of true existence. The rich
broker. noted among business men foi
his keenncss and Sagacity. having al
Influence that extended widely beyond
his p~alatial home and that had brought
him many responsible positions, sud-
denly felt himself pitifulIy alone. He
thought of the woman upstairs with the
beautiful face and the haughtily-pOiscd
head. but the thought brought no sense
of nearness TO any human being. Then
he met his aunt's cyes-stiIl wet AMI
shining with almost maternal tender
ness. lie was not alone. after all. II"
got up and went over to her, putting n
hand on her shoulder.
81 will 90 in and see him now"
Shut into the darkencd parlor-be-
fore him only that coffin covered with
the costly flowers which he himself had
chosen. Gerard Boynton stood still. He
felt something keeping him back
something that stood between him and
the dead man. and that would not let
him look upon the quiet face. And he
knew what it was. The enlargement
that had grown between two brothers
frontcd him now like Il visible thing.
1t was taunting him with its power to
hold him AWAIT was reminding him
that his was the blame.
He remembered well how it began.
lie had come for n summe vacation.
and found At the old home a girl whom
Henry had brought as his fiarcee-a
girl delicate and shy. with the sweetest
smile in the world. Md because of the
smile. because Miss Ann pctted her.
and his father talked of her. and Henry
followed her with looks Of devotion. he
had Slipped into Il way OF tryinH 70
please her more than anyone else could
pleaSe-succcedIng 5 % well that one day
Henry paused i'll the library door
with gray eyes blazing black in color
less face. and quivering lips hurting
such words as traitor" and 'scOun-
dreI' at the brother who stood thus
holding Il frightened girl in his arms
and giving back defiance for indigna-
ton. There We're tears from Miss Ann
and ~reprOachcs from the Judge; Henry
shut the bitterness of a heart made void
into his. own room for days: the girl
with the smile went back to her people,
and Gerard went also.
But while with Henry it had been the
love of q life time, with Gerard it was
only a phase. His passion dulled with
distance; his letters grew less frequent.
and stopped altogether after n even
ing at a club reception when a pair of
magnificent black eyes looked into his
own. He married the eyes and Il for
tune with them. The fortune invested
had been many times doubled. had
brought him the reputation of being Il
peculator who always came out gildcd.
but the eyes had brought him only =
splendid creature. who threw over her |
fan at some ballroom gallant such
smiles rs she never bestowed upon her |
'