The record-union., 1896-02-22

gagement and when I hadn't a six
pence in my pocket"
When Mr.. Morgan had finished read
ing his sons letters he folded them up,
and after clearing his voice, handed
them back to their owner.
My DEAR" said he, IF YOU intended
TO convince me that / have lost a
daughter-in-law of whom any man
might be proud, you have succeeded,
Tor such letters are only written to
good women. But I doubt whether that
was your object. Your object. 1 think,
was to lessen my misery a little, if you
could, not your own
The girl nodded 81 wanted you to
understand, . she said
well, you have succeeded there, too
But what can I do-what can anyone
do, now that all is over?"
You can sometimes talk to me and
let me talk to you about him. she an
swered. you have nobody else to
whom you can talk about him, nor have
l, for although my parents are AS kind
as possible, of course they only liked
h1m-he was really nothing to them.
And thought that you might feel as
do, that pain is harder to bear when
one can't speak of it,
Mr.. Morgan was by no means sure
that he felt in that way, but he was
touched and grateful. 1t struck him,
too, that the poor girl must have been
very unhappy before it had occurred to
her to seek a confidant in a sour, reti-
cent old man upon whose good will she
had little reason to count So he told
her what he had told no one else, how
his dream had been to restore Dick to
his rightful position at Ridge End, how
nearly that dream had approached full
hllment, and how he had actually writ
ten to recall the wanderer, who, had he
but known it, was then lying deep un-
der the Atlantic waves, beyond all reach
of recall. Perhaps it was some slight
comfort to him TO relate these things.
Certainly it was a comfort to listen to
what Flo. had to relate in return, and
to be assured that poor Dick had al
ways loved him. This forlorn and oddly
matched couple spent upward of half
an hour together, and at the end of
their interview each had conceived an
affection for the other which seemed
likely to endure as long as their joint
lives. When Mr.. Morgan got up to go
away he raised the girls hand to his
lips, saying:
You have been very good to me- 1
will come again soon. if 1 may. For
some little time, at all events, I shall
not be afraid of wearying you with my
senile chatter"
There is one subject which can never
weary either of US" she replied, with
conviction.
But she was very young and her fell
low-sufferer was very old. 1t would be
ridiculous and monstrous and against
nature that she should continue griev-
ing all her days. Life lay before her,
whereas it lay behind a worn-out sep
tuegenarian. 1t stood to reason that
she would marry some day and forget
this early disaster. So Mr. Morgan said
to himself after he had returned to his
lodging, and when, as was not surpris-
ing, he began to be sensible of some re-
action from his unwonted indulgence in
sentiment. To tell the truth, he had
been thinking that he would make a
Will, bequeathing Ridge End to Flo
Leighton, instead of letting the place go
to the distant kinsman who. in the
event of his dying intestate, would in
herit all that he possessed; but there
arose before him a vision of F'lo's fu-
ture husband-some Brown, Jones or
Robinson, who would entertain his low
bred friends at Dicks table and shoot
partridges and pheasants that Dick
ought to have Shot-a vision all the
more repulsive because it was almost
sure to come true. And then, as one
ugly thought is very apt to introduce
another it crossed his mind that the
girls advances might not have bee2
wholly disinterested. He was ashamed
of harboring such suspicious, but he
could not help himself. He had seen so
much of the baser side of our coDpli-
Gated nature, and he knew so well that
absolute singleness of purpose is a very
rare masculine and a far more rare fem
inine trait
Not that care he muttered; why
should l bother myself about what will
happen after I am dead and gone? All
the same, I don't feel much inclined
to leave the old place to strangers and
if she was thinking of that-as I dare
say she was, and quite natural, too
she must prepare herself for a dis
appointment"
He forgot that Miss Leighton could
hardly have been actuated by motives
of that nature, since she had not been
aware that he had regained possession
of his estate until he told her. Many
fractious children, and not few
grown-up persons, are wont to put for
ward imaginary grievances for the sake
or being contradicted and comforted;
but there was nobody to contradict old
Miser Morgan, to whom at that moment
the memory of a nickname, which was
no secret to him, chanced to recur and
brought bitter smile to his lip. "Miser
Morgan, do they call -miserrimus
would be nearer the mark 1 have
heaped up riches and I cannot tell who
will gather them. Only I know who will
not, and know that / would give them
all for just one sight of a face that will
never be seen again by mortal man.
The sound of voices on the landing
irritated his nerves and seemed to ac-
centuate his solitude. AS a general rule.
submitted uncomplainingly to the very
audible chatter and laughter of the
housemaid, who seemed to be a young
woman of many friends, but now he
felt that he must have silence, and he
Was ABOUT 10 I1iiS tHe yell anu request
her to carry on her conversation in
lower key, when the door was suddenly
opened, and a voice, which was not the
's-a voice which caused him
to bound on his chair-said:
I'm afraid / have given you a fine
fright, sir; but really it wasn't nv
fault"
Dick" shrieked the old man, start
But it's impossiblei it can't be- Good
God what q hearflass hr1lta un11 ,r,,,s.t