The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-05-07

of the window.
weel-drawn search-warrant" there
was the sound of an opening door
Elsie, bairn, fess me the auld rifle"
The paving of the horses at the gate
filled the silence until the door closed
and Duncan spoke again: MOO, then,
ye limmers, gle ye bath fair warnin.'
I'm on my ain door-stane, an yell show
yerwarrantor come on at yer ain peril"
Thorndyke peered between the Stats
of the closed shutters, and saw the two
men fall back a few steps to hold a
council of war. While they were talk,
ing. another horseman came in sight at
the top of the hill, and a moment later
Protheroe rode up to the gate and dis
mounted. He nodded to the intruders
us he passed them. and Thorndyke was
surprised to see them hurry to their
horses and ride away toward ALA
roociIee. The hasty retreat was ex
rlaned when Protheroe came up the
walk.
"Good evening, Mr.. Duncan. Are you
out cunning for our friends?"
ma, ma, then," said Duncan, in tones
oi eNpostulation; 'ye'd no be eempli-
catin' auId Jamie Duncan for resistin'
the officers O. the law, would ye, Rob-
bie?''
What officers? Those fellows?
They're no more officers than you are.
What were they trying to do?"
Duncan took the engineer into the
house, and his reply was lost to the lis
!eners in the room above. Thorndyke
turned to the old mountaineer. "You
see, Eow, Mr. Kilgrow, what these men
will do. Your safety lies in keeping
out of their reach. Come with me and
I'll let you out the back way"
When Kilgrow had gone, Thorndyke
went down to the sitting-room, but
neither there, nor afterwards at supper,
did Duncan or Protheroe refer to the
unwelcome visitors; and Thorndyke
knew that the wary Scot had succeeded
in satisfying Protheroe's curiosity
without duplicating Kilgrow.
The young engineer brought letters
for Philip, one of which was reserved to
he read in the privacy of the attic bed
room. 1t was from Helen, and Philips
conscience bit him when he tore it open.
Then he smiled at his misgivings as he
read through the closely-written pages.
THE Mortons were here to dinner last
| night" she wrote, land they wanted to
| know all about you; where you were and
| what you were doing. You know best how
| little we could tell them, but they thought
| it odd that you should prefer the wilds of
hOr mo In St1r 10 or
| They have taken a cottage just below us
| for the season. and Derrick Morton has
| brought his yacht around from Mount
| DESERT won't say Bar Harbor That is
| gossip of the time and place, and I could
| fill pages with it, but suppose you care fer
| none of these things now. And really I
don't know just what you do care for; you
seem farther away in Alabama than you
would if you were in Europe; but fancy
| that is because we are so utterly unfamiliar
| with your present surroundings
One thing / must tell you, however.
| few of us here-Derrick Morton. the Van
Ruyter girls. Arthur Haxtell and his
| brother Tom. Dorothy and John Berkeley
and one more-haVe undertaken to redeem
| the frivolities of our corner of Newport by
| forming a reading circle. We read mona
| but new authors, and then we pick them TO
| pieces with refinement of criticism that
| would humble the most conceited beginner
| If he could only hear u.s. l think it's pity
| that some of them can't; don't you?
| wish you could be here to help us. l believe
| you would make a distressingly acute in
| quisitor, and the fact that you once tried
| your hand at authorship would lend pc
cular zest to your censure, if it be true that
| the best critics are the unsuccessful
| writers. Apropos, what ever became of
| your much-rejected manuscript? l should
| like to submit 1t as the effort of one of the
| submerged.
hoHr ,Oht
| of coming back to civilization. From what
| you say in your letters infer that you are
| enjoying yourself after some primitive
| fashion, and, better than all else, that your
| health is improving. Because can believe
| the latter, | can continue to spare you
| while the need exists and since the separa-
tion has to be, 1t is better that we should
| bear it contentedly. l should be sorry to
| have the good effect of DR.. Perevin's pre-
scrption marred by any repining of mine.
and so long you feel that the out-of-door
| life is helping you, l hope you will not let
any strained sense of your duty to your
mother or to me make you abridge it. We
shall get along famously without our preux
| chevalier, and you are not to suppose that
we are obliged to go about uncared for be-
! cause you happen to be buried in the forests
! of Alabama.
Write often, if you feel like it, but don't
| let it become a bore. There is nothing more
dreadful than having to write to some one
when you want to do something else. At
| fectionately, as always, HELEN.
| "P. ST. have been invited to join party
on Derrick Mortons yacht, and If you don't
hear from me again for two or three weeks,
you'll know have accepted and that post
offices are not to be had for the asking"
Philip put the letter down with
smile that was more than half a sneer.
When one sets out to make himself the
| advocate of an unworthy cause, mental
short-sghtedness stands ready to dis
tort and confuse the Judgment; and in
the case of letter, the dispassionate
Journalism of written language lends
itself easily to inferential misconstruc-
tion.
"How could I ever have fancied that
she had any warmth or depth apart
! from the intellectual side of her char
actere" he asked himself. I'm sure l
don't know, any more than know why
| always took it for granted that we
were divinely appointed to be the COM
ponent parts of fthatmysterious creation
which the marriage service declares to,