The true northerner., 1897-08-04
'1t may be for years and it may be

''1t may be for years and it may be
for ever. Can 60 now, please?"
Tell me first that you are not Of
Tended because / came to-day"
mo; l am not offended" she an
swered, slowly, smiling rather against
her will, as it seemed; "but-I think L
ought 10 be, perhaps"
"Oh, but if you're not!" he rejoined,
quickly, hesitating as though uncertain
how much of his thought he might ex-
press. 1T is so much that we can be
friends"
"But the very best of friends must
always part at last" she returned, rath'
er shyly smiling down at him.
(Which means that / have really
reached the limit, suppose" he said,
reluctantly, holding out his hand.
"Well, then, if it must be-good-by."
But in some caprice, due more TO sud-
den shyness than any other feeling. she
refused to see the proffered hand, mere
ly murmuring 'good-by" again, as
once more she lifted the rein 10 ride on
Harvey Neil, weighing and measuring
with a lovers morbid fancy, was cut to
the quick by the little, unconscious
snub.
"'The hand of Douglas is his own! "
he impetuously exclaimed, his detain-
ing grasp still upon the bit. "And to
| think that a moment ago l was fatu-
ously boasting that we were friends!
"Oh, it is not that" she murmured
turning her face away. Il don't know
| why"
But / know" he bitterly exclaimed
although his smile betrayed something
of sardonic amusement at her discom-
| future. ut is because, after all, you
do not forget that am somebody whom
YOU have been hating-that you cannot
really shake off the habit. 1t is such L
fallacy, the popular notion that woman
| is by nature only tender and forgiv-
ing; as a rule, believe she is nothing
of the sort, simply because she never
| forgets. Is it not so. Miss Meredith
All, well, by their long memories the
gods are known and perhaps it is fit
| ting that woman, who is so much more
like unto the gods than we, should bc
particularly like in that respect. You
cannot forget the sum of my imaginef
offenses against your father. Perhaps
l should not expect it; but some day
possibly, time may have so far blurred
the record that you can spare thought
for the fact that from the moment OF
{ our first meeting l have been your
friend; that 1 would have been" he
stopped startled by such a rush OF
! feeling as almost choked his utterancc
though his eyes still clung to their
moclling light and his 12iheipa, acel-
ing was one of ahgry disappointment
as he went IN in a lowered voice.
would have been-all that you could
have permitted, Miss Meredith. But
| you need not look so frightened" break
ing III with a short laugh, as he caught
tb9 expression of her face. 81 have
1eached the limit of my audacity, and
will not detain you longer. Good-by.'
But if a lover could have prescience
10 forecast his lady's moods he wei
might summon fortitude to endure heI
whims and floutings, secure in winning
compensation soon or late through hel
own capricious impulse; for never is
the woman heart so disposed to sweet
concession as when in sensitized brood
| ing upon past offense all the mag
nanimitv Of her nature has been reused
| in longing to make atonement. And
certain it was that Dorothy Meredith
IS she rode away from Harvey Nei
that day, had not been so full of yearn'
ing kindness toward him, but for thai
! little hand clasp which she had re-
fused. 1t had been an unreasoning i'm
pulse TO draw back somewhat from the
attitude of friendly confidence into
which she had almost inadvertently
drifted, but now she reproached her
self for the childish inconsistency, his
! last words gaining force as she repeated
them in her mind, impelling her heart
TO compunctious tenderness hitherto
undreamed of. It would have been s.
little TO concede on her part, the mere
touch of her hand in parting whicl
might be for all time. 1t would have
committed her to nothing, while to hin
it might have been so much, because
ah, could it be true that he loved her
! Considering how little he really knew
her and how irrevocably their paths
seemed set apart, it seemed the widest
maddest idea, ridiculous TO the poin'
of pathos; and yet, remembering tht
look in his eyes, she could not ques
ton his meaning when he said that Inc
would have been to her all that shC
could have let him be. Asking nothing
expecting nothing, he had in effect lai(
his heart at her feet-and she had de
MED him even the mere touch of he
finger tips! And, without analyZin2
her feeling beyond this ground for self
reproach, Dorothy felt that she wa!
fifty punished in that she was very
very unhappy about it.
CHAPTER TX.