Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-05-22

actually In London ] said; she Is only In
the neighboriiood.' For what followed on
this my experience OF ladies' ought to have
prepared me. | am ashamed to say tbs lady
took me completely by surprise"
What did she dog'
Fell on her knees. poor dear, and said:
oh. Mr.. Sarrazin, be kinder to me than yon
have ever been yet: tell Tie where Mrs. Or
mono is! / put her back in her chair and 1
took her handkerchief out Of her pocket and
l wiped her eyes"
And then you told her the addressr'
II was near It, but 1 didn't do !: yet. ]
asked what you had done In the matter.
Alas, your kind heart had led you 10 promise
more than you could perform. She had
waited to hear from YOU il Mrs. Ormond
consented to see her, and had waited in vain.
Hard on her, wasn't IL? 1 was sorry, but l
was still obdurate. | only felt the symptoms
which warned me that 1 was going to make
q fool Of myself when she let me into her Sc
cret for the first time and said plainly what
she wanted with Mrs. Ornoud. Her tears
and her enireaties ] had resisted. The con-
fession OF her motives overpowered me. 1t
is right" cried Mr.. Sarrazin, suddenly warm
ing into enthusiasm, that these two women
should meet Remember how that poor girl
has proved that her repentance is no shame.
say she has a right TO tell, and the lady
whom she las injured has a right 10 hear,
what she has done to atone for the past,
what confession she Is willing to make to the
one woman In the world Though she Is a di-
yorced woman) who Is most interested In
hearing what Miss Westertield's life has been
with that wretched brother OF yours. All,
yes, j know what the English cant may say.
Away with the English cant! Ii Is the worst
obstacle 10 the progress of the English ma
tom
Randall listened absently; he was thinking.
There could be little doubt 10 what destina-
ton Sydney Westertield had betaken herself
when she left the lawyers Office. At that
moment, perhaps, she and Catherine were
together-and together alone.
Mr.. Sarrazin had noticed his friends s-
lence. rs IL possible you don't agree with
me?' he asked.
II don't feel as hopeful as you do if these
.wo ladies meet
"Ah, my friend, you are not a Sanguine
maj by nature. IL Mrs. Ormond treats our
poor Sydney just as Il commonplace, ill-teh.
pered woman would treat her, / shall be sur.
prised indeed. Say, II you like, that she will
be insulted-of this l air sure, she will not
return II; there Is no explation that Is too bit
ter to be endured by that resolute little Great
ure. Her fine nature has seen tempered by
adversely. A hard life has been Sydney'S
depend upon IL, IN the years before you and
1 met with her. Good heavens! What would
my wife say II she heard me? The women
are nice, but they have their drawbacks. Let
us wait till Tomorrow, my dear boy; and let
us believe In Sydney without allowing our
wives-l beg your pardon, | mean mV wife
to suspect In what forbidden direction our
sympathies are leading us. Oh, for shame
Who could persist in feeling depressed in
the company of such a man as this? Randall
went home with the influence of Mr.. Sar.
razin's ~ssnguine nature in undistnrbed pos
session of him until his old seryan S gloomy
face confronted him at the door.
Anything gone wrong, MalcolmT'
I'm sorry to say, sir, Mr.. Herbert has lett
u.s.
Left usl Whyg'
II don't know, sir"
Where has he gomez
He didn't tell me-"
us there no letter.. No message?"
There's a message, sir. Mr.. Herbert came
back"
stop! Where had he been when he came
back"
HE said he felt a little lonely after you
ven out, and he thought il might cheer him
up If he went TO the club. l was to tell you
where he had gone II you asked what had
become OF him. He said il kindly and pleas
~antly-quite like himself, sir. But, when he
came back-if you'll excuse my saying sol
never saw a man i'm a worse temper. Tell
my brother | am obliged to him for his hospi-
tally and won't take advantage OF IL any
longer That was Mr.. Herbert's message.
1 tried 10 say a word. He banged the door
and away he went"
Even Rahdsis patient and gentle nature
rose in revolt against his brothers. treatment
of him. He entered his sitting-r0om In ST.
lence. Malcolm followed and pointed to q
letter Oh the table. Il think you must have
thrown 1t away by mistake, sir" the old man
explained, Il found il in the waste paper
basket" He bowed with the unfailing re-
speet of the old school and withdrew.
Randal's first resolve was to dismiss his
brother from further consideration. Kind
ness is I thrown away on Herbert" he thought;
II shall treat him for the future as he has
treated me-"
But his brother was still in his mind. He
opened Mrs. Presty's letter-on the chance
that IL might turn the current of his thoughts
In q new direction.
In spite of Mrs. Presty, in spite of himself,
his heart softened toward the man who had
behaved so badly to him. Instead of read
ing the letter he was now trying to discover
a connection between his brothers visit to
fla .iph aud HE hrathatss unr xxaeaa-~
Had Herbert heard something said, anon
gossiping members In the smoking-room,
which might accoun. for his conduct? II
Randall had belonged to the club he would
have gone there to make inquiries. How
could he get the information that he wanted
In some other way?
After considering for a while he remem-
bered the dinner that he had given to his
friend Sarrazin on his return from the United
States, and the departure of the lawyer to
his club will a purpose In view which inter-
ested them both. 1t was the same club to
which Herbert belonged. Randall wrote at
once TO Mr.. Sarrazin, mentioning what had
happened and acknowledging the anxiety
that weighed Oh his mind.
Having instructed Malcolm to take the let
ter 70 the lawyers house, and, IL he was not
at home, to inquire where he might be found,
Randall adopted the readiest means Of COM
posing himself, ia the servants absence, by
lighting his pipe.
He was enveloped in clouds Of tobacco
smoke-the only clouds which we can trust
never to prove unworthy OF our confidence
in them-when Mrs. Presty's letter caught
his attention. II the month had been Jassr
ary instead of July, he would have thrown
1t into the fire. Under present circumstances
he took 1t up and read II.
Il bear 40 malice. lear Randall, and i
write TO you as ~aifectionately as II you uau
kept your temper on the occasion when we
last met.
You will be pleased to hear that Gather
Inc was as thoroughly distressed as you could
wish her to be, when II became my disagree
able duty to mention what had passed be-
tween US. by way Of accounting for your abb
sence. She was quite unable Ia rally her
spirits, even with dear Capt. Bennydeck
present to encourage her.
II am not receiving you as l ought she
said 10 him, when we began dinner. but
there II, perhaps, some excuse for me. ! have
lost the regard and esteem of an old friend,
who has cruelty wronged me- From mo-
tives OF delicacy (Which / don't expect YOU
to understand) she refrained from mention
ing your name. You still keep your place,
your unmerited place, In the captains esti-
nation. He asked no embarrassing Ques-