The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-04-10

quickly, :hesitat ting AS though uncertain
how much Of h,thought he might ex-
press. 1T is sq- much that we can be
friends" "a
"But tho very, sbest Of friends must
always part at last,' ? she returned, rath-
er shyly smiling, down at him:
(Which meanR that I have really
reached the lipIE,,b suppose" he said.
reluctantly, hqIaing out his hand.
Swell, then, if it 1tKt be-good-by::"
But in some e, aiaPrisRe. due more 10 sud-
den shyness tha5sany other feeling. she
refused to see he:R6offered hand, mere
ly murmuring hssgaaod-by''' again, as
once more she EHebeds the rein to ride on.
Harvey Neil, Weighing and measuring
with lovers morbid fancy, was cut to
the quick by the little, unconscious
snub.
"'The hand Of Douglas is his ownl'"
no impetuously exclaimed, his detain-
ing grasp still upon the bit. "And to
think that moment ago was fatu-
ously boasting that we were friends!"
ooh, it. is not that" she murmured,
turning her face away. Il don't know
why" -. :. 49,
"But I KNOW he bitterly exclaimed,
although his smile betrayed something
of sardonic amusement at her discom-
future. "It is because, after all, yop
do not forget that am somebody whom
you have been hating-that you cannot
really shake off the habit. 1t is such o
fallacy, the popular notion that woman
Is by nature only tender and forgiy-
ing; as rule, I believe she is. nothing
of the sort, simply because she never
forgets. Is it not so, Miss Meredith?
All, we'll, 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 be
particularly like in that respect. You
cannot forget the sum of my imagined
offenses against your father. Perhaps
I 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 I have been your
friend; that would have been" he
stopped, startled by such a rush Of
feeling as almost choked his utterance.
though his eyes still chung to their
hooking light and his principal feel
ing was one of angry disappointment
as he went on in a lowered voice-'I
would have been-all that you could
have permitted, Miss Meredith! But
you need not loole,so frightened" sbreai-
ing off with short laugh, as he caught
the expression Of her face. II have
reached the limit of my audacity, and l
will not detain you longer. Good-by."
But if lover could have prescience
to forecast his ilady's moods he we'll
might summonzfertitude to endure her
whims and foutmgg, secure in winning
compensation s6qn 5or late through her
own .capriciousi impulse; for never is
the woman hea1s so disposed to sweet
concession as when 3lss in sensitized brood
ing upon past oHense all the mag
nanimity of hernatalre has been reused
in longing to #ake atonement. And
certain it was ,thati Dorothy Meredith,
Us she rode awayz from Harvey Neil
that day, had not been 50 full of yearn-
ing kindness toward him, but for that
little hand. clasp (which she had re-
fused. It had Sbeensan unreasoning i'm
pulse to draw kaEk Somewhat from tho
attitude of: friendly sconfdence into:
: which SHE seahhosts 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 1t would have been so
little to concede on her part, the mere
touch of her hand in parting which
might be for all time. It would have
committed her to nothing, while to him
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 point
of pathos; and yet, remembering the
look in his eyes, she could not ques-
ton his meaning when he said that he
would have been to her all that she
could have let him be. Asking nothing,
expecting nothing, he had in effect laid
his heart at her feet-and she had de-
MED him even the mere touch of her
finger tipsl And, without analysing
her feeling beyond this ground for self
reproach, Dorothy felt that she was
fifty punished in that she was very,
very unhappy about it.