Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1897-01-08

and poor" she said "A woman, toe,
whom society forbids, upon penalty 81
Punishment from the circle in which
she was born and bred, to see,- live
lihood by manual labor. 1t is easy for
men to talk of freedom of thought and
action. The world is before them. To
them the bread of charity and depend
ence mean one and the same thing. The
latter Is the only nourishment of most
women from the cradle to the tomb.
wish the passage between the two was
shcrter-for their sake"
Il never looked at the subject In that
light before" was Edwards remorseful
reply. Poor old Harriet! l see now
how much more she merits pity than
contempt"
'She is no worse off than thousands
Of her sisters" said Constance, in
harsher judgment. Content yourself
with giving thanks that you were
born man"
She had spoken out of the pain of a
wrung spirit, with no thought of plead
ing her own cause. She was too proud
to murmur, least of all to her hus-
bands brother. But the conversation
was key that unlocked for her in his
heart recesses of interest and sympathy
which must else have remained forever
barred against a woman who, whatever
were her virtues and destinations, had
deliberately bartered her charms and
perjured herself in order to secure an
eligible settlement.
And, to do her justice, she is supe-
rior to the practice of the arts that make
Harriet acceptable to my brother and
odious to everybody else," he mcditat-
ed. "She offers no profession of devo-
tion to the man she has married, while
she accords to him the respectful duty
of wife. Elnathan seems satisfied.
Perhaps he Graves nothing warmer.
Pray heaven be may never guess of how
much fate has defrauded him in with
holding from him the free, glad affec-
tons of true wOman!'
If there were any changes in his be-
havior to Constance after this, it was
to be discerned in gentler address, in
unobtrusive regard for her wishes, eX-
pressed or surmised, and a prolonga-
ton of his stay in house that held so
few attractions for her. That this ar
rangement was highly satisfactory to
his brother was not without effect in
shaping his conduct. That Harriet piled
him with solicitations to remain before
his decision was announced, and was
loudly voluble in her protestations of
delight when the question was settled,
had not straw's weight with him.
She annoyed him less than formerly,
however, either, as he explained it to
himself, because he had learned charity
from Constaffce's defense of the lonely
spinster's policy, or because she kept
herself more in the background than
was her wont. She seemed amiably
disposed toward Constance, too, and he
strove to credit her with kind inten-
tons with regard to one whom Nest
people in her situation would have
hated as usurper. She abetted what
ever project of outdoor excursion or
domestic recreation was proposed by
him for Constance's diversion, Offering
herself as the wife's substitute in the
sober phaeton drive on breezy after
Moons, that Constance and Edward
might act as Outriders, and never
failed to call the husbands notice to
her graceful Workmanship and the
brighter bloom planted in her cheeks
by the exercise. Mr.. Withers never
tired of chess, and the indefatigable
toad-eater apparently shared his zeal
on this point. The board was produced
nightly as the days became shorter and
the evenings cooler, and music, reading
or conversation upon art and litera-
ture was carried on for hours by the
remaining two of the quartette without
interruption from the automata bent
over the checkered surface.
For Harriet could be taciturn when
need was-a very lay figure in dumb
ness as in starch. Whether she ever
ceased to be watchful was another mat
ter.
ITO BE Continued