The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-07-17
tempted, wretched creatures. to give
myself a wider field.

-
A bed sitting room In a cheap lOds-
ing, the july sun creeping through
small window, and the 1yur. of Ca
milla wrtt,ny ty deal table.
$50 rs C"er," she said. with a sigh
of relief, "the long. hard year"
She folded her letter and added it to
a pile at her side.
How strange to be picking up the
threads just where / dropped them
year ago. 1 wonder If i have really
been missed-I wonder If my disap-
pearance made any difference to any
body?"
She thought over the last twelve
months, contrasting them with the
rest of her life, and as she medtated
saw again incident upon incident pass,
picture-like, before her eyes.
The first difficult struggle, when the
absence of little comforts seemed al
most like the rending of body and soul,
and then the rush of active work
among a class of busy workers-morn-
ing, noon, night, every hour needed,
every minute of Importance. The de-
light, too, of finding herself power
by means of the money she had hither-
IdSnlOn,
about doing good. She remembered the
fatigue and horror she experienced
when first visiting the squalid scenes
where the field of her labors lay. Then
the thrill of pleasure when faces lit up
and smiled, when lives frightened, and
men and women seemed happier for her
presence; and, last of all, the forgetful-
ness of self which nodded her charac-
ttlY ha,
into woman.
But now, stifled by the heat of the
slums, and yet with the keen appre-
citation for enjoyment still flowing
through her veins she was to return to
the old life and the pleasurable ways.
The pretty house in Wimpole street
was to be opened out again for two or
three weeks of the fleeting season,
and Camilla would return to the bosom
of her friends, to bloom again in the
flower-Sarden of her own world.
She got up and moved about the mar
row room with light tread and dancing
eyes; she laughed aloud at her
thoughts; she clasped her hands over
her heart, marveling at its rapid beat
ing,
II shall go as I came" she said,
one. Tomorrow 1 shall drive away
vanish! l shall hate to be thanked, to
listen to gratitude or blessings-it
would make me feel brute for going.
/ stepned out Of my own groove, ana
I must step back again. The children
here call me the good fairy-I will
keep UP the mystery to the end"
Camilla was resting on the sofa, try
ing to read a novel, when Mrs. Bellairs
was announced.
She sprang up with cry of pleasure,
and flung her arms around the visit
ors neck.
80, Polly, dear" this is nice seeing
you again!"
Mrs. Bellairs disentangled herself
from the embrace. greeting Camilla
less cordially.
You We're lying down. were you
not?" she said. Il am afraid that 1
disturbed you"
Il had headache, but you will take
it away. l have so much to talk about
/ do not know where to begin"
Camilla drew chair forward as she
spoke.
What save you headache -heat?"
mo worry! Tell me, Polly what does
it all mean? I've been away only a
year, and yet 1 seem to have lost touch
with everybody. Why do people look at
me coldly? All, l have noticed it, you
need not shake your head. Why do they
avoid me, as if l were a criminal? Our
lives are our own, to do as we please
with. One would almost imagine, be-
cause 1 have chosen to absent myself,
to go into retirement for a year. that
people thought"
But Camilla broke off, as if her SEN
tence was not worth finishing.
"Well, dear, people will think, and
people will talk-there is no stopping
them. Your conduct was certainly
strange, and if innocent, misleading"
Camilla sprang to her feet, her color
mantling in her cheeks, lips quivering,
eyes flashing.
What are you daring to insinuate?"
she asked.
II insinuate nothing. What have you
to say for yourself?"
The retort staggered Camilla ITO
say for MYSELF she asked.
"Yes, to repudiate the scandal"
II don't understand" Her face
turned pale.
1T is very simple. Last summer your
name, unfortunately, was coupled with
a certain Mr., Wilson," said Mrs. Bel
lairs, cycling Camilla sternly; "he went
away, you went away-no one knew
you were going; he has just returned,
you have just returned-in the mean
while your hiding-place has been kept
secret. We may open our eyes, we may
look at you askance, but we do not
condemn you, Camilla, because"
Enough! have been insulted suffi-
ciently. Listen" and a hard laugh
broke from her: II will satisfy your
curiosity. While society has been
spreading its vile ISLANDERS have been
working, slaying, month after month,
in the poorest parish In the East End
of London. l need not trouble you
with details, why did it, my motives,
or what l gained, l think II has taught