The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1897-05-05
CopYRIaHr BY AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION,

American renown without being
troubled TO so much rs open her lips.
True, renown was all she would earn:
but she had voluntarily given up the
offer of other emolumcnts before the
false Mariana had ever been thought of.
OF course lie is lie, after every cX-
cuse has been made for it; yet there
may be cause for congratulation If n lie
prove to contain no other mischief than
the simple invasion of n truth.
In this opinion she was, It nncd scarce.
ly be said, cordially supported by Ham.
ilton Jocelyn and Nine BemaX; nor was
her father disincline1 to ta,:, nm ops.
mistic view of the GituatiOn. Tn latter
gentleman. by the way. seama1 q have
taken fresh start in life since hil trou.
blcs came 60 head, thnrcil following the
example Of many prominent citizens Of
New York and other placad WHO, whcn
other sources of supply run dry, Hrn nc.
customed to tap with golden success the
unfailing spring of insolvency Mr. Ran
dolph had taken rooms IN small but
elegant fiat ON Fifth avenue. and was
living the life of rejuvenated bachelor
and man about town. The possession
of u momentous secret flattcrcd his sense
of self importance. and the incunbcncy
of minor sinecure in the municipal
government, which he had obtained
through Gen. Inigo's friendly interest
with the Democratic mayor, enabled
him to assume the air of one who is on
confidential terms with statesmen. He
had been at considerable pains to devise
ambiguous explanations of his possession
of ready money and of the singular dis
appearance of his daughter, and had
been somewhat disappointed to discover
that no one seemed to be aware that he
had ever lacked the former or owned the
latter.
The world, Mr.. Randolph thought,
must be barbarously large as well as II
repphensibly inattentivc place, since it
had failed 20 follow with solicitudc the
course of his domestic concerns How
ever, il there was neglect OH one side of
the account. it was balanced by con
venience on the other, and the unsus-
pecteG father of the greus pri,na donna
made IL virtue Of ipipunty.
He visited his daughter twice or thrice
n week, besides hing present at her per
forlnances; but ii afforded him u certain
qualification to surround their inter
views with an elaborate network of Sc
Grey and intrigue. as if he were an
eDamored Montague seeking to com
mune at peril CIT their lives with u love
lorn Capulet. There was evidently vein
'of romance i'm this old gentleman which.
,lpld il been gDroperly cultivated in dJe
SEASON. miyh1have considerably enlarged
his character.
To return however. TO the prima don
mas conscience. 1t wonld probably have
=subsided int u condition of comfortable
acquiescencs in destiny thad it not been
for the stiS.rlus unconsciously applied
to it by a gentleman of her acquaintance
She could never meet Geoffrey Belling-
ham withou. wishing that Mile. Mariana
had never been born. or at least that
she herselfmight have achieved her fame
in some straightforward and unencum-
bered way. When n certain tender look
and smile, very winning in one whose
features were naturally severe, came into
his face the pleasure it gave her was
marred by die reflection, How would he
iooh hIitW WIiL am! IL Is TRUE
that he belie''ed her to be a woman whose
moral character was currently supposed
to be less immaculate than good many
aliases world render thDt of Beatrix Ran
dolph; none the less she felt, when in his
presence, fhat her one actual sin was
more burdensome than all the vicarious
naughtiness of the unknown Russian.
She told herself that Geoffrey had per-
haps made op his mind to condone Ma-
rana's delinluencies, taking into account
her foreign training, her temptations,
and the loose standard of morals that pre-
vailed in Europe, but that he never would
forgive Bea;rix for having deliberately
misled him-she, an American girl,
brought up amid all the enlightenment
and fastidiols rectitude of the great re-
public. This was the crslmpled leaf in
lher bed Of noses. and il chafed her re-
lentlessly.
But persons whSse perception of their
. walue-social. artistic or sther-is ON the
way to beguiiet them into making golden
calf of themselves in the wilderness, may
have reason to be grateful for the i'm
plicit criticism Of some severe eyed Young
lawgiver, whose exhortations are none
the less effective because they happen to
he the utterance of the silent voice Of
character.