The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-02-28
THE MUTABLE f1ANY
BY ROBERT BARR.

AiSAf Tears WHICH ndQ Deen near
the surface blinded her, ard she sobbed,
i am alone-alonei
On reaching the school Edna went
directly 10 her room, where she found
letter from her stepmother awaiting
her, and this helped more than any
thing else to drive away the sad
thoughts which filed her mind The
letter ran thus:
My Poor Dear Edna: You will
doubtless have heard of the dreadful
calamity that has overtaken the bust
ness OF Monkton & Hope, calamity
from Which / fear ii will never recover,
although your father, as usual, SCOTS
at what I predict, and says they are
fully insured-as if an insurance policy
could cover the far-reaching effects of
such disaster. There seems little
doubt that the fire was caused by some
OF the disaffected men, exasperated,
/ probably, by the treatment they have
received, although that is no excuse
for the crime. But we are all short
sighted, misguided creatures here be-
low, with the faint of original sin in
each of us: unable, unless directed by
a higher power, to take even the
slightest action that will be accept
able; prone ever to slip and stumble
| II we neglect those warnings which for
| our benefit are shoWered on the lust
and the unjust alike. but if warnings
are passed DN-Or, worse still, ScOffed
| at-how can we hope to profit by them
and mend our ways as an ever-indulg-
! ent Providence-eage to forgive if we
4 but exhibit desire for forgiveness
| intended they should land when l
asked your father in most gentle and
respectful, q hope 1 know my duty as
a wife by this time), way if the fire
had not pointed a great moral to him,
he said with the most regretful flip
"a fKr-- hi I
tempted to correct in you-my poor
child-that it pointed the moral to be
I well insured and to have fire escapes
: from the upper floors; as if ribaldry
| like that was not very much out of
/ place IN speaking of a solemn event
/ where two immortal souls went to
their last account without a moments
warning-going. for aught we know,
through perishable fire to flames that
are never quenched. The usefulness of
/ this thought makes no impression on
your father. who is as stubborn as
ever, and 1 fear no more just to his
men than before all this happened. A
/ poor young man named Marsten has
: been ruthlesslv discharged by your
father, and may now be wandering
about the streets, looking for work
/ and starving, for all that anyone knows
/ or cares. Ask your father why he
was discharged if you want to know,
/ but don't ask me. It's nothing but
| -pride-pride. NV child, take
warning while there is vet time, for
! the night cometh. Harden not your
/ heart.
L shall continue to petition for you
both, for the mercy is unfailing and
unlimited. Your loving but sorrowing
mother.
/ SARAH SARTWELL."
The benevolent intentions of this let
ter were in no wise frustrated, and Mrs.
! Sartwell would doubtless have been
pleased had she known that the read
| ing of it did the recipient of it world
of good. 1t acted as a tonic, and gave
/ Edna something to think about, pre-
venting any morbid reflections on the
wreck she had made of Barney's life.
The discharge of Marsten was a great
/ shock to the girl, and for the first time
in her life she thought her father had
acted unjustly. At first. in bordering
over the unexpected bit of information,
she thought her father had, in some
way, heard of the young mans visit to
/ EastbOurne; but as she turned the sub
/ ject over in her mind she came to the
conclusion that his dismissal was the
result of their meeting in the garden at
! home and the finding of Marsten there
! by her father. The reason, then, the
young man had time to come to East
: DOuIue MdS DtGduSc Ills time Nd uOW
/ his own. And yet he had said nothing
about it, even when she asked him how
( he got away from duty. He had spoken
well of her father, although he must
/ have felt he had been unjustly treated.
/ She had thought nothing of his good
words at the time, but now they came
back to her. She determined to write
to her father. and tell him all about
/ Marsten's visit ard its result, but when
she sat down with the paper before
her, she found she did not know how to
begin. She wished to ask him to re-
/ pair the unnecessary wrong he had
done to Marsten. for there was not the
/ slightest chance of her ever marrying
the young man; but somehow, when
she came TO put this all down on paper,
/ the task seemed very difficult. The
! difficulty was increased by the knowl-
! edge that her father must at that mo-
ment have as much on his mind as
any one should be called upon to bear,
and she pictured the silent man sitting
at home. tired out with the work and
worry of the day while the monotonous
voice of his wife drew moral lessons
/ from every new obstacle he had to
surmount No; she would not add
single care to those already on his
shoulders.
The girl sat with her elbows on the
desk, her chin in her hands, gazing
with troubled eyes into vacancy, as if
the problems that beset her were in the
air before her and could be hypnotized
into solution A bewildering feature of
the case was that she had continually.
of late, to readjust her ideas, and bring
them into correct relationship with
some new fact which came within her
cOgnizance. All the conversations she
had held with her father, many of his
actions. bore quite a new significance
when she learned that he knew Mars
ten loved her. Again, the fact of Mars
tens dismissal lent a sharp poignancy
to her remembrance of his fervent
declaration that. for her sake ne would
strive TO please any master placed over
him. as no man had ever striven be-
fore Edna did not share her step
mothers fear that the young man was
starving; but her Imagination kindled
at the thought of his imprisoned
words his resolute determination to
succeed, addressed to the daughter of
the man who a day or two before had
turned him into the streets. The more
she thought about her fathers action,
the more unjust it seemed. A dozen
times she began letter, and as often
again relapsed into reverie. Barney and
his mystical woes faded entirely from
her memory. Gradually she came to
the conclusion that if she did not in
tervene in Marsten's interests. she
would be making herself responsible for
the continuance Of the injustice; and.
although she wished to relieve her
father from all anxiety regarding her