The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1897-12-24
neither there. nor afterwards at supper.

neither there. nor afterwards at supper.
did Duncan or Protheroe refer to the
unwelcome visitors; and Thorndyke
knew that the wary Scot had succeeded
in satisfying Protheroe's curiosity
without duplicating Kilgrow.
The young engineer brought letters
for Philip, one of which was reserved to
lie read in the privacy of the attic bed
room. 1t was from Helen. and Philips
conscience bit him when he tore it Open
Then he smiled at his misgivings as he
read through the closely-written pages.
THE Mortors were here to dinner last
night" she wrote, land they wanted to
know all about you; where you were and
what you were doing. You know best how
little we could tell them, but they thought
it odd that you should prefer the wids of
Alabama in summer to Lenox or Newport.
They have taken a cottage just below us
for the season, and Derrick Morton has
brought his yacht around from Mount
Desert-I won't say Bar Harbor. That is
gossip of the time and place. and 1 could
fill pages with it. but suppose you care for
none Of these things now. And really I
don't know just what you do care for: you
seem farther away in Alabama than You
would If you were in Europe: but fancy
that is because we are so utterly unfamiliar
with your present surroundings.
One thing 1 must tell you. however.
few of US here-Derrick Morton. the Var
Ruyter girls. Arthur Haxtell and his
brother Tom, Dorothy and John Berkeley
and one more-have undertaken to redeem
the frivolities of our corner of Newport by
forming a reading circle We read none
but new authors and then we pick them TO
pieces with a refinement of criticism that
would humble the most conceited beginner
g q mfr
that some of them can't; don't you?
wish you could be here to help U.S. believe
you would make distressingly acute in
quisitor, and the fact that you once tried
your hand at authorship would lend pc
Culiar zest to your censure. If it be true thar
the best critics are the unsuccessful
writers. Apropos. what ever became of
your much-rejected manuscript? 1 should
like to submit it as the effort of one of thu
submerged.
II suppose you have no present thought
of coming back to civilization. From wha:
you say in your letters infer that you are
enjoying yourself after some primitive
fashion. and, better than all else. that your
health is improving. Because can believe
the latter. 1 can continue to spare you
while the need exists: and since the separa-
ton has to be, 1t is better that we should
bear it contentedly. should be sorry to
have the good effect of Dr. Perevin's pre-
scription marred by any repining of mine.
and so long as you feel that the out-of-door
life is helping you, hope you will not let
any strained sense of your duty to your
mother or to me make you abridge it. We
shall get along famously without our preux
chevalier, and you are not to suppose that
we are obliged to go about uncared for be
cause you happen to be buried in the forests
of Alabama.
Write often, if you feel like it, but don't
let it become bore. There is nothing more
dreadful than having to write to some one
when you want to do something else. AT
fectionately. as always, HELEN.
Up. 81 have been invited to join party
on Derrick Morton's yacht, and if you don't
hear from me again for two or three weeks.
you'll know I have accepted and that post
offices are not to be had for the asking"
Philip put the letter down with a
smile that was more than half sheer
When one sets out to make himself the
advocate of an unworthy cause, mental
short-sightedness stands ready to dis
tort and confuse the judgment; and in
the case of a letter, the dispassionate
Journalism of written language lends
itself easily to inferential misconstruc-
ton.
"How could I ever have fancied that
she had any warmth or depth apar;
from the intellectual side of her char
acIeT lie dSkcu uluScl1. LII SUI Z l
don't know, any more than know why
I always took it for granted that we
were divinely appointed to be the COM
ponent parts of that mysterious creation
which the marriage service declares to
be one person, but which all experience
says is still more than ever two. Could
Elsie Duncan write such a letter as
that to the man she loves? Would she
turn neat phrases and Bah! the
comparison is absurd! And yet, on the
other hand, it isn't fair to blame Helen
because I don't happen to be the one
man in the universe who is capable of
calling out the best there is in her; and
l don't blame her. She may find the
right man yet; it's barely possible this
cruise in Morton's yacht will turn out
to be more nearly divine appointment
than an agreement made by our fathers
while we were in neutrality-suspicious."
Thus Philip. in a plausible attempt
to justify himself. How should he know
that the cool and dispassionate letter
was only part and parcel of the hard
task Helen had set herself in the begin
ming? How was he to guess that she
had steadily resolved from the first to
say nothing that would tempt him to
turn back to his hurt? BY what inner
eLo,,1I ho bo vo haon n hIef