The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-05-28
"Unsuccessfully, I hope ?"

"Up to date, yes; and think there's
no chance for him. Duncan warned
the old man at once"
Good! then everything's all right
yet. By Jove! old man, I've been having
a horrible time cooped up here when
there's so much at stake and every day
is precious"
Protheroe smiled. II can imagine;
but you needn't worry. Allacoochee
hasn't run away yet, and, so far as
know, the company is still solvent. Are
you ready to go back to civilization ?"
Indeed I am, if you'll tell me how
to do it,"
Nothing easier; you can ride my
horse, and I'll walk"
When Philip had taken leave of his
entertainers, and had narrowly missed
quarrel with the Betlouin in the effort
TO make him take payment for his hos
pitality, he was helped into the saddle.
"You want to go to Allacoochee, I
suppose" Protheroe said.
"I'd rather go to Duncans, if we can
get there"
Protheroc's heart misgave him, but
he answered unhesitatingly: at can
be DONE" and they were soon out of
sight of the cabin in the windngs of
trail leading diagonally across the
plateau.
For some miles they pushed on in
uch silence as the narrowness of the
path made compulsory, but when the
sZail broadened into wood road. Pro-
theroe dropped back beside the horse
and they began to speak of the missing
letter. The talk reminded the engineer
that he still had Thorndyke's mail in
his pocket,an he passed it up and con-
siderately went on ahead again while
Philip read the letters. There was one
from Helen, and, yielding to something
like suggestion of moral cowardice,
Philip left it until the last. When he
opened it, he saw that it had been writ
ten on the same day as that about the
marriage portion, and the first words
proved that It was an after-thought.
~ have just mailed one letter to you,"
she wrote, "anl it was hardly out of my
hands before l began to be sorry that
had sent it. AS l remember it now, it
was all about the money,a ought to
have known that you would do what
was just and right without any urging
from me. What l want to say now is
what l should have said then; that l
cannot endure this separation much
longer-that the love which have tried
so hard to keep out Of my letters for
fear l should make you come back to
your hurt refuses to be hidden under
meaningless and commonplace phrases.
"Oh, Philip, if you love me, please
don't let this misfortune raise any bar
tier between &s You know what Aunt
Bellam left me-you know that it is
mine in my own right, and I entreat
you not to turn my gratitude into
misery by refusing to share this money
with me. But you will not, I know you
will not; and if we had nothing else, we
should still have each other, and what
more could we ask?
'In some respects, know you
better than you know yourself; and I
know that if you can have your health
you will yet win place among those
who have fought their way into the
foremost rank. Be good to me, Philip,
dear, and let me share the battle and
the triumph with you. Come back to
US if you are well enough, and if you are
not, please let me come to YOU"
Protheroe heard something between
a groan and an imprecation, and he
stopped and waited for Philip to come
up. "Did you say anything?" he asked.
Nothing worth repeating; think I
was tempted to swear little at the
crookedness of things in general. wish
that cursed horse that threw me had
broken his neck or mine, or both"
"Does your ankle hurt?"
Everything hurts"
Protheroe did not attempt to drive
the conversational nail any farther.
He was preoccupied with his own con-
Germs, and he had been trying to deter
mine what he should do when he
reached Duncan's. Would his part In
the affair be ended when he had seen
Thorndykc safe In the house of his
friends? or would he be expected TO
help his rival in the fight with the com
pany? How would Elsie receive him
after his late transgression? How could
he endure to meet her in the presence
of the man she loved?
They were troublesome questions,
but the engineers perplexitics were as
serenity itself compared with the
tumult of conflicting emotions which
had slain the peace of mind of his com
paniOn Before he had read thrpp lines
of IIelens letter, Thorndyke was sink
ing into the neither depths of self-abase-
ment; and when he had finished it he
felt that it would be O comfort if he
could get down into the road and strew
dust upon his head. This was the love
he had put aside for the sake of mere
impulse born of a sick mans fantasies;
the fine gold that he had tossed con-
temptuously into melting-pot heated
blythe remainder of the simile was
drowned in a submerging wave of self
contempt. And now, at this present
moment, when he was cursing his reck-
less Inconsistency, and wishing from the
bottom of his heart that he had had the
decency to die quietly in the odor of
good faith, she had his letter and she
had learned at his own hands upon what
broken reed her love had been leaning.
After the storm came the calm of
desperation. lie had wrecked Helen's
life and his own, and Elsie's happiness
trembled in the balance. He could at
least save Duncan's daughter, and in
the riot of distracting thoughts this