The record-union., 1897-12-05


| Not for me- replied P'tite with care
| full careiessness. I'm going home to-
morrow
| He stopped and looked at her.
7 imagine it is about time" he said
shortly.
The girl clenched her hands to steady
herself.
You are thinking what is not true"
she cried, about-about what you saw
| just before dinner"
You mean, then, that you are en-
! gagged to Clark
mo. / am not
.'Then. / am thinking what is true
| P'tite sprang to her feet, her small
body quivering with excitement.
You can never live long enough to
atone for that speech" she cried. L
/ tell you that you have offered me
! greater insult than any other man ever
/ did. You are the only man who has
ever dared question me for one mo-
ment You have no conception OF what
motives another person may be con-
scientiously guided by. You are totally
unsympathetic. absolutely heartless IN
| your Judgment of every one. Some
| day you may know yourself the misery
and bitterness that you have caused
| that you are willing to cause others.
| She dropped into the seat again and
/ buried her face in her arms against the
wall A moments deliberation and Jack
/ sat down beside her Her action was
evidence enough. He drew her hands
1 gently but firmly from her face.
ITO show you whether l am heartless
| or not win confess to you what un-
| der any other circumstances could not
| have been forced from me. If | have
appeared cold it was from my endeav-
ors to hold myself IN check when ]
! thought that by giving way to my true
| feeling it would mean only a compro-
mise of self-Tespect and pride. For
until this moment / have never i'm
agined that there was the slightest
! chance of anything in the world OF
anything but an ignominious failure ii
! | were ever rash enough to make
venture. But the betrayal you have
| just made-for l think it is one-makes
me dare to hope that | have been mis-
| taken. Tell me, P'tite, am | wrong?
| But she wrenched her hands from him
and was again on her feet almost
magnificent in spite OF her small stat
ure in her scorn. "Ignominious defeat
/ Self-respecti Compromise. You dare
/ to tell me that your pride has held you
! back heretofore, but now that there IS
not 50 much danger of it's being put
/ to humiliation, you are willing to take
! chances. You pitiful egotisti Do you
! care to know what I really think of
you? I despise you from the bottom
/ of my heart! L would not marry you
| if my life depended upon it," And with
that she left him. He did not attempt
| to detain her.
| The next morning in spite of Fay's
remonstrances P'tite went home. Dur
| ing the remainder of the week Jack
was clever enough to be so guarded in
his exterior that though no one doubted
the main reason of the girls departure
there was still no suspicion of there
! having been a crisis.
So many of us for the qualification
of the moment seal our hopes for time
indefinite. For some weeks P'tite as
sured herself that she had acted on
a worthy impulse. Her wounded pride
rebelled against an acknowledgment of
error even to herself But as the days
| went on the storm in her heart abated
and in it's place there came an atmos-
| pltiC VI Sell -dDdSCiIltilt. Ills licAd DCOii
a natural pride, she told herself, and
she had shown the more contemplate
spirit in her uncharitable reception OF
the confession he had made. But in
| spite of regrets and declarations she
could not bring herself to take the in1-
tiative by writing a conciliatory letter,
and springs came and then summer
I without any prospect of a settlement.
| She had heard of him here and there
through the Northern papers and her
| correspondence, and he seemed to be
always in the thick of some movement
In June she received an invitation
| from Nell Eeatherton to spend class
| day week in Boston, and with the other
| inducements offered not the least the
| one that Jack Crawford was to be in
town, and that here was her chance
for revenge for the way he had cut her
at Fay Sterling's in December She
| accepted the opportunity as a proviso
| of fortune and went to Boston. Before
! going she feared that Nell HeathertOn
would comment on his negligence in
calling but her mind was eased on this
point almost as soon as he arrived.
Il told Jack Crawford that you were
to be here" said Miss Heatherton, but
it would be just like him not to come
| to see you for two weeks, so / have
forest tailed his rudeness by asking him
/ to go out to New Center on the drag
/ tomorrow. He has accepted and
shall seat him next to you. There is not
much need of encouraging you to play
your cards we'll, for you can usually be
depended upon to keep up your end"
P'tite lay awake half the night plan
ming system of advance and retreat,
| but finally she gave it up in despair,
| for she could not reckon on the de-
| gree of his present apathy. Stoical
| he would certainly be, but whether by
| this time it would be perfectly genuine
or still blind she could not determine,
and therefore must leave the decision
to fate and the morrow One thing she
| was certain upon. Throughout her
whole stay in Boston she would pre-
serve a dignified bearing at all costs,
whether he was present of not, so that
the benefit OF her department might
reach him. even though indirectly
The party next day were already
seated before Mr. Crawford put in an
appearance. Miss Heatherton inter-
rupted his apologies and ordered him
up to the front seat beside P'tite. Fol-
lowing her motion with his eyes, Jacks
face assumed an expression OF sur
prised delight, and his hat came off
with such energy that other eyes than
Nell Heatherton's opened in astonish-
ment.
Scarcely taking time to nod to the
| other members of the party he sprang
up to his place, under fire of Harvard