The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-01-12

81 shall see her: this thing can't go on.
I'll send for you; you arc well rid OF
her; il will he all right. L" s;orrn'ng,
and protesting. and contradicting him
self, he went out of the rectory, scarcely
noticing that his host saw him 10 the
door, md let him out, in absolute silence.
Then William West went back and
locked himself into his library.
The senior warden of st. James was
wrong when he said that his minister
lost his moral grip. There was, no
doubt, time Of upheaval and shock, n
staggering under calamity which
seemed To have no moral excuse. 10 be
only senseless shattering of a human
life
But he got his balance again. He
made no effort to see Amy. This was
partly to spare her, and partly from a
sense of the futility of argument; the
thing was done; if she married him ten
times over, il would not be the same.
AS she said. she had never known him;
and perhaps he had never known her.
But. for that matter. who Of us knows
the other? The question is. is ii worth
while 10 try 10 attain, or TO bestow. slch
knowledge? Gossip. of course. had run
riot, when 10 was known that he had
been Tilted; but gossip. after it reaches
a certain point OF insult and falsehood,
becomes source Of amusement to its
victims. West, with his delicate sense OF
humor. found other peoples opinions
OF his sufferings not without interest.
1t being nobody's business but his own,
only three people besides Miss Town
send and himself knew the facts, the
Pauls and his own lawyer; so no light
was thrown upon the subject to Mercer.
which seethed and bubbled, and made
itself wildly ludicrous. The minister
went away after that first fury of parish
excitement was over. and came back in
four months, quite brown, with good
appetite, and several very interesting
pieces Of tapestry which he had picked
up on the other side. He dined'a little
less frequently at the Paul's, and was
ne~rrorce reminded tfIat Mrs. f'uuf had
been instrumental in bringing him to
Mercer.
He became. perhaps. a little more of
mans man; little more impatient
with his feminine correspondents: 2
little less polite to the old ladies VIII
thought him less good cooking, sine
his disappointment" But he took
deep and passionate hold upon affairs;
the conditions of labor. the hideous
problems Of vice; the reformation of the
sordd politics Of the small city in which
he lived-.thesc things filed his life.
We're they enough? Who knows! We
make husks into bread when the soul
starvcs.
As for Amy. that is another story.
II was nearly two years after this, that
John Paul walked home one night with
Mr.. Woodhouse, who was a fellow ves-
'ryman of ST. James. They had been
sitting smoking by William Vests fire.
side, talking over a strike which was
on in one OF the mills, where it seemed
as though the rights lay with the
strikers; fact which these gentlemen
believed to be unusual. 1t was nearly
midnight when they left the Rectory
and went along the echoing street to-
gether.
1T strikes me-" said Mr.. Paul, that
you hadn't much to say for yourself
tonight, Woodhouse. You're the can
niest fellow about giving an opinionl
Didn't you want TO commit yourself?"
IL haven't any opinion yet" said the
other man, slowly: land, somehow,
got to thinking--I say, John. after all.
what do YOU make of Vests telling
Miss Townsend that matter?"
Il think she didn't know which side
her bread lxas- -hnttercd." John Paul
said. gruiliy.
"Oh, that's another question:" the
lawyer said. 81 think almost any wom-
an is too good for almost any man. /
wonder they don't all think better of
IL at the last moment, and throw us
over"
How long have YOU been married.
Giford?" the older man inquired.
cynically. III tell you what Kate
says; Kate says If Amy could throw him