The herald., 1898-12-04

|
turn.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, with a sinister
little laugh of welcome. Come up and
have a seat. Hot night, amt it?"
"Very, indeed" was the answer, as
the preacher sat down in the proffered
| chair.
Bates leaned back in his chair and
placed his feet on the banisters and
began to smoke in silence. The minis
| ter crossed his legs awkwardly; he
hardly knew how to introduce the topic
on his mind. There was condemna-
! tory quality in Bates silence. and in
his failure to offer congratulations,
which made the preacher feel like an
offending school boy before his master.
But a beginning had to be made.
1T was" he said. awkwardly, IT was
speaking to Mrs. Mene-my wife
about the apparent coldness on the part
of the congregation after my an
nouncement tonight. She thought per-
haps 1t might have been due to those
reports which were once circulated
about her and-her husbands will"
Bates took his cigar from his lips.
perhaps" was the word he chose
from the preachers remark. perhaps"
| Mr.. Murray took q deep breath.
"She told me that she had consulted
you, and 1 thought perhaps you
might"
"Ah!" The lawyer fliclSed the ashes
from his cigar and turned his back TO
the full moon. 1t was as IL he wanted
to hide the expression Of mingled dis
like and contempt which had met on
his face II don't understand" he
went on untruthfully. what is it you
want to know? Do you wish to ascer-
tain if there is sufficient available evil
dence to convict your wife of the
crime?"
The young minister drew himself up
quickly, but the calmness of the law
yer met him like tangible force, and
held him down.
IL do not assume that there is
even the slightest evidence" he stam-
mered.
the two men. The minister made sew
eral mental efforts to bridge it before
doing so.
II do not understand you." he said,
finally. MY wife told me she had had
a talk with you and that you said you
had advised Mrs. Spriggs and her
brother against taking up the case"
II told them," said Bates, pulling his
long beard slowly and firmly. IT told
them that the mere fact of Tabitha
Bogsworth detecting Mrs Menefee de-
stroying a paper while her husband lay
dead, and as was charged before she
announced the fact to her servant or
the neighbors, would not be sufficient
in itself to convict her of the crime"
The preacher stared: the moonlight
intensified his paleness.
II feel that I need advice from some
one" he faltered after pause.
Bates pushed back his broad
brmmed hat. and stroked a grim smile
into his beard.
"You?" he said sneeringly. "Why,
there Is no danger of your being i'm
plicated, is there"
mo, I did not mean that" floun-
dered the preacher, L"
Bates surveyed his visitor critically.
He was wondering resentfully how he
could love woman who would admire
such weak specimen of manhood. His
reflections angered him.
How long, Mr. Murray" he asked,
have you known Mrs. Menefee? Can
you tell me?"
About seven months" answered the
:, preacher.
And you had heard nothing Of these
reports?"
"She told me the whole story about
how a malicious, jealous woman had
put the reports in circulation, and that
as false as they We're. there might be
people who believed them. 1t appealed
to me to see such an innocent creature
slandered, and that was one reason I
think that I fell in love with her.
How old are you. Murray" Bates
suddenly asked in a tone pregnant
with contempt and suppressed rage.
'Twenty-five," was the answer.
twenty-five, let me see," mused the
lawyer. Mrs. Menefee must be fully
fifteen years older than you, and when
Menefee began to court her. you We're
hardly born; you could not have been
weened when she married him. Now,
as a fact, she has had double the ex-
perience in life that you have had, and
1 would advise you not to start out
running her private affairs. You will
only make yourself ridiculous If you
: do. Then, another thing, you have
married her for better or worse, and
YOU must make the best out of it,"
The minister rose to his feet It was
plain that the lawyer meant to be in
sulting.
Are you one of the people who would
dare accuse her?" he blurted out, in a
J tone of false defiance.
mot by a long jump" replied Bates,
in the vernacular or the section. Il
have just said that our side could not
find enough evidence to convince \
jury, and so, as 1 have always man.
aged Menefee's business, and could
not afford to lose that of his widow, 1
: told the claimants to drop the matter,
and advised Mrs. Menefee to pray that
it may not strike them to consult an
other lawyer. You have married the
woman, Murray, and if you are not
willing to overlook her failings, you
are not the man for her. Put that in
your pipe-but you don't smoke for
l got"
Without word, the minister moved
down the steps to the gate. He want
ed to be rid of the presence of the man
who was trying to make him doubt the
woman he loved. He must not believe
i'll of her; if he did, he saw that all
, would be lost He crossed the street
with more despair upon him than he
1 had imagined could exist in g. world
made by God. Seeing rocking chair
]. on the oorch of his wife's cottage, he
sat down to calm himself and collect
his thoughts before meeting her. He
heard her moving about within the
room behind him. Presently she came
> softly to the front door, She had put
a on a light blue wrapper, and fastened
her hair up for the night A shudder
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