The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-03-09
FOR HERSELF.

one OF uS-noU perhaps ROOu lOOhlnR W
some girls, hut to me everything? He'll
have n rather nasty quarter of an hour |
when he meets my father, but everything |
will soon he right again. He said 1t was
for love, but men are deep. / wonder how |
much love? Would 1t equal miner"
Ruth was 90. Her mother had died II
few years previously, leaving her marriage
rcttlemcnt of considerable magnitude to
her daughter, absolutely to do rs she
wished with. The money was invested |
and invested we'll 1t was rapidly increas-
ing When Ruth first met John Dare, she
! knew little of him. and he knew next to
| nothing of her She was with her aunt, |
md they met first at the hotel at the falls.
| These meetings could not have happened
had she been with her father, but her aunt
had said to her sometimes:
81 married your uncle for love- my
child, and if l have anything TO do with
your life will help you to do the same"
| And when the opportunity came she kept
! her word.
The acquaintance ripened, and they fell
| in love with one another, although this
| Englishman was poor man in compari-
son with Ruth He soon found out of her
wealth by sundry little remarks accidcn
tally dropped, but he loved her, and rs
nothing daunted him he proposed to her
and was accepted.
She sometimes wondered why she cared
so much. Perhaps it was his decisive way
in things. He could so readily make up
his mind for both, and when anything was
required to be settled his firm Judgment
was rarely wrong.
1t was the evening of the day after that
on which he had been accepted that he
came to the house again. Ruth was alone,
and he took her in his arms and kissed
her
Ruth" he said, seeing her face cloud
ed, something has happenedP Your father
will not hear of our engagement. Is that
SO, dear?"
eyes, John" she replied sorrowfully,
father said some disagreeable things, but
it will make no difference to me- Go and
see him, and will follow you soon."
John Dare required no second bidding
to obey such an order. He went.
After knocking at the door, he received
curt Come in" He entered and
found Mr. Haldane sitting by the win
dow. The old man turned and scowled.
"Sit down." he said irritably. $50
you've the consummate cheek to come
here, you penniless adventurer! Tut, tut;
DON t interrupt me, sir, " as John was try
ing to check him. "You insinuating ras-
call"
Dare tried to stop the torrent of abuse
that was being poured on him, but finding
it useless, let the old man have his way
Had he been other than Ruth's father it
would not have gone quite so well with
him.
YES sir, we have made up our minds,
and if you cannot give your consent, We
well, we must manage without it,
"You insulting cur! Do you know that
the money my daughter proposes to endow
you with was the money l settled on her
mother when married her?"
mo; did not know this, and, besides,
2 money is not the question just now.
have my own income, and 1t is good
one. Perhaps l may not be able to give
your daughter all that she has been used
to while with you, but if she loves me she
r won't mind that. Mr.. Haldane, / have
; come to n decision, and with her consent,
I she shall hand you the amount of your
wife's marriage settlement. 1t is Ruth
want and neither her money nor yours. y
Peter Haldane had heard of eccentric
Englishmen-in fact, they all seemed to
him to be a set of cranks, but this man,
1 with his assurance, was the prince of the
lot coolly throwing up all this wealth
q when it was practically his The old man
knew his daughter quite we'll enough tC
know that if she intended to marry this
fellow she would do so, and give him heI
money as well as herself, so that he was
4 powerless to prevent Johns getting it
= AT this moment Ruth entered the room.
: Her father turned to her and said
2 "Do you know what the young fool has
r been sayingp"
"No; unless that it is that we love one
another" she quietly answered
"Love Bosh! He said that if you were
willing he would give up all your fortune
that your mother left you, which, remem
: Der, gave her.
+ "What!' she thought. docs he care
! for me enough for this, for myself alone
{ For have no money but this. Father,
a she said after moment, 81 cannot, if
q would, be less generous than he. | have
decided too. Money cannot give love. To
morrow you shall have back the present
you made my mother 25 years ago. You
will not live to see your daughter bestow
her worldly possessions on u man you do
not approve of, for she will go to him AZ
he wants her, for herself alone. Whatever
J. comes afterward shall know he loved me
. and not quite as the other men you hav,
brought to the house,
: They left Peter Haldane to his rellec
tions. He was learning a bitter lesson il
$ his old age, the lesson that money is not
u quito everything, even in this mercenary
n world, and that a small income with love
q Is more to be envied than endless wealth
g and unhappiness.
~ 1t was four months afterward. Rutl
. had been staying with her aunt. She bat
y returned, true to her promise, the amount
Z of her mothers marriage settlement thu
day after the interview with her father
y John and she were to be married on tn,
J. morrow. They had asked Mr.. Haldane t.
e be present, but he had returned sbor
= though kind refusal
1t was the wedding morning The post
:, man had just left the letters Among then
u she saw one from her father She openct
" this one first, and us she opened it some
K thing fell to tho ground She read on ant
did not stop to pick the small bit of pnpe
up;
MY DARLING DAUGHTER 1.-THE letter ran
, Since that evening when thought John Oar
!, had the presumption to ask for your hand am
AS | MISUNDERSTANDING | have been thinxn