The Holly chieftain., 1898-01-07
A CASE In EQUITY.
,cepynsh. .ss,. BY J. B. l,vp.asoa Co,
xIII.-cosrIsuED.
BY FRANCIS LYNDE.


rode often up the valley, both for the
sake Of the intimacy which the nature
Of his quest made impossible elsewhere.
and because he honestly wanted to be
true TO the new ideal, and he went
oftener and stayed longer when he be-
gan to feel the ground slipping from
under him in the small matter Of senti-
ment. He said rather bitterly that hc
must be true to something; that he
should lose what little sclf-respect his
tickle precipitancy had left him il he
suffered himself to swerve from the
plain path he had chosen in the day of
illness.
For some of the doubts and much
of the dissatisfaction, Elsie was her
self answcrable- She wns, frank with
out being confidential; she was nffec-
tionate and sympathetic. but she never
gave him m opportunity to add word
TO those already spoken. She rejoiced
frankly in his stubborn perseverance
in the Kilgrow AFFAIR, md she was
openly thankful when the tide of i'll
health began to ebb; but beyond oil
this, Philip felt that there was bar
rier which he had never been permit
ted TO pass. He told himself that it
was maidenly modesty-a nice refine
ment OF womanly delicacy which de-
Tended her from the ambiguity Of his
impulsiye declarations; and in this be-
lief he went about, seeking the OPP
portunity for palmer speech which
chance or something else persistentiy
dtnied him. Sometimes it was Elsie's
mood; oftener it was the presence Of 4
third person = either Duncan or his
wife, or Protheroe. After such battle
mcnts Philip scourged himself dutiful-
ly, heaping abuse on his own head for
not overriding such trivial obstacles.
He insisted that he owed it to himself
no less than to Elsie that there should
be clear understanding between
them: driven into words, the thought
would have been that he would be surer
of himself when there was no possibili-
ty of retreat.
Without doubt, and in the face of
much matter for thankfulness, Philip
was neither good enough nor bad
enough to he wholly comfortable. Like
most compromises, the compounding
with ones conscience leaves the main
question still unsettled; and as to ben
Gifts, 1t was TO the giver and not to the
receiver that the blessing was prom
ised. 1t is true that Philip had found
an employment that called out the best
there was in him, and that in the hat.
tic he had somehow stumbled into the
Path that led away from sickness and
despondency; but Mt times he wns tor
mented by the thought that he had
paid too dearly for ambition and bet
ter health. II was If he had sold him
self for an extension of life and the
wherewithal to make it worth the hav-
ing.
Two grains Of comfort he had man
aged to sift out Of the summers chafr.
One was that Helen's sisterly letters
added no fuel to the fires Of conscience,
and the other was the news that the
bank in which the Thorndyke money
was invested was in difficulties. he
smiled at the thought that he was
able to extract comfort from this. but
go it was; the threat of disaster made
him throw himself with redoubled ar
dor into the case in equity. It night
easily happen that his attorneys fee
would be NIL that was left him when
the day OF reckoning came, and under
the spur Of this premonition he took
counsel Of zeal and taxed his resources
yet more persistently.
And in the matter of resources Philip
had developed a creditable measure of
that ingenuity which is usually but not
always the handmaiden of experience.
He had attempted through various
channels to make overtures to Prag-
more. He had tried to trace Gates and
his convenient witness. He had ran
sacked the old town. ferreting out
everyone who could give him the slight
est information about Gates or Kilgrow,
the tenantry OF the farm. the raid Of the
revenue officers. and such other scraps
of local history us might have bearing
ON the case. He had ridden for days on
the mountain in hopeless attempt to
find witnesses who could certify that
Kilgrow had not been in Allacoochee
on the Goth of May, 1885. And when all
these expedients had been pushed TO a
fruitless conclusion. he had secured the
services of New York detective. who.
after three weeks Of pninstaking inves-
tigation. threw up the case in disgust
and went back to the metropolis.
The forests on Jubal mountain were
beginning to hoist the ensign Of au-
tumn when the professional thief-taker
boarded the train for New York, and
Thorndyke was already sitting his
brain for fresh suggestions, when the
laconic wires, supplemented BY the tar
dier but more explicit mail. brought
news Of the failure Of Hallam's bank.
It was an assignment. and-so wrote
Mrs. Thorndyke. hopefully-the pub
lished assets were much in excess OF
the liabilities, but letter from Col. Van
Cott went nearer the truth. When the
Affairs of the bank should be settled,
Said the solicitor, there would be mon
cy enough to satisfy the dcpositors and
other creditors, with possibly small
dividend for the stockholders. As 10
the latter, however, the colonel inti-
mated that Philip would do well to
leave 1t out Of his plans for the future;
in the meantime. and for present neces-
Sities there were few hundred dollars
which he, the colonel. Ind taken the
Iibcrt- 10 transfer from Hnllam's to
his ~ bank out Of the Inst semi-an.
nunl dividend, which sum was subject
TO Phillips order. ~
The same mail brought letter from
Helen, The securities which had been