Arizona republican., 1898-09-27
THE OLD
 SILVER TRAIL.
BY MARY E. STICKNEY.
(Continued from Yesterday,

Col. Merctiith's daughter she i'm pulsivcly exclaimed.
 And do you think that I think of it eow-that it counts as anything as be- tween you and ne?" he impetuousIy re- tor,ed. ''To me yon are simply your cclf-thc little worlds fair lady of whom have been dreaming for a year. You are-''
 Don't, please. Mr. Neil," she hur- riedly Interrupted. You may forget lat. I am my fathers daughter, but I cannot. And now. 1 really must leave .,ou. Thanks for my flowers and good | by
 "But wait!" he peremptorily inter posed, cooIly seizing her horse bs the bit. 'sI suppose must not ask when there is any likelihood of our meeting i by charce-again.''
 If you did, should tell you that have TO idea" she quickly returned. 1t ray be for years and it may be for eyer. Can go TOW, please?'
 'Tcll ne first that you are not of i tended because I cane to-day"
 "No; I am rot ctfended," she an- | her will, as it seemed: "but--I think I ought. to be, perhaps
 'Oh, but f you're not!" he reioined. 1 quickly. hesitating as though uncertain how much of his thought he mig ght ex- press. Ut is so much that we can be friends
 .'But the very best of friends must always part at last" she returned, rath- er shyly smiling down at him.
 Which means that I have really reached the limit, suppose" he said, reluctantly, holding out his hand. Well, then, if it must bc-good-by."
 But in some caprice, due more to sud- den shyncss than any other feeling, she refused to sec the proffered hand, mere ly murm uring 'sgool-by" again, as once more she lifted the rein 10 ride on
 Harvey Neil, weighing and measuring with lovers morbid fancy, was cut to the quick by the little, unconscious l snrb.
 "'The hand of Douglas is his own!' :" he impetuously exclaimed, his detain- ing grasp still upon tEe lit. And to think that moment ago I was fatu- ously, boosting that we were friends!" ] ''Oh, it is not that" she murmured, turning her face away. T don't know why-''
 But know" he bitterly exclaimed. although his smile betrayed something l of sardonic amusement at her discom- titure. Ut is because, after all, yor do not forget that am somebody whom | l, 1ot nf really shake off the habit. It is such . fallacy. the popular rotten that woman is by nature only tender and forgir- ing; as q rule, I hclieve she is nothing of the sort, simply because she never | forgets. Is it ret so. Miss Meredith? :? An. we'll By their long memories the gods are knovn,' and perhaps it is fit ting that woman, who is so much more like unto the gods than we, should be 1 particularly like in that respect. You cannot-forget the sum of my imagined offenscs against rour father. Perhaps I should rot expect it; but some day. possibly, t:,1c may have so far blurred thc record that you can spare thought for the fact that from the moment of OUT first meeting I have been your friend; that ! would have been" he stopped, startled by such rush of feeling as almost cholled his utterance. though his eyes still clurg to their mocking light and his principal feel ing was one of angry disappointment as he went on in . lowered voice-"I would have bcen-all that you could have permitted. Miss Meredith. But you need not look so frightened" break ing off with short laugh, as he caught the expression of her face. T have reached the limit of my aUdacity, and i will not detain you longer. Good-by. But if a lover could have nrcscience to forecast his lady's moods he well might summon fortitude to endure her wh;I1is Sns! iiou::Ggs, secure in winning compensation soon or late through her own capric:ous impulse; for never is the woman heart so disposed to sweet concession as when in scnsitizcd brood ing upon a past olfensc all the mag naniI!9itv of her nature has been reused in longing to make atoncnlent. And certain 1t was that Dorothy Meredith. as she rode away from Harvey Neil that day. had not been so full of yearn- ing kindness toward him, hut for that ilttlc hand clasp which she had re- fused. It had been an unrcasoning i'm l: pulse to draw back somewhat from the attitude of friendly confidence into which she had almost Inadvertently drifted, but nov she renroached her self for the childish inconsistency, his fast words gaining force as she repeated them in her mind, irnpelling her heart 10 coupunctious tenderness hitherto undr"amed of. T. would have been So little to cohceile on her part. the mere touch of her hand in Q, parting which might be for all time. It would have conmittetl her to nothing, while to him it might have been so much, bccause-- all, could it be true that lic loved her Considering how little he really knew her and how irrevocably their paths : secIfsTl set apart, it seemed the widest, maas'cst idea, ridiculous to the point . of rathcs; and yet. remembering the