The Winslow mail., 1898-05-07

A0oSiiCu HIS edT SteI1eU W llLSSA eANAS
for hours in mockery.
"False and heartless, a coquette to
the core; why should 1 care2" he
thought, aloud. But, spite of his rea-
soniEg, the pain at his heart would not
| lie stilled.
1t was dusk when Capt. Randolph dis
! charged his precious burden at her I'M
cle's door, and in the shadow he held
for one moment the little hand tenderly
within his own as he whispered:
Remember, Grace, I am to hope! ]
shall not let you forget. I will wait
your answer" ard with a lock Of tri-
umph in his handsome eyes he bade
adieu. The two weeks which followed
were to Gruee weeks Of wearying ex-
citement. Capt. Randolph pressed his
suit with eager ardor, but the spirit of
reckless defiance was dying out, and
Grace felt that she never could love the
man to whom she stood almost pledged
81 have come for my answer. Mig
non," he said one evening. "Need l ask
| it in words?''
81 fear you will not care to hear it, -
| she replied, softly. ST have done you
! gross and bitter injustice, Capt. Ran
dolph, and can only appeal to you for
forgiveness. can never be your wife. -
Grace, are you made"
The question came short and stern1v.
"Some times I fear | am, but we are
always pitiful to those whose brains are
crazed, are we not?" This last with a
little appealing smile. "You are strong
and generous, Capt. Randolph. You
can forgive weak woman"
81 do not go about crying forgiveness.
1 ask you once again, are you mad, or
who has done this thing?"
81 am not bound, have never promised
myself to you, that you should thus
question me-"
A harsh laugh broke from the mans
| lips. "Not bound-no, not In fetters of
iron, but bound by the looks your eyes
have given, the. words your lips have
spoken. Last night left you with the
assurance that my answer awaited me
when we next met, with no doubt with
in my mind as to your assent. am not
a man to be trifed with, Miss Weir.
Take care lest you try me too far"
''The man who stoops to threaten a
woman is unworthy even her scorn. Do
your worst, Capt. Randolph, only rid
me of your presence"
That night note was put into Grace
Wcir's hands. Well she knew the bold,
fearless writing inscribed upon the en-
velope, and she opened it with sense of
comfort, a. word of forgiveness awaited
her after the excitement of the day. It
ran thus:
81 have but few words to say to you,
Grace, the last / shall ever write. To-
day in the club your name was spoken
lightly by the man against whom once
warned you, the man who has come be-
tween us. Forgetting this, remember
ing only that your name was a sacred
thing, though mine no longer the right
to protect it, / sprang across the room
and struck with my glove the mouth
which had dared breathe it other than
with respect. The room was almost
deserted, and the affair will be strictly
confined to the two or three members
present. Capt. Randolph, as a gentle
man (?), could not brook the insult.
We fight at dawn. If / fall, Grace, re-
member that loved you to the last, and
could lose my life in no dearer cause.
In either case I shall never see you
again; but living or dead keep in your
heart d green spot for the man who, in
losing you, lost all that made life dear.
NEIL HORTON"
"Neil! Neil!" burst in a gasping sob
ha III II ] oil
upon the couch she sank in a merciful
Inconsistencies. Two days had passed
before her brain recovered the shock,
and when the reality Of the present
came to her, it was with the fearful
knowledge that all was over-that Neil
was dead or murderer.
care you awake, dear?" soft voice
said, her cousins, who had, unheard,
approached the bed. 'Poor little moth
erless girl" she said, bending over her
with a kiss. 'It is all right, Grace, dear.
Neil fired in the air. His antagonist
wounded him. though not fatally. He"
but the sentence was unfinished, for
once more consciousness had fed. The
thanksgiving at her soul had proved too
much for the exhausted body.
"Come in!" said manly voice, some
two weeks later, in answer to feeble
rap at the door, and then the speaker
sank his head back upon the chair
where he sat pillowe up, still weak and
helpless The tired eyes did not unelese
with the opening of the door. 1t was
only another tiresome nurse, he
thought, until whisper fell upon his
ear, simply his name, but one would
have supposed it breathed by the an
gels, so glad was the light which swept
over his face,
"You conquered pride once, Neil"
said the little figure, now kneeling at
his feet, "and came TO me. I did no:
need to conquer mine. 1t all had fed
in the moment of your danger. Oh,
/ Neil, have I not suffered enough? For
give me and take me back to your
heart"
81 cannot take you back, my own"
he answered, drawing her up to his
breast. "You have never left it, dear;
but Grace, now and for all time to
come, it stands a shield between you
and the world" and she, leaning her
head upon it, sobbed out her gladness
on their new life,-N. Y. Ledger.
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