The record-union., 1898-10-16

put her to bed (Which he had 70 do all
| the time now, for his mother-in-law
had been called to a sick daughter)
without thinking of deft womanly fin
gers and mother-care, forever gone
| forever lost
He was sitting in his study one moon
! light night after a most depressing
day His consequences" as the Ger
mans say, overpowered him. He need
| ed her So He went to the window
and stood in the moonlight as they
had so often stood together It seemed
to him that she was actually beside
him. his arm around her, her head on
his breast. Even this shadowy COM
panionship comforted him. He hard
| ly dared breathe lest she should leave
| him. He lifted his hand to touch the
| lovely fair hair as of old.
He stopped short in shocked surprise.
He glanced around involuntarily to see
| if anybody was looking Then he
paced the floor in agitation. A start
| ling revelation had come to him. The
head that rested on his shoulder SO low
| ingly was auburn.
His sheet-anchor was gone-eonel
If one could only escape the reaction
quite endurable. One is borne up by
a great passion as by a great emer-
gency. 1t is when the passion is over
and our words and deeds fall back
heavy and lifeless upon our hearts and
| consclences, that the spirit begins TO
grovel. When we seek to justify our
selves to ourselves and cannot; when
common sense rises to ask. What was
s.
| tured by the darts of regret and suf-
fers collapse-then it is that Wisdom
| is justified of her children in declar-
ing in favor of him that rules his own
spirit.
Helen Risdon was upheld by her an
ger till the night watches. Then she
began to toss restlessly and wonder if
she had been quite womanly-if she
hadnt acted hastily. He had been per-
/ fectIy honorable toward her. at least
why couldn't she have declined in a
| calm dignified way? She felt that she
| mad made herself ridiculous in his eyes
and few things are harder to bear
than that
! AS the days wore on her spirits sank
Io"er and lower. She began to realize
the folly of it. She loved this man. She
felt in her soul that she could have
won his love in return if she had had
the opportunity
| Well, she had had the opportunity
and she had thrown it away. She de-
| served to be an old maid and ALWAYS
| live in somebody else's house! And
she thought with a tightening of the
throat, of what she might have made
his home-their home. If only
| Of course he would marry. The next
woman he asked would probably have
| more sense than she had had But
| then-and downcast as she was she
could not help laughing a little at the
thought-he wouldn't be apt to say to
the next one what he had said to her,
She had taught him a little sense. at
any rate. Then she would think in
dignantly:
We'll. l don't care, I'd do the same
thing again! The idea of al man telling
woman he wanted to marry that his
heart was dead! 1t serves him right"
Mr., Lays second summer was almost
| over. His chance of getting through
seemed fair
They seldom met-never. except in
the most casual way. Each felt COM
promised in the eyes of the other. and
| thus barred from making the slightest
advance. And certainly neither want
ed to make any!
But Helen Risdon never once entered
the church that Mr. Lay did not see
her. She came in one evening accom-
panied by a handsome young stranger.
The minister's heart gave a jump-a
remarkable jump for a dead heart,
Then he spoke to himself sternly and
went on reading the hymn-in a me-
chanical way. He was absurdly jeal-
Gus.
He had never preached better SER