Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-03-19


II am, and II can be of any service to
you, pray let me know, ma am I'm sure
Mr.. Gaylord would wish me to do anything
in my power-or-Of his, ma'am's
Mr.. Gaylord" said the lady. .was-was
| a friend Of mine. He has gone just when I
needed him most. do not know what to
do--what to do-what to dor She wrung
her pretty little hands together.
won't you tell me what can do for YOU.
MAJ am? There is certainly something
.tListen!" she said, drawing near the valet
and looking at him with dilated ewes az
have something so terrible to say that YOU
will hardly believe me! No one knows vet
not a soul AS soon as found it out lock-
ed the door and came here. ran all the
way. I knew the number Of his room, and
l came right here-and he is gone. / had
| note saying he was going, but thought I
might get here in time Do you know what
has happened? Ny father she took hold
of the Wallets sleeve-groping for human
self!' rs 3
Stubs instinctively and respectfully sup
ported her swaying BODY
By and by she grew oalmer and perrnit-
ted him to inform the proper persons and
to send for her carriage and see her safe
nome. He sent outEtelegrams after the
departing train on which his patron had
gone, but no response came Gaylord him
self had had no ideao of his destination. He
did not know when he left whether he would
stop in the mountains after he crossed the
divide, or go on to the Pacific coast. or
still further to Honolulu
The death of George I.pwman attracted
but little attention. When the news of his
insolvency and his suicide went abroad
people simply concluded that they had over
estimated his wealth and had been mis-
taken as to the source from which it came
His daughters existence was unknown
to many Of those who had an acuuaintance
with her father, for it was but few weeks
since she came to the city. The women
Wno mad taken 1t upon themselves to intro
duce her and to show her courtesies were
kind now, and visited her and invited her
to their houses and sent flowers
The poor child turned toward them a
Whlte face of refusal and shut her doors
on all the world. She dismissed the sery-
ants the next morning and bent herself to
the task Of looking after her fathers af-
iairs; She gave the whole thing over final
~ INTO the hands of his attorneys and quit
ted the place at twilight, when none might
Stubs. ~
He had sent her trunks to a quiet Mace
In the suburbs, where the mountains look
ed down on a grass-grown table land anG
white streets, irrigating bitches and clumps
of wild willows.
For several DAYS she did little bu, He nm
the settee and watch the rise and fall of
the firs. The consciousness that she would
soon be penntleSs had prompted her to for
hld stubbs to let airy Of her few friends
know her whereabouts A few days more
would bring her to penury. Her proud lit
tie spirit would Eot endure the idea of mem
ole ancy, even in its most agreeable forms,
and Kept her heartache as her only guest
AS time went on, her little purse suffered
perfect depletion. She might have given
lessons in bad French or mistaught pupils
on the piano, only no one in Denver was
paying fer luxuries of that sort Just then
Denver was sconomizing-dramatical 1t
was, IN fact in an ecstasy of conscious
martyrdom, and it made the most of it.
Heth Lowman. however, had no call to be
histrtonic, because she had no audience
she Kept diary and made notes of her
emotions. and She watched the mails, and
was forever expecting letter from Gay
lord, who had gone, as he explained to her
in his farewell note, to retrieve himself.
and would return to her only when he was
once more a rich man.
She was convinced that ne was keeDine
watchful care over her when, about a
month after her misfortunes and Just when
her fortune looked the blacklist, an en-
Velope came, containing a number of bills
quite enough to keep her in comfort for
several weeks to come. She told Stubs
about the money-She was confidential with
Stubbs--and asked him if he didn't suppose
MI Gaylord had caused his banker to send
the money, which would account for the
Denver stamp mark on the envelope
Stubbs said that was a reasonable SUPPOSE
ton, and little Miss dowman was perfectly
happy.
Though she lad entertained such violent
scruplss against accepting help frola any
one else, she had no conjunction at all at
receiving it from Thaddeus GAYLORD He
had told her, with frenzied iterations that
he loved her, that he must marry her, fLat
he had never loved any one else and that
she was the loveliest woman in the world.
She FOUND nothing irritating in the fact
that Gaylord, bewildered at his own mis-
fortunes, had forgotten to inquire about
her condition. 10
As the months went by the mysterious
stipend continued to come iunfaiIingiy and
Heth kept up her spirits. and made herself
useful She loved the spot where she lived.
The eagles flew over it sometimes, and the
mountains were seldom hidden. One day
that which Heth expected happened.
Stubs had not called in the morning as
usual, and Miss Lowman, who had come
to depend upon him for her morning paper,
and any small service she might wish per-
formed, wondered IL he were i'll. She sat
at the window, sewing lace in the neck of
her little gray Sunday frock, when she saw
him coming down the street And, glad
ness, gladness! He was not alone! Beside
him strobe gentleman in respondent at
tire-a gentleman with fiamboyant mus
tache-a gentleman who looked MS if he
were in the habit of having men and cb
stacles, and even U. S. mail wagons get out
of his way! In his arms Stubs carried a
basket of roses and sundry little packages,
and as they walked the man with the mus
tache talked all the time. Heth could hear
his ringing voice come up to her through
the closed window.
She flew back to her own room, and sat
down and SeWed some more Of the lace in
the neck of her frock with an air of deadly
up the stairs three steps at time-and
she still sewed in the lace. She heard an
impetuous knock at the door, and it burst
cpen-Heth was just knotting a thread
and the next thing she knew she was not
In her chair at all, or on the floor at ALL
but-well, well, never mind.
WELL" said he, 'Heth, I'm back!'
No one smiled. Every enc seemed to
think the remark was needed.
I'm on my feet again. / knew I would
be-with you waiting. Alaska salmon did
1t. canned the tails. The fools were
throwing away as much as they canned-I
swear they were. I've got a cannery in
the shadow Of q volcano and under the lid
of a glacier, and l want you to see it,
1T didn't seem surprising to anybody
that Gaylord should wish to take his bride
to a salmon cannery
II didn't know your plight. dear child
till Stubbs told me-heavens! IL I had
known it, I'd have been home quick
enough"
Didn't know it?", gasped Heth wiping
her eyes on diminutive pocket handker-
chief; "how. then
But she was interrupted by Stubs, who
came in with the roses, and the little box
es, which the traveller made her open and
which contained trfnkets af various kjnf3e-