Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-04-03
kept from them another "a hours,
could have weathered the Storm"

II have done it!' she cried. "The
fault is mine-mine! Oh, Harold, if
only | could have foreseen all this! If
only l could have foreseen it ALL"
As yet Elsie had not told her uncle
who supplied the news to the paper.
She prayed f~ervently that she might be
able to keep the knowledge to herself
forever, safely hidden from the fond old
man who believed in her. Fate would
decide.
For hours she sat in a little room over
the bank, listening to the persistent
clamorings below for gold.
How much longer could it go on?
"Not much longerr' John Rivers
said dejectedly to his suffering niece.
"Not much longer, Elsie, my girl.
They must have paid it nearly all out
by now. Soon they will have to close
the doors. Don't cry, child. 1t is the
will Of Providence, I suppose. but it's
hard to get such a blow as this at my
time of lifel"
Presently there were sounds Of cheer
ing in the street. A we'll known mil
lionaire had driven up to the bank.
"My God!" muttered the old banker.
"This is the last straw Reginald Fair
fax has turned against me with the rest.
When he has Withdrawn his money,
there won't be a penny leftr'
go and see him, uncle" Elsie
pleaded. "He is so rich he might be
persuaded to leave it,"
"No, child. l could not speak to him
or any ~ else today"
"Then l will, uncle. Oh, do go and
send him here to mel l must see him
Reginald will save usl'
John Rivers went blindly out, and
Elsie waited for Reginald Fairfax to
come to her. Twice this self made mar
had asked her to marry him; twice she
had refused. He was rich, but he was
also coarse. Life with him would be a
nightmare, she had always told herself.
She did not love him.
But now
He was standing there in front of
her, loudly dressed and looking more
commonplace and vulgar than ever.
How could she appeal to this boorish
p%arvenu? She must, though; she had
worked the mischief, and she must right
it if possible.
At the end of another five minutes
she was telling him everything-all
about her brother and her selling the
news of the robbery to the editor, He
listened In silence. She humbled herself
to the dust before him and begged him
not to withdraw his money from the
bank.
He smiled queerly.
"You twice asked me to be your
wife," she wound up feverishly, land
l refused you. Would you still marry
me, Nh. Fairfax? Oh, do answer! Ii |
said yes would you still marry me?''
The smile broadened.
Gam I to understand that you are
proposing to me, Miss Maitland?" be
asked.
"Don't seek to humble me any more;
don't, don't!" she cried. "Ihave fallen
far enough!"
Eyes" he said, sit must indeed be a
terrible fall for the proud Miss Matt.
land to offer herself to mel You offer
to become my wife if I will only leave
my money in your uncle's bank. Con.
sidering that I love you-and that you
love some one elso-it il rather hard on
me, isn't it,"
"Oh, don't, don't! If you only knew
how I loathe myself for having said all
this to you! You are quite right to re.
fuse me. How dare I ask you-or any
man-to take ME under such conditions:
You are quite right to refuse me-"
II don't know, he answered slowly
"If you did not love another man al
ready, it might have been different. But
as it is-yes, I certainly won't marry
you, Miss Maitland. You have humbled
yourself to me unnecessarily. You cannot
know me very we'll when you imagine
that I had come to withdraw my sup.
port from your uncle at such a time as
this. Instead, I had merely come to place
the further sum Of $50, 600 to my ac
count. The public knows it already,
and the paying into the bank of such .
large sum has restored confidence"
Ere she had time to speak he wal
gone.
But the bank was saved! The bank
was saved! A man she had always de.
spised in her heart had come forward
and saved it. Why-why had she never
been able before to see the fine nature
which lurked beneath a somewhat boor.
ish exterior?
The excitement Of that day was fol
lowed by a long illness for her. When
she returned to life once more it was to
find her uncle in better spirits than she
could ever remember him.
"All the doing Of Reginald Fairfax,
Elsie, my grill" the old banker said
gleefully. HE stuck to me right
through, child, when every one else
failed me, and his example saved the
bank"
He had further persuaded old John
Rivers to make q partner Of his long
trusted manager. He was therefore in
a position at last to ask Elsie's hand in
marriage. When he asked her she an
swered, eyes"
Some months after their marriage
Elsie received another visit from her
brother Harold. He was altogether a
different person. He was going to Amer.
lea, and had come to make a confession
to her.
He had sold his knowledge Of their
uncle and the bank to q certain gang Of
thieves for a large sum Of money, but
he had " known a happy minute