Evening journal., 1899-07-24

MS own deSlic now was 10 keep her,
and an unnatural elevation pervaded
him as he hailed with almost hysterieal
delight the prospect of showing this
woman how utterly Indifferent he wa
to her.
She hcsitated moment, then'quietly
sat down.
But surely, Mr. Vandeleur." she said.
your wound cannot be of so trivial a.
nature as you would have one believe d?
You were reported killed at first, an
the papers said so, and 1-everyone was
so dreadfully sorry"
Were they?" said Vandeleur. ironic-
ally. Sorry to say their feelings must
pass unnppreciated. Enough Of myself
however ] presume you are staying
down here for some time?" he added
as he threw his cigarette away.
"Please don'ti" cried Miss Sinclair
you know have no objection; m,
tastes have not changed even in IS
months"
Excuse me-" said Nandeleur, coldly,
~ thought they had. However il Is OF
no consequence,t / smoke very little
now, tobacco doesn't commend itself 70
in,alids. yeu know"
During the conversation Miss Sin
clair had been surreptitiouslyo ohservinV
Nandeleuu.
With q duh pain at her heart she
noted the unmistakable evidence Of suf-
fering in his look
A strong desire to tend and nurse this
man. whom she loved as woman only
loves once, overmastered her. and she
experienced n mad impulse 90 cast all
conyenionalitY aside, and throw her
self at his feet and cry; "Oh, my love.
my love, wronged you innocentlyl IT.
IS ali hideous mistakel Won't ycn'for-
giye--nnly forgiven"
The impulse died away, however, as
she glanced at Vandeleur and saw the
hard line Of his mouth.
He will never Forgive, she thought
never.
Neither spoke for some minutes, and
the pause was becoming awkward,
when n pun of wind disarranged Van
deleur's rug. lie feebly essayod TO
reach for il; but Miss SinclSir fore
stalled him, and with please allow
me-" arranged it,
While doing so her hand slightly
touched that of Nandeleur, causing tho
blood to jump madly through his veins,
while the color flooded her own face.
Presently Miss Sinclair said, hesitat-
iAgly: II have been trying for the
last few minutes toto say something.
win you listen? 1 want to ask your
pardon. Some time ago VEL qunq-
relied with you, apparently without any
ostensible cause whatever. Three
msnths age 1 discovered the fact thai
/ had done you grieyous wrong"
"Took you some time, didnt it9- sar-
casticaily interiectcd vnndeleur. II
was acquainted with the fact exactly
IS months ago.
The venom of his remark almost
scorchad the words on her lips, but she
quietly proceeded:
please reserve your sarcasm until
you have heard nae. Not even tho fear
of your misunderstanding shall dote4
me from performing what L ssasider
TO be right and my dut5 to a., lis
right you should know that I,hSo sdssle
slight excuse for nay aPParcntwaIitor
caPriciousness."
She paused n moment, resting her
chin on her hand, and Vandelehr stole
a glance at her.
She had changed somewhat, he
thoueht-grown gentler and more sub
dued; and the passionate desire grew
on him TO open his arms and say:
81 forgive all, forgive ali Only
love mel"
"Piease go on" he said.
THANK you" she replied, qnieily. "E
viii. The Story Of a Man and WON
an is an old title, and has been used
many times, yet purpose using it once
again as a heading for my narrative"
'The man in this particular case np-
peared 10 love the woman very dearly.
and she--well, she requited his affec-
ton"
Vandeleur started and shifted his po-
sition slightly.
"He wars a writer Of books" she con
tinued, "and on her twenty-third birth
day he presented her with the 'nrst
lloul ol luc uook liAl ndu AlNc me-
name It was unique present, and
she appreciated Il accordingly, until
on turning over the leaves she found
between the pages a letter.
1T was love letter, written ia the
mans handwriting on a large sheet o.
paper and signed with his Christan
name. but not meant for her; the name
Of the woman for whom It was de-
signed was Gladys"
"Heaycnsi" cried Vandeleur, hoarso-
~, 1.-THE Hand on the Wheel'-it was
the page Of manuscript that l could
never findl"
"Yes," she said, quietly, "it was
page Of manuscript that you had lost
She, however, did not discover this un-
til later; but in her misery at what
she imagined to be the mans falseness,
never answered his demands for an ex-
planation-never spoke to him again"
She paused for moment, overcome
with emotion.
''Some time later" she proceeded,
with difficulty, "a book was published
I INV