The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1899-11-10

sitting there E~,amcd in by u mob of
,:aopie, but thyy had no meaning to
him Il felt roUc-lcss to avoid speak
ing to her He knew he should speak
when they were once alone
Now that lie had spoken he FELT that
he had misjudged either Rachel or the
opportunity He knew. or thought he
did. that she had bcgcn TO care for him
1t was TO secret between them that the
heroine of Jaspcr's first novel had been
his own ideal Of Rachel. and the hero
of the story was himself, and they had
loved each other in the book, and
Rachel had not objected. No one else
knew The names and characters had
been drawn with subtle skill that re-
vealcd to Rachel. when she received
copy of the book from jasper, the fact
of his love for her, and she had not been
offended That was nearly year ago
Tonight Jasper Chase recalled tho
scene between them. with every inflec-
ton and movement INCREASED from his
memory He even recalled the fact that
he began to speak just ut that point on
the avenue where Il few days before lie
had met Rachel walking with Rollin
Page He had wondered at the time
what Rollin was saying.
"RachCl, Jasper had said. and it
was the first time he had ever spoken
her first name, - never knew until to-
night how much love you Why
should try to conceal any longer what
you have seen me look2 You know /
love you as my life. can no longer
hide it from you if | would.
;,>+ l,, hoI nc rn.
fusal was the trembling of Rachel's arm
in his own. She had allowed him to
speak and had neither turned her face
toward him nor away from him She
had looked straight on. and her voice
was sad. but firm and quiet, when she
spoke
why do you speak to me now2
cannot bear it-after what we have
seen tonight.
"Why-whnt"- he had stammered
and then was silent.
Rachel withdrew her arm from his.
but still walked near him
Then he cried out with the anguish
# one who begins to SEQ u great loss
,acins him where he expected u great
Joy
itEIil,l' lIo yNt AAOt ioNO iiAS -
not my love for you as sacred as any.
thing in al CT life itsclff''
She had walked on silent for IL few
tops after that They had passed Il
;trc2t lamp Her face was pale and
beautiful He had made Il movement to
dutch her arm, and sho had moved
little farther from him.
"No. she had replied, There was
l timc--I cannot answer for that. Gu
should not have spoken to mo tonight.
He had seen in these words his an.
Swcr He was extremely sensitive.
Nothing short of Il joyous response 10
MS own love would have satisfied him
He could not think of pleading with
her
"Somc time when am more wor-
thyr' he had asked in Il low voice, but
he did not seem to hear. and they had
parted at her home. and he recalled
civitlly the fact that no good night had
Dccn said
Now rs he went over the brief bat
significant scene, he lashcd himself for
his foolish rrecipitancy He had not
reckoncd on Rachcl's tense. passionate
absorption of all her feeling in the
;cenes NJ the tent which were so ROW
III her mind But he did not know her
we'll enough even yet to understand the
meaning of her refusal When the clock
N the First church stccplc struck /, lie
was still sitting at his desk, staring 1T
The last page Of manuscript of his un
finished novel
Rachel Ninslow went up to her room
and faced her evenings experience with
conflicting emotions. Had She ever
loved Jasper Chase Ycs-no. One mo.
mcnt she felt that her lifc's happiness
was at stake over the result of her az
ton; another. she had strange feel
ng Of relief that she had spoken us she
lid There WAS one great ovcrnastCIinG
feeling in her The reSpons" Of til"
wrctchcd creatures in the tent 10 hcr
singing the swift, awCsonc presence Of
the Holy Spirit, had affected her ~
never in all her life before. Tho NO
mcnt Jasper had spoken her name aNl
she realized that he was telling h"r a.:
MS love she had felt a sudden rcvul>irn
Tor him. us If he should have respected
the supernatural events they had Just
witnessed She felt as if it were not The
time to DO absorbed in anything less
than the divine glory of those cOnvCr
Siuns The thought that all the time
shc was singing with the one passion ot
her soul to touch the conscience Of that
tent full Of sin Jasper Chase had hc,n
moved ny it simply to love hortor linn
| self gave her Il Shock as of irrcvcrcnco
on her part as well ~ on his she cnull
not tell why shc felt ~ she did; oHly
| she knew that if he had not told hog TO-
| night she would still have felt tho aImo
| toward him az she always had
What was that feeling? What had
! he been to her? Had she mad" IL mis-