Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1899-09-22
HIS FAMILY SPECTER

Fairicigh, drawin5 on his gloves, with
considerable show of vexation. Amy
Hepburn = happiness is dear to me. In
fact, came here tonight to tell yon
that ] love her'--
TO tell mot" trob, in Gordon
''Why CON I you tell herr"
wait, can { You? Let me finish. l
havc told her and she has declined me
Ii was done very gently and with The
greatest possible regard for my feelings,
bat nevertheless | was declined. Don't
think me Il fool because | come here
and make confession which can be
nothing less than notifying I'm do
ing it for Amy's sake -
"For Amy $ sake?' echoed Gordon
eyes; ! want to see her happy, and
You are the man t. maxi her so. She
declined me on Your account OF course
| know long ago that You were my
rival but did not know until two hours
ago that you were the successful one
You aren { worthy of her and don t de
serve her, but don Il think Cor a moment
that | believe myself more worthy or
more Goserying. Pausing suddenly,
Fairleigh walked 10 his friends side
and laid a hand on his shoulder II
cant understand what you mean by
leading Amy to believe that You care
for her while all the time dividing
your attention with Nell Forthdyke
Would you he inhuman enough TO
break heart as loyal as Amy 81"
Don't get tragic, Tom. IN not go
ing to break anybody's heart Nell is
rich, you know
"And so are You, snccrcd Fairlcigh,
walking hurriedly TO the door and lay
ing his hand on the knob, hut Amy
Hepburn is poor Society darcs You to
wed with poverty If You love Amy,
are you man enough to take the dare?
Examine into the financial condition
Of the Hephurns reflect upon the cause
Of their downfall in fortune and then
let me see il You are strong enough to
leap this Brahminical barrier Of caste. -
With this parting shot Fairlcigh
passed quickly out Of the room and
slammed the door behind him. Harry
Gordon gave vent to long whistle,
settled himself back in chair and
thoughtfully lighted u cigar
THAT was quite a jolt, he NUT
tered, looking upward through the
curling wreaths of smoke " How
happy could be with either were
t'other dear charmer away It's as
sure as can be that | love one and fancy
the other But who will unravel the
Gordian knot? Which is it to be-Amy
or Nell?'
a knock fell on the door, not on the
outside door, bat on a door leading into
closet. Harry Gordon stirred uncom-
fortably III his chair, vexed look COM
ing into his eyes as he fixed them upon
the closet door After a brief interval
of silence the knock was repeated
CHOW, what in the world aroused
You p cried Gordon
Business is business, " came Il hol-
low voice from the other side of the
closet door. I'm here for purpose. and
if do not make that purpose manifest
once i'll awhile you Il forget all abou.
me
This remark was followed bya clanL
ing cachinnatory outburst that seemed
to CRATE harshly on Gordon ear
"Well, what do you want?" he
asked
81 want to como out and show my
self. You know IN here but a little
ocular demonstration won come amiss,
! take it. Remember, IN showing con-
sideration for you l might have kicked
open this door and stalkcd out into the
room But | didn't raped %
Can t you put it oft? Come out to-
morrow. I've got something else to
think about now.
1.-The high and mighty order Of fam
lily skeletons are not in the habit of
playing second fiddle or taking back
seats for anybody I'm coming at once.
"All right then, groaued Gordon,
squarins himself about in his chair
Come ON
The closet door few open and well
developed skeleton strobe ont and drop
ped with 81 rattle intoa chair The cav
crnous eyes were hHul.ly oppressive
to Gordon For him also there was
something sarcastic iu the grim Of the
leshlcs- jaws
"Du-t mo Oh. said The heleton ~
want t. show mp ass frightfal as posi-
bic tonight
The request presented itself 20 Cor
don as a command which me was pow
crlcss 10 disobcy Picking up a feather
dustcr, he pied it vigorously about the
cleaning white bones
"Achoor' he sneozed, dropping the
dustar and falling into his chair
"You ought not to neglect me- said
tho skeleton II IN one Of the family
and should be treated as such Now
then lets have a chat
The skeleton crossed its bony legs and
settled back comfortably
"Will it do me any good to have a
chat with you" queried Gordon
THAT remains to be seen 1t used 10
do your father good Why, it was my
custom TO visit him every night AS he
sat before that table there writing I'd
sneak out of that closet. come quietly
mn behind him and mt an arm caress-