Evening star., 1899-03-11

the womanly countenance he had hitherto
sighted uninteresting. 'It is the first
kind word you have ever given me, Agnes.
Possibly it is the first l have ever de-
served"
And without another word he doffed his
hat saluted her and vanished down the
hillside.
She remained remained so long that 1t
was nearly when she entered the family
parlor. AS she came in her mother looked
UP and was startled at her unaccustomed
pallor.
why. Agnes" cried her mother, what is
the matter?'
Her answer was inaudible What was the
matter? She dreaded, even feared, to ask
herself
, Meantime a strange scene was taking
place in the woods toward which she had
seen Frederick go. The moon. which was
particularly bright that night shone upon
a certain hollow where a huge tree iay;
Around it the underbrush was thick ana
the shallow dark. but in this especial place
the opening was large enough for the rays
to enter freely. Into this circlet OF hght
Frederick Sutherland had come. Alone and
without the restraint imposed upon him py
watching eyes. he showed a countenance
so wan and full of trouble that it was well
it could not be seen by either of the two
women whose thoughts were at that mo,
ment fixed upon him. To Amabel it would
have given a throb of selfish hope, while
to Agnes it would have brought pang of
despair which might have somewhat too
suddenly interpreted to her the mystery Oh
her own sensations.
He had bent al once to the hollow space
made by the outspreading roots just men
toned, and was feeling with an air of con-
fidence along the ground for something he
had every reason to expect to find, when
the shock of a sudden diStrust seized him,
and he flung himself down in terror, feeling
and feeling again among the falling leaves
and broken twigs, till full realization OF
his misfortune reached him, and he was
obliged to acknowledge that the place was
empty.
Overwhelmed at his loss, aghast at the
consequences it must entail upon him, he
rose in trembling sweat, crying out in mis-
anger and diSmay:
She has been here! She has taken it!'
And realizing for the first time the subtlety
and strength of the antagonist pitted
against him, he forgot his new resolutions
and even that old promise to Agatha Webb,
and uttered oath after OATH cursins him
self, the woman and what she lad done,
till casual glance at the heavens ever
head, in which the liquid mool hung calm
and beautiful, recalled him to himself.
Ceasing his vain repinings and sllencing
with a fierce but determined effort the
fierce demon in his breast, he turned from
the unhalloWed spot and made his way
with deeper and deeper misgivings toward
a home made hateful to him now by the
presence of thu woman who was thus bent
upon his ruin.
full value both her determination and her
power, and had she been so unfortunate
as to have carried her imprudence to the
point of surprising him at that moment in
one of the hollows of that midnight copse,
it would have taken more than the memory
of that days resolves to have kept him
fl ON using his strength against her. But
she was wise, and did not intrude upon him
in his hour of anger, though who could say
she was not near enough to hear the sigh
which broke irresistibly from his lips as lie
emerged from the wood and approached his
fathers house.
A lamp was still burning in Mr. Suther-
lands study over the front door, and the
sight of it seemed to change for a moment
the current of Fredericks thoughts. Stop
ping with the gate in his hand, he con-
sidered with himself and then with freer
to proceed inward, when he heard the
sound Of heavy breaihsr coming Up the