The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-08-11
Confidence.

It makes him gentle and kind-hearted-
That Is what It did for Jonathan Harrcd.
In the early days We had rcomed to-
gether In eollege-d was going TO say slept
together. but Jonathan seldom slept he
smoked and drank coffee and worked m
stead and blossomed snSo winner Of
prizes. As Jonathan was In love as wei
as in debt. and Just as prone as Ito sub
stitute pipes for meals when The larder
was low. We learned TO love each other
during those four years with an affection
that was firm and conhding,
Jonathan used to advise me TO fan In
love. too at tell you. old man." be would
say. when opening q letter Of familiar
blue, when you are not feeling well. and
the world CRATES on you like cameYs
hair shirt, there is nothing 50 good as an
old-fashioned love letter" =
The writer of the old-fashloned MIS-
sives lived out west, In Harrod's native
town. and, although I never met her,
came to know her almost as well as Har-
rod did, he spoke OF her 50 often. And
then used to watch his face when he
read her letters. They must have been
tender and sympathetic. but withal dash
Of ambition and inspiration In them. No
tale OF village gossip could have brought
that light into Jonathan's eyes nor that
fash Of color 10 his cheek. At their con-
clusion he would dream awhile. perhaps.
and then fab at his books and work like
mad.
He showed me her picture one night.
She was dark-with a high forehead and
shadowy eyes. The mouth and chin were
both well formed but rather masculine.
1t was a beautiful face, though not pretty.
Although Harrod had loved the girl all
his life-and she him. IL there he aught in
the Signs OF the zodiac-they had a mis-
understanding Of some sort or other dur-
ing the summer that followed his grad
uation. When hA returned east the fol-
lowing autumn he was quieter than ever
before, and, II possible. more gentle and
sympathetic. He and ] had rooms tc-
gether, where in lieu OF other inexpen-
sive pastimes, we were wont to spend the
evenings working and reading. ] cav
from the first that something ai,ed him;
and, as he no longer received the blue
envelopes, nor counseled me 10 lose Iay
heart, guessed the reason and asked
no questions. He did not become apathetic
Jonathan didn't. His old habit OF work
was stronger than ever. And now his sto-
ries began to appear occasionally In the
magazines, and the dear public TO recog-
niZe his name and to read what went
with It.
Two years had passed away before
Jonathan had made even the slightest
reference to this love affair of his, and
that was when he came INTO my room one
cherries. gray November afternoon. the
picture Of abject melancholy. In his hand
was a crumpled piece OF paper. This he
placed before me on the table, then he
went and seated himself before the fire.
place, where could not see his face. The
paper was a clipping from some inland
journal describing in fiorid terms the we'd
ding Of 1iiss Winifred Conover to one
Amos Scheneck. Only half the article
had been clipped, evidently, and this had
been pasted on a half sheet of note paper.
1 read the tawdry effusion through, then
I twisted it to pieces and dropped 1t into
the waste basket.
Jonathan, my boy" said. going over
and seating myself on the arm Of his
| chair, 'wllo sent you this thlng?"
II do not know" and there was a world
OF sadness in his voice. 1.-The envelope was
addressed In a strange hand and not a
word accompanied it,
We were both silent for a moment. The
logs were burning cheerily, outside the
wind was blowing a gale. Jonathan sat
with his face in his hands. when I
| came here to you just now" he said, 81
was chilled and lonelJ-the day Is so SOM
ber-and 1 had been tramping all over the
| country, and--well, / came to say goodby.
1 wanted to leave this life and wait for
| Winifred in the next, for''-his voice went
| straight to my heart-"ah, Billy, 1 lsYe
her sou l regarded him with compass
| sion You lie down here on the lounge
before the fire. commanded him. land
stop this brocding.'' l pushed forward
the couch as spoke, and he dropped on
It like an obedient child. de gave me
| one grateful look, and then. under -the
influence of the genial warmth and the
fatigue of many vigils. fell fast asleep.
There are days in the lives OF US all,
I fancy, when q vague and subtle sense of
mystery invests the commonest objects;
when our minds recognize new qualities
in common things; when the look in the
] eyes Of a child, the CLINT OF sunlight in a
| woman's hair, the sound Of a distant
| churchbell, stir feelings deep within US
We have never known before. That after
noon there was a white carnation In the
| vase on my writing table, and as I sat
there bordering Jonathan's sorrows its
perfume stole into my brain like a sweet
| and potent anodyne It c0njured up Wis
ions as fair as the dreams Of DR.. Faustus,
and yet-and yet. there was a sense OF
foreboding, a premontIon Of something
about to occur.
Whether or not dozed cannot say.
but suddenly was aware that some other
| than Jonathan was in the room and that
ne was wide awake and looking at me
intently. I raised my eyes, and there. TO
my infinite surprise and establishment.
| saw standing opposite me. across the
table. styllshly gowned young woman.
started to my feet with an apology
on my lips. but as I glanced at her face
my tongue was tied and remained silent
She was dark and with a high forehead
and shadowy eyes. The mouth and chin
were both well formed. but rather mas
| culine. And she was beautiful, though not
| pretty.
| miss Conover," / exclaimed
| Yes" she answered, with q voice that
was low and vibrant, at Is l." Then.
with her brown eyes fixed on the white
carnation and the color mantIing her
cheek. she continued. II have Just arrived
in the city. Yesterday I learned that an
ancient enemy OF Jonathan's sent him q
paragraph from an account of cousins
wedding. and-the color increased. ther
quickly notwithstanding Jonathan 50
weih 1 wished. Il possible. TO see him be-
fore the clipping reached him. And-you
see. I knew you also knew him we'll
Her hps closed tightly for q second then
curved into a smile. Two great tears
started from beneath the dropping lashes
but were quickly intercepted
| hooked toward the place where iona
than lay. A screen was between him and
4 81 A-4s -