Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1899-11-25

he had actually dropped asleep while |
Raymond was talking; but his eyes |
once open rested full upon Sam, who /
was laying his morning mail upon his .
dressing case, and over Sans shoulder |
upon the clock, which declared that II |
was after ten.
Six days out of seven Stanton entered
his Office on the stroke Of nine, and this
was not the seventh day.
Seeing that Sam had noticed his open
eyes, he simply remarked: II am
ready for my bath, SAM" but when
the man went out to prepare it, the
young lawyer rose slowly and stood
looking into his own face in the mirror,
as though he might learn from it some
thing which he very much wished to
know.
Society" he muttered, In unutter-
able disgust, and began slowly poking
the letters about that he might read the
postmarks.
1t is pleasant to have broad shoulders
upon which to lay the burden of our
shortcomings. even the overloaded
shoulders of society.
One letter attracted his attention,
more from its weight than from the
/ fact that the handwriting was Miss
! Lombard's. 1t had evidently been de-
! livered by messenger. He opened it
mechanically and held in his hand Miss
| Lombard's card and their diamond en-
| gagement ring-nothing more.
! "Is it broken, wonder2" he NUT
/ tered, slowly turning the ring over, be
fore it dawned upon him that it was the
engagement, not the ring, which was
( obviously the broken thing.
A creature of instinct, following in
stinct, he stretched himself, yawned,
and went into the bathroom, saying 10
himself: THANK heaven, there'n be
no more society, no more clubs, no
more wine, for me-"
AS Sam was leaving the bathroom,
Stanton turned upon him and asked.
abruptly: 'Was brought home drunk
last night, Sam?"
Too sharp a question or command
had always bewildered Sam, and always
would. A man often speaks the truth
when he is bewildered. Sam muttered;
''Yes, sir" and then wished he had de-
MED it.
did the Lombards bring me home p
Eyes, SIR said Sam; and, as there
was nothing more, he went out to kicl
himself about for the rest of the day.
At the Office Stanton found letter
from the elder Lombard. lie half ex
pected it. he swung his chair into thu
best light and made himself secure IL
the seat before he opened it; but it wa
very short. He read:
Dear Sir:-After the disgraceful ex
hibition which you made Of yoursel
at our home last night, my daughte
: wishes me to say that love or respec
from her would be no longer possible
Kindly allow ali intercourse with on
family to cease with this letter. We re
auire no explanation and would accep
no apology"
= Slowly tearing it in pieces, Stantol
said TO himself:
81 rather like that letter. It's yer
I much to the point, and there's no am
: biguity; but / wish knew how &c
: myself TO his house and what 1 di
l. there 1 probably shall know, som
/ day, and things win adjust themselvei
They always do"
Il They did adjust themselves, but nc
4 precisely as he anticipated. The frs
IS intimation of an adjustment came I
y him through the newspaper, in the al
p nouncement of the marriage of Mis-
L Lombard and Mr.. Richard Raymond.
= He thought of the glass of wine, an
with a shudder sprang to his feet.
't Presently he was restlessly pacin
L the room, muttering: Absurd! Sin
s ply impossible. Why shouldn't he ma
lie ry her if he wants to? Why shouldn
a. she marry him2 He can tell her mol
in ten minutes than most men could
Is an hour. She'd have been bored to deaf
10 shut up with me. Upon my word, l b
ID lieVe it was fortunate all around. T.
D. had enough of society. I'm satisfe
L. I've come ne1r enough to marriage
G know that I'm not adjustable It's 6
m excellent place to stop"
20 Thereupon he stopped walking, trit
n to stop thinking of that glass of win
"a and, having at last fully made up b
n mind about marrying, he expressed
so plainly to the trustees, the judge al
40 the clergyman, when they attempt
:. to renew their effort, and, indeed,
a. society at large, that the hint was fins
Iy taken. He was set down as incorl
Ie gible, and John Olmstead's viii we
id out of sight and out of mind.
On Stanton realized that the time w
ed coming when some distant relative
in his uncle's would appear and claim I
property, and he was quite content tn
ly he SHOULD have it.
N sd like TO keep this house, becau
IT. J it's home," he said, to himself. "B
a that can easily be arranged. 1t
re- neither modern nor well located
~ tempt one who has recently come in
n large fortune. win lay aside enou
of to purchase this property, and tn
ad can have the rest"
at With that he dropped the entire M
Xix ter, to rest until he should receive !
mt tice that the term of his possession b
expired, leaving the income from