Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-03
CHAPTER y
p ~ WIFI IsEN v.
MALcoM ATTEMPTS 10 RETURN THE MIN:

MALcoM ATTEMPTS TO RETURN THE MINI.
AZURE.
The next day Malcolm Kirk doggedly
set to work on his report. In the
evening he went over to see, the presi-
dent and consulted with him as to GER
tain details. and then for the next three
days he gave himself up to his task
Of getting together the great mass of
material he had accumulated while
abroad.
1t was the fourtl, evening of his re.
turn that he, saw the lights In the Gil
bert house. across the campus as even.
ing set in. The house had been shut
up and dark.
She is home again." was his first
thought. He was unable to work well
that evening. The next-day he con.
tinued. but the evident nearness of
Dorothy made him restless to see her.
Once. she came out on the porch, and
he readily recognized her even at that
distance.
That evening he did not pretend to
himself that he could do anything
worth doing on his report and resolved
to &c, and return the miniature without
waiting any longer He had kept it
more than a year now. He was under
promise to give it back. AS well now
as any time. fg2S
He rang the bell with tremor at
heart that instantly bounded into fever
when Dorothy herself opened the door.
lie stood there In the light Of the
porch, and his trepidation did not
hinder his observing that Dorothy look
ed very pale and even as If she had
been crying.
Wont you come in. Mr.. Kirk? 1
am very glad to see you" said Dorothy.
She spoke SO easily, SO kindly, that he
recovered his self possession at once
and went into the parlor and sat down,
wondering at the commonplace de-
tails Of his meeting with the one wo-
man in all the world to him.
you will excuse; me for coming SO
soon after your return?" he said SIM
ply.
Certainly" replied Dorothy, smil-
ing. Would you like to see father"
NO" said Malcolm Kirk. II came
to see you" 1t was so evidently true
that Dorothy cousd 4say nothing for
moment. There was an awkward ST.
lence. She broke it by saying:
II have read your pamphlet describ-
ing the life of the people on the CONT
nent in the cities. / thank you, not for
the pleasure, but for the pain 1t gave
me-"
He looked at her gratefully. He I'M
derstood exactly what she meant. The
opening had been made for talk along
the lines Of his deepest life, and be-
fore he knew just how it had been
brought about he was telling her some
of the experiences Of his year abroad,
things he had told to no one else and
had not even been able to put into his
report. Allthe time he felt the minia-
ture in his pocket. But he seemed to
fight against the knowledge that he
must give it up.
AS for Dorothy, she experienced
feeling of exhilaration in her talk with
this man. She was sick of the empty
nothings she had been hearing all sum-
mer. The recent experience of her
fathers failure also had excited her.
There was much in everything that
pervaded Malcolm Kinks life work to
attract her at the present moment.
1t must have been nearly an hour
that they had been talking, she ask
ing questions and he replying, and ey-
cry minute grew increasingly full of
interest to her, when he suddenly stop
ped as he had done that evening a
year before and asked, would you
do you feel as if you could play some
thing?"
He was simply battling for time, and
he was in condition where he could
not run the risk of speaking something
he ought not. The longer he staid the
deeper he knew his heart longed for
Dorothy Gilbert. He felt that while
she was playing he might measure his
duty and his inclination better.