Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-07-04
CHAPTER V.

The next day Malcom 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 fourth 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 90 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.
He rang the bell with a tremor at
heart that instantly bounded into fever
when Dorothy herself opened the door.
He 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.
won't you come in, Mr.. Kirk? I
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 Malcom Kirk. IL came
to see you" 1t was so evidently true
that Dorothy could say nothing for a
moment. There was IN awkward ST.
lence. She broke 1t by saying:
II have read your pamphlet describ-
ing the life Of the people on the CONT
nent in the cities. I thank you, not for
the pleasure, but for the pain it gave
me-"
He looked at her grstefully. He un-
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. All the time he felt the minia-
ture in his pocket. But he seemed to
fight against the knowledge that he
must give 1t up.
AS for Dorothy, she experienced a
feeling Of eXhilaration in her lalk 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 ev-
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 a 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.
She was never able to tell herself
why she played as she did. She began
with the old German Lorelei. Ich
weiss nicht was soil es bedeuten, dass
ich so traurig bin" cI know not how 1t
is that l am so sad"), and then before
she could control her fingers or her
thought she had passed on to the
Traumerei, which Kirk had asked her
to play before.
When she finished, she hardly knew
her own feelings. When she turned
about, he was standing, and he had
the miniature in his hand.
"I promised to return 1t when 1 came
back" He spoke with great simplici-
ty and, as his fashion always was,
looked straight In her face like man
who Is pot ashamed or afraid. "No
one but myself has seen it. The keep
ing Of 1t has not
He hardly dared to trust himself to
say what lay within his heart. In
truth he knew we'll enough that he
would be far different man for the
rest Of his days If he could only have
this woman for his wife, but ut that
moment he felt as if such possibility
was too remote for even thought.
He had walked to the mantel and
was about to put the miniature down
in the place where 1t had been when
a sound in the library startled them
both. 1t was a sound as Of some one
falling heavily.
Father Dorothy exclaimed In ter
ror. She ran into the hall. but swift as
she was Malcom Kirk was before her.
Even as he leaped forward he was con-
scious that he held the miniature still,