Waterbury Democrat., 1900-12-26

My Udfl1nS child, tHlS IS CuS UcSt and truest friend I ever had; he has shown me his friendship in thou sand ways; if anything should happen to take me from you he will care for you as tenderly as your own father could"
 Goddard shuddered over this mem ory, and the thought that, although she was marked as such an early prey of death, he had been induced to plot against such frailty, but he felt the futility of struggle. Ever since he had fallen under the spell of Jeanne's eyes he had looked upon her as the ruler of his destiny, be it for good or evil.
 "You ought not to suffer so because she is going, dear guardian" said Blanche, with tender concern "You ought to look forward to her. return, and not give yourself up to morbid breeding over it.''
 "She doesn't want me to go with her, you see," answered the major, coming back to a closer view of his own woes. His lip was quivering, and his tone was almost petulant.
 ''Sometimes l am afraid 1 am in the way" said Blanche. Perhaps I ought to go away myself.'
 No, you must stay" said the ma jor; but you must invite some one to be with you.''
 ''Lottie Dean will come,'' said Blanche; q shall write to her," and suspecting that Goddard wanted to be alone with his trouble, she left him.
 One morning three days later they were all seated in the library. Mrs. Goddard sat in the bow window, her eyes on the road which led past Lynd- hurst to the station. Blanche was looking over some music at the piano, and Talley was taking down in short hand from Goddard's halting dictation some business correspondence. Now and then Mrs. Goddard would furtiye- ly scan the faces in the room and then peer toward the road again. Suddenly she saw cab containing a single occupant driving in at one of the gates at the bottom of the lawn, and she at once rose and went to the fire and sat down. When the door bell rang a few minutes later, she was the only one in the room who did not appear to notice it. She seemed so much absorbed in thought as not to see James when he entered with a card on a tray.
 "A lady to see you, madam" he an- nounced.
 Mrs. Goddard had four pairs of eyes on her as she scanned the card.
 "'Mrs. Lucy Nolan,'" she read, from the Metropolitan employment bureau An, it is. the woman they were to send me! Tell her, James tell her I shall be in at once. Where is she?"
 ''In the little parlor, madam"
 s'What is she like ?-but never mind; I shall see for myself. If they have sent me anybody without the best of references she shall go back without an engagement"
 Goddard's voice wandered into inac- curate dictation.
 "Get that off and I shall finish the rest some other time,'' he said, weari- ly, to his secretary. The gaze of his ward seemed to melt on his face. She we'll knew that the realization of his wife's coming departure had fallen up- on him with new force.
 In few minutes Mrs. Goddard re- turned. She was smiling with amused satisfaction.
 'She is just the woman I want" she declared, looking at the major, "but perhaps you will feel better if you have e-en her and spoken to her. I asked her to wait to see you"
 Have you really engaged her?'' a aSI-aI CSnTIor6 Iaia
 "Oh, yes; we came to terms at once She has a son in London and is anxious to see him. She will not want much more than her passage money, but of course shall try to be generous with the poor thing. Don't expect to find her beautiful. She is anything but good-looking, but that is not what l am after. Good-looking women are rarely useful"
 As the major left the room his wife resumed her seat at the window. Her color was high; her eyes were as full of life as a fine diamond, and Blanche could hardly keep her eyes from her face. She was beginning, now that Mrs. Goddard was eXerting herself to be attractive, to comprehend the hold she had on the major. To-day Mrs G cd dard looked as she had when Blanche had first seen her and realized that the place her guardian had filled in her girl ish heart must be deprived of it's ten ant, that she must never even in dreams remember those days when he used to sit beside her in the little re- ception room at Mime. Bells select school. She had been sure during those visits that his eyes, the pressure of his hand, his parting kiss had meant the same as her delicious yielding to them had implied. But the awakening shock had come and she had borne in silence her secret and gone through the daily torture of witnessing both her guardians adoration for another and, what was almost as painful, that others indifference to it all.
 When Goddard reentered the room there was droop Of utter despondency on him that added years to his appear. ance.
 Well, how do you like her?" his wife asked.
 ''oh, she is all right" he said. "She seems good enough; but somehow simply can't reconcile myself to-
 "Oh, puh!" Mrs. Goddard rose with orapef1,1 Sypon of ba ho5 ', I