Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1900-01-27

THE JUDGE fell into the way O
/ watching them naturally enough
After the court adjourned in the early
afternoon, he always took a ride on
his bicycle and never failed to visit
the beautiful stretch OF boulevard re.
Gently opened along the string of lakes.
They both came of well-to-do fami.
lies, and their manner led him to think
there was breeding behind them. How
then did he come to know that they
loved each otherP you ask. How was
1T possible not to know it2 BE was not
always past so and he had a good mem,
q DRY.
So when the judge noticed the way
he" looked at "her" and the way "she"
looked at "him" and the tenderness of
. the young mans courtesy. the Judge
= knew well enough how matters were.
She was beautiful woman, not over
+, 20, and gave one an impression of trig.
ness and neatness.
He was a manly chap of %, athletic,
bronzed aud thoroughly "fit," as my
nephew says. My nephew plays ON the
varsity football team and is authority
In our family on such matters.
And they noticed the judge. After q
while he got into the way of bowling t.
them, although they didn't know he
was Judge Storrow, and he didn't know
them
One dreamy, Indian summer after
noon the judge went up among the
trees on the side OF the lake to a shell.
tered nook he knew, and lay down to
rest There had been a puzzling cas.
before him that morning, aud while
thinking it over he must have fallen
asleep.
BE was suddenly aware that just out
aide his shelter a man and woman were
talking. He soon discovered that they
were his. lovers" as he called them.
and they were discussing some unhap-
Py circumstance regarding their affec-
ton
What should he do? There was no
way out except past them. Would il
not be more delicate to remain till
they had gone, not listening, and they
would never know anyone had ever
heard them.
But try as he would, it was impossible
not to hear their whole conversation.
But what difference does that
Imake?" asked the young man. "You
know perfectly well, Alice, that if il
were thousand times worse, that If
1T were you yourself, would marry
you"
20. but think Gift. Nedl Think what
your friends woald sayi Ned Grant
married the daughter of an embezzler
SERVING his Tina ia iaiItto
The judge couldn't help wondering
If this were the son of Grant on the
supreme bench, whom he had never
met, although he knew his father in.
>timately. The girls gentle voice broke
as she. said this and Ned, cried:
20, Alice, / wish you wouldn't think
OF that. 1t just breaks me up to see
you cry, you know"
Then followed silence during which
Alice must have been in some way COM
torted, for she said, in a steady voice:
mo, my dear boy, have been very
weak to see you so often, and have
these rides. 1 should have refused and
tried to- forget you. But, Ned, 4
couldn't. can't think of anything but
you--and-I do love you sol''
q MOTe silence linen:
'And Ned, this really must be the
last. cau't marry you. No, dear,
please don't go all over it again. IL
know that it would be great wrong
to you to say yes. 1t would always be
hindrance to you. We would have no
friends, and a young lawyer must have
friends. Who would come to your
house If they knew your wife was the
daughter of Rand, the embezzler?''
That was where the Judge almost dis
covered himself. He sentenced Rand to
20 years hard labor and he had still IS
years to serve. 1t was a queer case
and not quite clear. So this was the
motherless girl he had heard so much
about.
"Now, see here, Alice" the young
man said, "you know it takes two to
make a quarrel, and it takes two TO |
make separation. So while YOU NAV
think it best not to see me again. ri
shall not give you up and shall see !
you every opportunity I can, so long as |
1t doesn't bother you. Dad knows all !
about it and he's with me-
The judge wasted to shout: Good
for dad" but he didn't. 4
Then after another longer silence
they left him alone. AS he rode slowly
home he turned the little tragedy over
and over In his mind and the more he
thought about it the more he felt-that
he had made mistake by staying and !
listening. AT last he evolved a plan !
calculated to ease his own conscience |
and give the young man some courage. Z
So the judge sent him this letter: