The Princeton union., 1900-08-09

She spoke SO easily, SO kindly, that ne
recoyered 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-
nan in all the world to him.
'sYou 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?' I
NO." said Malcom Kirk. II came
to see you" It was SO evidently true
that Dorothy could say nothing for
moment. There was an awkward 81
|ence She broke it by saying: p
Il 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 gratefully. 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 it up.
AS for Dorothy, she experienced a
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 Malcom 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
thingT
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" C'I know not how it
is that 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.
II promised to return it when came
back" He spoke with great simplici-
ty and as his fashion always was,
looked straight in her face like man
who is not ashamed or afraid. "No
OAAO UOC 0y SOAA Lbs SScu H. L 11t AteD-
ing Of it 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 a far different man for the
rest of his days if he could only have
this woman for his wife, but at that
moment he felt as if such a 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 it 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 Malcolm Kirk was before her.
Even as he leaped forward he was con-
scious that he held the miniature still,
and before he reached the library he
had mechanically put it into it's old
resting place in his pocket.
They found Mr.. Gilbert lying on the
floor unconscious. Dorothy kneeled
on one side of the body. Malcom Kirk