The Washington weekly post., 1900-06-05

/ Martha protested
/ Il don't believe Il" Helen whispered n
/ her lover She's afraid I'll b. anxious
/ II she owns to the truth. That's the way
/ women are"
| Deceptive" he laughed fondy.
/ Self-Eacrlficine." Helen said, giving
/ him little jab with her parasoI.
| on the boat the Rev. Mr. Mast awaited
Miss Martha Il think everything will 20
| finely" he said.
Miss Martha nodded vaguely For the
| first tire she thought that It was rather
eneminate in man to pay so much at
| tenii0n TO small details She hunted UP
| her Sunday-schoOl class. They started al
O'Clock. BY noon they were on the bar
The mist had not lightenei. and the sun
refused 10 do more than make the world
a great opal
At ) o'clock they were out Of sight OF
land II land could have been sighted in
| this density. and the Tecumseh was rock
ing strangely. And al , o'clock the cap
| tain. with a sudden. tense look. decided
that, the mist growing heavier, it was
scarcely adding TO the pleasure Oi-the par
/ " 10 90 much farther. As Il was, fog
was forming. and they would not reach
| home till o'clock.
But II was all very cheerful, and Helena
| and Maxwell and two or three other pairs
| OF lovers had hooks to themselves and
! would have liked it 10 continue indeh-
J nitely.
| Miss Martha had been prominent all
| day with the congregation. Then hey
class mad given her much TO do, II hein.
OF boys many of whose parents had not
come, but intrusted their children To her
| care
She was really very tired when late in
| the afternoon she went to a side of the
/ boat little removed from the pecDle.
| There was a dove In a cage hanging
above her She locked up 10 il. smiled
and spoke to it, it was so pretty.
! She seated herself on a camp stool and
folded her hands. The dove made a
mournful sound. The swash of the watef
was loud, She was hemmed in bv the
mist. The wind seemed 70 rise all al
once. The boat will stay at the whar.
all night" she tod herself II should
think ,hey woald have to have two lights
| instead of one on such a night" There
| was the scrapng of a camp stool near
her. Mr. Mast had looked for aud found
her.
Miss Panfold," ne said. seating himself
beside her "a picnic is a circus, as some
| of your boys would say. l don't know
how it is with you, but one picnic takes
more out of ne than delivering four SER
mons day, as / have done on one OIL
| two occasions"
She made room for him. She knew
what this pOFtended, what she had ex-
pected, and for which she believed Mr
| Mast was sure she was prepared. little
| silence fell. They felt the throbbing OF
| the engine. The sWash of the water
| against the side of the boat seemed ab-
normally loud. The merriment on hoard
| had become Intermittent or was confined
TO the saloon, where there was a piano.
| Miss Penfold, / think you know in
| what light | have long regarded you" 1t
| was Mr.. Mast's voice And YOU also
know / am plain-spokeR man, whose
faults are what they are. You know ma
| very well, and | know you very well
We are quiet couple, our tastes are in
common, the church means a great deal
TO us. Will you be my wife,"
Miss Martha had supposed tremors on
| her side, little irregular heartbeats pre-
| parat0ry to placing her hand in his. Now,
| feeling calm and cleaF-minded, she turned
to him.
| You have done me a great honor" she
| said, and | appreciate it, | have expect
| ed il, and | have thought il over all day
here. ali last evening at my window -
She touched his hand. MI Mast, let Us
be friends. 1t would be hard 10 be more
than that at our time of life anyway
| He understood her. but he jerked his
| chair away foot or so.
! Don't De annoyed" she said II re-
| spect you more than any man / know or
nave ever known. | shall always so respect
you. And | hope you will let me go on
beside you in the church work-in any
| way L can be OF service to you. That Is
| all"
He did not reply for awhile. His face
was set. Then he spoke:
| Il had expected another answer from
| you, he said. 81 felt that you gave me
| the right TO expect another sort of an
swer.' He rose abruptly and left her.
| The dove over her head made d mournful
| sound. All at once a terror seized her.
| What had she done? She had given up
a good man, man who would have
cared for her and protected her. Had she
made mistake? Had he asked her two
| days ago what would her answer have
| been? 1t Was an hour after he had gone
| away before she was restored TO calm
| ness. In that time she had been Joined
| by some of the women who had under
stood the intimacy between between her
| and Mr.. Mast, who had seen the short
eonfabulation and wished TO ascertain re-
| suits. But Miss Martha adroitly turned
| the talk TO church matters. When the
| women left her she staid there alone
| Helena and Maxwell came round to her
| Gordon said yesterday it might be a
bad day" Helena said triumphantly
| Didn't You, Gordon? And a storm is
| coming. There's a drop of rain. Come
with US, aunty, and see what a sea is
driving toward us"
Il am not lonely" Miss Martha said
| sharply Go away, please. Go and be
| happy
| The captain reported that they might
get 10 shore by O'clSck, but they should
| have TO slow down a little, the weather
/ had come on SO nasty.
| At o'clock il was piten dark, and wind
| and wave cOntended. The boat rose as
| though il would never come down again,
and then il sank and shiVered& The water
/ lashed over the sides. One could see the
white of il rise out of the blackness like
! long, fierce fingers gTasping at nothing
ness, then slip in OoZy stretches over the
1 deck. Nearly every UodS Was IN the Sd-
| loon. and the dove OyeI her head annoy
ed her, but Miss Martha staid where she
was She sheltered herself from the rain
| under one Of the hanging small boats
and waited. She believed she had waited
all day. And now ii was o'clock There
was only one hour more 10 be on the
boat and as yet she had not seen BOT-
/ land For she owned il 10 herself that
| that was what she had wanted. what she
| had waited fnr-to see him and assure
| herself that she had not deeply wounded
/ him yesterday when she had been the
/ cruelest woman il the world
| Here she was With happy party Of peo-
Die, lust asked in marriage by the clergy
| man OF her church, ana there he was
down in some dismal depth Of the boat,
maybe d stoker. 4 blackened working
man and Yet she lOnged 10 see him Was
| il only for what she thought il was that
| she wished 10 ser him? She had not salts
| factorily answered that question 10 her.
self when she was dimiy aware that a
| commOtiOn had been going on round her