The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1900-08-11
spectacles and stared at her, as If she
found it difficult to believe the report

1ounu 10 dlthculf to believe n report
of her ears alone.
Since when have you hadt that idea
about john she demanded.
well, what conld he do, mammal"
responded the girl cvasiyely. .The. let
ter affords no clew. The man either
will respond to your advertisement or
he will not. II he does, no John La
than will be needed to hunt him up.
II he does not, and chooses to con-
ttnuc hiding himself, no John Latham
can find him.
I'm not so sure about that. And,
moreover, Pin free to admit that it
would be some comfort 10 me as we'll
as to you to see4John and talk to him.
1T wouldn't be any corafort to me.
I don't want ever to see HIM again. I
wish / never had"
"yyhy, Adele Miranda Hall! What
on earth are you saying?"
well, I just don't. So there. And i
don't care a bit"
And, doubtless as conclusive evil
dence that she did not care, she burst
into tears. The old lady, meditativcly
rubbing the side of her nose with a
long forefinger, pondered and gave
time for the outburst to subside. Then
she said gently and with little
trembling in her voice:
"You are all that the Lord has seen
fit to leave to me Addie, and it makes
me a little afraid sometimes to think
that maybe I love you better than /
should; that1 am prouder of my mo-
bic, ~pure-souled, beautiful girl than
1 ought to be, and that, without
meaning it, / may be putting the crea-
ture before the Creator in my affec-
tions and calling down an awful chas-
tening judgment upon myself. 1t l
have sinned, it is through my sin that
my punishment will come to me, and
may God grant me strength to bow
to his will. But do not make ms suf-
fer in suspense, my child. Tell me
the reason for your sudden change of
feeling toward John Latham. What
has he done? Why do you say that
you never want % see him again?"
"Oh, mammal sobbed the girl, lay
ing her fearful face upon her mothers
shoulder, " l hoped / would not have
to tell you, but | believed him so good,
anl-and-I was wrong
The old wonlan's face grew very
pale, her lips quivered and the tears
filled her eyes. She could not speak,
but one arm stole around her child's
form with a caress that conveyed a
mothers pardon and unalterablc love.
That tenderness melted away. the
slight barrier Of reserve that had
stood in the way of perfect conf
dence.
"When / went to leave that note
where John lives" Addie sobbcd, 81
understood from the servant who
opened the door and who speaks hard
" any English, that he had got home
and was there at the time. / thought
it would be better for me to see him,
il only for g moment, so I ran up and
knocked on his door, and-and-I
found another girl there. a bold crea-
ture, who appeared to be at home.
And l never want to see his face
again.
"And-is that all?"
"hll! Isn't that enough? That I
should have been deceived by him so
shamefully!"
The revulsion of feeling so over
came the anxious mother that she
HISTORICALLY laughed and sobbed at
once, trembling like d w~ind-tossed
leaf. Addie, who did not at all under
stand her extraordinary excitement,
was terrified, and cried:
Mammal! Mamma! What is the
matter?"
She dabbled the old woman's face
with cologne, filled her mouth with
water, famed her, and ere long had
the relief of seeing the violent symp-
toms pass off in a fit of gentle weep
ing. and then in smiles.
When again she could trust herself
to speak, the good mother. affection
ately patting her daughters head and
carcssing her, said:
do not, upon possibly delusive ap-
pearances, sacrifice Your own happi-
ness. my child, by condcmning un-
heard the man you love. When John
comes, we will welcome him and let
him speak for himself. and something
tells me you will love him none the
less for anything he has done"
Addie shook her head doubtfully.
She would have liked to believe in
John, but she could not Danish from
her mental vision the picture of the
yellow headed girl in possession in
Johns 0 and said TO herself that
his explanation would have to be a
very good one indeed to put him upon
his former footing with her.