Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-11-07

was there oHI. QUE punt OF ftsW. W as
not all life n struggle. relentless strug-
gle: \ fair chance. and let the best
man win = no one could ask more.
Had Irish had a fair chanceE WEo
could say: Besides. IL was no business
of his He WAS offered the work wuicI,
irish had failed II do. Ii would prob
ably make no difference TO Irish if he
declined the position. Still. suppose
he declined on the ground of what he
had heard " was the last kind of a
place to enjoy a row; things were al
WAYS done decently and in order there.
The college would not like to have il
said that It had treated Irish so I'M
fairly that Lawrence Percival would
not co,l. 10 it. He had made rows be
fore. and his pen was feared He
mfeflt IT least obtain that extension of
time which Irish thought would be so
important But would it? How could
he teIIs What did he know about the
right of the matter anyway: And.
granting even that things Were as the
head supposed them to be. was it not
the law of the universe that q man
should first of all do his own work
look after his own? Was not his first
duty to the woman who had trusted
her life to him?
He took up Lilian's miniature, which
stood on his writing table. The fair,
sensitive face, untouched by care,
looked up at him with smiling eyes.
full of a woman's trust. He seemed
to hear her voice:
How did l come to care? l think,
7
man had ever known"
And there came back to him the
pledge he had made his father when
first he went to college-the promise to
follow his principles at any cost, wher-
ever they might lead. Now, of all
these principles the strongest. the most
clearly defined. the one that so far had
ruled his life, was the resolve never to
ally himself in the smallest way with
anything on which res even the
shadow of injustice-never To rse l.v
trampling on another. 1t that was tue
price of success, he would do without
success"
NO" he said as he put back the
miniature: mot even for you"
Then he remembered her letter,
which he had not yet read. AS he open
ed it he saw it was very different from
any he had ever before received from
her. Instead of dainty, perfumed
sheet. with writing as steadfast and
serene as her own nature. this was
blotted and hastily written. 1t was
dated from her aunts-she had been
obliged to leave her position. In her
agitation she gave him a glimpse into
facts hitherto concealed. The monot
ony and dreariness of the life. the pet
ty sights and annoyanceS-all these she
had borne with silent courage. But
now the son of the house had fallen in
love with her. Her engagement had
been no protection nor the fact that he
himself was also engaged. His perse
cution had brought a crisis and a fam
lily scene. He had threatened to break
his engagement. and she had left the
house.
She told the story as if she could
scarcely bear to put it into words, but
Lawrence could read between the lines
the insult and shame to which she had
been exposed. He had never known
her so shaken, not even under the
shock of her fathers death or of the
difficult days which followed it. She
had always seemed to him. like Spen-
ser's Elizabeth. settled so in heart
that she was ever ready "in the stay of
her own steadfast might for endur-
ance or for action. Now. for the first
time in their engagement. she sent for
him. begging that if he possibly could
he would come to her.
He could be with her by Sunday.
and he could tell her that soon he
would come for her to care for her and
shield her always. If he did not do
this. what was before her? And yet
and yet-should he tell her and let her
decide? Coward thought. that. Nc: he
had always lived his own life; he
could not now begin to shirk. Besides.
she trusted him absolutely. The ques-
ton must be answered before he went
to her.
Could it be that he was-as his
friends have often called him-over
nice and scrupulous, with an absurdly
fantastic sense Of honor? Was it not
sometimes possible to neglect plain
duty while following fastidous tastes
that We're dignified by the name of
principles?
here, now, for him lay the right?
An hour later he walked to the vii
lage. where he sent a telegram to Lii
ian and mailed a letter to the presi-
dent of Y. coIlege.-New York Evening
Post