Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1901-03-06
WIN nv little Girl think me very Gu

VIII my little girl think me very Gu
rious and very impertinent II ! ask her
what my son Frederick was saying to
her when I came into the roomy"
She looked up now and with visible
.candor answered him Immediately and
to the point.
Frederick is In trouble. Mr.. suther-
land. He has felt the need OF a friend
who could appreciate this, and he has
asked me TO be that friend. Besides,
he brought me a packet of letters
which be entreated me to keep for him.
! took them, Mr.. Sutherland. and I
VIII keep them. as he asked me to do.
safe from'everybody's inspection, even
my own"
Oh, why had he questioned herr He
did not want to know OF these letters;
he did want to know that Frederick
possessed anything which he was
afraid to retain in his own possession.
my son did wrong" said he. "to con-
fde anything to your care which be did
not desire TO retain In his own home.
] feel that ! ought to see these letters.
for II my son is In trouble. as you say,
!. his father. ought to know IT,"
II am not sure about that" she
Smiled. His trouble may be Of a diff
ferent rnture from what you imagine.
Frederick has led a life that he regrets.
| think his chief source of suffering lies
in the fact that 1t Is so hard for him
to make others believe that he means
TO do differently In the future"
Does he mean TO do differently"
She flushed. Gle says so, Mr.. Suth-
erland. And |. for one, cannot help be-
iieylng him. Don't you see that he be-
gins to look like another mann
Mr.. Sutherland was taken aback. He.
had noticed this fact and had found it.
a hard one to understand. To ascer-
tain what her explanation of 1t might
be he replied at once:
There is a change in him-a change
that more than one has noticed. What
is the occasion of it? To what do you
ascribe 1t. AgnesY'
How br~eathlcssly be waited for her
answer! Had she any suspicion Of the.
awful doubts which were so deeply
agitating himself that night? She did
not appear to have.
II hesitate" she faltered. "but not
from any doubt Of Frederick, to tell
you just what | think lies at the bot
tom OF the sudden change observable
In him. Miss Page (you see, | can
name her, If you cannoD has proved
herself so unworthy of his regard that.
the shock he has received has opened
his eyes to certain feelings of his own
which made his weakness In her re-
g2rd possible. | do not know Of any
thing else. Do your"
At this direct question, which pierced
to the very quick of his trouble, breath
ed though 1t was by tender lips and
launched in ignorance of the barb.
which carried ii to his heart, Mr.. Suth-
erland recolled and cast an anxious
look upon the door; then. with forced
composure, he quietly said, IF you do
not, who are so much nearer her age,
and, let me hope, his sympathy, how
should |. who am his father, but have
never been his conlidantY'
"0h," she cried, holding out her hands,
'such a good father! Some day he will
appreciate that fact us well as others.
Believe it, Mr.. Sutherland. believe It."
And then, ashamed of her glowing in
terest, which was a little more pro-
nounced than fitted to her simple atti-
tude Of friend toward a man professed-
ly In love with another woman, she
faltered a little and cast the shyest of
looks upward at the grand but trou-
bled face she had never seer turned
toward her with anything but kind
ness. IL have confidence in his good
heart" she added, with something like
dignity.
"Would God that | could shape it|
was the only answer she received. Be-
fore she could recover from the shock
Of these words Mr.. Sutherland was
gone.
Agnes was a little troubled by this
iuteINIcW, LOT dlteT sue ndu uedru the
gate click behind these two friends
and had carried that precious some
thing away with her up stairs there
was a lingering In the step with which
she trod the little white EMPOWERED
chamber. sacred to her girlish dreams,
that bespake an o~vercharged heart, .
heart that, before she slept. found re-
lief In these few words that she whis-
pered into the night air, laden with the
sweetness of honeysuckles:
"Can It be that he is rightly Did {
need such q warnlng-I who have hat
ed this mar and who thought that 1t
was my hatred which made II impossi-
BILE for me to think of anything or any
body else since we parted from each
other last night? oh, me, II 1t is SOL"
And from the great, wide world with
out, tremulous with moonlight, the
echo seemed to come back:
"Woe to thee, Agnes Halliday, II this
be So"