The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-04-12
Copyright 1900, by Anna Katharine Green.


| her when came into the room?"
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 friend
who could appreciate this. and he has
asked me to be that friend. Besides,
he brought me packet of letters
| which he entreated me to keep for him.
took them. Mr.. Sutherland. and
| will keep them. as he asked me to do,
safe from eyerybody's inspection. even
my own"
| Oh. why had he questioned her? 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-
| fide anything to your care which he did
| not desire to retain in his own home.
feel that | ought to see these letters,
| for if my son is in trouble. as you say,
l. his father ought to know it,
81 am not sure about that she
ferent nature from what you imagine.
Frederick has led a life that he regrets.
think his chief source of suffering lies
in tls,<fs.i that it is so hard for him
TO make others believe that he means
20 do differently in the future"
Docs he in,,..,..l to do differently"
She flushed HE says so, Mr.. Suth-
11 nj <,,.t Pow. ,~+ 1,o1y, 1,,>'
lieving him. Dciii you seethat he be-
gins to look like another manY
Mr.. Sutherland WAS taken aback. He
had noticed this fact aad had found it
a hard one to understand To ascer-
tain what her explanation of ii might
be he replied at once:
.'Tlere is g change in him-a change
that more than one has noticed What
is the occasion of it? To what do you
ascribe it, Agnes?"
How breathlessly he 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.
81 hesitate" she faltered, ssbut 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, I can
name her, il. you cannot) 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-
gard possible. | do not know of any
thing else. Do you?"
at this direct question, which pierced
to the very quick of his trouble. breath
ed though it was by tender lips and
launched in ignorance of the barb
which CARRIED it to his heart Mr.. Suth-
erland recoiled and cast an anxious
look upon the door; then, with forced
comnosure, he quietly said, eff 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 confidant?"
"Oh," she cried. holding out her hands,
such a good father! Some day he will
appreciate that fact as well as others.
Believe it. Mr.. Sutherland. believe it,
And then, ashamed of her glowing in
tersst, which was a little more pro-
.nounced than fitted to her simple atti-
tudeOf friend toward man professed-
ly in love with another woman, she
faltered little and cast the shyest of
looks upward at the grand but trou-
bled face she had never seen turned
toward her with anything but kind
4 ness. 81 have confidence in his good
heart" she added, with something like
dignity
i would God that could share it!''
was the only answer she received. Be
fore she could recover from the shock
gone.
Agnes was little troubled by this
interview, for after sheShad heard the
gate click behind these two friends
and had carried that precious some
thing away with her up stairs there
was lingering in the step with which
she trod the little white embowered
chamber, sacred to her girlish dreams
that bespake an oyercharged heart, q
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 right? Did
need such warning-I who have hat
ed this man and who thought that il
was my hatred which made it impossi
BILE for me to think of anything or any
body else since we parted from eacl
other last nightI Oh. me. If it is sop
And from the great. wide world with
out, tremulous with moonlight, thu
: echo seemed to come back:
/, "Noe to thee, Agnes Halliday, if thi
be SOP
CHAPTER Xxx.
AGATHA'S HEIR
Meanwhile Mr.. Sutherland and Fred
, erick stood facing each other in tn
formers library. Nothing had bee
!. said during their walk down the hill
: and nothing seemed likely to procee
, from Frederick now. though his fathe
waited with great and growing agita
ton FOR some explanation that woul
I'm, etro IN HI hoo