The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-09
! Our Daily Short Stories
THEIR POINTS OF VIEW.
BY H. S. CANFIELD.
copyright. 1901. by Authors Syndicate,


ring. l ought to know it well enough.
have a receipted bill for it some
where. Why do you ask %
1T is a pretty bauble enough, but
represents little now. Do you want it
back?"
"of course not. What do you
mean?"
II mean that have no further use
for it. Either you take it, or it goes
in the lake"
Surely, Heloise, you are unreason-
able. To have kissed pretty girl
who invited the kiss-to have kissed
her without affection for her-to have
yielded to stray impulse is not a
crime for which they hang men.
have acknowledged my fault freely.
and have asked for forgiveness.
can do no more. 1t would sound fool
ish to say that it shall not happen
again, yet
1T has happened once. and once is
enough If you had kissed only her
hand, it would have been sufficient"
Man! Mani" said the woman, with
passion, "can you not understand? 1t
is not the slight pressure of your lips
to hers; it is not the fact that you have
looked long into her eyes; it is not the
truth that you have acted the lie with
her; it is the broken faith, it is the
SCATTERING of the trust that / have
put in you that moves me to this. You
are not true, but untrue, not honest,
but dishonest. You have not injured
her; you have injured me, because you
have taken belief from me. You are
worse than thief in the night You
have deprived me of something that
was part of me and was necessary to
mel"
These are mock heroics, Heloise''
They are solemn truths; they are
fateful truths; so fateful that they
alter utterly your fate and mine"
THE fault, l say, was trivial"
THE fault, | say, was damnabIe; it
was cowardly; it was base"
Let us argue it. /"
Let us argue it so far and no fur
Their; l gave you my troth you said
that you gave me yours, but you had
no troth to give. You have deceived
me and that other one. Suppose that
1 pardon or condone or forgive. Sup
pose, since wild suggestions are in
order, that l marry you. Could l ever
trust you again? Will the man who
has proved false to the maiden be
faithful to the wife? Could l share
your home and your work and your
joys and feel secure that another was
not dividing you with me? l could not.
There is nothing in high heaven or low
edTtn tndL can restore my Dellef IN you.
Therefore"
She raised her arm in backward
sweep, the ring glitterng in her palm.
He reached up with swift gesture and
caught her wrist. So they remained
for so long time as one might count
a hundred.
Think what you do" he said be-
tween his teeth, yet softly.
Il have thought. 1t remains only
to act"
Think again.
II have thought"
He released her wrist and the, arm
swung forward. Far outward, swiftly
darting through the moonlit air, the
jewel cleaned. 1t seemed a little track
of fire speeding through the night. 1t
struck the water with a tiny splash
and was quenched. She turned her
white face to his and his was the
whittier. She moved from him without
a backward glance. So she passed
from his sight and out of his life. He
took cigar from his pocket and bit
the end of it savagely. Then he rose
and started steadily across the lake.
A cloud went over the moon and the
water grew dark. A heavy frown
drew his eyebrows together. He had
knowledge of defeat and a surety
that much had gone out of his life
never to return.
Women are so damned quixotic,"
ne muttered, "and yet"