The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-01

number of times one sees the adored one
"'And without knowing anything Of
herself-ef her character, her.
Her face tells me her character. L
can read her goodness in her eyes-no de-
ceit. no wrong, have place there. For
the rest, who her family and forbears
are I care nothing. 1 am willing to risk
all for her sake
The lady fixed on me look half OF
pity, half of compassion.
How old are you, sir, may inquired?
she said presently.
'TWenty-three years, madam
Much is forgiven at that age; but,
for all that, let me tell you your con-
duct Is foolish, sir-foolish, foolish! and
as she spoke the last words she shook her
finger at me in gentle ACCOMPLISHMENT.
How SOP I returned, with some
warmth.
Why. for wishing to ally yourself to
a stranger. tell you, young man, and
I say with full sincerity, Kitty Springfield
is not the wife for you
Permit me to remark madam. that
the friendship you profess for her is not
best shown
{" My friendship for her is not profess
sion; it is true-real; and yet tell you
she is not, and never will become, the
wife for YOU
By what right do you presume?
BY the. best of rights
Explain yourself madam; and il
your explanation is not
She silenced me with look. Then,
Jack, she told me something that left me
dumb for the moment. Leaning back in
her chair and regarding me steadfastly,
she said, almost under her breath, and
with. 1 thought, a half sigh
"T am Kitty Springfield
Gas the words came the scales fell from
my eyes, and there where 1 had traced a
resemblance was a resemblance no more.
Twas the woman herself!
after allowing me some little time to
recover myself in, she spoke again, this
time as does a mother to her son. She
| upbraided me, but in even kindIer tones
than before, for my foolishness in fall
ing in love at the first encounter with
pretty face seen on the boards of
theater
Then she went on, in the same gentle
accents-I remember the very words she
used
81 was pretty once, squire; but that
was long ago. Now l have only the art
to appear pretty when the lights and the
distance ard the glitter of the mimic
scene lend me their aid. Perhaps my
own story may help to point a moral and
v
you. TITS brief, and common enough
story, too, / dare swear
with that, she rested her head on
her hand and seemed for the moment
rapt in thoughts of days long gone by.
"T was young actress of scarcely
eighteen years when. just as you have
done. a gentleman fell in love with me
from seeing me act part at the
theater. That matter would have been of
49, ,cI,a on n
force "a smile, but. as unlueky fate
would have it, I fell in love with him.
We were married. knowing little about
him except that he was an officer in one
of the kings regiments and that he was
of good birth. I quilted the stage and
for two years We were completely happy.
But a time came when l found out his
real character. He was a gambler, sir
and worse. Slowly and by degrees, from
the moment when his real character be-
came revealed to me, his manner towards
me changed, his love for me waned.
From mere passive unkindness his con-
duct to me became harsh cruel, even
brutal. At last. I could endure life with
him no longer. / left him and returned
to the boards in order to earn sufficient
money to keep myself and our child.
But he pursued me even there and took
my earnings from me.
- Then the end came-suddenly, as
suddenly as our love had begun. One
night, my husband and party of
friends as they are called, had been
playing heavily. He had been loser
throughout the early part of the evening,
but. as the night wore on, his luck
wavered-sometimes he won, sometimes
he lest. With each loss he became more
and more excited and less and less able
to give attention to his cards. BY the
time the gray light crept In at the case
ments he was a heavy loser on the even
ing and became like one bereft OF his
senses He played for all he was pos
sessed of in the world-and lost
Upon that he rose and staggered to
the window, as though to get air. But
he was not able to reach 1t; instead. ne
swung round, c,utched at the card-strewn
table and fell forward upon it, And when
his friend who told me, went to raise
him, he found him-dead.
You may think it strange, squire-we
women are contrary creatures-but when
the news was brought to me that he was
no more, was fit to break my heart with
GREER
miss Springfield remained silent for q