Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1902-02-27

of the case"
first feeling I had was sympathy for
Clarence. I wanted to do something
for him. and couldn't think Of any
thing else but to 60 to her."
"The papers will be full Of itP' he
groaned. II have always been afraid
of Alden. You know I could never
reconcile myself to him."
II remember that you always ad-
mired him." said she.
"a good many people admire him" )"
exclaimed the old gentleman impa-
tiently. "and they're all afraid of him.
He is a headlong, reckless. unsafe
man, and l never should have per-
mitted you to become engaged to
him."
Brenda smiled without effort this
time. She knew that her will would
dominate her fathers In any conflict,
and that he would permit her to have
her own way to the end of the story.
81 am not engaged to him any more" |"
said she, and her father admitted cor
daily that that was something to be
thankful for.
"He has behaved most dishonorably
to you," he added.
II have no complaint to make Of Mr..
Alden's conduct" said Brenda. 81
shall not break my heart for him, but
I wish he might have loved me. Let
us 60 In to dinner"
Mr.. Maclane was considerably sur
prised to observe as the meal progress
ed that his daughter ate with q good
appetite. Having q shrewd faculty Of
observation, he perceived at last that
Brenda's body was attending to the
whole matter Of Its own sustenance
and that her mind was elsewhere. As
anxiety rises In intensity the thinking
part of us interferes more and more
with the grosser envelope and the
processes Of enlightened selnshness
therein implanted by nature. but there
comes q point Of separation whence
the mind goes its own way and the
body likewise, to the great betterment
Of the latter temporarily.
After dinner Brenda and her father
went into the library, room OF which
he made great use for smoking. much
preferring 1t to the apartment especial
ly designed for the indulgence Of that
pernicIous habit.
Brenda fell at once into deep thought,
and her father, after several futile at
tempts to talk with her, sat down by
desk and endeavored to occupy himself
with certain household accounts. He
was a man Of large frame and little
flesh, rather handsome In a mildly
aquiline style and with eyes like Bren-
da's, but gentler and with more of the
blue tint In them. There was some
thing womanish about him, hard to
trace, but probably In his manner al
together and not In his looks. A nerv-
Gus irrltabillty made utter tribes tragic
for him. Everything worried him more
or less. At the desk there, as he put
tered with the accounts, his pen fell
from the rest where he had placed II.
Dnd he picked 1t up, with a groan.
His pleasures were few. His home
was something to him; his pride, OF va
rious kinds, a staff to lean upon. He
had considerable affection for his son
and rather more for Brenda. He
thanked God daily that her health was
80 good; but, even so, he was always
afraid that It might fail.
His chief Joy In life was business
journey. He could get nothing out OF
pleasure trip because Of the obvious
waste of time. But to be one OF three
or four moderately congenial men abb
solutely forced to travel. preferably In
some ones private car. perhaps to see
q bit OF Industrial property In the west
or even no farther than Washington
when there was bill affecting busi-
ness interests before congressional
was genuine relaxation. II was neces-
sary to go. and the responsibility for
getting there was on the engineer In
the cab ahead. One might smoke a
good cigar meanwhile and speak Of
small matters. When one has reached
n certain stage of nervousness. II is
more tranquilizing to ride 05 miles an
hour under another mans guidance
than to sit still at home as n result OF
ones own voiItion.
To Brenda and her father In the IL
brary entered Wlllett, the butler. with
q troubled countenance. 1t appeared
that two men desired to see Miss Mac
lane and that their narks were Barnes
and Haggerty.
"They mentioned n Captain Neale,
miss" said the butler. 'presuming to
say that you'd understand"
Brenda rose hastily.
"They have come to take me to the
hospital" she said. Tell them I viii