The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1902-02-25

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Mr.. Alden guilty of this frightful crime,
and you dare not say so in my pres
ence for fear that l may not be dis.
Greet and you may be put into an un.
pleasant position"
Il could scarcely be put into a posi-
ton more unpleasant than this one"
said Kendall earnestly. ~ want to
tell you the exact truth about-about
everything that know or imagine,
and 1t is deadly hard to do it when
you look at me as If were an enemy.
This Is as near as can come to an
accurate expression: Miss Miller's man
ner convincps me that she Is shielding
ne assassin, and there is no known
reason why she should shield airy one
else than Mr.. Alden"
But why not take the perfectly easy
alternative that she is telling the
truth"
II WILL" said Kendall, 'if you wish
me to-
II am very serious" said Brenda.
"This is promise you are making"
at is" replied Kendall, his face
flushed and his voice not quite steady.
ut is my word of honor given to you,
! and so twice sacred as the word Of
a FRIEND" he added. "You were good
enough to say that We were friends
two years ago.
II have better cause to say 1t now"
she replied. LET me hasten to prove
my sincerity in the usual way, by bur-
dening you with confidence. You
must be wondering at me-"
"Why"
"Bccause I am here"
ut is Il fine thing" said Kendall
earnestly. $50 much l know"
81 will tell you more" rcjoincd
Brenda, land it will make you think
better Of Mr.. Alden. This tragedy Of
today is a revelation to me, but not Of
the kind that you suppose. Mr.. Alden
had not concealed from me that his
heart had been won away, but | did
not understand. He told me Of Miss
Millcr's existence two months ago, but
l would not hear all he wished to say.
He minated that lie had begun to re-
gard her with feelings that made his
engagement to Inc dishonorablc. |
viewed him with pity" and Brenda
laughed very softly and without mirth.
Il was so incredibly ignorant of every
thing outside my own sphere that I
could not imagine the existence Of
such woman as lies now in that room
out there.
"Clarence said she was an actress,
and he looked at me as a man upon
the defensive. ! can see him now. l
pictured siren, n creature grotcsquely
unworthy, appealing to his wild and
reckless nature with thin articles
that would be clear as glass to him
when lie should view them with dis
passionate eye. Truly, was only
sorry for him, ashamed of him a little,
yet very anxious to help him. 1t SEEM
ed to me that breaking our engage
mcnt would be the very worst thing
that could happen to him, and so re-
fused to consider the woman ut all.
One meets men In society, DR.. Ken
dali, whose well known ways of life
have an unfortunate tendency to per-
vert womcn's ideas in such matters.
We admit the existence of certain per-
sons whom we see in the park with
elegant equipagcs, but we cannot con-
slider them as rivals"
"But surely he spoke Of her with
respect" said Kendall.
"Abso!utc,' replied Brenda, "but
thought him the more Il fool He said
one evening, ! rcnembcr-and it was
only a very short time ago--that Miss
Miller cared nothing for him and never
would. | was merely convinced by his
sincerity that the woman was playing
a deep game, and swore by such gods
as l have that would save him from
her. And so it went on until last even
ing, when he sent me note which
made it impossible that our engage
ment should continue. 1t was only a
frank, honest statement that his heart
had passed utterly out Of his control.
can see now that he could have done
no better but | did not take the right
view at the moment. Perhaps it was
because l had heard that day for the
first time that Mr.. Alden's engagement
with me was of the highest Importance
IN his business affairs. If lie had al
lowed 1t to continue for that reason
But he had not. 1t was really all my
doing.
''IIowcver, to continue, l went to his
office today because was inpatient
and told him that the engagement
was at an end. That was in ten words.
And the loss Of me, DR.. Kendall, affect
cd him so little. He was obviously SO !
wrapped in an inpenetmble happiness
that lost my temper for the first time
in a good many years and cut short the
Interview. Oh, we were perfectly cour-
tcous to each other, and when we part
cd-most automatically, with an cle- |
vator man rattling the catch Of the
door to make me hurry - we shook
hands upon VOW of friendship. But
l was In shameful rage as left the
building.
II went up town as far as the shop
ping district and wandered aimlessly
In the stores. Then got upon street
car, prefcrring 1t to the loneliness Of a
cab. And SO 1t happened that news
boy thrust the story Of this crime into
my face. The paper was wet from the
'rcss-printed and upon the street with
n half an hour after the discovery Of
he crime. A reporter must have been
light upon the scene by accident and
mvr rushed to his off," i'""o,liatr'y.
To Re continued.
The New chief Of Police. -,
You can buy Pilskury's Vitos At lie. mick.