Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-10-06

OluOTdn. DON'T De petLlSn, NlO-
You know you deserved it for your in
consistency"
WELL" she said, slowly, 1--WE have
heard your decision, Queenie, and
hereafter, l do not acknowledge his
acquaintance"
There was not single protest, but
with new gravity on her fair face,
Dinorah Estlin babe her girl friends
good-by that afternoon and went away
to sit and ponder in her quiet little
room
81 wonder if l did right?" she asked
herself dozen times that night.
There is such a difference in our po-
sitions, perhaps I ought not to judge
him. l am rich, have happy home,
and surrounded by good influences,
and have no wish denied, while
Gerald Norman is poor, has neither
mother nor home, has false friends
who seek to lead him in the wrong
way, and has, at the best, to deny
himself of many of the comforts of
life. Is it fair that / should sit in
judgment on his actions?"
1t wasn't fair, and she knew it,
but she took two or three lays to
think about it, and at the end of that
time learned that Gerald Norman had
resigned from his position, which was
both honorable and lucrative, and had
left the place.
Two years afterward she was visit
ing at her uncle's house in Philadel-
phia-and, going out to church one
Sabbath morning, came face to face
with the man she had never quite for
gotten.
She scarcely hesitated before she
stood before him holding out her
hand.
If any one had told her ten min
utes before that she would have STOP
ped in the street and offered her hand
to drunkard, with the wish that he
should take it, she would probably
| have laughed at the idea.
She had a vague feeling that she
somehow had been the cause of this
mans fall into poverty and disgrace,
and that consciousness made her less
sensitive than she would have been at
another time to her surroundings
Mr. Norman" she said, at length,
III think l owe you an apology. I
spoke cruelty and thoughtlessly of
you once, and have been sorry for it
ever since"
He stared curiously into her face
without speaking.
Don't misunderstood me-" she said,
with a little trembling in her voice;
II am speaking to you as / would
speak to a friend whom l had injured.
| do not know if l am answerable for
your folly, but I would like to help
you to forget it,
Miss Estlin," he said gently, when
the mist had floated away from his
brain, ''for Heavens sake don't stand
there and talk to me! Don't you see I
am in rags-a beggar, fit only to be in
the gutter?"
Il see no such thing she replied,
with a sweet seriousness. ut is l
that am the beggar, for am going to
ask you to take me to church."
you don't mean that?" he said.
turning his face toward her, white
with a new-found hope
Dinorah was almost frightened
when she saw that look, but she
would not leave him in doubt.
Il mean that / want to help you
in any way 1 can. If discouraged
you once. let me give you encourage.
ment now"
Thank you," he said eff you will
go on alone, | will come and sit as
near you as l dare. Perhaps next
Sabbath may come to your door and
ask you to walk with me-"
Dinorah was very proud herself,
and she understood just what he felt.
She walked quickly on. and, enter
ing the church, took a seat near the
door She did not turn her head to
/ see whether he had followed her, but
when she went home she saw him
watching her from the other side of
/ the street
The moment she spoke to him in
the street, his moral nature had re-
ceived healthy shock; his pride was
not all gone. and he resolved to be a
man again, for
All! he wondered what Miss Estlin
would say if she knew he had whis.
pered to himself, For her sake!"
She looked a hundred times more
lovely to him than she had ever
looked before. How gently she had
| reproved him! How honestly and
/ kindly she had spoken!
He did not come for her next Sab.
bath evening. though she waited for
him, and all the time felt a little
thorn in her heart at the disappoint.
/ ment.
| Two months passed. She was going
/ home, and had not seen him. She
ventured to do then what she could
not have done year before; she
4 wrote a note to him full of earnest
warning and womanly sympathy