The Washington times., 1903-01-25

+ face had taken his fancy when he first
+ entered her fathers shop. Soon he
/ came to know her well When he
/ strove to please. no one had ever been
/ proof against his persuasive manner,
/ either when he was Harvard student,
/ or a $ right reverend bishop; and for
/ weeks and months he devoted a great
/ deal Of time 10 pleasing Helen South
wick
! The angular rector Of Port Huron,
whose past was assuredly ascetic
! enough to satisfy any Puritan divine.
would have recoiled from the Bishop
( Of OkIaho as from MephistopheIes
himself had he known more Of his
+ guests early years. The young IN
+ dergra duate had most assuredly been
in love-after a careless fashion, and
Helen had been in love also-in a fash
ion that was not careless.
/ Time had passed, and he had taken
+ his degree in June. Early in the fol
. lowing Autumn they were to be mar
ried. he had told her. Very early In
July he had sailed for Europe With his
I mother, to be gone six weeks. On his
+ return there was to be a quiet we'd
/ ding at the Southwicks. and then he
would take her to his own home in
+ Connecticut. It was not a very wise
plan that he had made, and to most
7 persons it would have seemed very
+ vague as TO important detaiIsi but it
did not seem so TO Helen or her IA
Their As for the contriver Of it. he
fully meant TO carry it OUT, and trust
to time to reconcile his people TO his
marriage. HeIen's face would bring
about this result, ne argued with him
self
There came one or two letters from
him to the little shop in Boston. but
at the end of six weeks he had not re-
turned, nor did the Autumn bring him,
either. Il was after the lapse Of more
than q year that he came back, and
then he heard in a vague, indirect
fashion that Helen was dead, and that
her father had gone from Boston. no
one knew whittier. Absence and new
and multiplied experiences had left
/ those few months of the year before
but dimIy outlined in his memory; and
since Helen was dead it was compare
lively easy to forget. almost, that she
had ever lived.
a year or two afterwar6, in obedi-
erce to more serious impulses than he
/ had ever felt before. he had entered the
/ General Theological Seminary in New
York. and Helen aouthWicIl. there
Of his thoughts. the occasional theme
Of q regretfuI musing over the past
But when from the pulpit Of Christ
Church he recognized the <ace of the
woman he had supposed long dead,
he knew that he saw her and no
other That long pause at which the
/ rector had sneered as theatrical was
filed for the bishop with the events
! Of sixteen years before.
And now he was going to see the
woman whom he had once Ioved-fn
his way; the woman he had deserted
To the boy beside him he seemed the
/ representation Of serenity, but he was
very far from being at peace just
then.
After they had gone on board the
ferry boat the bishop. who in spite Of
| his preoccupation had been interested
in what the boy was saying Of the
various objects in sight, was led to
( look more closely at his companion.
AS he did so, something caused him
+ to flush and pale as he had done in
! the morning.
"I hope you are not H." said the
+ boy anxioUsIy.
1T IS only slight attack Of dizzi-
ness" the other replied, after q mo-
ment. at is quite gone now"
Il am glad Of that" said the boy,
/ as they left the rail where they had
/ been standing and moved to a seat
near, Il should be very sorry to
think you were really i'll
/ why so. my boy? You have never
seen me before" said the bishop
/ lightly.
7 know that, but" and the
/ speaker hesitated.
But what?" asked the other en-
couragingIy,
/ Il know you will think me foolish.
/ I am sure you viii. but it's the truth.
+ al the same. II like you. 7 did
when I first saw you in church. and
when my mother said she used to
/ know you. and sent me to ask you TO
/ come and see her was so glad con-
4 Guided the boy, hurrying his words
/ together impuIslveIy.
/ The bishop laid his hand kindly on
young Eccleston's shoulder The lad
/ flushed with pleasure. but neither
/ spoke for some moments. EccIeston
saw that he had not displeased the
/ bishop, who, for his part. was Re all
! ing his boyhood. when his heart used
/ TO 90 out towards those ne fancied in
sudden impulses of affection. But a
+ certain something implied by this
similarity Of temperament WIS not
/ altogether satisfactory to him.