The Minneapolis journal., 1903-03-03

I IAoI SAld pcs Jul SLuS, HAS pldCGQ you To-
/ gether and forged.a bond between you that
is unbreakable--the bond of perfect love-
There seemed such a genuine ring in
| her voice, and she spoke with such So
! licitude for our welfare, that in the con-
versation I entirely forgot that after all
she was only acting the part Of media tor,
and was trying to bring us together again
In order to prevent her remarkable secret
from being exposed.
At some moments she seemed the per-
fection Of honesty and integrity, without
the slightest affectation of interest or
artifciality Of manner, and it was this
fresh complexity of her character that
utterly baffled me. could not determine
! whether or not she was in earnest. ii
If 1t is really destiny 1 suppose that
/ to try and resist it is quite futile 1 re-
marked mechanically,
Absolutely. Ethelwynn will become
lyour wife, and you have all my good
wishes for prosperity and happiness"
| thanked her, but pointed out that
! mature
Hoow foolish you are, Ralph.' she
said. You know, very we'll that you'd
marry her tomorrow if you could"
All! If could,' I repeated wistfully.
Unfortunately my position is not yet
sufficiently well assured to justify my
/ marrying. Welded poverty is never q
! pleasing prospect /. ...s,. -<-
| But you have the world before you.
i've heard Sir Bernard say so times with
out number. He believes implicitly in you
as a man who will rise to the head of
your profession .@ r., - ..s. r.
I laughed obviously, shaking my head.
! i only hope that his anticipations may
be realized" I said. But fear I'm no
more brilliant than hundred other men
In the hospitals. It takes a smart man
nowadays to boom himself into notoriety
| AS in literature and law, so in the medi-
cal profession, it isn't the clever man who
rises to the top Of the tree. More often
1t is second-rate man, who has private
Influence and has gauged the exact worth
| OF self-advertisement. This is an age
of: regulations quickly made and Just as
| rap pfdly lost. In the professional world
new man rises with every moon.'
| But that need not be so In your CASE
she pointed out with Sir Bernard as
your chief, you are surely in a unique
position
4. Taking her into my confidence, told
| her of my ideal of snug country practice
I-one of those in which the assistant does
the night work and attends to the club
people, while there is nucleus of coun-
try people as patients. There are hun
dreds of such practices in England where
a doctor, although scarcely known outside
his own district, Is in a. position which
|
lonable fads and fancies. enves as the
elysium of what life should be. The viii
lage doctor of Little Pennington may be
an ignorant old buffer, but his life with
It's three days hunting a week, it's con-
slant invitations to shoot over the best
preserves. and its free fishing whenever in
! the humor. Is a thousand. times preferable
to the silk-hatted and frock coated exist
lence OF the fashionable physician
L had long ago talked it all over with
EthelWynn. and she entirely agreed with
me-. I had not the slightest desire to have
a ,consultlng-room of my own in. Harley
street. All longed for was a life in the
open air and rural tranquility; a life far
from the. tinkle Of the cab bell and the
n1lkman's strdent Cry; a life of case and
! bliss, with my Well-beloved ever at my
side. The unfortunate man compelled tc
live in London is deprived of half Of Gods
generous gifts. - s'.... Il; -.:-rg.
j Though this unaccountable GOODNESS
has fallen between you.'' Mary said. look
ing straight at me, you surely canno,
4 have doubted the strength of her affec-
tion?' ~~--
i But Mrs. Henniker's insinuation puz.
i zles me. Besides, her recent movements
!; have been rather cratic, and almost seen
, to bear out the SUGGESTION
THAT woman is utterly unscrupulous!
: she cried angrily. depend upon it tha
she has some deep motive in making the
| slanderous statement. On one occasion
, she almost caused a breach between nv.
} self any my poor husband. Had he no
| possessed the most perfect confidence i,
me the consequences might have beer
most serious for both of u.s. The outcome
of a mere word, uttered half in Jest, came
near running my happiness for ever. die
not know her true character in those
: days" -,r ''@' - ..
; Il had no idea that her character wa.
such, I remarked, rather surprised at this
: statement Hitherto, I had regarded he]
as quite a harmless person, who by max
: ing strenuous effort to obtain a footins
in good society often rendered hersel
ridiculous in the eyes of her friends
i Her character!' she echoed fiercely
She's one of the most evil-tongued wo.
men in London. Here's an illustration
While posing as Ethelwynns friend, anC
entertaining her beneath her roof, she
actually 1nsinuates to you the probability
of a secret lover! Is it fair? Is it the
action of an honest and trustworthy wo.
man." .t--... . r. -
I was compelled to admit that it was
not. Yet was this action of her own, ii
Il coming to me under the present circum-
i stances, in any way more straightforward
Had she known that I was well aware OF
the secret existence of her husband, she
would assuredly not have dared to speak
In the manner she had done Indeed. as
sat there facing her. SLIM sweet faced
interesting figure in her we'll made mourn
ing, I could scarcely believe it possible
that she could act the imposture so per-
fectly. Her manner was f1awless; he,
self possession marvellous.