The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-03-18

and accept ii for the best. striving only
to see that it should be perfectly car
ried out So Sibyl would be a girl with
mind of her own.
She must remember me, OF course.
far better than | remembered her. !
had changed somewhat to the eye. but
the alteration was vast improvement
She had been keen child by all that
my father used TO tell me about her.
No doubt she knew me very we'll 1t
was fair to assume that / must in some
way have impressed her favorably. SO
that she could think of me with no
very great rebellion when my father
talked of me to her. Really it was hard
for rue to take that view, but there was
no other. Perhaps the child remember
ed how | used to sing to her one sum-
mer when | was at home for week or
two. She must have been 10 years old
then, and she was very fond of music
must have been, indeed, to stand my
singing for two or three hours at
stretch in the dark drawing room OF
an evening. 1t was always dark, for
the child said that a light spoiled mu-
sic for her. In reality she was bash
full and afraid that 1 would look at
her, afraid that l would see the tears
she shed at sentimental songs. | was
singing heart breakers that summer,
having suffered some slight damage In
the matter of young lady who mar
ried another fellow.
All of which is merely to say that
Sibyl must have reconciled herself TO
me as a manifest destiny and that IL
would be utterly impossible for me to
I, -1,fI arf
was raging for Anna Lanoine. / should
inevitably dislike her, especially as she
could have no strong personal attrac-
ton, no charm to catch the eye. Ii she
had possessed physical beauty. meeting
her might we'll have set me right. for
beauty counts at the start. and quail
ties are so slow.
l had no doubt that she was a splen-
did woman in all that makes soul
more luminous than the dull average.
Ny father was sure of it, and really in
all this internal struggle | was greatly
influenced by his opinion. If he be-
lieved that Sibyl was the ideal woman
for me, she probably was. That's the
fact about it. and | never quite let go
of that conviction. But that was IN my
head; my heart had a conviction of its
own, which was that | stood upon the
verge of an awful mistake; my heart
was afraid 1t said to me: What are
you doing here? Go find Anna La
NOME You have a chance now. Why
did she run away from New York as
soon as you had told her. in effect, that
you were engaged to another girlF
What was it that your friend Gushing
thought was too bad? Don't be so
modest: the girl had begun to love you,
but while you're spending all this sum-
mer trying to love somebody else what
will she be doing2'
The result of it all was that I fell
| into a sort of panic. | lost my wits
! In the face of this problem for the solu-
| ton Of which l had no adequate data
| Upon the one hand l really knew moth
| ing about Sibyl; upon the other knew
! next to nothing about Anna. l knew
! not my own state. l was not in love;
l was merely entranced by the mystery
| of a womans eyes, by the sweet I'M
/ ceasing echo of her voice, by the
witchery of a beautiful puzzle, battling
! as the words one hears in dream and,
waking, vainly struggles to remember.
So far as | attained to any plan or
| action, it seemed best to be honest to
tell my father the exact facts and then,
with his consent, start off upon quest
that should resolve my doubts. A re-
| newal of my acquaintance with Miss
! Lamoine might free me from her spell.
/ 1t would require some time to lind her,
! for | doubted whether Gushing would
| give me her address if l should tele-
| graph him for it. and | had no other
! clew. By the time l had found her she
! might be engaged to multimillionaire
! with two steam yachts, and | could re-
! turn to Sibyl with that ease of mind
which the wise preserve in the midst
| of their desire for the unattainable.
1 rode upon a slow train. due at %
O'Clock in the morning. My father
| met me with a carriage. He was in
cheerful mood, such as 1 rarely attain
! at that hour in the day, and cheer
| fulness is a great advantage. More
over. my courage is always weakest
before breakfast dreaded our inter
view.
We shook hands, and I inquired re-
garding his health, which l knew to be
perfect by the look of him. Then /
said, How is SibyI?" because the ques-
ton would please him. He replied
that she was very well at the last re-
port.
Last reportr' echoed. pausing. with
one foot on the step of the carriage.
do you mean that she hasn't come
home YETI"
"Sibyl is out of town." said he, ex-
tending a hand as if to help me up.
| Here was a chance for procrastina-
ton, which is my favorite amusement
With a feeling of relief sank into the