The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1904-08-23

though she was. Daphne BY this time
must have entertained suspicious, you
may be cure, as to the fneness Of stun
in Mr.. Chester's nature. But sne nag
these suspicious jealousy, even irom
herself; believed in all things, nopeu
all things, never by look or WORD re-
preached Chester for his neglect, OF
questioned him as to the hours that ne
passed away from her side. And py
her reticence unknowingly helped on
his ruin!
There are human temperaments go
adjusted that the mere contact OF VIZ
btuesseems poisonous to them.
Daphne vansittart's simple, truth
full character was one to have called
forth every higher quality in a lover
endowed with ordinary delicacy, or
binary manhood. Upon Barry Chester
(who shall say through what hidden
moral chemistry? p her devotion acted
as a directly evil influence.
Does not the same ray Of light bleach
or blacken, according to the nature Of
the substance across which it travels2
1t was just piece Of old, miserable
luck, so he thoroughly and honestly
believed; possessing in conspicuous
degree that hallmark of incapacity,
the habit Of laying his failures to the
door Of othersl Circumstances had
handicapped him before his birth for
| Aunt Hostess intuition proved correct.
Mr.. Chester mother was the daughter
Of gamekeeper. AS a child his faith
e- had sent him to the wrong school;
as q lad put him into the wrong pro-
fession; and now, just precisely at
time Of life when fellow wants
worldly counsel, worldly Judgment, he
had been fool enough to saddle him-
self with wife!-a creature with
waxen baby face, a heart and temper
sweet il you will, sweet to mawkish-
nessl- but about as fit, she and the old
aunts together, to help or guide man
with practical wisdom as il they had
all been picked up off some desert ISL
and in the Pacific.
From the comparatively innocuous
follies Of paper hunting and pigeon
killing Mr.. Chester sank, step by
step, to grosser pleasures; was heard
of at length BY the affrighted Miss
yansittarts as frequenting taverns,
skittle alleys and the like places OF
unhallowed resort. He grew morose
and silent during such hours of the
twenty-four as it was his pleasure to
spend at home; threw the quiet house
hold into ever increasing disorder by
the lateness Of his hours; complained
of his meals, complained of Margot's
waiting! In fine, gave every symptom
Of the morbid discomfort which. born
of idleness, shadows all the innocent
environments Of such mems lives with
its blackness,
And now, at length, the Miss Van
sittarts, taking counsel together
| Daphne they burst not admit into
their secret-resolyed ITO speakF Sol
eInn and warning looks. parabolical
hints leading remarks thrown out at
| the dinner tabie--and the small artil-
| lery Of domestic warfare had long been
employed without result Barry Ches-
ter's delicacy was not Of sufficiently
| fine texture to be wounded so long as
Fief della Refine offered convenient
roof under which he might abide free
of expense. He must be spoken to in
| perfectly plain and unmistakable
tones, and Theodore Vansittart, of her
own free choice, undertook to be
| spokeswoman.
Aunt Hosie, to whom Chester's sins
Of omission and otherwise were spe-
cially abhorrent, was yet, at this crisis,
| the most lenient Of the three sisters
toward the wrong-doer himself. Just
as the law Of her own life was effort,
so was the law of her judgment upon
| others mercy. She had the charity
| born Of strength, the insight Of d pure.
unselfish heart into the temptations
and backslidings Of her frazier breth-
rem. Miss Theodora's imagination ex-
ercised itself more upon the fictitious
| trials of young ladies' and gentlemen
than upon those of flesh and blood, and
her concentrations were Interchangeable
as stone-carved decalogue. Barry
| Chester idle because he was weak? A
coin, though light, need not necessarily
be bad. Give him time, and under the
influence Of Daphne's affection, things
would vet come straight? Never! Miss
Theodore had no belief in men coming
| straight who had once sunk to taverns
and skittle alleys. And as to his fine
friends, as to his interest through the
Warwickshire Stamers--''I don't be-
lieve," said Theodore vansittart, with
a kindling eye, "that Barry Chester
knows Warwickshire Stamer by
sightr' And the Nervousness Of his
crime really swept away any lingering
scruple or pity she might yet have felt
toward the culprit.
To be Continued.
ar1,n ,ro,v 6s.,sv... Ss.--sH.r