St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-02-10

sDGS--SHG -duSuI her DT6dlu duu Llcil
forced herself to think the unthinka-
bIe-s.it won't be like marrying Jack.
But I should have everything in the
world besides him. No life is all beer
and skittles, and, after all, if I had
never met him I should have lived and
been happy without him. I shall make
believe that never did"
Having reached this worldly conclu-
sion, she leaned back in a more COM
Portable position and gazed at dreamy
Claude Monet on the opposite wall.
Then her self communion began again.
But there's Mr. Milward. Il shall
not be able to forget him. wish he
were not quite so Decembery. If only
he seemed little more alive!''
With a quickened breath she fancied
herself alone with him in a beautiful
home. Servants moved noisily about,
but he was always cold and prim and
still. She felt stified. She felt like
prisoner. She belonged to him, for he
had bought her with his twenty mil
lions. Oh, the horror-the degradation
of it,
Once more she took herself to task
angrily.
self vehementIy. ssHe is a very nice
old man, and in time you'll get used to
him. All your life you've longed for
wealth, and now when it is laid at your
feet you must bubble! Wait until the
next interest payment is due on the
mortgage at home. You'll wish then
that you had forgotten sentiment
Thus she went on goading herself,
but to no purpose. There was not an
other person in the room, and she hid
her face in her hands and murmured
in desperation: ooh, Jack! Jackr'
Restlessly she rose and emerged into
the street again. The clouds hung low,
and there was a slight fog. The gray
of the stone walks, the pavements and
the sky all seemed to melt together
into one sad toned picture. Vehicles
of all descriptions, from the butchers
wagon up, filed the street, keeping SO
close together that even the most dar-
ing person did not venture to cross,
and Barbara stood at the edge of the
walk waiting for break in the line
to occur.
She never knew how long she stood
there-long enough to listen to some
new whisperings of his Satanic maj
esty telling her how much good she
could do with all that money for the
people she loved and the sufferers of
the earth. She was beginning to be-
lieve that it was her duty to sacrifice
her feelings whether she wished to or
not She might throw away fortune
for herself, but she had no right to
deny it to the others who would bene-
fit through her.
Her eyes, which had been staring
fXedly at the procession of carriages
without seeing them, were suddenly
attracted BY an approaching coupe.
The blood tingled in her veins, for she
recognized the Milward livery.
1t was a handsome carriage, with
the curved glass front which enables
the occupant to get more extended
view than can be had in the other
kind, and the men on the box sat very
straight and stiff. But it was none
of these things that held Barbara's
glance fascinated.
1t was a pair of glittering, fendish
eyes leering at her from the dark in
terror as the carriage drew near, a
pair of eyes SO horrid in their glare
that her blood ran cold, and she star
ed in stupefaction, thinking she saw
the outlines of a grotesque, shadowy
face around them.
Not until the coupe was opposite
her did the Illusion fade and explain
itself. Then she drew a breath of re-
lief, for what she saw then was only
the reflection Of the two large silver
buttons on the back of the coachman's
I, -
her in his most gallant manner.
II never expect to see anything so
much like the Jabberwock again." she
laughed to herself, and then she grew
suddenly grave.
Perhaps if she accepted Peter Mil
ward that skeleton in the coupe would
be quite real after all.
A month later, when Jack Carruth-
ers, whose salary had been raised to
$500 a year, asked her to share it
with him, she accepted without taking
any time for consideration.
ssHow much do you really love me,
dear?" he asked fervently for the
twentieth time, after the manner of
lovers who like to hear the same as
surances over and over again. And
at last, in desperation, she replied:
'sWell, if you want to know how
much in dollars and cents, can prove
that I love you at least $20,OO0,0O0
WORTH
And then she told him how she
thought of him, and the glimpse of
the Jabberwock had kept her from ac-
cepting old Peter Milward and his for
tune.
A Cruel Criticism.