The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1904-10-28


Katie.
An hour afterward it again lay before
him. He turned it over in a fdgety, rest
less way, and again put it aside unopen-
ed.
Still. he could not settle to his work.
For third time the letter was i'll lis
grasp, This time he broke the seal hur-
riedly, and laid the letter open upon his
desk.
"My dear old friend" it commenced.
He read no more, but leaving it still open
upon his desk, lie paced the room fretiul
lv; then he thought of the old times when
he was yet n boy. and he returned to his
place and hurriedly read as follows:
My Dear Old Friend am sure that
in memory of the past you will assist
and aid me now. can hardly hope per
haps. that you should interest yourself in
my welfare, but for my childs sake
must implore your generous help. My
husband is dead, and am sorely afraid
! that his extravagant habits have alb
sorbcd nearly the whole of our posses
sions l wish to see every creditor fully
satistied-yet know so little of business
matters. do not care to place our af
fairs in the hands of a stranger. Will
you undertake the business for me?
feel that l am asking a very great favor,
under the circumstances, you only knew.
! Come to me, Sidney, for the old times
sake
KATIE. -
! "Humbled at last :" muttered the bank
er, with a strange smile of satisfaction,
| as he folded the letter methodically, and
placed it in his pocketbook. 1t was
probably the only letter i'll woman's
handwriting that had ever rested there.
better feeling came anon. Long after
business hours the concluding paragraph,
written by hand that trembled as it
wrote, showing how completely Katie
had broken down in her sad attempt to
hide even from herself the feeling that
controlled her, Come to ME, Sidney, for
the old tines sake" burned as letters of
fire into the cold and ashen heart of the
man of business
81 thought the account was closed, but
| was wrong" he murmured. ~ must
go to her, for she needs my help"
Except that the mansion was occupied
the place wore the same appearance as
when he saw it last. He walked across
the iron bridge, and shrugged his Shout
ders disdainfully as he noted the ugly
trcllis-work that surmounted it. How
different from the rustic wooden pole that
served as finger hold and protection in
the simple picture that he so we'll rcmcm-
bered. He walked up the narrow path
way, and once again he stood upon that
threshold where his sorrows and his for
tunes had commenced
She MT linn there and motioned him
into the little room where their last inter
visw had taken place so many years ago.
lie went through the accounts, and he
found that after the payment of her hus-
bands debts she would have but bare
sufficiency. The estate had been mort
gagged and was no longer hers. He con.
Quoted the investigation with the sharp
eye of a thorough business man, and in
two days he had statement of her af-
fairs prepared for her perusal. But in
4. l,al ,,. l.,
she at first intended him to know.
lie found, by connecting together Ger
tain scraps of information, that her we'd
ding had been enforced by her fathers
desire and will.
She had waited nine weary years for
the return of the wandcrer, from whom
she had received neither word nor token.
Were his actions free from blame:
Her husband was rogue and spend
thrift, who had neither love nor respect
for her. She had called her baby Sidney,
in remembrance of him.
Then he thought of their childhood's
days, when she was great heircss and
he was poor hoy, her companion by
freak of fortune.
Was he worthy of her abiding love?
He could not disguise the fact that he
had carried his bitterness toward her
father into the love he professed toward
her, and had caused his own misery by
his own continued pride.
He pondcred long and seriously; he
found that the account was not closed;
there was great balance against him.
self
Kate" he said, TREMENDOUSLY, "do you
remember that it was in this very room
that we agreed to share each Others sor-
rows"
Not that-not that, she replied. "Do
not reopen the old"
rs the subject SO repulsive to you:
think not, hope not, Kate :"
"Repulsive? No; but I'm afraid
Not of me, surely ~
He placed his arm around her waist,
just as tendery as he had placed it there
eleven long years ago, and her head fell
upon his breast, for she had tainted.
Then the long contincd, passionate love
burst from its Imprisonment. and with a
torrent of fond words he kissed her back
to life. Then, as in a dream, she listened
to him, until at length she realized her
newly born happiness.
And Sidney, He simply returned thanks
to benefccnt Providence that had re-
stored his dead love, and renewed the
pulsation of his ashcn heart, after many
weary and Improbable years.
For that life is Improbable that lives
solely FOR itself, and great riches are as
nothing in the scale, if all else must be
sacrificed for gain.-New York Weekly.
If the earth were covered with flowers
all the wear round the beeS would get