The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1904-01-08


had bought IN TottsHhs3a Court road.
He was standipg at side before
sf ognize his' peese&e. He looked
wv Big ag imposing - his evening
cfhes. large ,diamd@ sparkled in
,hass shirt*frontss-~ Was tHS. the lover of
her dreams?
When he had business in hand, it was
not Sir Humphreys custom to beat
about the bush. After, remarking on
the beauty Of the evening-so much
was customary even in strictly busl-
ness conversatton-he asked her If she
would be his wife,. ::'t:--,
L. For moment she did not reply. Sir
EEHumph reg recognized the. fact that she
very beautiful and. that loneliness
Eand the moonlight threw him a little
Eoff his balance. He felt he wanted to
Flake her in his arms and kiss her. The
Ematter was getting beyond the strict
flegime of business. u; - $500.
T He had never wanted to. kiss any one
before. 1885,. :...,.....<..s ...
f.. It could, of course, be only a mat
f>ter of minutes-a little maiden hesita-
t tion-before he had the right to do SO.
Minutes? Clarissa was speaking =
f., do you know my father, Sir Hum
phrey?
*:No, I have not that pleasure"
|; He anticipated no trouble in that
quarter. Was he not Sir Humphrey
Potter?
Il think you will not-cannot-re-
new this proposal when 1 tell you that
THAT"
"Yes?" urged Sir Humphrey as
/: Clarissa paused.
r "He is in prison." she said, in
voice scarcely, audible, and turning
herself away from him.
I'm PRISON." gasped Sir Humphrey.
+: There was silence. A faint breath
stirred the rushes and died away again.
/ A wakeful corncrake creaked once and
by the noise he made in that great
Stiffness.
Sir Humphrey was thinking. He
could not decide on the instant what
he should do. But the moonlight still
exercised it's power over him. He still
wanted to kiss her.
Latimer should have told him; it
was monstrous to have introduced him
to this girl without word as to her
fathers disgrace. She was, he sup
posed, living on the charity of the
Latimers There would be a taint of
crime in her blood, and perhaps if he
married her it would appear in her
children. The thought was horrible
But he wanted Clarissa
When, at last, he fell asleep, he had
almost made up his mind to marry har.
But when he awoke in the morning
he found his love much less obtrusiye
and his business instincts predonAi-
moonlight.
He wondered how he could have hest
tated. Such marriage was impossible.
II am very distressed, very dis
tressed indeed, to learn you are in such
an unfortunate position" he said,
when the opportunity came; "but you
must see, of course, that under the cir
cumstances I cannot repeat the offer
that l made yesterday evening, an Of
fer that I should not have-that is to
say, had l been informed, as I should
have been, of the circumstances,
should not have-er-put us both in
this painful position"
Sir Humphrey spoke at civic ban
quets.
Il hope you will let-er-bygones be
bygones, and remember me as
friend"
Clarissa heard his speech to the end
in silence. She had expected it. Now
it was her turn. She had long ago
realized the perfect 5elf-conceit of the
man. He had thought that she was
ready to throw he :self into his arms,
should he choose to open them. She
had decided that to be tricked and de-
ceiyed by girl would be an invaluable
lesson to him.
She was only acting for his good.
She raised her eyes and looked at
him steadily.
= Then she told him that her father
was indeed in prison. He had been
there nearly all his life. 1t was one
of the largest and most important pris-
ons in England
He was the governor of it.-London
Sketch.
No Sinecure.
Two subway laborers were sitting on
doorstep after their luncheon and
looking ont IN the life IF a fashion h1a