The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1905-11-08

! uudlliilltUlt.
Was there ever such rancor in man
as this of Melton Hassell toward him ?
Doubtless it was true, as the great man
of the great house had declared to him
after his error. Eve was bride for a
prince or a duke; certainly not for a
! poor parson, who clung with such de-
grading weakness to the mere ragged
hem of the thousands of lordly acres
which had for generations belonged to
the Delmains.
Ewes father had offered him 10000
for the advowson of that tiny church.
"It's fancy price"
ITO get rid of me, I presumed"
And Ewes father had said:
well, don't deny it, Mr.. Delmain; ;
and any man in my position would do
the same"
The 10000 was increased to 920,-
900, and that had reused the old Del
main spirit in even the vicar of Drel-
ling.
81 should as soon think of selling
my coat of arms, Mr.. Hassell."
Mr.. Hassell had no coat of arms at
that time; but he had temper, and
he was vindictive.
well, I'll make you sorry before
I've done" he said.
And now he had done about all he
could do, and it was enough.
The Rev. Philip Delmain, last of the
Delmains Of Drelling, thus sitting in
his disestablished vestry among the
cassocks of the choir who would never
again praise the Lord with him, was
beaten.
How could he bear it, with Eve and
no soul else for his congregation?
This was the second Sunday since the
conservation Of that other church of
new marble and gliding, and the sec
ond time he and Eve had been thus
alone together
1t was chivalrously noble OF her.
He read her high motives as he read
her serene and beautiful face. But, of
course, it could not go on. She must
recognize that as well as he. II she
were not Eve, Philip might have seen
in her coming thus to his despised
little church the master stroke of her
fathers schemes to drive him out of
the parish. But she was the Eve he
knew and loved, and
And he could stand firm no longer.
Tho Cwaat n1hirnaC ~
church ceased. Instead of them he
heard the cheerful twittering of birds.
Otherwise he was surrounded by great
and soothing silence.
Well, 1t ought to have been soothing.
But it was not. His pale face flushed
as he remembered what he had Just
done, or rather not done.
The shame of it!
He had allowed his own petty per-
sonal cares and humiliations-the agi-
tatfons Of a mere ephemera-to tempt
him to insult the Omnipotent and I'm
mortal. He, a servant Of the Most
High. had refused to pay the Service
that was due from him to the AL
mighty. Expressly due from him!
He had cried like a child or a pol
troon, and ran away. 1t mattered
nothing that he had shamed himself
before her. She was fieeting mortal,
even as he was. In little while she.
like him, would pass away, and ere
then she would, God willing, forget
his weakness. But he had banned
himself before the Most High, and be-
fore the dust of his own ancestors, who
had been honorable and brave men
their many misfortunes In these latter
days the result of their sense of honor.
He arose and confronted his igno-
miny with steady eyes If flushed
cheeks, and in little while he return
ed, calm again and no longer flushed,
to the place from which he had fed.
And again he knelt, alone now save
for the sunshine which beamed full
upon the spot where she had stood.
and whence she had witnessed his
shame.
And afterward he read the whole
service, with growing sense of
strength, though no desire to rejoice
in its consciousness. He read and
prayed in low voice, for there was
no mortal ear to hear him, and no
other human tongue to join his.
Just himself, and the altar, which
was to him the throne of mercy and
all good gifts
SO to the very end.
Only when he had finished in the
peace which passes understanding and
was on his feet, very straight and very
white again, and ready to return, COM
forted In a measure, to his lonely par
sonage. only then did he glance once
more at the place which she had con-
secrated In his memory for ever and
ever.
She was there again, kneeling, with
her face IN her hands.
Just for a moment he stood notion