, 1905-03-01
warm

stared, ~incredulous. but his warm
hand clasp was very real.
The butler told me that | should
find you here" he exclaimed in a glad
voice. "Oh. how good it is to see you
again." The girl. recovering, drew her
hands away.
How do YOU do" she said. with
chilly civility. Tie mans expression
changed.
Pardon me-" he returned more form
ally. .The excitement of being here
must have gone to my head" Miss
Mallory's lip curled.
There can hardly be much excite
ment in doing what you could have
done any day in the last three years.
she declared a bit disdainfully. HUI
mason's color deepened.
mo" he said simply, you are wrong.
= have not been in New York. Three
years & my father died" he added.
meeting the surprised question in her
eyes. ut changed all my life. | found
myself with my mother and a widowed
sister to care for. left with barely IA
pittance. 1t was necessary | should
try at least to carry on the old bust
ness at home. | came to bid you good
by, and you We're out. And what could
| have said? You, beautiful, courted,
the only child of an indulgent father;
| merely one of the many who sur
rounded you. How could l dream that
you would ever spare me even a
thought? SO | went away, resolved to
forget. And them
YES" queried the girl as he paused,
land then?' Her eyes were hidden,
but there was a note in the soft voice
that aroused his courage.
81 found out that l could not for
get" said the man. yet what claim
had l? And then, yesterday-oh, how
car l thank you properly he broke
off earnestly. "Yesterday-the woman
you ~helped-she vas my sister"-speak-
ing with steady tone. mot long &
her child died, and, half mad from the
loss, she came to the city, resolved to
destroy herself here, where we would
not know of it. But when she reached
New York the commonplace, everyday
aspect of things seemed to calm her
mood, and her resolution faltered. Yet
she had expended what money she had,
not wen the price of a ticket home
being left. Determining to put fate to
the test, she wandered about, seeking
a familiar face-my sister alone in this
great city, where she knew no one
resolved, should her plea for help be
rofuSnH tn mt on nnH tA hor Hfa And
then she saw you"
For II moment the man was silent as
a shudder seized him at the thought of
what might have happened.
"Oh, If she had not met you-if- But
l dare not think of it. IL have Il pho
tograph of you. l bribed your maid for
it," he confessed shamefacedly. prom
having seen it so often my sister felt
vaguely that here at last was a friend,
although, of course, unwilling why.
And so she dared to ask" Miss Mallo-
ry, who was sobbing unrestrainedly,
lifted her face.
ooh, the dear woman!' she exclaim-
ed b%rokenly. How glad l am! How
glad | am. And is she safer
Qditt - ~ ~
swer. "The shock, your kindness, some
thing, must have strengthened and
braced her. She returned last night.
And you can fancy what it meant to
us. But when she showed me the bless
ed lard which told me who it was that
had saved her 1t seemed to me as X !
also had been sent a message. Was |
wrong, dear?" and the mans voice was
wonderfully tender. The girl, puzzled,
shook her head.
81 don't understand" she said faint
ly. Humason laid n visiting card in
her hand.
Look he said. 1t was the card up
ON which she had scrubbed her address.
Turn it over" as the girl seemed be-
wildered. A low cry broke from the red
lips.
"Oh," she stammered, while the color
flooded up to her pretty curly hair. q
I was in a hurry. l thought that it was
one of fathers. p Her confusion in
creased pitiably. But the nan strong
clasp had again caught the fluttering
little hands.
81 thought that if you had cared
enough to carry a mans card in your
cardcase for three years that you must
have cared a little for the man him
SELF he said eagerly. "Was l wrong,
sweetheart? Are you going to send me
away again?"
The girl, her eyes fixed on the betray-
ing bit of pasteboard whereon in fine
script ran the words, "Mr. Roland HUI
mason,' dropped her head.