The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1905-07-07
Rich Man, !, x,
Poor Mani ~
By KEITH : GORDON
CoaynShi. 1904. by Frances Wilson


Before they reached the first ledge
overlooking Sausalito 4 mist like float
ing globules of crushed pearl rolled
noiScleSSly through the ffSsures of the
hills and biotted out the village, the
bay and the towers and chimncys of
San Francisco-in other words. the
world. In the damp air the girls hair
curled more distractingly than ever.
Never had he seen it when it framed
the low foxehead in SO bewildering
an arabesQue of rings and curves and
waves.
You look rather swell,yourself," she
laughed in response to his eloquent
glance of approval. "knickerS and a
Norfolk cap and the jacket aren't half
bad on You. Taken i'll connection with
Your cleft chin" she went on, throw
ing her head back and screwing up her
eyes critically. ''thC make you a very
prescntabe youth indeed"
I'VE won't talk about that" was the
tcrsc reply. This walk to Point Boni-
tt has an object"
She opened her eyes wide.
"Ccrtainly," she assentcd politely.
"Point Bonita, for instance. II it has
any other object" she went on sternly,
If you're going back to that old sub
ject, won't so Il step farther
BY this time they were moving in the
midst of Il cloud.
1t was his turn to be innocent.
you mean-oh,' with Il fine imita-
ton of impatience. doesn't girl ever
forget it If a fellow has once happened
TO fancy himself in love with her and
said so:''
The pink of the girls checklist had
the soft, furred look that is response
Bile for the slang adjective ''peachy"-
deepcned suddenly, unnccormtably. Out
of the tail of his eye the youth observed
this interesting fact with cruel glee,
rejecting with Il pang that he should
have chosen diplomacy as vocation
instead of engineering.
You should forgive and forget the
sins Of my youth" he resumed. You
know you insisted that you would al
ways be the best of friends, and that's
what l need now
You change quickly enough, l must
say"' she remarked with some heat.
1T isn't six months since
Since what" lie challenged. But she
turned away and did not reply, while
the walls of mist lazily closed in nearer
and nearer.
lat ,N1 70 gll Ay no
questioned at last in an oddly subdued
manner He did not answer imme-
diately, but swung on ahead of her in
the narrow path as if he were making
Il way for her through the mist So he
had got over his love for her. She felt
a shudderinG sense of desolation. Still,
she argued, she could scarcely have
supposed he would go on caring, es-
pecially since she had explained to him
with judicial carefulness that she must
marry Il man with money on account
of her mother and the younger girls.
Strangely enough, though she had
pictured herself as married to another
there had always been somber, in
teresting figure lowering In the back
ground of that picture, one to whom
she meant TO be SO kind, SO gentle, so
all sweet, that his regret should become
like Il beautiful, sad song-to be wept
over and enjoyed. And now the brute
was asking her to forgive and forget"
that he had ever told her that he loved
her.
They had reached the summit of
hill, and he proposed that they sit down
upon convenient bowIder to rest be-
fore attempting the next one. Ap-
parcntly her silence was unnoticed
You see, fate's been telling off my
buttons lately" he began in business
like tone, and the decree is that it has
got to be money!
What DO you mean"
Rich woman. poor woman, beggar
woman, squaw," he eluciduted, touch
ing the buttons Oh his jacket, land the
lot falls to rich woman every time. 1t
seems Il bCastly thing to think Of
marrying for money. l would be cad
enough to do it, but the thing is that
there's Il girl-a mighty fine girl-and
l really-Ihang it, l like her. But
how am l to tell whether it's the real
thing or whether her money has some
thing to do with it? You see there are
reasons why l should have money right
away, long before l can hope to gain
it by my own efforts. The governor is
breaking down, and his affairs are in
bad shape. and there are the two kids
and mother to provide for"
The girls heart was sinking as the
mercury does in falling temperature
All the JOY of living seemed to be ooz-
ing away through her finger tips, leav-
ing her cold and inert He turned to-
ward her curiously.
'Of course you don't think I'd con
slider such thing if l were not forced
to it by duty" he went on fervently.
And L came to you because l thought
you'd understand, because circum-
stances are forcing you into the same
thing. They say you're going to mar
ry Bradshaw. You'll be u rich wom-
an and happy one, 1 hope; but, wheth-
er you are or not, you will have done
your duty by the family. That will be
your consolation, and that's why I
come to you in my difficulty. What do
you think-can l decently ask the girl
to marry me? Remember, like her.
but I'm not sure l love herr'
The fog, which had seemed about to
crush them softly few moments be-
fore. was now falling back, but they
were still in a remote world. With the
very sight Of habitations cut off from
their view ii was hard to believe in the
reality of purple and fine linen, horses
and carriages and gold. Suddenly the
scales fell from the girls eyes, though
she realized with a pang that it was
too late. She had put the only thing
that mattercd out of her life as
thouGhtlessly and carelessly as she
would toss a pebble from her path.
She had not even realized what she
was doing. Down below, where the
Bradshaw fortune cast its glamour,
everything had looked different. She
had thought that with money all things