The Marshall republican., 1906-02-16
Ny Fellow labOrer.
,,sesss
by n. RIDER HAGGARD.
ssseess


d.
Surely. you are joking" I said.
family.
/ "ohl not at all. Here Ia my wed.
ding ring" and she held up her hand:
Il am Mrs. Hide-Thompsonf"
I What" I almost shrieked. DO you
mean to tell me that you have married
that little wretch Why. he has only
been In the house ten days"
Sixteen days" she corrected. land
I have been engaged to him for ten.
and weary work II has been. I can tell
you. Geoffreyr
Then suppose you are going
away" jerked out. And how about
our work. and--John?"
saw a spasm OF pain pass over her
face nj the mention OF the boys nams;
for ! believe that she loved the poor
cripple child. II she ever did really love
anything.
The work must take care OF Itself.
Godfrey. You must discover the Sc
eret OF Life yourself: or perhaps you
had better put the whole thing In the
Ore and 70 back To practice. Al any
rate. II has served my turn. and I have
done with it!'
Il don't understand your I answer
ed. sinking Into a chair. perhaps II
you are not In too great a hurry you
will explain a little"
course | will. when I have pourci
out your tea. There now. listen. and
will give you a lesson In human
nature. which. with all your brains. you
very much want. Godfrey. I have been
In this house for fourteen years. and
! VIII begin by telling you that from
the day that came In TIL to-day. when
go out, you have never understood me
In the least. You have always looked
upon me az a simple minded woman Of
intellectual capacity. and with a genius
for mathematics. and no aims beyond
the discovery OF scientific secrets. Now.
viii tell you. When ! first came to
this house AZ a girl Of fourteen. I fell
In love with you You need not look
astonished- young girls sometimes do
mat sort OF thing. You were good
looking In those days. and very clever.
az you are now; and then you were
really and truly a gentleman, and n
sees 30 few gentiemen-I always think
they are the scarcest people In the
world!
We'll. ! nursed my secret passion
n held II so tight that neither you
nor your wife ven guessed II. Even
In those days I could form a clear opin-
Ion. and l saw that she would not live
long. and that the time would come
when should step into her shoes. So
played upon her weak points. 10
strengthen my hold over her. and wait
ed. In due course the time came. Yom
were a long time before you proposed
to me after her death. and your head
was so full OF your work that l believe
you'd would have been longer. had I
not. by means that we're i~mperceptible
10 you. kept continually turning your
mind into that channel. Even then you
did not love me as ! wanted to be
loved; but I knew that this would come
after marriage. And then came the
crash. and the sudden appearance OF an
obstacle against which no scheme of
nine could prevail. overwhelmed and
confused me. filling me with a OF
impotence that l have never expert
enced before or since. II you could
know. Godfrey. what a food of un-
utterable contempt rushed into my
mind. as l heard you Numbering on
about your scruples and posterity! II
drowned my passion. l felt that I wal
well rid Of q man who could In cold
blood give me up to satisfy what he
was pleased to call his conscience! But
perhaps you will never quite know or
understand how near I went to killing
you that night"
Here ! started--the whole thing wa
like . nightmare. Fanny laughed.
Don't DO frightened" Fanny went
on there's nothing mor melodramat-
ic to ome am glad to say that pru-
Dental considerations prevailed! Well.
after that fasco, i reviewed the POSI-
tion and determined to stay on--pArtly
from habit. partly on account Of John