Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-17
Ii Was All On account of Le1fer

him glance which held worlds of happiness for
him. "l'll skip and finish fixing up" she laugh
ed.
1t was not Archie Condon's fault that the wind
blew the sheet of paper from over the letter Ur-
sula had been writing. Neither was he alto
gether to be blamed for reading on down the
page when the super-scrption, so endearng. so
familiar, had caught his eye 1t was but natural
Dearest Gerald Smithers," he read, his heart
leapmg up INTO his very throat and his breath
coming quickly He blinked and passed his hand
over his eyes to feel that they were there and that
he did not see through great green goggles. 1t
is almost year since she refused him he re-
hected, and now she addresses him in this man.
ner 1t can not be and yet
Arches eyes down the page "Vhen 7 re.
quested you to cease your opportunities + told
you that never could become YOUR wife and
tnat my affections had already wandered else
where' was quite prepared to leave the employ
OF your sister if you did not respect nv wishes
our submission to my desires and your respect.
tul silence on the subject of your love for mo
have done more for you than the pleadinqs of \
thousand lovers. Your courteous kindly treat
ment, with the little undercurrent of tenderness
mas raised you to standard in nv estimation
which l never dreamed any man could hold
Must l confess that the man in whose favor /
abandoned your suit has become dv,arfed be
side you? Therefore, may use nv woman's nre
rogatlve and change my mind-may | saw love
you and would
That was all. Yes, it was all, indeed for Arcbiei
lie heard Ursula move in the adjoining room. He
could not face her. He understood the guilty.
blush that mounted her cheek when he had
entered her ROOM
lie TOOK his hat and left the room quietly His
ideal was shattered. His dethronement from the
heart of the girl he loved stung not only his vani-
ty but his faith in He would have stalk
ed his very life Ursua's sincerity
AS he closed the door, Ursula pretty in the inv
of expectancy parted the curtains to join him.
She looked about the room and the color faded
from her cheeks
She saw the blank sheet of paper on the floor
and the uncovered letter on her desk
And, then. she knew.
Archie Condor absently turned the pages of 4
magazine over, glancing casually at them. He
was lonely but he had found himself in that
state many times in the last three months And
yet he would not again trust humanity; he would
be lonely rather than be deceived His attitude
toward the whole world was bitter
Disnterestedly, he looked at the pages before
him. In big, bold letters the words. Leap Year
, Love Letter" caught his attention 1t was the
announcement of the winner of a prize offered for
the best love letter written by woman propos-
ing in accordance with her right in leap year
The prize letter published below the name
of young woman.
Without knowing why, Archie read the letter.
slowly ne DeCdine interested. lie seemed to
recognize the style, he seemed to have read it be.
fore. He repeated the name of the young wom-
an who won the prize by writing it. He did not
know her, And yet every word seemed familiar
He started to his feet.
"Oh Ursua' he cried "How could /? How
could r." He stared at the letter and cursed him
SELF loudly, strongly and called himself names for
which he would have knocked another man down!
An hour later later he stood again in the little
sitting room with 'N~curly head on his shoulder
How can you ever forgive me?" he asked, for
the eighth time since he had entered the room
'I can't" Ursula murmured "but III try.
could hardly wait to see if you might find it
yourself | was about to send you a marked
COPY of the magazine, but ! think the long alb
sence from me has done you good 1t has at
least taught you to believe in me- Hasn't itT
Eyes, but it was hard when you used that
mans name" he said, contrtely.
"That was only TO make the letter more oh to
make il sound more real 1t gave me inspiration
to write letter with ring of sincerity and
YOU see | won the prize dear, she added laugh
ing.