Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1906-01-20

Your lover cares for you no longer.
His honor and his pity for you alone
keep him to his given word He makes
light of you to Others
Ethel did not quite believe all this;
but she believed enough of it was true
to justify her in giving Jack an oppor-
tunity of freeing himself from his en-
gagement She decided that she would
not worry her father. but would act for
herself Acting on this decision, she
wrote:
MY Dear Jack--You have now been
| away three weeks. AS yet you do not
say anything about returning. but, on the
contrary. speak of your work as being
likely to keep you for several weeks
longer. In the three weeks of your alb
sence you have written me four letters,
and those have evidently been an unwel-
come task. DO you guess what l am GO
ing to say? | wish | were sure you
knew, that might be saved the pain of
writing the words. | think you have
found out that you do not care for me in
the way you thought you did, and your
sense OF honor alone is keeping you to
the letter of your engagement to me.
have reasons of which you know nothing
for believing this to be the cnse; so we
have both made a mistake, and that, if
you are willing, our enga cement had bet
ter come to an end
please don't think | blame YOU In
any way; it was only one of those mis-
takes that everybody is liable to make
Ever your sincere friend,
ETHEL MALLETT."
Poor Ethel How she cried over that
letter. How she hoped against hope that
Jack might not be willing to end the
engagement! How carefully she read the
words through to be sure that she had
not definitely settled the matter-that
in fact, she had done only what she in
tended-given Jack a chance of accept
ing his freedom if he wished for it,
Had the matter-of-fact little epistle
arrived at a more favorable moment
had Jack had leisure to read between the
lines and discover the wounded pride
and self-respect that had dictated every
word, his manhood might have asserted
itself in Ethel's favor AS it was Jack
read the letter impatiently at first, but
as its meaning dawned upon him he
turned back to the top of the leaf and
read it again. assured himself of the I'M
equivocal nature of the offer of freedom,
thrust it into his pocket and went off
whistling enegetically to meet Miss Mall
ing at the station on her return from
| town.
| Pauline saw at glance that some
thing had happened, and, knowing what
she knew, guessed shrewdly what that
something was. She had not been five
minutes in Jacks society before she felt
subtle difference in his manner toward
] her.
Il am so glad to find you still here
Mr.. Dornton," she said at luncheon
gancing at him bewitchingly between the
leaves of palm plant. eve were so
afraid that you would not have been able
to endure fortnight of this terribly dull
place Weren't we, Mrs. Sefton?'
You forget that Mr.. Dornton has
had a real occupation to make the dull
ness endurable. His life is not passed in
killing time, as yours is, dear"
ITO be sure. l had forgotten to ask
how the pictures have progressed"
THE view of the house from the
woods is finished as far as 1 can finish
it here. The rest of the work l must do
in Newman street.
''That is where your studio is, is it
not? l should like to see some of your
completed pictures. Will you ask us up
some day to look at them?'
ANY day you please. Say the day
after tomorrow"
II cannot go back to dusty London
again 80 soon. 1 expect my first batch
of visitors on that day, too. At last l
shall be able to do something in the way
of entertaining you, Mr.. Dornton, and
oh rot ind 70
our solitude in the past"
"You are too kind. But l have made
arrangements for returning to town to-
morrow"
Nonsense. You speak of arrange
ments in such a serious way that one
might imagine you had a wife and chill
dren; instead of which you are the en-
viable creature-a man without a tie"
She paused an instant, dreading. his
reply. He made none; but dull red
crept slowly up his face to the roots of
his hair. She read this sign to suit her.
self, and went on:
'That being the case, as you have no
one to claim your presence as a right
why not favor me with it as a pleasure?
l should advise you to stay. Mr.. Dorm
ton. There are some really charming
people coming on Thursday whom you
should know"
Mrs. Seton was the embodiment of
discretion, a very model for ady-com-
panions. She walked away, and Jack
followed Miss Mailing to the picture
gallery.
They were standing in front of the
easel on which Jack had placed his paint
ing of Mallingford House. 1t wal a
charming picture.
"You must do me a copy of this, Mr..