The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-03-18

that his bargain with her had been n
trick for delay. She rightly guessed
that he had brought his corrupt deal
lnga TO such point that flight was i'm.
perative and that at the last moment he
had accepted brlbe 10 betray his ben
cfnctor
The trickcry IN Aliens Grafton was no
clcvcrly managed and the great names
were 40 layishly paraded from end to
end Of II that IIllda dared not trust her
own knowledge for a full exposure OF
its snares. Therefore she took tho
manuscript to public library, where
she dcyonrcd encyclopedias. to the neg
lcct Of her dinner, until she could re-
main no longer without risk Of missing
Mr. Wadsworth nj the office.
As she approached the building she
saw that the windows Of the private
office were dark but there was light
In the lnrgcr room which seemed to be
over Aliens desk. Was II possible that
he wns there? IIilda glanced in that
direction instantly upon opening the
door and bchcld John Wadsworth In
Aliens chnlr reading a book.
He was 80 absorbed in this task that
he did not hear lIllda come in She
stood by the door watching him and
wondering at The change IN his looks
Ii wns merely the familiar miracle Of
ancestral influence 4 thoroughbred
IL always thoroughbred. no matter
what his individual experience may
have been. An unlcarncd man, o
stranger 10 books. II he be the true
child Of book loving ancestors has al
ways something OF the student In him
which may be long hidden and in a
fash revealed.
llilda felt the blood come warm into
her checks, and the springs Of tears
were stirred II was to her like n
meeting with some one whom she had
dcouly longcd 10 see. one whom she
had loved at distance. upon an In.
u'ls" G. recognition transcending ID,
senses. From that moment. as ner IN
stinct told her, II would be impossible
for her to deceive herself with the con.
venIent fiction that her feeling toward
this man was mere gratitude for kind.
ness and consideration, for secure
and pleasant occupation and the unex.
pressed friendship OF a strong and loyal
nature.
Wadsworth paused in his reading and
seemed about to turn the pages back
that he nigh, review a previous passage
Then he looked up, and his lips moved
Hilda knew that he was repeating from
memory. They were face 10 face, and yet
for an Appreciablc interval he did not see
her. partly because OF preoccupation,
partly from an accident OF the light,
which shone now directly into his eyes.
When the knowledge OF her presence
came to him he slowly raised his hand.
Just listen to this" he said. You'll
say lrs fine Nobody could understand II
better than you"
Then he repeated slowly and with abso-
lutte accuracy some words which he had
read more than nn hour ago:
'lt has been said thousand times that
WashinRtons policy In this affair is un-
surpassed In all the records of diplomacy,
but such praise Is both interpretation
and an insult There Is abundant evil
dencc Tor men OF open mind that Wash
ington chose this course simply because
II was right. while every possible alterna-
tive saVorcd OF dishonor."
"Savorcd OF dlshonor" he repeated.
what do you think Of It? There's the
man lie knew the clean path every time,
and he wouldn't walk In any other, I'm
mighty glad lost that speech,
Lost tt" echoed Hilda, standing there
with the document in her hand
Yes Allen put II In my room-the ad-
dress ! was to deliver tomorrow-and It's
gone. | must have dropped II on the floor
and II was swept out | intended to learn
It this evening. and when l missed It l
didn't know what to do. Allen won't be
here tomorrow. and he's Just moved. !
don't know where he lives. At frst l
thought | was stuck, and then | remem-
bercd this Life OF Washington that he
used. So 1t seemed to me that might
dig up something for myself Well, I
did, and that's fact"
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