The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-10-06

u lAhe u KNOW WQaC ADAMS mas
been telling you," he said. Sketch
ing in the mountains in midwinter!i
that would be decidedly original, to
say the least of it. And I think Z
have never done an original thing in
all my life." j. .;
For a single instant the brown ewes
looked their pity for him; generic pity
it was, of the kind that mounting
souls bestow upon the stagnant. But
the subconscious lover in Winton made
1t personal to him, and it was the
lover who spoke when he went on.
That is damaging admission. ia
1t not? am sorry to have to make it
TO have to confirm your poor opinion
Of me-
did say anything like that?" she
protested.
Not in words; but your eyes said
1t, and l know you have been think
ing 1t all along. Don't ask me how
know it; couldn't explain It if
should try. But you have been pity
ing me. in a way-you know you
have"
The brown eyes were downcast.
Frank and free-hearted after her kind
as she was, Virginia Carteret was
finding it new and singular experi.
ence to have a man tell her badly at
their first meeting that he had read her
inmost thought Of him. Yet she would
not finch or go back.
There is SO much to be done in the
world. and so few to do the work.
she pleaded in excavation.
And Adams has told you that am
not one of the few? It is true enough
to hurt
She looked him fairly in the eyes.
What is lacking, Mr.. Winton-the
spur?'
Possibly" he rejoined. There is no
one near enough to care. or to say:
Well done!'"
How can you tell?" she questioned!
musingly. ut is not always permitted
to us to hear the plaudits or the
hisses-happily, I think. Yet there are
always those standing by who are
ready to cry 10 triumphe!' and mean
it., when one approves himself a good
soldier"
The coffee had been served, and
Winton sat thoughtfully stirring the
lump Of sugar in his cup. Miss Car
teret was not having a monopoly OF
the new experiences. For instance,
1t had never before happened to John
Winton to have woman, young,
charming, and altogether lovable, read
him lesson out of the book Of the
overcOmers.
He smiled inwardly and wondered
what she would say IL she could know
to what battlefield the drumming
wheels OF the Limited" were speeding
him. Would she be loyal to her men,
torship and tell him he must win, at
whatever the cost to Mr. Somerville
Darrah and his business associates?
Or would she, woman-like, be her
uncle's partisan and write one John
Winton down in her blacklist book for
daring to oppose the Rajah?
He assured himself 1t would make
no jot of difference if he knew He
had thing to do, and he was pur-
posed to do 1t strenuously. infiexibly.
Yet in the inmost chamber of his
heart Where the barbarous ego stands
unabashed and isolate and recklessly
contemptuous of the moralities minor
and major he saw the birth of an in
fluence which must henceforth be des-
perately reckoned with
Given a name, this newborn factor
was love; love barely awakened. and
yet no more than masterful desire
to stand we'll in the eye OF one wom-
an. None the less, he saw the possi-
bilites; that time might come when
this woman would have the power to
intervene; would make him hold his
hand in the business affair at the
very moment. mayhap, when he should
strike the hardest.
1t was a rather unnerving thought,
and when he considered it he was glad
that their ways, coinciding for the mo-
ment, would presently 60 apart, leav-
ing him free to do battle as an honest
soldier in any cause must.
The Rosemary party was rising, and
Winton rose, too, folding the seat for
Miss Virginia and reaching her wrap
from the rack
II am glad to have met you," she
said, giving him the tip Of her fingers
and going back to the conventional
tiles as if they had never been ig-
nored.
But the sincerity in Winton's reply
transcribed the conventional form
of It,
Indeed. the pleasure has been
wholly mine, assure you. hope
the future will be kind to me and let
me see more of YOU"
who knows?" she rejoined, smiling
at him level-eyed. "The world has
been steadily growing smaller sincs
Shakespeare called it narrow"
He caught quickly at the straw OF
hope. Then wo need not say good-
by?"'
mo; let it ba auf wiedershen," she
said; and he stood aside to let her
tot hos ~,