The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1907-02-01
The Minister'S Wife
BY MRS. HENRY WOOD

seem to fear, I think 1t hardly likely. II
she does, he must put her down. Ever
your loving son,
HENRY"
"Ycs, did write to Henry, mamma;
did ask him not to give the living to
Mr.. Baumgarten," avowed Grace, with
passionate emphasis, when questioned, her
cheeks a6ame, for the subject excited and
tried her. my reason was that con-
slider him an unfit man to hold It."
why, 1t was at your request that I
asked Henry to give it to Mr.. Baumgar-
ten; you let me have no peace until I
consented" retorted Lady Avon.
But after reflection, I came to the
conclusion that ought not to have press
ed 1t; that he ought net to have it, and
would not do it; and the shortest way to
mend the matter was by writing to Harry.
That's all"
Lady Avon glanced keenly at her daugh-
ter. She was mentally asking herself
what 1t all meant-t.4e burning face, the
tone sharp as a knife and telling Of
pain, the capricious conduct In regard to
| the preferment. But she could not tell
she might have her suspicious, and very
| ridiculous suspicious, too, not at all to be
entertained; but she could not tell.
Il am sorry that a daughter Of mine
should have condescended to behave 80 /;
you best know what motive prompted It,
Grace. To bestow a living and then
snatch 1t away again In caprice IL sheer
child's play. 1t will be cruel blow to
Ryle Baumgarten."
A cruel blow it was. Lady Avon turn
ed TO her desk after speaking these words
to her daughter, and began a note to the
young clergyman, feeling very much hum
bled In mind a. she wrote 1t. In the most
plausible way she could, lame way at
best, she apologised for the mistake which
had been made, adding she hardly knew
whether 1t might be attributed to her son,
to herself, or to both, and pleaded for Mr..
Baumgarten's forgiveness. This note she
dispatched BY her footman to Wilton
cottage.
Mr.. Baumgarten CHANGED to be stand
ing in the houses little hall Al the man
approached. He received the note from
him.
rs there any answer to take back,
sir7 My lady did not say"
II will se," replied Mr.. Baumgarten.
"Sit down, Robert"
Shutting himself into his study, he
opened the note. For a few happy mo-
ments-if moments Of suspense ever can
be happy-he INDUCED in 4 vision that
all might still be right; that the note was
to tell him 10. 1t was short, filing only
one side Of the paper, and he stood while
he read it.
Before he had quite come to the end,
| hofo ho hod ~ 70
port, a shock, singular In Its effects,
struck Mr.. Baumgarten. Whether his
breath stopped, or the circulation of his
heart stopped, or the coursing Of his
pulses stopped, he could not have told, but
no sank down in a chair powerless, the
letter falling on the table from his nerve
less hand. A strange, beating movement
stirred him inwardly, his throat was gasp
ing, his eyelids were futtering a sick
falntness had seized upon him.
But that he struggled against 1t with
desperate resolution, he believed he should
have tainted. Once before he had felt
something like this, when he was an un
dergraduate at Oxford, and he had been
rowing against time to win a match. They
said then, those around him, that he had
over-exercised his strength. But he had
not been exercising his strength now, and
he was far worse this time than he had
been then.
He sat perfectly still, his arms support
ed BY the elbows of the chair, and recov
cred by degrees. After bit. he took w
Lady Avon's note to read 1t more fully
and then he knew and realized that all
to which he had been SO ardently looking
forward, was at an end.
"Her ladyships notice does not requir,
an answer, Robert" he said with appar
emit GOODNESS. "How is she to-day"
"Middling, sir. She seemed much up
set this morning, Charity told us, BY
letter she got from his lordship in Lon
don," added Robert. Good day, sir"
Mr.. Baumgarten nodded In answer. H.
stood at the door looking out, apparent!
watching the man away. The sun wa
shining in Rye Baumgarten's face. bu
the sun which had been latterly shining
: on his heart, Illuminating it with color
I of the brightest and sweetest fancy--tha
I sun seemed to have set forever.
CHAPTER V.
The Hon. and Rev. Wilfred Elliotse1
y took possession of the living of Grea
Wilton, having been appointed to it b.
Lord Avon. And the Rev. Ryle Baum
! garten remained, as before, at Lttl
II Wilton.
Changes took place. They take plac
everywhere. The most notable one wa
{ the marriage of Mr.. Baumgarten.
That he had been grievously disappoint
ed and annoyed at the appointment o
another to the living. which he had bee
), led to suppose would be his, was a bite
fact. He set it down to the caprice O
great men. and strove to live down tn
y sting. The chief difficulty lay in his cor
templated marriage; and he deliberate