Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-12-10
By HELEN r. MARTIN,
Author q "Tillie: A Mennonite Maid"

bounded with pleasure In anticipation
Of his quest of her secret, and he felt
a thrill of satisfaction in his present
isolation with her.
IL can't say they don't interest me.
Everybody interests me. even Ollie,
even Abel"
He looked at her narrowly rs he
spoke her lovers name with this init
nation Of his insignifcance. He could
not see whether or not it disturbed
her.
But" he went on, there are de-
grees Of interest. None of them have
a mystery about them"
Her face as she listened to him ex-
pressed anxious attention, like one who
tries to follow q foreign tongue, and
she seemed to weigh for a moment
all that he said before she answered.
But neither have I a mystery about
me-" she replied wonderingly. IA mys-
teryT
Haven't your he questioned grave
" in the tone Of reproving a child
for telling Il hb.
Indeed, no." She shook her head In
denial Of such an accusation. ~
haven't"
"No? I'm surprised to hear It, for,
do you know, you to me the most
mysterious young person l ever metz
II do" she marveled. But why?'
In her establishment she was forget.
ting her shyness. Unless" she at
tempted to explain 1t, you find me
mysterious because l am so simple.
If oil the young ladies you know are
complex like Miss Ellery"-
Heaven forbid"
Don't you like herr she asked
again with that note Of usefulness
which this time included an accent
of pity for Miss Ellery.
II love her!" he declared with q
whimsical exaggeration that he hoped
would dispose Of Miss Ellery finally.
That's why l wouldn't have all the
young ladies l know made after her
pattern. you see"
She started at his words, and sud
denly the radiance seemed to die out
of her face, leaving it mournful.
"You-you love herr she said falter-
ingly.
..0f course l love her! The differ
ence between you and Miss Ellery," he
went on, following the idea In his own
mind and not seeing in the dimness
the pallid hopelessness that had come
to her face, lis that Miss Ellery thinks
she's complex, but isn't, and you think
you're simple, but aren't. And the
most mysterious thing about you Is
that you hadn't noticed 1t yourself
that you were mysterious, / mean. ]
don't see how 1t escaped YOU"
She did not answer him.
"For instance, why are you SO differ
ent from Ollie when you two have had
the ~4me rearing?"
She swallowed hard and seemed to
make an effort to speak to him.
SIS that a mystery" she said. "But
it is easily explained. We are not Of
the same parentage."
"Do you know anything of your own
parents?",
There was a scarcely perceptible hes
lldllOu UClOlG SuC NAoWClSo.
mo" Her voice sounded remote, as
! though she shrank from his question
ing.
'.That in itself is strange, isn't itT'
he ventured, hesitating to force his
Investigations against her evident re-
iuctance, but his keen curiosity getting
the better of his finer feeling.
II suppose it u.s." she answered, her
voice subdued, her eyes downcast.
"Do Mr.. and Mrs. Morningstar know
nothing about your parents"
II don't know"
"But have you never asked them"
81 have never discussed it with
them"
His questions agitated her, he saw,
and he didn't believe she was being
candid with him. so he reluctantly
dropped them. He remained silent to
give her a chance to tell him why she
sought him here at al hour when all
the rest Of the family were abed.
II want to ask you" she began tim
idly, Ito tell me something If you are
quite willing to spare your time to
me-"
The occasional unusualness of her
mode of expression struck me as touch
ing Of foreignness Here was another
phase of the mystery of her.
II couldn't make better use Of my
time" he answered. ASK me any
thing you like, child"
The kindness of his tone as he called
her Child" made her eyes grow sud-
denly misty, so novel it was to hear
herself spoken to as though she were
not a chattel or a slave. Her voice
as she answered him was very low and
sweet.
II am anxious to have you tell me
whether a girl like me could find a
place out in the world where she could
earn her living"
1t was to ask him this that she had
come to him tonight. But would 1t
not have been a more natural thing
for her to have gone to Georgiana or
Daisy with such an inquiry? He won
dered why she had chosen to ask hin
in preference to them.
at depends upon the sort of place
you would want. Some sorts of work
are easy to secure. Others are not
What kind of work do you mean?"
That's what / hoped you could tel
me-the sort OF work there is in towr
whereby a girl like me could earn hel
living"
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