The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1907-03-07


verted to the motive Of his speech-his
desire to put forward strong protest
against the adjournment of the house
without an assurance from the govern
ment that immediate measures would
be taken to safeguard British interests
in Meshed and throughout the province
of Khorassan.
The immediate outcome Of Loder's
speech was all that his party had de-
sired. The effect on the house had been
marked, and when, no satisfactory re-
Spouse coming to his demand, he had
in still more resolute and insistent
terms called for division on the mo-
ton for adjournment, the result had
been an appreciate fall in the govern
ment majority.
To Loder himself the realization that
he had at last indicated and justified
himself by individual action had a Pc
culiar effect. His position had been al
tered in one remarkable particular.
Before this day he alone had known
himself to be strong; now the knowl-
edge was shared by others and he was
human enough to be susceptible to the
change.
The first appreciation of it came i'm
mediately after the excitement of the
division, when Fraide, singing him
out, took his arm and pressed it affec-
tionately.
my dear Chilcote," he said, 1--WE are
all proud Of your Then, looking up
into his face, he added, in a graver
tone, "but keep your mind upon the
future; never be blinded by the pres
ent, however bright it seems"
At the touch Of his hand, at the spon-
taneous approval Of his first words, Lo-
der's pride thrilled, and in vehement
rush Of ambition his senses answered
to the praise. Then, as Fraide in all
Inconsistencies, added his second SEN
tence, the hot glow of feeling suddenly
chilled.
In sweep of intuitive reaction
the meaning and the danger of his
falsely real position extinguished his
excitement and turned his triumph
cold. With an involuntary gesture he
withdrew his arm.
''Youre very good, sir" he said. "And
you're very right. We never should for
get that there is-a FUTURE
The old man glanced up, surprised by
the tone.
'Quite so, Chilcote,' he said kindly.
'But we only advise those in whom we
believe to look toward it. Shall we find
my wife? 1 know she will want to
bear you home with u.s.
But Loder's joy in himself and his
achievement had dropped from him.
He shrank suddenly from Lady Sarahs
congratulations and Ewes warm, silent
appreciation.
Thanks, sir" he said, "but I don't
feel fit for society. A touch of my
nerves, suppose" He laughed short
ly. "But do you mind saying to Eve
that hope have satisfied herw He
added this as if in half reluctant after
thought.
Then, with short pressure of
Fraides hand, he turned, evading
the many groups that waited to claim
him, and passed out of the house alone
Hailing a cab, he drove to Grosvenor
square. All the exaltation Of an hour
ago had turned to ashes. His excite
ment had found it's elimination in a
sense of futility and premonition.
He met no one in the hall or on the
stairs of Chilcotes house, and on enter
ing the study he found that also de-
serted
Greenings had been among the most
absorbed Of those who listened to
his speech. Passing at once into the
room, he crossed as if by instinct to
the desk, and there halted. On the top
Of some unopened letters lay the sig
niicant yellow envelope Of a telegram;
the telegram that in an uniformed, sub
conscious way had sprung to his ex-
pectatiOn on the moment of Fraide's
congratulation
Very quietly he picked it up, opened
and read it, and, with the automatic
caution that had become habitual, car
ried it across the room and dropped it
in the fire. This done, he returned to
the desk, read the letters that awaited
Chilcote, and, scribbling the necessary
notes upon the margins, left them in
readiness for Greening. Then, moving
with the same quiet suppression, he
passed from the room, down the stairs
and out into the street by the way he
had come.
CHAPTER Xxx,
101 N the fifth day after the momen
Ii tous list of April on which h,
ND had recalled Loder and re
~ sumed his own life Chilcot,
left his house and walked toward Bone
street. Though the morning was clea
and the air almost warm for the tim
of year, he was buttoned into a lon.
overcoat and was wearing a muffle
and pair of doeskin gloves. As b,
passed along the street he kept clos
to the house fronts to avoid the sr,
that was everywhere stirring the win
ter bound town like suffusion O
young blood through old veins. 81
avoided the warmth because in thi