Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-12-18

AMI ~.c went direct - hr7 room
al after nasty dinner worked uAt!l
late INTO tie ;li-l.t ou her hoo}; u make
up FIR list Time The events "f ;he
afternoon c;li~cl her considerable am
e9Sinc~S ID" rclrupch"i herself for
her weakness aud fpr having yielded
SO readily - the inHul~e If the mo
mott She hal said only what was
tIlr truth whom She admitted She loved
JcC-r but what right had she 70
dispose If her future while her fathers
fate wa still uncertain! Her con-
science troubled her. and when she
came. To reason 1t ont calmly the more
In possible seemed their union from ey
cry point of view. How could she be-
come the daughter in-law Of the man
who had ruined her own father? The
Idea was prepOsterous, and hard as
the sacrifice would be Jefferson must
De made to see Il in that light. Their
,5gemont was the greatest folly. 1t
hound each Of them when nothing but
unhappiness could possibly come Of It.
She was sure now that she loved JEFF
ferson. II would lie hard to give him
up. Int there are times and clrcum-
stances when duty and principle must
prevail over all other considerations.
and this she felt was one of them.
The following morning she received
letter from Stott. lie was delighted
to hear the good news regarding her
important discovery, and he urged her
to lose no time In securing the letters
and forwarding them to MaSsapequa,
when he would Immediately so to
Washington and lay them before the
senate. Documentary evidence OF that
conclusive nature. he went on to say,
would prove Of the very highest value
In clearing her fathers name. lie
added that the judge and her mother
were as we'll as circumstances would
permit and that they were not in the
least worried about her prOtracted alb
sence. Her Aunt Milly had already
returned to Europe, and Eudoxia was
still threatening to leave daily.
Shirley needed no urging. She quite
realized the importance of acting
quickly, but 1t was not easy to get
ut the letters. The library was usu-
ally kept locked when the great man
was away, and on the few occasions
when access to it was possible the lynx
eyed Mr. Bagley was always on guard.
Short rs had been her stay in the Ry-
der household Shirley already shared
JeffersOn's antipathy to the English
secretary. whose manner grew more
superciliOus and OverbearinS as he
drew nearer the date when he expect
Ell to run off with one Of the richest
clutches OF the season. He had not
sought the acquaintance of his EN-
: ployers biographer since her arrival
and. with the exception of rude stare,
had not deigned to notice her, which
attitude Of naughty Indifference was
all the more remarkable In view Of the
fact that the Hon. FitZroy usually left
nothing unturned to cultivate q firta-
tious Intimacy with every attractive
female he met. The truth was that
what with Mr.. Ryder's demands upon
his services and his own preparations
for his coming matrimonial venture, in
which he had SO much ut stake, he had
neither time nor inclination to indulge
his customary amOrOus diversions.
Miss Roberts had called at the house
several times. Ostenslbly to see Mrs.
Ryder, and when introduced to Shirley
she had cOndescended to give the lat
ter a superclliOus nod. Her converse
ton was generally Of the silly. vacu-
GUS sort concerning chiefly new dresses
or bonnets. and Shirley at once read
her Observation-Disclosures, amusement
loving, empty headed. irresponsible
Just the kind Of girl to do something
foolish without weighing the cOnse-
Quences. After chatting q few mo-
ments with Mrs. Ryder she would usu-
oily vanish, and one day after one Of
these mysterious disappearances Shir-
ley happened to pass the library and
caught sight of her and Mr.. Bagley
cOnversing in subdued and eager tones
1t was very evident that the elOpemert
scheme was fast maturing. II the
scandal was to he prevented, Jefferson
ought to see his father and acQuaint
him with the facts without delay. 1t
was probable that ut the same time he
would make an effort to secure the let
tiers. Meantime she must be patient.
Too much hurry might spoil every
thing.
So the days passed. Shirley devoting
almost all her time to the history she
had undertaken. She saw nothing Of
Ryder senior. but a good deal Of his
wife. to whom she soon became much
attached. She found her an amiable,
good natured woman, entirely free
from that offensive arrogance and pat
ronizing cOndescenSiOn which usually
the thoroughbred. Mrs. Ryder had no
claims to distinguished lineage; on the
contrary, she was the daughter Of 4
country grocer when the then rising oil
man married her, and Of educational
advantages she had had little or none.
1t was purely by accident that she was
the wife Of the richest man in the
world. and. while she enjoyed the pres
tige her husbands prominence gave
her, she never allowed 1t to turn her
head She gave away large sums for
charitable purposes and, strange to
say, when the gift came direct from
her the money was never returned on
the plea that 1t was tainted" She
shared her husbands dislike for enter
tanning and led practically the life of
a recluse. The advent of Shirley, there
fore, into her quiet and uneventful ex-
1stence was rs welcome as sunshine
when 1t breaks through the clouds aft
er days OF gloom. Quite friendship
sprang up between the two women,
and when tired Of writing Shirley
would 60 into Mrs. Ryder's room and
chat until the financier's wife began to
look forward to these little impromptu
visits. SO much she enjoyed them.
Nothing more had been said concern
ing Jefferson and Miss Roberts. The
young man had not yet seen his father,
but his mother knew he was only wait
ing an opportunity to demand an expla-
nation Of the engagement announce
ments. Her husband. on the other
hand desired the match mora thop