Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-04-23
gave a start, and her face grew a trihe


sho asked OF her companion.
"Where?" asked Ezra, craning his neck
"Oh, yes, there he Is in the second row O
the stalls
'Do you know who the young lady il
that he is talking to?' Kate asked.
Il don't know" said Ezra. Il have
seen him about with her good deal late
ly," The latter was deliberate false
hood, but Ezra saw his chance of preju
dicing his rival and took prompt advan'
tage of it. "She is very good looking,
he added presently. keeping his eyes upon
his companion.
"Oh, indeed" said Kate, and turned
with some commonplace remark to Mrs
Wilkinson. Her heart was sore neverthe-
less. and she derived little pleasure from
the remainder of the performance. AS
to Ezra, in spite of his great love for
music, he dozed peacefully in corner of
the box during the whole of the last act.
None of them were sorry when Faust was
! duly consigned to the neither regions and
Marguerite was apotheozed upon couple
of wooden clouds. Ezra narrated the in
cident of the recognition in the stalls to
| his father on his return, and the old gen.
tleman rubbed his hands over it.
Most fortunate. he exclaimed glee-
fully. by working on that idea we might
produce great effects. Who was the girl,
do you know?"
Some poor relation, l believe, whom he
trots out at times
I'VE will find out her name and all
about her. Capital! capital" cried John
Girdlestone, and the two worthless depart
ed to their rooms much pleased at this
new card which chance had put into their
hands.
During the weary weeks while Tom
Dimsdale, in accordance with his PROMISE
avoided Eccleston square and everything
which could remind Kate of his exist
ence, Ezra continued to leave no stone un-
turned in his endeayors to steal his way
into her affections Poor Toms sole COM
fort was the recollection of that last pas
sionate letter which he had written in the
Blackwell public house, and which had, as
he imagined, enlightened her as to the
reasons of his absence, and had prevented
her from feeling any uneasiness or sur
prise. Had he known the fate that had
befallen that epistle he would hardly have
been able to continue his Office duties so
patiently. or to wait with so much resig-
nation for Mr.. Girdestone's sanction to
his engagement.
As the days passed and still brought no
news, kate's face grew paler and her
heart more weary and desponding. That
the young man was we'll was beyond dis
pute, since she had seen him with her
own eyes at the opera. What explana-
tion could there be. then. for his con-
duct? Was it possible that he had told
Mr.. Girdlestone of their engagement, and
that her guardian had found some means
of diSsuading him from continuing his
suit-found some appeal to his interest,
perhaps, which was too strong for his
love? All that she knew of Toms ma
Again, if Girdlestone had learned any
thing of their engagement surely he
would have reproached her with it. His
manner Of late had been kinder rather
than harsher. On the other hand, could it
have CHANGED that Tom had met this lady
of the opera, and that her charms had
proved too much for his constancy? When
she thought of the honest grey eyes which
had looked down into hers at that last
meeting in the garden she found it hard
to imagine the possibility of suhc things,
and yet there was a fact which had to be
explained. The more she thought of it
the more incomprehensible it grew but
still the pale face grew paler and the
sad heart more heavy.
Soon, however. her doubts and fears
began to resolve themselves into some
thing more substantial than vague conjec
ture The conversation of the Girdle-
stones used to turn upon their business
colleague, and always in the same strain.
There were stray remarks about his do
ings; hints from the father and laughter
from the son. Not much work to be
got out of him now." the old man would
say. When a mans In love he's not over
fond of ledger"
"A nice looking girl too" said Ezra
in answer to some such remark. Il
thought something would come of it. We
saw them together at the opera, didn't
we, Kate"
So they would gossip together. and ev-
cry word a stab to the poor girl. She
st rove to conceal her feelings, and in
deed, her anger and her pride were strong
er even than her grief, for she felt that
she had been cruelty used. One day she
found Girdlestone alone and unbosomed
herself to him.
"Is it really true" she asked with a
quick pant and a catch of her breath,
that Mr.. Dimsdale is engaged to be mar
ried"
IL believe so, my dear" her guardian
answered at is commonly reported SO.
When a young lady and gentleman CORE
spond it is usually sign of something of
the sort"
oh they correspond"
"Yes. they certainly correspond. Her
letters are sent to him at the Office.
don't know that I altogether like that
II looks as if he were de-
ceiving his parents" All this was an
unmitigated lie, but Girdlestone had gone
too far now to stick at trhes.
who is the LADY," asked Kate, with a
calm set face, but quivering lip.
"a cousin of his. Miss Ossary is her
name. | believe. ! am not sorry, for it
may be a sign that he has sown all his
wild oats. DO you know at one time,
Kate, | feared that he might take a fancy
to you. He has specious way with him,
and | felt my responsibility in the mat
ter"
You need not be afraid on that score"
Kate said bitterly 81 think | can gauge