Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-07

+ or having baen punished already. ana OF
1 another punishment awaiting him later
on.
! When Miss ROwly returned from her
visit To London the two women held a
/ long consultation over the schedule OF
| Lecnard's debts. Neither said A word of
! disfavor. or even commented on he ma G.
/ nituda. The only remark touching On the
| subject " IS made by Miss Rowy:
/ We must ask for proper discounts. Oh
! the villainy of thos.- tradesmen. / do
/ believe they charga double in the hope of
| getting half AS to jewelers. -
/ Then she announced her intention of GO
/ ing up to town again Thursday. a;
| which V SIT she would arrang, fer the
payment % the various debts. Stephen
| tried to demonstrate. but she was OBJ
/ dur ite.
Leave !, all to me. dear. Leave it all
| 10 me. Everything shall be paid as YOU
wish. but leave it to me-
stephen acquesced. This gentle yield
| ing was new in Der. it touched the elder
lady to the gu ok. even while it panied
/ her. Well she knew that some trouble
must have gone to the smoothing of tina.
imporious nature.
| After all trouble is tool of tn : CIR "a t
Filter whose work il is to fashion the
machine called man. and tool of no
mean Importance either. With 1t He rubs
off the protrusions the surfaces of
would" and must which have to be
brought to exact plane. And Il is be-
| cause it can bite into the metal of our
| nature. because 1t is of its ma ura hard r
than the material which it fashions, that
It's work is potent and enduring.
Stephens inner life IN these last few
| q AVS was SO bitterly sad that she kept 1t
apart from all the routine of social ex-
istenco. The saddening memory was of
Harold. And of him the sadness was
! increased and multiplied by a haunting
fear. Sine he had walked out OF the
grove she had not seen h m nor heard
from him. She was afraid to make any
inquiries. Silence was dreadful, but to
her there was no alternative. Thought,
she felt. would come in time, and with IT
new pains and new shames. of which as
Yet she dared not think
one morn ng came an envelope directed
in Harold's hand. The sight made her
almost faint. She reioiced that she had
been on that morning the first down and
had opened the rostbag with her own key.
She took the letter to her own room and
shut herself in before opening it, Wit hin
were few lines of writing and her own
letter To Leonard IN its envelope. Her
heart beat so hard that she could scarce
ly see. but gradually the letters of the
writing seemed To grow out OF the mist:
The inclosed should be in your hands
1t Is possible that 1t may comfort you TO
know that it is safe. Whatever may
come. God love and guard you
For a moment joy hot and strong
blazed through her. The last words were
ringing through her brain. Then came
the cold shock and the gloom of fear.
Harold would never have written thus
unless he was going away. 1t was fare
we'll.
For long time she stood motonless.
holding he letter in her hand. Then she
said. half aloud:
Comfort. Comfort. Comfort. There
is no more comfort In the world for me !.
Never never again. Oh. Harold. Harold
She sank on her knees beside her bed
and buried her face In her cold hands.
sobbing. sobb.ng. sobbing in all that sad
dest and bitterest phase OF sorrow which
can be TO woman's heart-the sorrow
that is dry-eyed and without hope.
Not till she was alone In her room
that night did Stephen dare to let her
thoughts run freely.
But now In the darkness her mind be-
gan to work truly. so truly that she be-
gan at the first spep of logical process
10 study facts. And to study them she
must question til she found motive.
Why had Harold sent her the letter?
His own words said that 1t should be in
her hands. Then. again. he said 1t might
comfort her to know the letter was safe
How could II comfort herr
How did he get possession of the letter.
There she began to understand; her
quick intuition and her old knowledge OF
Harold's character and her new knowl-
edge OF Leonard's helped her to recon
struct CAUSES. In his interview with her
he had admitted that Leonard had told
him much all. He would no doubt have
refused to believe him. and Leonard
would have shown him as proof. ier
letter asking him to meet her. He would
have seen then. she did now. how much
the possess on of that letter might mean
20 airy one.
STREET ching on, her arms in the dark
ness she whispered. pleadingly:
Forgive me, Harold!
And Harold. far away where the setting
sun was lying red on the rim of the west
ern SEA. could not hear her But perhaps
God did.
How she longed to be able to cry How
sweet at that moment would have been
the relief of tears.
And Harold's motive? Fer there could
be no doubt as to Harold's earnestness
when he had told her that he loved
moment OF rapture. Blu. the gloom that
followed it N her soul was darker than
the night. She did not pursue the
thought. That would come later when
she should understand. -"
And yet SO little do va poor mortals
know the verities OF things. blind arr
we to things thrust before our eyes that
she understood more In that moment of
ecstasy than in all the reasoning that
preceded and followed 1t.
She had reproached him with coming
20 her with his suit hotfoot upon his
knowledge of her shameful proffer OF her
self to another man: of her refusal by
him. Could he have been SO blind as not
TO have seen. she did. the sha mef,l
aspect of his impulsive acto Surely. il
| he had thought, he must have seen. :
Ard he must have thought; there had
been time for 1t. 1t was at dinner that
ne had seen Leonard; II was after break
fast when lie had seen her. And IL
he had seen then 80
In an instant It all burst upon her; the
whole splendid truth. He had held back
the expression of his long love for her.
waiting fer the time when her maturity
m ght enable her to understand truly and
Judge wisely; waiting till her srief for
the loss OF her father had become q story
of the past: waiting for God knows wha:
I mans mind sees of obstacles when he
loves. But he had spoken II out when 1t
was to her benefit. What then. had
been his idea of her benefit? Was 1t that
he wished to meet the desire that she
had manifested to have some man to-
TO love? 80
One other alternative there was: hut il
seemed remote, 50 far-fetched so
noble. unlike what a woman would do.
faced way. She put the matter to her
self uuestioninely. and with a me-kness
which had it,: roots deeper than she knew.
And here cut of the depths of her hui
mility came a noble thought. A noble
| thought, which was noble truth.
Through the darkness of the night
through the inky gloom OF her own soul
which. while il showed her her own
| >hriveled unwcrthiness. made the man
| whom she had dtshonored with insults
| worse thar death stand out In noble re-
| lief. In tina; instant she guessed at. and
realized. Harolds unselfish nobility OF