The Washington herald., 1909-05-09
By Campbell MacCulloch

prove a failure? And what OF the
pitiful lack OF success i'm the trust
that had been reposed in her? Had
she no moral responsibility for the
divergence OF that sister left i'm her
charge from the narrow paths? TO
her had been confided the training of
that young mind, and while the bur-
den was undoubtedly heavy one to
lay upon a girl OF her years, yet she
had accepted IL, and she must an
swer at the end. In what manner had
Mortimer so gained an influence over
Alice-that influence that had threat
ened the safety of her own teachings,
and bore against them SO heavily?
Somewhere she had read that the
prevailing note Of humanity Is TO sink
back into the primal ooze from which
it came, and that all there is OF civ
ilization has been accomplished in
spite of and not because of mans
moral nature
For years she had realized that her
sister was one of the negative souls
OF the universe; that it was easier for
her to evade the duties OF her life
than II was to perform them; and now
she wondered If she had fought this
inclination as tentaciously as she
love or infatuation that had made
Alice so complaisant a factor in Nor
timers hands, she knew for the man
had no physical charm OF any kind,
and she had long ago adiudged his
mental attainments as of the slight
est. 1t must have been the oppor-
tunity for a partial or temporary re-
lease from the thralldom of duty she
at last decided.
EROM the outside world there came
gradually the distant, soft purring
hum Of a motor, and It grew in vol
ume until it seemed as If the throb
OF it would fill all space, for OF late
weeks, so obsessed had she been by
the thought of what had occurred on
that memorable day when Mortimer
had taken her sister out in his car,
that she was unable to dissociate the
noise OF any machine with that al
most unbearable experience. Gradu-
ally she realized that the car was
passing, and the tension grew less as
its clatter lessened and it was finally
swallowed up in the distance. Then
her thoughts turned to Mayne and Of
how il hurt to have him treat her as
he did. From the collar Of her dress
she drew a small gold locket and
opened 1t. There reposed on one side
a small picture OF him, and opposite
q lock of his hair. How long ago 1t
seemed that he had given her those,
and how different the world had
looked at that time, until there came
that day when she realized with a
shock that Alice had set her heart
upon the man. She thought with a
fearful smile of the struggle she had
undergone before she could make up
her mind to give him up, and OF how
hard she had labored TO turn his at
tention i'm the other direction, partly
by notwithstanding him OF herself.
1t had been difficult, and she won
dered dumbly If II had been worth
while. Knowing what she now knew
she questioned whether she had the
right to act as she had done, but
comforted herself with the thought
that things could have never come to
a real issue-she had the doctors
word for that, and strangely enough
the thought gave her modicum OF
comfort in place Of grief. 1t had
been so hard, and everything had
been so fruitless and so barren. Ever
now her head ached with the thoughts
that poured throug gh 1t in never
ending stream, and she laid her fore
head down upon the broad sill ant
fell to weeping. She .elt such an ut
ter sense Of loneliness.
It might have been an hour late
she decided that she became con
scious OF distinct, unintelllgible not
of conversation that persisted in oh