The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-01-06

| served perhaps more than I, but he
 said nothing. He was truly my friend
 put he had the innate delicacy that is
 the gift of the gods, and we went or | With our breakfast, speaking only o1 | topics that were far from the inimed-
 fate minds of both of us. I could
 not keep my eyes from the Grey table
 and 1 shared the painful strain that
 endured there, not that of the mercen-
 ary mother, nor that of the whipped dog of a husband, but that of Alicia
 who deserved so much of the gods and
 who received so little. Grey kept his
 red face in his plate, and I wondered
 whether his apprehension was really | due to sense of shame or to a fear | lest a scandal might injure his political | campaign.
 l Alone among all the actors in this
 wordless little tragedy, Pauline Har- l mon was neither angry nor embar-
 rassed; on the contrary, had a secret | belief that she was enjoying herself
 Her demure role was preserved; she | was, not expansive, her gaze did not | rove about the room, but when she had bowed to two or three acquaintances
 myself among them, she turned her at- tention to the letters that lay beside her plate, and sat there quietly a bright bit of life and femininity, ap- parentqy without care. I think about half an hour passed, and then Alicia was the first of those concerned to leave the room. She gazed straight before her as she went out and never once looked aside. Af- ter she was gone Mrs. Warren examin- ed Pauline Harmon more at length, but that shy creature seemed to take no notice of the inspection, and still remained without a care. Then Mrs. Warren rose, and with a sweeping glance of command took her son-in- law in her train.
 Harrison. who in his character of best friend to Grey quickly learned everything, gave me the next news. I was taking my favorite walk on the hills when I saw an athletic figure ap- preaching. I strolled slowly on, but he soon overlook me-
 You were a witness of the Har- mons debut at the Capitol, he said, in half friendly manner ''and I think it no more than right to tell you how affairs are going.''
 He paused, as If waiting the word from me whether to continue or to stop. I wished to know, and yet it was deeply distasteful to me to hear him talk about Alicia or the things that concerned her. But his pause was only mOmentary, and he went on:
 Grey is in a state. hard to describe, because that state is composed of so many and such differing clements He is in a rage at his wife, because she treats him as one whom she never saw before: he is in blue funk lest he be compromised when he is in the public eyes; he is chagrined because Pauline Harmon came here when he told her not to do so, and, above all, he is jeal- ouS on her account"
 ''Jealous!' I exclaimed il, surprise. "Of whom?'
 Me" he replied. with gl glimace.
 'tYou!'
 "Yes, it is I. I'note your astonish- ment, and I take it as a compliment. He tried to hide it, but he really thinks want to usurp his place with Pauline Harmon, merely because I have been polite to her once or twice since she came What nonsense He has far more cause to be jealous nearer home, the blind idiot! As if I could put Pauline Harmon in the same world with Alicia Grey, woman who is as far above her as heaven above hell and who is also more beautiful
 My heart had an unaccounf:able man. ner of warming toward Harrison at times, and this was such a time. He put Alicia upon the pedestal where he knew she belonged.
 T thank you for the comparison" said
 Any fool should know it." he added.
 We walked on a little willie longer in silence, and then I askeds
 DO you think that Mrs Grey, know ing what she now knows, will go back to Louisville?'
 "And abandon the field to an unli- censed rival? No! No woman would do it."
 That was my opinion, but I wished to have yours, too I leave you here. So long,
 I watched him striding away toward the town, trim. athletic, fine speci- men of a man mentally and physically, if only the moral equipment had been my opinion, as I grow older, that no one can be really great without moral stamina. Both morality and the praising of it often seem common place, but it counts; the greatest stakes are never won by cunning and chicane.
 Beyond her chosen character of lob byist Pauline Harmon's conduct at the capital was eminently conventional. She said that wealthy men had, paid her to come to Frankfort und talk against the Peden Bill, and she men, toned the name of Cohbett. Il knew how easily a clever and beautiful woman could influence a man like the fat manufacturer, and I could well believe it possible that he had had part in sending her. More over, a cousin, a thin, timid woman in the upper sixties, appeared, and was Pauline Harmon's suitable ehaperone at the hotel.
 There was nothing on the surface with which one could find fault. and the beautiful young widow made rapid progress. She gathered aboHt herself a coUrt-in fact a little salon-and in less than a week she was 8 conspicu- ous figure in Frankfort, often summed it is true. by the women, but more often sought by the men. Harrison himself was one of those frequently in attendance, and I verify believe that he did it to annoy Grey I gave him full credit for what he said to me on the hill and I did not believe the charms of Pauline Harmon had any attraction for him.
 saw now the power of beauty, in telligence and quiet conduct had known before that Pauline Harmon was not lacking in mind, and when she showed in Frankfort 2 modest manner and indulged in a conversation that often tended to the serious people began to speak differently oe her. A rather full blown, had pre- ceded her, but many now believed it to have been a mistake. and Che revul- sion, as it usually does, went xo a simi- lar extreme in the other direction Her life at the capital was quite unim- Daacha h1e and Mrs CrOSc6aJd +bi,,