Mexico weekly ledger., 1910-04-28

h4S made Of poor MirAn's moneyIH
she cred 70 herself Hes hriblng the
eneny-
Shirley boEed her bead in shame
Presently she lifted it agzin Mur-
gatruyd rose and walled up and down
behind the table. ard. unseen herself,
she scrutlnized him closely.
II anything be appeared 10 have lost
flesh yet his figure sim retained its
strcnE hut dne lines And Shirley was
farod 10 acknowledge 10 herself that
81 had lost none Of Its grace. But Gu
his fsce vas the dun flash that results
frcn TIE strain Of enthusiasm, Of over
work He looked tagged cut and bis
eyes E restless though they glow
ed with steadlness Of purpose. One
thing. howsver. impressed her more
than anything else-his demeanor to
ward Broeerek There was within It
not a particle o. that confidential con
eeSSioa that Broderick seemed ever
ready 70 o1er. on the contrary. It
suggested q suspicious w~atehfulnesS.
Murg1troyd resemGed a Jealous task
T AAA-EA& NAN A44 ENA GAAA%NAA wv u
PAID but uncertain servant.
And Broderiek-once did Brodefick
turn his bead 50 that shirley might
see his face Broderfck's face. glance.
his whole being, Indicated the cunning
Of the man He was t~reachery person.
lied at least SO he appeared to Shir-
leg, and she tod herself as she studied
him that any one could see that he was
h~oS1wfnking the nan opposite him.
"Murgatroyd was being fooledI-
There was no doubt about II Murga-
troyd's air Of feEerish endeavor, Of ex-
peDdirEre OF energy. confirmed it, With
Miriau's Thousands he had paid for
something that had not been delivered.
Frederick had taken the money-every
dollar Of it-cf that Shirley was thor
ouEhly convinced
! After awhile q feeling Of contempt
for his failure gave way to a wave of
pity. What right had she TO Judge
him al ALL What manner Of woman
Was she that she should set herself up
to determine whether his lesson was
d~eservedly bitter or not and what
should be his punishment Money so
got VIII never do him any good" Mir
IAN hsd said after the scene in the
courtroom. and how true her words
had proved! And then In turn her feel
ing q compassion wa succeeded by
one Of gladness. She was not a little
surprised to find herself f~ervently wish
ing that Broderick had robbed him Of
every dollar, but later on her cheeks
burned ~furiously when an honest IN
trospection disclosed to her the real
motive Of this desire. For, after all,
what II Murgatroyd would come to her
and say:
Il have Einned, and / have lost. Be
merciful to me, a miserable sinner"
What II some day he should come to
her free Of all hypocrisy, stripped of
all save truth, a beaten man-what
then? Well. she felt unutterably lone
ly, she wanted TO be loved, and, after
all. he had helped her friend by set
ting her husband free.
A few days later. dressed in light
mourning, Shirley Bloodgood for the
second time in her life wendell her
way to a certain tenement house not
for from the East river.
Surely ! cannot be mistaken-this
must be the place." she told herself.
~groaning in spirit
In reply to her inquiry for Mrs. Chal-
lOner a little girl directed her TO the
apartment above, the door Of which
was presently opened by a woman
with full, rounded face, and, entering
a neat, well furnished I've room fiat,
Shirley was soon seated 1t the win
dow chatting with happy eagerness.
The young woman with the full,
fresh, rounded face, it can readily be
imagined. was Miriam Challoner.
You've been away more than three
years, Shirley" sighed Miriam as she
bent over a bit Of fancy work.
1T hasn't seemed so long to me" re-
turned Shirley, though when we first
went west / thought It would be
nothing short Of a nightmare-wait-
ing for an old man to die"
ut must have BEEN" assented Mir
lam.
mo, it wasn't, because for the first
time in my life l really came to know
my father. l thought had known
him long before, but l made a mis-
take. 1 never knew him until these
last three years in Arizona. / found
out almost too late"
Il always liked your father, Shirley,
and l think he always liked me-" was
Miriam's remark.
Yes, he did. But did you ever stop
to think" went Oh Shirley hastily
why, my father never wronged any.
body Ny father was goOd-my IA
Their was honest! Oh, / could scourge
myself" she declared sadly, 'for the
things / used to think about father.
! eyen told M~urgatroyd once that,
though / loved my father, / could
never admire him, respect him"
Miriam rose Suddenly and kissed her.
All this time Shirley had been watch
ing with growing curiosity the fancy
work on which Miriam sewed so In
dustriously. At last she yentured:
Miriam, I'm a regular old maid. /
haven't been one hour IN your house
and already I'm burning up with curlos-
ity to know just what you're makingT
Miriam Challoner hesitated for an
instant; then, holding up In the air a
tiny infants dress, she said softly:
We'll II you must know, why. you
must"
Shirley exclaimed: Isn't # daintyf
Who IS It for, Miriaml'
Miriam looked squarely into the
eyes Of her friend. The next moment
Shirley had her arms about Miriam
and cried joyfully:
You precious thing! I'm so gladl
Why didn't you say so before?'
I'm Just a bit old fashioned, I'm
afraid" murmured Miriam. Now
adays it's the thing to make such an
nouncements through a megaphone
from the housetops."