The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-10-05
His Destined Hour

wretch, John Arden crept The cur
tain was raised little and through
the interstice a pleasant scene reveal
ed itself. Yes, they were all there, as
he had pictured to his Jealous soul
many a time in the far away land from
whence he had come.
Ruth. his wife. their child, his rival,
Dan Weston, and-the baby on his
knee. He had known how it would
be. Soon as he was forgotten-well-
He turned away-the lights inside
dazzled him, and sight of the happy
group in the cosey little sitting room
somehow clutched his heart with con-
firmation of the horrible dread he had
nurtured for years.
1t was dark outside-dark and bit
terly cold. A wicked curse just trem-
bled on his tongue, then died, over
whelmed by the wave of self-condem-
nation that swept his soul. Back into
the night he sped, back, back to the
dimly lighted streets of the little vii
lage that had been his home so long
ago.
At the door of the village store
and postoffice he halted. Not one OF
the group recognized in the middle
aged bearded, sun-1urned man, the
John Arden they had known as a
slender. youthful fellow, too careless
and happy go lucky for his own good.
Can you tell me. friends he called
crspy, when l can get train to
Boston?"
Not tonight" The reply came
No
trains go after O'Clock. You'll hey
to put up for the night"
Curiosity impelled him to step in
side. He wanted to know how it had
Jared with all his old friends since
last he saw them. He walked over
to the stove and held out his hands to
the grateful warmth.
Stranger in these parts?" The
storekeeper eyed the elegance of his
attire askance. Yes" briefly.
what might your business be?"
"Planter-in Bermuda. Here for a
little vacation. used to be acquaint-
ed some around here"
What might your name be?'
John Smith" A funny twinkle in
his eye warned the genial storekeep-
er of the limitations of curiosity and
he became instantly a reservoir of
volubility for the strangers benefit.
Anyone in particular you remem-
ber?"
"Well-just a few. You, for in
stance, and Squire Mason and few
others. ! say, who lives in that old
fashioned house, brick with green
blinds, Just down the street from
here?"
That? Oh, that's the old Walton
place. Dan Weston n his family liv
ing there now. Married one of the
Walton girls, you know" The strang-
er smiled ruminatively.
Eyes. Wasn't there a fellow by the
name of Arden who used to hang
around there some-if l remember
rightly?"
yes. A shiftless, no good critter.
Tried first one thing and then another.
Never made good at anything. He
married one of the Walton girls, vast
ed the money her father left her, in
wildcat schemes, and finally was burn
ed up in a theatre, out West some
where"
Indeed" The stranger smiled
little. Good way to dispose of bad
penny. And his widow" with care
less interest, "she married again,
didn't she?"
"Oh, no." The storekeeper chewed
a prune refectively. That's the fun
ny part of it. Much as he robbed her
of, shiftless and wasteful as he was,
she never lost faith in him. She
thought he was perfect, and she
mourns him yet. She lives over
there" jerking a sticky thumb back
ward, with her sister and Dan Wes.
ton, in the old place. Oh, no, she
didn't marry. l say. stranger!"
But John Arden was half way down
the street on his way to tell her, who
had been faithful, that he still lived,
that he had dropped out of sight, after
the great fire, because the sight of his
name in the list of missing had in
spired him with an easy solution of
the difficulties into which he had in
volved the girl who loved him,
through acknowledgement and i'll luck.
Then, too, he had been jealous-jeal-
Gus of Dan Weston, his more prosper
GUS rival, and he had meant to be
dead to her, to allow her to be happy
where she loved. Now all that was
changed. He was hurrying down the
narrow little street just to tell her
how he had succeeded in the fer away
country-that it was all hers, that her
faithfulness should be rewarded by
the devotion of the remainder Of his
life to hers.
On the veranda he paused. Through
the interstice of the raised curtain he
regarded the little group through
changed eyes. Then, God bless them
all" he murmured, as he pressed the
tiny electric button.
Hurrying feet came down the hall
q food Of released light engulfed him
her eyes met his, and henceforth there
was no darkness for him, anywhere n
the wide world, only the radiance o
her eyes-her smile.-MlSS A. L
PRATT.