The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1911-07-13


longer-that the love which have tried
SO hard to keep out Of my letters for
fear | should make you come back to
your hurt refuses to be hidden under
meaningless and commonplace phrases.
"Oh, Philip, if you love me, please
don't let this misfortune raise any bar
rier between us! You know what Aunt
Bellam left me-you know that it is
mine in my own right, and l entreat
you not to turn my gratitude into
misery by refusing to share this money
with me. But you will not, / know you
will not; and if we had nothing else, we
should still have each other, and what
more could we ask?
an some respects, I know you
better than you know yourself; and L
know that if you can have your health
you will yet win place among those
who have fought their way into the
| foremost rank. BE good to me, Philip,
dear, and let me share the battle and
the triumph with you. Come back to
Us if you are well enough, and if you are
not, please let me come to you
Protheroe heard something between
| groan and an imprecation, and he
stopped and waited for Philip to come
up. did you say anything?" he asked.
Nothing worth repeating; think |
was tempted to swear little at the
crookedness of things IN general. wish
| that cursed horse that threw me had
broken his neck or mine, or both"
Does your ankle hurt?"
Everything hurts"
Protheroe did not attempt to drive
| the conversational nail any farther.
| He was preoccupied with his own con-
Germs, and he had been trying to deter
mine what he should do when he
reached Duncan's. Would his part in
| the affair be ended when he had seen
| Thorndyke safe in the house of his
| friends? or would he be expected TO
| help his rival in the fight with the COM
pany? How would Elsie receive him
after his late transgression? How could
he endure to meet her in the presence
of the man she loved?
They were troublesome questions,
but the engineers perpleXities were as
serenity itself compared with the
tumult of conflicting emotions which
| had slain the peace of mind of his COM
panion. Before he had read three lines
of Ilclcn's letter, Thorndyl<e was sink
ing into the neither depths of self-abase-
ment; and when he had finished it he
felt that it would be a comfort if he
could get down into the road and strcw
dust upon his head. This War the love
| he had put aside for the sake Of n mere
! impulse born of q sick mans fantasies {;
the fine gold that he had tossed con
| temptuously into a mcltinC-pot heated
| blythe remainder Of the simiic WAS
| drowned in a submergiuG wave of self
contempt. And now. at this present
moment, when lie was cursing his reck-
less Inconsistency, and wishing from tho
bottom of his heart chat he had had the
dccency to die quietly in the odor yi
good faith, she had his letter and she
had learned at hisown hands upon what
a broken reed her love had been leaning.
After the storm came the calm of
desperation. He had wrecked Helen
life and his own, and Elsic's happiness
| tremblcd in the balance. lie could at
| least save Duncan's daughter, and in
| the riot Of distracting thoughts this
was the only one that offered grain Of
| comfort. lie would eXpiate his folly
by devoting himself, body and soul, to
the task of making Elsie as happy as
She deserved to be. And he would
speak to her as soon rs he could find
the opportunity-before he had the
time to sink still deeper in the mire Of
| fickleness, he told himself, bitterly.
BY the time Thorndyke had reached
| this conclusion, Prothcroe was leading
! the horse down the trail on the Little
Chiwassce side of the mountain, and an
hour after dark the small procession
| stopped at Duncan's gate.
You're heavier than you used to be !;
L don't think you're going to die of
i consumption" said Protheroe, remem-
| boring another time when he had
helped Philip dismount at the farmers
| gate.
"No; more's the pity" rejoined
| Philip, ungraciously. ct would Ire bet
ter on all accounts if I should"
AS not infrequently happens when
| the probable course of events has been
carefully prefsured, nothing came
about during the evening to verify
| Protheroe's fears or TO add to Thorn
dykes misery. They were all unfeign-
eddy glad to welcome both Of the wan
derers; and while Mrs. Duncan was
principally concerned in doctoring
| Philips ankle, Elsie tried to induce the
young engineer to lay aside the sbroud
of reserve which he conceived to he the
proper penitential garment for the oc-
easion. How had he found Mr.. Thorn
dyke? Had he ridden far? How had
they ever managed to get down the
mountain with the horse? Weren't
they both dreadfully hungry? These
and many more questions Protheroe
had to answer, and at length he was
obliged, for very shame's sake, 20 com
pei himself to be oblivious to that
which Elsie was so evidently bent upon
| ignoring.
And neither that night nor the next
morning before they left for Allacoo-
| chez did either Of the young men find
an opportunity for private speech with
| the Girl: though Thorndyke abused