Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1912-08-16

to get W"iut. ste sad. FOR the sitting
room WIS damp ami bad for lheuma
tism. ] was only waiting for the colo
mel to go for his afternoon nap 10
speak what was in my mind to Miss
Ellen. Presently, she looked up from
book she was reading and said:
Father, there was another Of those
letters copied in the Augusta papers
yesterday"
As heard her words my heart seem
ed to cease pulSati0n. | had never
known that they had seen these let
tiers, for they had not spoken Of them
before, probably because they did not
want me to see them. My face grew
scarlet. and / was thankful that the
room was gloomy and dark.
"Yes, Ellen" he said, "even some of
our own people laugh at us when they
get rich, so we can't expect our enc
mics to do less. Have you got the pa
per, my dear? had to laugh over that
last description Of what we had come
to. 1t was very, very funny"
Funny! Oh. father, to think that
you can see anything funny in such
misery as he depicted! The writer
does not see with the eyes of a gentle
man or else he is blinded by prejudice
or prosperity. How should loathe to
be such a man! l did not want you to
zee this last letter, father, so burnt
the paper. 1t was too true, too truev'
she cried, and saw her eyes fill with
tears.
She laid her book aside and went to
the window to mend a rent In the lace
curtain, but / thought more to hide
her feelings from US. "The writer
does not see with the eyes of gen
tleman." With that one senteIce she
had shattered to pieces every argu-
ment had used to myself that day
In the room. She had not made use
Of any choice rhetoric, such as had
used to describe her, nor did she study
the effect of her phrasing, but with
one natural sentence, spoken from the
heart, she seemed to paint me as
was or as she would always think Of
me after this. I realized how far my
ambition had carried me and how low
my literary instincts, as had thought
them then. had sunk me. In the re-
action saw myself as others would
see me. and In my remorse believed
that I had sacrificed her for some tenn
porary advantage in my profession.
And had fancied that she would un-
derstand, forgetting that her scale Of
honor and truth was as far above mine
as heaven is above earth. In the ST.
lence that followed suffered life
time of ordinary humiliation. To be
unknown and yet denounced was like
being alone with truth. My identity
should be hid no longer. and I resolved
to tell her that 1t was I she had de-
nounced. As low as I seemed at that
moment, was not 40 low as to take
her hand until l had confessed all.
The past month rose before me. and
I asked myself If l was indeed n gen.
tleman measured from their stand
point At any rate. could not remain
one and be silent
The colonel crossed the room and
passed out into the hall. got up and
stood leaning on the back of the chair
in which l had been sitting.
Miss Ellen" I said. II have some
thing important to say to you. 1t is
not what you Think" for panied ex-
preston came into her face. 1T IS a
confession have to make"
Eyes, Mr.. Palmer" she said and
turned from the window to face me.
The sun had come from behind bank
Of clouds and crimsoned the checkered
panes Of glass. and her hair, catching
the rays that filtered through them.
framed her in a halo and to me gave
her the appearance of a saint. Her face
was pale. and her long eyelashes were
fringed with tears.
miss Ellen" I sa.d softly. 1T was ]
who wrote those letters"
For moment she did not speak, and
when she did her voice seemed passion
less.
sThen It was you, after ALL" was
what she said. u had refused to en-
terrain the thought even until you
yourself confessed 1t. Even now 1t
seems too horrible to believe. And !
stopped speaking to my best friend
merely because she half playfully -sug-
gested that 1t might be you" She said
this more to herself than to me.
why did you not tell this to me be-
FORE" I said. '.and would have ex-
plained?"
why did not tell your she asked,
her voice breaking with anguish. "Be-
cause I thought you were gentleman
and you were our guest. It would have
been an insult to have mentioned it.
Such a suggestion would have been a
reflection on him you ridiculed ind on
me. whom you would have made be-
lieye you loved had you dared to speak
the lie upon your lips"
Love your cried. IL would die for
your
ut is the only way you could ever
prove 1t now" she said. "Oh," she con-
tinued, "if you had only leveled your
hidicule Mt me alone! But father, poor
old father! l am glad he will not see
that last letter. He would hardly think
that one funny"
She looked at me. and her eyes sud-
Ienly seemed to blaze with scorn and
contempt.
"Yes. / see 1t all now. and the won
der is did not see 1t before. 1t was
be whom You described as a broken
down aristocrat who descanted on
politics and wrote pieces to the paper
telling the president how to run the
government. 1t was mother who dress
ed In wornout velvet gowns and sat In
state at the dinner ter daughter had
cooked, and 1t was I who cooked the
dinners and played sonatas and noe
turnes for the amusement of our
guests. God, why did not tsee you
as you were? Yes. and these ARE the
hands, "'she cried in anguish and scorn,
holding them toward me that I might
See them, that have cooked your
meals for the past four weeks and
these are tho same honds that ,,lavod