Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-07-06

r1ent. Once I asked her TO let me
speak to her. If only for a minute.
mot yet" she said. 81 am not
worthy Of your kindly thoughts. l
wish you could forget me-"
Every day now l was expecting a
letter from my paper ordering me to
leave OClethOrpe. Each morning /
rode to the postofiice as If to meet my
fate halfway. l was in an agony Of
suspense. I resolved that II my orders
came before ! had reached some IN
Outstanding with Miss Ellen TO resign
my post and remain in the vicinity OF
the Pines until ] had either won her
for nv wife or else forced her to de
clare herself engaged TO Squire Haw-
kins ! never believed that she seri-
ously considered such a step until she
had told me to forget her. Even then
] would not despair. but ! was re-
solved that If she thought me poor she
should continue 70 think me such until
she had become my afiianced bride.
fully believed her capable OF marrying
the squire for the sake OF lifting the
mortgage and freeing Bud from the
drudgery that was telling on his health
and. what was worse. breaking his
spirit. For herself she did not think
II was for the others. 1t had always
been for the others. had reason to
think that in the matter Of worldly
goods ] was the equal OF the squire,
but had l told her Of this l verify be
lieve that II would have initiated
against me. for she would not sell her
self 10 the man she loved. while she
, might sacrifice herself TO one whom
she regarded almost as an aged rela
tive. resolved TO stand my ground
and fight every inch of it with Squire
Hawkins. and / was equally determin-
Ell TO tell my love at the earliest mo-
mcnt, so that there could be no mis-
take as to my intentions.
The opportunity came sooner than
thought, for. the next day being damp
and chilly. we remained indoors. Bud
alone being forced TO face the rain.
Mrs. Turpin had gone into the kitchen
10 get warm. she said. for the sitting
room was damp and bad for rheuma-
tism. l was only waiting for the colo
mel 70 go for his afternoon nap TO
speak what was in my mind TO Miss
Ellen. Presently she looked up from a
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 pulsaton. | had never
/ known shat they had seen these let
tiers, for they had not spoken OF them
/ before, probably because they did not
want me 10 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 az US when they
get rich. so we can't expect our enc.
miles TO do less. Have you got the pa
I per, my dear? ! had 10 laugh over that
last description Of what we had come
10. II was very. very funny"
Funny! Oh. father, to think that
you can see anything funny such
misery as he depicted. The writer
does not see with the eyes OF a gentle
man or else be is blinded by prejudice
or prosperity. How | should loathe to
be such a man, did not want you TO
see this last letter. father. so | burnt
the paper. II was too true. too true,'
she cried. and l saw her eyes I'LL with
tears
She laid her book aside and went to
the window 10 mend a rent in the lace
/ curtain, but l thought more to hide
her feelings from US The writer
does not see with the eyes Of a gen
/ tleman." With that one sentence she
I had shattered TO pieces every argu-
ment ! had used 20 myself that day
In the room. She had not made use
7 Of any choice rhetoric, such as / had
used 10 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. ! realized how fsr nv
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 had sacrificed her for some tenn
porary advantage in my profession
And l had fsncied that she would IN
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 a life
time OF ordinary humiliation. To be