Gilpin observer., 1913-06-19
WHEN TACT WON OUT
BY NELLIE cRAvEY GILMORE.

tne paper. linen with jBOlute hngera
he folded and addressed the letter, lay
ing it aside to be posted.
Afterwards. he arose, took one or
two impatient turns up and down the
room; then came back and sat down
again, thinking deeply. Some abrupt
whim prompted him to reopen the en-
velope and read it over before sending
it, 1t ran:
"My Dear Elsie: have know for a
long time that you cared nothing for
me, and that you did care for that
man. The enclosed clipping may not
come amiss-merely as direct justifi-
cation of my present course. This
much, let me say, in regard to your
latest offense: hereafter 1t will not
be necessary that you exert yourself.
toward further deception, since it is
my unalterable determination to put
all thought of you forever out of my
life. AS to Darlington, he is not worth
the sacrifice of powder and shot neces-
sary to eliminate his vile existence
l am making all preparation to dis
pose of the home Immediately; your
personal effects will be shipped to
whatever address you may wish to
indicate. Please spare me the annoy
ance of any reply. and the pain of a
future meeting. All can be satisfac-
torily arranged through our lawyers
Yours-Arthur Hartley"
Hartley went over the lines With
scorching cheeks. Surely he had not
been SO great fool as to heap insults
like these upon a possibly innocent
womani
With a gesture of disgust he tore
the letter into shreds and flung it INTO
the fire. Next morning he bought a
ticket for the Adirondacks.
Elsie Hartley was in one of her ra-
diant moods when the surrey drove up
and left her husband standing on the
sidewalk before the Inn"
A minute before she had believed
him hundreds of miles away, tugging
at the pile of briefs he had declared
it impossible for him to leave under a
fortnight.
Then they both laughed. and after
wards he went up to her suite to brush
up little, as it was almost the hour
for dinner.
His wifes noncommittal attitude
had left him more in the dark than
ever. Two days ago he would have
sworn that she was guilty; today he
would have taken an oath of just the
reverse. Yet there were the damning
bits of evidence that no amount Of
argument-or sophistry-could over
come. Should he trust her-or-
The sudden appearance of waiter
,, s,xto I,s-
reverie. He put aside all personal re-
Election and changed his clothes with
dispatch. A few moments later he had
started toward the door. On the way
out his eyes fell by accident upon a
crumpled sheet of closely written note
paper. The writing was in his wife's
hand. unmistakably. He read with a
suffocating heart:
Dear Charley: There was a time
when 1 believed that 1 had unfortu-
nately given my heart to you, and that
should never be able to live happily
away from you. But, thank heaven,
the knowledge of my true feelings has
come to me before it was too late. 1
am sending this to you to stop you in
New York. Do not come here, for il
you do | shall decline even to recog-
nize you. My husband is an honest
and honorable man, and in every way
is far above the average. Should he
ever learn of my meanness. fear that
it would be the end of everything for
me. You see it has come to this that
1 fully realize now how deep and genu-
inc is the feeling l have always had
for him, notwithstanding this miser-
able affair between US. 1t was, / as
sure you, entirely brought about by a
fancy on my part that he was begin
ming to neglect me. am repentire,
most keenly this ridiculous folly, aad
with the help OF God mean to ~ for
ever true and honorable. DoEft try to
dissuade me, for I was never so trag-
ically determined in my life.-E. h
When Ha.tley looked up from the
letter his eyes we're blurred and ach'
ing. Her only crime had been neI
weakness, and for that he himself was
doubtless in part respon. Nh'e.
He walked over to the n Haoei aho
deliberately struck a match. Nr4Viht
the flame to the crumpled sh, ~ y
paper. When 1t had fallen to b. Sss'
bits over the hearth he turned. +
some reason he had not heard the
door open softly, and the blood famed
over his face as he encountered his.
wife's eyes fixed full upon him
An awkward silence fell between
them. Hartley passed an arm about
her shoulders and bent swiftly to kiss
her.
Had she seen him destroy the letter.
and did she know that he had read
and knew 1t all? He would never have
the answer to th~t question. but the
warm touch Of the lips she lifted to
his caress solved all future problems
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