The Irish standard., 1913-06-28

AND at last tho DAY came when he
turned his dreams into actual plans
he would return and humbly ask her to-
be his wife. (
1T was not until he actually de-.
soended from the train at the obscure
little Georgia village that the futility
Of his dreams suddenly dawned upon
him. He had heard nothing from her
during ten years. It might be that his
money had never reached her; It.
might be that she was already mar.
ried. A thousand chances might have
interviewed. And she was twenty.six
and he a man Of forty. He was bent
on the Widest and most quixotic err
rand that had ever befallen a man.
Another thing, too, came to his
mind. He had educated her in Paris
and at the best college in the state.
But he himself was a crude and ig-
norant man; he had even retrograded
In knowledge and manners, living in
bis western town. How could he ask
her to link her life with his?
"And by the time when he saw the
peach orchard looming up in front Of
him all his resolutions had shrunk to
this: that he would ask for drink of
water and inquire after her, learn how
she was and what life had brought her,
and go his way again.
when he heard the harsh voice of
the mother at the door, he told me az
terward," continued the evangelist,
"he was conscious Of an absurd desire
to run away, just as when he had pass
ed by the house,"a tramp, ten years
before. But the woman, seeing that
he was dressed like man of means,
invited him in to rest, and she gos-
siped readily about her circumstances,
and was loud in complaint of her hus.
band. He had acquired a good deal
Of money, she told my friend, and had
squandered 1t all in speculation. Ten
years before he had been on the verge
Of bankruptcy, and though things had
frightened he was still in the same po.
sition. She wished that they could
sell out and move into city-hlt 1t
was hard to find purchasers for peach
orchard land in that section Of the
state.
elbow much do you want to sell
for? he inquired.
"The woman hesitated. -Four thou.
sand she said at last
Gle had twice that sum. With the
farm he could live among the mem.
cries that had controlled his life; he
wanted nothing better. I will buy it
at that figure he answered. All this
time he had not found tho heart to ask
about the woman's daughter, but now
she voluntarily spoke to her.
"'There's one trouble I've got she
grumbled, and that's Bessie. She de-
clares she won't 60 to city. She
hates city life and says II 1 go she's
going to hire out somewhere
"'Hire out?' etammsred. the visitor.
"'Yes,' grumbled the woman. She
Amt bad girl, but somehow che new
er quite saw her duty toward her To-
Their and me after Jim refused to give
her an education. She wanted to go
to high school, and Jim hadn't the
money
"At that moment the farmer stamp.
ed into the room casting a suspicious
look at the visitor. The woman in
troduced him. This gentleman talks
Of buying the farm she announced.
1.-THE farmers visage cleared May
be you'd like to come and talk it over
outside he said, and my friend fol-
lowed him. He followed him down to
the peach trees and then he turned
about and put his hand on his shout
der. A wild, uncomfortable rage was
seething in his heart. This man had
defrauded two lives, his daughters
and his own. He had squandered the
money with which the man had hoped
to redeem this young life from ig-
norance and servitude; ten years of
work had gone for nothing, flung
away in foolish speculation or extrav-
agance, Of which even his wife was
ignorant.
"The habits of ten years fell away
from him, and the old devil came
back. He would murder him as sure.
ly as he himself must die for it.
1.-THE farmer, looking into his face,
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being coward, like every thief, trem'
bled. He looked right and left fol
some escape, and the strangers clutch
was like steel upon his shoulders:
"And then, coming through the
trees, my friend saw the peach-blos
som girl, and his hand fell from the
mans shoulder and the old sense OF
peace came back to him. Except fol
q certain maturity of face and figure
she was the Same as when she was
sixteen, and the same serene limo.
cence looked out Of her eyes, and she
wore her tattered dress as a queen
might wear her robes. And in her
arms she carried branches of peach
blossomy boughs."
"Well," said the psychologist, II can
guess the rest. They were married
and settled down on the farm and
spent a life of idylIic happiness
That's obvious" answered the evan.
| gelist "Rut now that vou have the