The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-08-22

49, " ~ ~ AA4 1AAAAa Aa0n - o1AAN
man, show his wife a letter like that?
Neverl"
/ rose to my feet and stood looking
at her. Then" / asked slowly
where did you get it?"
Her y e did not fall before my
questioning gaze. Her habit Of self
justification kept her from any sensa-
| ton Of shame.
THE postman handed IL to me sew
eral days ago. Norah was out, and
l went into the kitchen and steamed
the envelope over the teakettle, read
the letter, then, while the mucilage
was still damp, sealed it again, put
ting 1t under a book to press 1t tight
shut. l took 1t out just before your
father came home. / handed 1t to
him, and he did not have the grace to
blush. Afterward / looked in the
pocket of the coat he wore that day
and got 1t out to show to you"
I still stood looking at her. She
held out her hand to me.
you look sick, darlingl" she ex-
claimed. mo wonder you do, con-
fronted with such proof as that
against the father you have lovedi"
l wet my dry lips with my tongue
before l could speak. My voice
sounded harsh and lifeless. l did not
take a step toward my mother.
THE proof against my father is not
all that hurts me" I said. ITO think
that you, his wife and my mother,
should steal his mail, open it. read it,
give it to him in an innocent way, then
steal it again to prove to me that he
is as bad as you paint him-oh, 1 can
not stand i'll"
With a groan, l buried my face in
opened and my father entered. He
stopped short at sight of me, and his
eyes fell upon the letter lying on the
floor between my mother and myself.
Darling forward, he snatched it up.
Where did this come FROM" he
asked quickly. Then, as no one an
swered, he turned sharply to his wife.
You stole this, did your" he sneered.
81 took it to show you daughter
just what you are" my mother said
sullenly. The time has come for her
to choose between US"
My father glanced at the letter
then thrust it into his pocket. He
laid his hand on my arm.
Child" he said, there is nothing
evil in that letter. l asked a woman
friend to go out with me. She ac-
cepted, and we went. That is all
there is to it. l swear it before
Heaven!" He caught my hands in his
and drew them from my face.
81 saw you with her" l said DULY
"Where?" exclaimed my mother
starting to her feet. Tell me where
you saw him? Where did he take
that woman?"
She spraQg at me and shook me
as she used to do when l was a little
child four years old. Her face was
TRANSPORTED with rage her eyes
blazed. My father laid his hand or
her arm, but she jerked away from
him.
Il will have the truth" she shrilled
you despise me because l read YOU
fathers letter, and yet you aid ant
abet him in all his evil! oh, God!
And this is the child that l loved!'
I tried to calm her. Mother"
expostulated. BE ~reasonablei Lis
ten to mel 1 knew nothing of where
father was going, except that l saw
him the other day on the street il
New York"
I checked myself. Already she wal
making me lie. What had become o
NV unngn Af hOnar Df NV o1aor ihoos
of right and wrong? l caught my
fathers eye and vas silent. M!
mother turned to him.
Aren't you ashamed of YOURSELF!
she gasped. But of course yol
aren'ti Not satisfied with running N.
happiness, you hide behind this child
skirts! Now is the chance to tel
How far has this thing gomez"
What thing?" he asked, as If Il
gain time.
This affair between you and-tha
woman!'\ she sneered. What doe
that note meant"
THAT she and I are good friends,
he said coldly, without any spark @
OAClICD1Ohls IhdL ohO hdu d lV6d
matter to attend to in New York, an
that / offered to take her to the otfic
of a lawyer who could fix it up TO
her"
Il wonder if that is true" my mott
er muttered, looking from my fathe
to me.
Believe it or not as you please.
said he, turning away
l stood silent until he reached tn
door. In the moment since he had fir
ished speaking / had made UP m
mind.
Father and mother" I said, i"
think it is as well to tell you now tina
/ have accepted a position as ~secretar
, in New York. I am twenty-one, 20
know, and old enough to be caring 70
myself. And l want to leave home.
My mother died five years age
!. She never knew the truth of that frs
fearful year in New York, nor guesse
that the man who engaged me as SCI
r rotary was as bad as he was attrat
? tive. l acquired my knowledge of lif
> and evil from personal experienc
when l was a oma grown Afte
my mothers death my father cam
:. to live with me in my tiny apartment
/ the rent of which l paid from m
salary as social secretary to a wealth
society woman who had been kin
to me. When those first hideous e.
nariannea wara dead and huriAd an