East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1914-09-25

mence, a genuine American girl once
moro.
Just as soon as those pesky work
men are out Of the place, IN drop you
a line, said ], immeasureably exalted.
'But draw the line at noblemen. 4"
"Don I worry" she said, setting her
nice little white teeth. 81 draw il too
Never again! Neverl"
1t occurred to me that here was an
excellent opening for a bit of mission
AIRY work. Very pointedly i said to
her; az fancy you are willing to admit
now that she MT such a simpleton
for leaving him."
She went SO far as 10 shudder, all the
time regarding me with dilated eyes
~ can t imagine anything more dread
full than being that man s wife, John. 4"
"Then why won't you admit that
you are sorry for heri Why won t you
be little just to hertz
She looked at me sharply. "Do you
know herf"
"Not by long shot, F" l replied has
tily, and with considerable truthful
ness.
"Why are you so keen to have me
take sides with hcri"
"Because ! did, the instant l saw
that internal cad"
She pursed her lips. 1t was hard for
her to surrender.
"Out with it, Elsie,' commanded.
"You know you we been wrong about
that poor little girl. ] can tell by the
look in your eyes that you have
switched over completely in the last
four days, and so has Betty Billy"
"I can Z forgive her for marrying him
in the first place, +" she said stubbornly.
"But think she was Justified in leav'
ing him. AS I know him now, don Z
see how she endured it as long as she
did. Yes, / am sorry for her. She is a
dear girl and she has had a-a-"
r "Ill say it, my dear: a hell of q
, time"
| "Thank you."
"And I daresay you now think she
did right in taking the child, too,"
i persisted.
5 al hope she gets safely away with
little Rosemary, back to Gods coun
try as we are prone to call it. oh, by
the way, John, don t see why I should
feel bound to keep that wretch s secret
. any longer. He has treated us like
dogs. He doesn't deserve"
"Hold on! You re not thinking Of
telling me his name, are youi"
l "Dont you want to know itf Don 7
: you care to hear that you we been en-
tertaining the most talked of, the mos
+ interesting"
n "No, don I" "
q "Dont you care to hear who it wa'
that he married and how many millions
) he got from"
n "No, don I. s"
, "And why notiP'
"Well," said 1, judicially, Gin th'
: first place ] like the mystery of it all
, In the second place, ! don't want t.
I know anything more about this fellow
than I already know. He is enough o.
: n horror to me, as it is, God knows
! : without giving a name t, him. / pre-
fer to think of him as Mr.. Pless. If yor
don't mind, Elsie, I'll try to eradicate
!, him thoroughly from my system al
= Pless before / take him on in any othel
form of evil No, don I want to know
his name at present, nor do | care
hang who it was he married. Silly no
I. ton, suppose, but I mean what
e say"
She looked at me in wonder for
j moment and then shook her head as Il
: considering me quite hopeless. "Yo'
j are an odd thing John. God left some
d thing out when He fashioned you. I'm
n just dying to tell you all about them
and you won't let me-"
y els she prettyi" l asked, yielding
I little.
o "She is lovely. We've been reall!
d quite hateful about her, Betty and i
n Down in our hearts we like her. Sh
I was n spoiled child, of course, and al
u that sort of thing, but heaven know
o she S been pretty thoroughly made owe
e in new crucible. We used to fee