The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-09-04

notice or where ne was going and, get
ting on the wrong side Of the street,
boarded an uptown car. He did not
discover his error until the car came
to a stop at the extremity of the line.
By the time he reached the hotel
where Mallory had instructed him to
wait it was nearly 1 o'clock in the
morning. There Mallory had left word
for him to join them at the home of
the girls.
1t was Rochefoucauld who remark
ed that our virtues disappear when
put in competition with our inter-
ests, as rivers lose themselves in
the ocean. This observation applied
in a measure to Nora O'Brien. Self
abnegation, 'that rare virtue that good
men preach and good women prac.
tice" and which entered so largely
into Patsy's moral makeup. was wholly
lacking in that Of her younger sister.
Nora had been unable to hear all of
the conversation that followed Patsy's
egress from the bedroom. but she had
been able to catch enough from Nal.
lory's loud tones to understand what
was happening. Very soon it had, be-
come clear to her that the entire op-
probrium of the situation brought
about by her own foolishness and the
efforts Of her sister to save her was
being borne by Patsy. She had heard
the voice Of her mother raised in de-
nunciation Of the girl and Mallory's
bitter taunt, indicating that all be-
tween them was over. but she had not
had the courage to go out and face her
share of the 'music' to clear Patsy by
telling the truth. Crawford's outburst
had frightened her, and she had re.
NAMED trembling, fearful of the out
come, and allowed her sister to sacri-
flee herself. Nor had she breathed
easily until Patsy had called her forth
with the assurance that there was no
further danger.
So long as she herself had escaped
nothing mattered much. Mallory's
break with Patsy did not strike her as
being serious. Patsy would easily be
able to square herself with him by ex-
planning the facts, and they between
them would find some means of hush
ing them up and Of placating her moth
er. And, anyhow, it was Patsy's own
fault. What did she want to follow
her about for and mix up in things
that did not concern her? She forgot
that she had looked to her sister to
help her out of the predicament in
which she had found herself at the
theater and her fear of facing her
parents because Of the forged note.
All she cared to remember was that
she had been certain of getting the
note herself. 1t was true she had been
afraid Of Crawford. The violence Of
his declaration Of love had alarmed
her. But she felt sure that he would
not have persisted in face of the pro-
test, for he was such a nice man and
liked her SO much. The more she
thought about it the more she came to
look upon herself as martyr to Pat
sy's interfering proclivities and as
sumption Of the right to boss her. She
was deeply resentful also of Patsy's
rough treatment of her in the bedroom
and of the fact that her sister should
have dared to suspect her of having
"gone to the bad" The net result of
this meddling, as she figured it, was
that Patsy had stirred up row be-
tween Crawford and Mallory that had
caused them to end their partnership,
got herself into trouble with Mallory
and her mother. offended Crawford so
deeply that it was doubtful whether
her own former pleasant relations with
him, which might have ended in a
brilliant marriage. could be resumed
and, after all, had not succeeded in
getting the note.
The latter fact Nora ascertained by
questioning Patsy when they found
themselves in the street. The reflec-
tions outlined above came afterward
while cab. which Patsy fetched her
self while Nora remained in the hall
way at her sisters request so that she
should not walk on the street in her
satin slippers, was bearing them to
their home. The journey was made
in silence. save for Morals query and
Patsy's answer to it. When the cab
neared the street in which they lived
Patsy. saying that she would come
later. alighted and let Nora drive on.
"Tell 'em you was took sick before
the show an had to come home," was
her parting injunction.
Patsy had no heart to enter the fat,
where she thought her parents must be
by that time. She wanted chance to
think and decide upon plan of action.
She had been too unnerved by what
she had been through to be able readily
to collect her thoughts. but as she
walked on needless of where she was
going the significance Of what she had
brought upon herself for her sisters
sake forced itself upon her. What hurt
her more than even her mothers words
and belief in her guilt-and they burn
ed to her very soul-was that Dan
should have doubted her and cast her
off with brutal scorn. The idea that he
would not understand that something
grave and extraordinary must have led
to her presence there, that he would
not trust her and wait for her explana-
ton, would never have occurred to her
even If she had had time to think be-
fore she took the desperate step she
did to prevent the discovery of Nora
and the supper table in the bedroom
On the spur of the moment she had
T.