Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1915-10-01
LETS STILL HIS LAUGHTER" HE SAID.

LETS STILL HIS LAUGHTER" HE SAID.
spoke. Poison could but kill the body;
this letter scared the soul of her.
Liston stopped, touching the paper
as though he feared it. The date star
ed him in the face.
She read his thoughts.
$50 recently Her words tripped,
vague things.
Realizing, with stab of something
that was like physical pain, the mock
cry of her marriage, she ended with
sentence that was not vague.
"Then you married me merely for
my money, fooling me with honeyed
wOrds?"
Suddenly she realized the subtlety of
this vengeance of Arkeld's. He had
hung weight about her neck which
she could not cast off. He knew her.
Loveless she would starve.
Liston spoke volubly, seeking eva
sion.
He bit in two a sentence which ours
ed Arkeld for finding out this thing.
AS for the letter. he sought to cloak
its damning contents by contempt for
Arkeld's probable methods Of obtain
ing 1t.
"She Is poor Stella reminded him.
She pointed to the letter. You be-
moan her poverty even while you cast
her off,
Her voice stung her again.
"Such a woman would be glad Of re-
venge-and money" she said.
Her mind held the picture Of Arkeld
paying with eager fingers sum Of
money for this instrument Of ven
geance.
She spoke again, repeating herself:
you fooled me with honeyed
words.' The intolerable thought was
that Arkeld knew this. He had seen
her gather tross, thinking it gold. The
knowledge was his revenge.
She had loved Liston, thinking him
unaffected, certainly not subtle-a very
honest man. That which she had loved
had never had an existence save as a
creature of her mind.
Liston threw the letter into the fire.
They watched it burn. Flames leaped,
tongues voicing sorry things.
That part of Liston which was least
ignOble watched this burning with
shamed eyes.
The part of him which was least ig-
noble crept to his lips, saying:
Forgive me"
She looked at him.
Her eyes seemed to cntreat this part
of him which was not base to triumph,
to burn up other things. The thought
came to her that this triumph would
lessen the power of Arllelds revenge.
Arkeld had conceived very subtle
form of vengeance. But subtlety was
a thing which might be of small ac-
count in the presence Of great natu-
ralneSS.
Liston said again:
Forgive me. If not yet-then some
day
ListOn came toward her.
His fingers touched the hand that
hung Imply at her side. He pointed
to the laughing god.
Lets still his laughter" he said.
She felt her lips stiffen, refusing to
move easily. She forced herself to
voice forgiveness Forgiveness was a
thing which would strike that jeering
god upon the mouth and silence-Ar-
keld!
Yes, it was the way out
Listens fingers still touched her
hand.
There's a chance for us since you
forgive" he said.
Etiquette of Letters.
Eighty years ago the etiquette of let
tiers was far more rigid than now
Even the twopenny post was not con
sidered good enough for correspond
ence addressed to persons of any stand.
ing. In her "Reminiscences of an DC.
togenarian" Miss Louisa Packe tells us
that when her father had occasion to
write to Londoners in his own class of
life the letter was always conveyed by
a servant not for any reasons of urgen-
cy, but because the post was consid-
cred a vulgar medium of communca-
ton for persons residing in the same
city and only to be used for the con-
veyance of letters to the country
London Chronicle