The herald., 1917-07-05

Z
her life had cause (" doubt the non
eSty of Richard. His fin" Integrity
had been the rock upon which her re-
Spect for him was built. II ma.
should ever fail?
No. she said 10 herself, that
| would be impossible. Richard c"uIa
never do a diShonoruhle thing.
Then She thought of the saying that
there Is some point of temptation III
which every human soul Will yield.
NO She said {" herself. Not
( Richard. He would not yield.
Now that they We're alone in the
house. which had more room than ,A'y
needed, Esther conceived -" Idea "i
adding u their Income 10y taking >"lno
h"arior~. 81" began rn "y"ra"uL anu
rrn"Nat" tLr bedrooms. T. III" rouM
where the old m"n lad died was al
"id-.a>Al"ncd secretary. desk ana
h"".r"~" combined. II lE.i been 'H"T-
"u@"Iy ran>a'E"o In IL" search for the
missing will, and Esther with touch
Of tenderness began removing II" con
h't'.N VI AAt'' Va Il ,tih'a III 4'''''
>h" found nothing She had not seen
before. Last OF all She took oil the
sheet Of >oilrd hl"ttinE paper fastened
with thumb tacks I" the writing desk.
AZ one side, as though showed III
/ hastily, she saw folded paper. She
/ opened II.
/ Ii was the missing viii. In II the
house and lot. and al money IN BANK
/ We're 70 be- divided equally between the
+ three heirs. 4 codicil disposed Of some
small articles OF personal property
which she scarcely noticed, 50 stunned
was She with the tcnuluhInG blow OF
( the discovery. The pleasant home she
had learned 10 think Of IS her own
+ The plans she had laid Tor ADDING L.
their income with hoari"TS all sudden
II melted int" nothing. II was 10"
horrible L. consider wiki reason ana
calInncSS. Sh" had only removed two
Of the tackS, and putting the VIII back
/ she replaced them. 81" felt she must
have time To gather her wits, TO be
able 10 think.
Then came the tempter. Why
should she give up that which was
really hers? Had she not taken care
Of this old man as though he were her
own, never leaving undone anything
she could do for his comfort. Had
she not at the last spent days and
sleepless nights ministering 10 him.
Yes, clearly II was hers. lie hau
seemed 10 grow more and more to re-
gard Richard and her rs his children
and she lad come TO love the old man
almost as q father.
But why had he made this will? She
remembered now that before he had
lapsed into unCOnsciouSness, when she
had thought him deliriouS, he had sew
cral times asked her To take up the
tacks, and she had thought he had
meant the carpet as ne had intended
To have Il new one. Perhaps he want
ed 10 destroy the will. Then she would
only be carrying out his wish If she
did.
She heard her husband coming in
and rose hastily, leaving the room
She did not mean TO tell him just then
If she decided 10 destroy the Will, he
must never know. She was sure ht
would never consent 70 such a thing
But the most unthinkable of all wa!
the idea that he should know she haC
even thought of doing such an act
His condemnation would be the I'm
bearable thing.
That evening she went to n commit
tee meeting. She could not spend th'
time alone with him till she had decid
, cd what to do.
She came in quietly, thinking h
may have gone to bed, but he was no
there. She saw light upstairs. Some
thing prompted her TO GO to the OLE
mans room. The door wGs ajar. Sh'
looked in. Richard sat AT the desk. h
had lighted a candle, and was JUS
about To hold a paper TO the flame
She rushed into the room, and h
quickly thrust the paper into hi
pocket.
Richard" she cried. Give me tina
, paper, Give il 10 me"
} What paper! ne ASKED trying u
THE one you were about to burn
You have no right. unless | see II ~