The Dermott news., 1917-09-06
CHAPTER xVi.-Continued.

because she loved him. SO they were
thinking of the man. This was a
source of great irritation to the father.
On occasion he almost found himself
at the point of shouting at his daugh-
ter TO talk about him. And that she so
carefully avoided the subject and as
the avoidance was SO obviously in ac-
cordance with his own wish, the re-
stralnt irritated him the more. The
fact that they both sought SO carefully
to maintain the old relationship made
1t more impossible. For relationships
which are primarily founded ON love
cannot be maintained by conStraint
without the weakening of the great
force upon which their tenure had pre-
Niously depended. There is nothing
like concealment to impair and weak
en- tie unless it be ban! Prohibi-
tons rarely prohibit.
Still there remained a deep and abid-
ing affection between father and
daughter and they managed somehow
to get along outwardly much as before.
Indeed Colonel Illingworth was more
kind and conSiderate than ever to his
daughter, and she repaid him with
more than usual care and devotion.
The very fact that she seemed to have
accepted the situation and obeyed the
law he had laid down gave him some
computations of conscience. On that
account, perhaps he had been the more
willing to accede to her request to take
Shurtliff into his employ. In no way
was Shurtliff responsible for the fail
ure of the bridge or for any mistake
In the calculations of the Meades, and
Shurtlff was an invaluable man, not
only for an engineer but for the preSi-
dent of the Martlet Bridge company.
He was familiar with the subjects
that Colonel Illingworth discussed and
wrote about. He was intelligent and
reliable TO the last degree. his reputa-
ton for steadiness and discretion un-
questioned. and he was marvelously eff
ficient In his subordinate position. The
colonel, having first tried him out, had
advanced him rapidly after learning
his worth. He was now his private
secretary. Shurtliff being an old bach
elor without kith or kin. and not orig
fnally fond of women, found himself
suddenly in touch with one of the
sweetest and kindest, as we'll as the
youngest and most beautiful of sex
about which he knew nothing.
His new position naturally brought
him into close touch with the colonel.
The old man transacted a good deal
of his business in his own house.
Shurtliff was frequently there. Under
other circumstances Helen Illingworth
would have treated him with that fine
and gracious courtesy which she ex-
tended to everyone with whom she
came in contact. but she would not
have especially interested herself in
him. She would not have made him
the object of the delicate attention and
given him the careful consideration
which would have completely turned
the head of younger and more sus-
ceptible man.
There had been prejudice In Shurt-
HIS mind against women in general,
and Helen Illlugworth In particular.
He had quickly realized that she above
all persons had the greatest interest
in dISproving Meade's statement and
his own and in laying the blame for
tile failure of the bridge where II be-
longed on the shoulders of the patron |
to love whom had been the habit of his !
life. Therefore the old secretary was /
constantly on his guard lest he be +
trapped into admissions or actions (
which might be used to discredit the /
older Meade and convict the two CON
Spirators.
But Helen 1lllngworth was far too
clever to allow any inkllng of such a
design to appear. Not the remOtest /
HINT of such a purpose did she betray. I
She deliberately set about TO win the T
old mans regard and respect and per-
haps eventually his affection. She had |
the ordering of her fathers household, |
OF course That was a matter in which |
the colonel concerned himself not at |
all so long as things went smoothly, |
as they always did. He was a little !
astonished at her treatment of Shurt-
lift. but the old secretary was at heart
a gentleman, and there was no reason
why, If Helen chose to include him
among her friends and invite him to
dinner and otherwise make him well
come in the house, she should not do
so. And in his dry, precise way Shurt-
lii was rather likable. He was touched
and flattered by her kindness, and in
spite Of his suspicious, which gradu
ally grew less, by the way, he exerted
himself to show his appreciation and
to bear himself seemingly In his new
life.
Colonel Illingworth had no suspi-
cions whatsoever that there had been
any conspiracy to suppress the truth
and shift the blame. True. his daugh-
ter had protested on that fatal day
that she did not believe Meade and
81 irtiiff, but that was in the excite
N mt of the moment and understand
q lie In view of her plighted troth.