1
U 1- t' 1' ! r"M
CHAPTER XXVI.
The weeks slipped by, and the young
tpriug began to send out Its forerun
ners. It had been a mild winter, and
the big horse chestnuts in the Malllng
ford woods sent forth their round pale
buds quite a fortnight carrier than usual.
A young fellow named Farringdon, the
son of a friend of Sir Geoffrey's youth,
had been among the Christmas visitors
at Mallingford, and it was soon appar
ent that he had fallen desperately in
love with sweet-faced Ethel. He was
a most estimable young man, with a
substantial rent roll, and he went to Sir
Geoffrey and asked his consent, feeling
quite satisfied as to what would be the
result .
Then Sir Geoffrey spoke to Ethel,
and was astonished on receiving an em
phatic refusal, coupled with the declara
tion that her heart was not her own to
bestow. So, Sir Geoffrey, bearing in
mind the girl's happy excitement over
Telling's letter, which contained noth
ing but accounts of Doraton's Industry,
talent and success, put two and two to
gether and decided that she was still true
to her first love. He was a little dis
appointed that it should be so; but he
had married for love himself, and he was
not going to attempt to influence his
daughter in the selection of her husband.
So a warm invitation was sent to the
roaming artists, and Ethel settled down
into a beatific state of anticipation; and
one soft spring day toward the end of
April they arrived.
Sir Geoffrey actually drove over him
self to meet them, and Ethel put on her
prettiest hat and accompanied him. She
did not go on the platform with her
father, but sat there watching the few
passengers pass by ones and twos
through the little station door. She -wondered
what could be keeping them.
At last her father came out, and with
him a handsome sun-burnt, broad-shouldered,
bearded giant, whom Ethel re
graded with no little surprise. Could
this self-possessed, courteous creature be
Jack her Jack, whom she used to chide
sometimes for his little mistakes, who
had often confessed that he owed what
little polish he had to his intercourse
with her and her father? She was so
astonished at the change in the man
and his manners that some of her feeling
found its way into her face.
"How changed you are!" she had al
most said "improved." "You look as if
jou had enjoyed your winter very much."
"I have; but I hope to enjoy my
spring better." I
Something In the words jarred Ethel's
nice sense of tact. She glanced quick
ly at him, blushed again, and changed
the subject.
"Where's Captain Pelling, papa?"
That gentleman stepped forward from
behind the pillar of the portico, where,
with a strange longing, he had stood
watching the eloquent little pantomime
of blushes and glances that had just
taken place. The girl looked at him for
a moment in even greater surprise than
she had at Jack. She grew very pale,
then extended both hands quickly.
"I am so glad to see you again," she
said, "though I am sorry to see you look
ing so tired. I don't think traveling
agrees with you. You must stay at Mall
ingford, and be nursed until you are
quite well."
A dusky red called up perhaps by
the warmth of her greeting suddenly
spread over his face, then left it again
as colorless as before.
"I am all right," he returned, smiling
at the anxious look in her eyes. "I'm
as hard as nails; nothing ever ails me."
"We won't argue the question now,"
she said, with her usuil brightness. "Are
all your belongings right? Let us get
home, then, and have some luncheon; I
am absolutely famished. Come, papa."
The three men took their seats in the
roomy barouche, and the talk became
general. Ethel, leaning back in her cor
ner, and taking mental note of the trou
ble and suffering written so unmistaka
bly on Pelling's face, did not notice that
she In turn was boing watched as closely
. by some one else, who, by the end of the
five-mile drive, had come to the conclu
sion that he had been decoyed to Mall
lngton under false pretenses, and had
made up his mind to take the first op
portunity of ascertaining the truth from
her own Hps. But the opportunity did
not present itself so readily as he had
hoped, and three days passed without
ft chance of a tete-a-tete. On the fourth,
however, things changed.' It was the
day of the private view at the Academy,
Of course Sir Geoffrey, by the right of
his old associations, had the entree; so
equally, of course, had Jack as an ex
hibitor. The rooms were, as usual, crowded to
excess. Jack and Sir Geoffrey were in
front, and Ethel was with Pelling. Jack
turned suddenly, with his face aglow and
his eyes shining, and said, in a proud
whisper:
"Polling, it's on tho Hue!"
Pelling pressed forward and shook
him stealthily by the hand. Ethel saw
the movement and for a moment wished
she was a man "o inspire such a friend'
ihip as existed between these two; then
the offered her congratulations warmly
snd sincerely,
The other two passed on, leaving Ethel
with Jack to take note of tho points of
the picture. Jack, seizing the opportu
nity bent bis head and whispered:
"Do you remetubtr my water-color of
The 's Srct'
OR A BITTER RECKONING
By CHARLOTTE M. BRAEMB
"To be sure," she answered, without
any sign beyond a slight Increase of color
that the memory was a disquieting one.
"How much has happened since then
that I could wish undone!"
"And I, also."
"Do you mean that?"
"Why should I say It unless I did?"
Jack looked excited. It was an awk
ward place to make an avowal of love,
certainly, but he would not lose the op
portunity she had given him. He leaned
forward and pointed out tome flaw in
a picture before them, without iu the
least knowing what he was saying, then
whispered close to her ear:
"And do you really love me still? And
may I try to redeem my past folly by
loving you more than ever?"
CHAPTER XXVII.
Ethel's answer completely staggered
Jack.
'There are two questions, and they
require two answers," she replied, in a
low, steady voice. "I do not love you
stl'l not as I did then. And, in my
opinion, nothing could repair your past
folly. Weakness and faithlessness are
just the two failings I could never ex
cuse In a man. They are so supremely
feminine!"
"I have been misled," he said, shortly.
"Not by me, directly or indirectly."
"Was It not In deference to your wish
that Sir Geoffrey invited me to Mailing
ford?" "Certainly. But may not a young
woman wish to see a young man in
whom she takes a very warm friendly
interest, without the young man repaying
her by an offer of marriage? Come let
us be friends. You are not madly In
love with me, you know. It was as
much pity for my supposed love-lorn
state as anything that led you to make
this declaration. Now that you see I am
not love-lorn, and you have done your
duty by me in giving me the chance you
thought I was pining for, there is an end
of it."
"I don't understand you one bit"
"Of course not We women pride our
selves on not being understood. It is the
only defense we have, the power of hid
ing our feelings. Come let us find papa,
and we will forget all about this foolish
talk, and be just as comfortable togeth
er as we were before."
Jack obeyed rather surlily. It was a
change for him to be treated in this light
off-hand way by Ethel, after he bad been
taught to believe that it was his bounden
duty to rescue her from the slough of
slighted affections. But though he was
really very fond of her, and would doubt
less have made her an excellent husband,
his pride was more deeply touched than
his feelings by her refusal, so there was
plenty of room for hope that he would
quickly recover from the blow.
Pelling looked at them when they at
ast met, guessed that something had
taken place. He could see their evident
flurry, but he could not tell how matters
had fared with Jack. He believed them
to be favorable. If it should prove, so,
his task would be finished; he would
have reunited Ethel to the only man she
could ever care for, and he would drown
his own heart griefs in the excitement
of foreign travel.
The men lingered longer than usual In
the dining room that evening, and Ethel
found the time hang heavily on her
hands. Presently she heard the footsteps
of the three cross the hall in the direc
tion of the billiard room, and she was
surprised that they had not asked her
to mark for them. She felt nervous and
anxious, and was tired of being alona
With this feeling upon her, she decided
to get a book and for a time at least
forget the thoughts which oppressed her.
She went to the library and wheeled
the steps to a certain shelf that held
the works of her favorite authors. There
was only one lamp In the large room,
but there was a fire burning in the grate.
She was wearing a ruby-colored velvet
dress, buttoned up to the throat with
large cut steel buttons that glimmered
and sparkled coldly from their warm
setting. It was made, In defiance of
fashion's stern rule, without frill of
puffing and fell gracefully and softly
about her shapely figure. When she had
reached the top of the library steps, the
room door opened and Captain Pelling
entered, ne began to pace In decided
agitation up and down the dimly lighted
room. Ethel turning round hastily and
seeing who it was, uttered a little ex
clamatlon of dismay.
"Miss Ethel! I did not see you. Look
ing for a book? Aren't you afraid of
falling? Come down and let me get it
for you." He was at the foot of the
steps, his hand outstretched to help her,
"I'm not at all afraid, thank you; and
I have not decided ona book yet
"Won't you do without your novel
reading to-night and let me tell you a
tale Instead?"
Her heart went out to him as she de
tected a quiver of painful anxiety in his
voice.
"If it Is a nice tale and ends happily,"
she answered. "I like all tales to end
happily. Does yours?"
"It depends on what you consider hap
nlness: what to you may seem happi
ness may to me be the depth of despair.
Will you come down and listen
Ethel descended from her perch and
took the chair he had set for her, he
seating himself opposite.
"It Is a very short story," he began,
fire. Then he went on: "Once on a tlmt
two men loved one woman. They both
loved her dearly, but of course, they
could not both marry her. Now it hap
pened that the one she loved offended
her very grievously, and the one she did
not love tried to Ingratiate hlmsnlf
through the favored one's offense. But
the cause of offense was Buddonly remov
ed, and then tho unloved one said to
himself, 'Her heart Is bound up lu this
man; she will never know happiness, but
as his wife; alio duos not love me. I will
devote my life to makiug her happy by
bringing them togother.' Well, he did.
He holped the favored man to make him
more worthy of hor. It was the one
dream, the one ambition of his life, to
see them united. Of course there were
times when he felt still that he could
never know happiness without her him
self. Ha was a selfish beggar at the
best; but he really did do all he could
for the man she loved. Imagine then
his astonishment when the man whom
he had thought she loved came to him
one day and said, 'It has been all a
mistake on your part; she does not care
for me at all.' Think what a disappoint
ment it was to the poor wretch who had
been working to bring them togother at
the sacrifice of his own feelings! When
he had recovered from the first pang of
disappointment, he began to wonder
what her refusal meant, and a sudden
mad thought came Into his bead. It
was a wild, Improbable, unreasonable
thought There were no grounds for It
In fact all things seemed to point in
an opposite direction. Still the thought
was -in his mnd. Shall I tell you what
that thought was?" He paused for a
moment at ths point and then, moving
nearer to her, went on. "He thought
that, perhaps, ,1a the great tenderness of
her heart, this woman had at first pitied
him for a certain unhapplness that cloud
ed his life for a time, that possibly she
had overrated his efforts on her behalf,
and that, between her feelings and pity
and gratitude, she was carried a littls
out of herself and imagined she ought
as a matter of duty, you know, to marry
the man she did not really love. Then
he said, 'This must not be; I will go and
set her mind at rest, and tell her not to
worry about me. I shall be all right by
and by, and loam In time to be content
ed without her.'"
"And did he go?"
"Yes, he went"
"And what did the woman say?"
"Ah, that is more than I can tell at
present I have come to ask you to
finish the story for me."
"I see." with a smile. "This is how I
should finish It. The humble-minded
man, who did not think it possible that
he could be loved for himself alone, went
to the woman and told her he should
learn to be content without her in time,
upon which the woman rose up and held
out her hands, saying. 'But I can never
learn to be contented without you, Alec,
for I love you very, very dearly!' "
A faint little whisper that sounded
Uke "My own, own love!" floated through
the room, and Captain Pelling and Etnei
Mailing were locked In a close embrace.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
"It is very dreadful to have to say It;
but I think I began to love you just
when it was wrong to do so on the
day you came to tell me you had dis
covered your wife was living. Then
came that unhappy time, and the letters
written in Jack's behalf really helped
yourself. At last when I saw you so ill
and sorrowful looking, my heart went
out to you."
"This will be an awful blow to Jack!"
"Never mind Jack now. Your kind
ness has made him think himself a para
gon. I think it will do him good to find
out that he Is not so irresistible as he
fancied himself."
Presently, after some conversation,
Ethel said:
"Papa will wonder what has become
of us. We had better go and tell him
everything. He will be so pleased."
"Do you think so?" Pelling asked,
doubtfully; and Ethel throwing her arms
about his neck answered him with kisses.
Of course Sir Geoffrey was delighted.
As a man, he thought highly of Captain
Pelling. Besides, he had undoubted ad
vantages of birth and position, and
would make an excellent master of the
household when the present possessor
should have gone to rest
Jack was inclined to be displeased at
first; but it was characteristic of the
facile nature of the man that he con
sented to be conciliated, and stayed on
right into the summer, making Mailing'
ford his headquarters during his trips
Into the surrounding country to touch up
from nature Lord Summers six pictures.
And, as the days lengthened to their
loimest. Pelling gradually recovered
much of his old brightness. Ethel was
devoted to him.
Sometimes people, looking at her ra
diant young beauty and his grave ma
turity. wondered at the girl's uncon
cealed devotion and admiration. One
day some one ventured to say some
thing of the kind to her. Her eyes
flashed a little, as she answered:
"You don't .know him as he really Is
If you did, you would not be surprised."
Alec took her to Paris on their wed
ding trip, and amid the gayetios of the
city they did not forget one day to pay
a visit to Pauline's grave. Ethel placed
a large wreath of immortelles on the
resting place of her unfortunate cousin
and turned away with a lump rising In
her throat Husband and wife were
both very silent on the way back to their
hotel.
They received one visitor before they
passed on toward Italy It was Babette,
now Mme. Couronne, of the Boulevard
des Italiens. She had invested her five
thousand pounds judiciously, and was
already becoming rather celebrated as
one of the leading modistes or the city,
She wished one piece of news to be con
veyed to Sir Geoffrey. Messrs. Daws &
Raven had made "a nasn m tne pan
with their two thousand five hundred
Dounds: they had speculated through a
settling day, and so lost every penny,
and were In a worse plight than ever.
"They wanted me to Join in the same
speculation," added Mme. Couronne,
"with the money your father had been
so so generous as to insist upon my ac
cepting; but you have a proverb, 'A bird
in the hand is worth two In the bush,'
and I kept my money under my own
management, as madame sees, with good
result.
,
Erect, white-haired Sir Geoffrey la
never so happy as whon he is walking
out with toddling Geoffrey Mailing Pul
ling, who is to carry on the old family
name, by and by. Coptaln Pelling Is
everything that a country gentleman
should be; and, In spite of the many calls
on him, he Is always able to spend plenty
of time In his wife's society. The pleas
ure these two find lu each other's com
pany Is as strong to-day as it was on
their wedding tour, and It Is likely to
Increase rothor than diminish, for It Is
a union founded on the most lasting of
aU foundations a deep mutual respect
and an Impregnable faith. -
THE END.
YOUNGER MEN FOR FRESIDENT8
Roosevelt Broke Record for Touthful-
neaa with Grant Feconil.
For the near future, at least, each
of the great parties is likely to glv
the preference to young men for
Presidents. Mr. Roosevelt's experi
ence has settled this point. As In
many other things, Mr. Roosevelt
broke the record in youtbfulness; be
ing only 43 years of age when lie
reached the presidency.-
On entering the white house Lincoln
was 52, Johnson, 57; Grant, 47; Hayes,
54; Garfield, 49; Arthur, 51; Clev(h
land, 48; Harrison, 55, and McKinley,
53. This completes the list of Presi
dents since the beginning of the Re
publican ascendency, says Leslie's
Weekly.
In the early days of the government
the average age of the Presidents was
greater than it has been in the lust
forty years. On going to the head, of
the government Washington was 57,
Adams, C2; Jefferson Madison and
John Quincy Adams each 58; Monroe,
59; Jackson, C2; Van Buren, 55; Wil
liam Henry Harrison, 08; Tylor, 51;
Polk, 50; Taylor, 05; Fillmore, 60;
Pierce, 59, and Buchanan, 60.
The first Harrison was the oldest
of all the Presidents on attaining of
fice, and he died a month after his In
auguration. The next oldest was
Buchanan. Possibly had he been 40
or 50 on attaining office, Instead of 0(5,
he would have done more to uphold
the government in the days between
South Carolina's secession, in the lat
ter part of December, 1800, and his
own retirement two and a half months
later, than he attempted. The next
oldest, Taylor, died when a year and
ft third In office. Harrison and Taylor
were the only Presidents who died nat
ural deaths during their terms.
Mr. Roosevelt was the youngest of
the country's Presidents, and next to
him, in this order, stood Grant, Cleve
land, Garfield and Pierce. Undoubted
ly Roosevelt's youthfulness accounts
for much of the vigor, the promptness,
the initiative, the resourcefulness and
the dash of his administration. It ac
counts also for much of his personal
popularity. There are days' when
young men have the call on the big
prizes of politics.
Fairy Tales.
The fairy tales are the only true ac
counts that man has ever given of his
destiny. "Jack the Giant Killer,", is tho
embodiment of tho first of the three
great paradoxes by which men live. It
is the paradox of courage, the para
dox which says, "You must defy tho
thing that is terrifying you; unless you
are frightened you are not brave."
"Cinderella" Is the embodiment of the
second of the paradoxes by which men
live, the paradox of humility, which
says, "Look for the best In the tiling
Ignorant of Its merit; he that abases
himself shall be exalted." And "Beau
ty and the Beast" Is the embodiment
of the third of the paradoxes by which
men live, the 'paradox of faith, the ab
solutely necessary and wildly unrea
sonable maxim which says to every
mother with a child or to every pa
triot with a country, "You must love
the thing first and make it lovable af
terward." These tales are far truer
than the rhinoceros at the zoo, for you
know what these mean. And you can
guess what the rhinoceros means! G.
K. Chesterton.
What's the Use?
"Do you ever get discouraged?"
asked the intimate friend.
"No," answered Mr. Comstock, "I
don't I know that if it comes to the
worst I can let my hair grow long,
show a band of religious enthusiasts
the aly true path to heaven, and live
without work In the finest house in the
colony." Detroit News -
Preparing for the Wedding.
"I suppose," said the facetious
stranger, watching a workman spread
a carpet from the church to the curb,
"that's the high road to heaven you're
fixing there?"
"No," replied the man, "this is mere
ly a bridal path." Philadelphia
Press,
Alaska's canned salmon output Is
Could Not Trnst mm.
After a wordy argument in which
neither scored two Irishmen decided
to fight It out. It was agreed, says
the Washington Tost, that when
either said "I've enough" the fight
should cease.
After they had been at it about ten
minutes one of them fell, and imme
diately yellod, "Enough, I've enough!"
But bis opponent kept on pounding
him until a man who was watching
them said:
"Why don't you let him up? He
says he's got enough."
"I know he soys so," said the vic
tor, between punches, "but he's such
a liar you can't believe a word be
says!" .
Won Too noneat.
nonesty is one of the lending- prln-
chiles taiiEUt in the public schools,
and the teachers begin early to lm-
nress the value of this trait in charac
ter on the minds of the youngest pu
pils. A South Chicago teacher had a
pupil who gave her much sorrow by
his unfortunate huMt of fibbing on
every possible occasion. One dny she
kept him after school and gnve him
a serious "talking to." "Just look at
the life of George Washington," she
said, J'he couldn't tell a Ho." "Huh,"
remarked the unrogenerate youth,
"what was the matter with him?"
Danger in I)elnff neformer.
"A reformer has muny dilliculties to
face."
"Yes," answered Senator Sorghum,
"As soon as the public discovers a re-
fni-mor it mnkPH SO much of him that
his personal vanity is in danger of being
developed until It destroys his useful
ness." Kansas City Star.
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1