Show K jLCl ION l F 2 CI TfylI 077 I I Copyright 1905 by Dally Story Pub Cos There was no doubt at all that Fro i Williams owed everything to Dick gets For seven years he had stood her In the place of a parent mak g a far more satisfactory one than ir real happygolucky father had er done up to the time when ho id shuffled oft his life as easily as i bad shuffled off most other obllga ins leaving his only child to there I In misfortune re of his chum time twentythree Dick at that was I jars old and Freda was twelve Dicks is poor as a church mouse picking i precarious living at space work a New York newspaper and Freda I its absolutely penniless It seemed cite the only solution of which war I I put Freda In an orphan asylum ort ft or-t her go to work But Dick swore she should do neith lie had been fond of her father tlefly because he had done so much r and received so little from him id lie made up his mind that Freda kould have her chance In tho world It was easy to decide what this lace should be as the child was a actress a mimic to her finger ps and the possessor of many witch g ways which Dick was sure would In her fame In due time If given per chance for their display But first she must be educated ithout this Dick felt sure she would i handicapped so that even her na Te talent would not bring her to the So off to school she went whllo ck turned himself Into a galley slave provide tho wherewithal I At the end of the five years hard 11rs when Dick was seldom certain his dinner years when his terror that he might fall 111 and be un le to keep up the payments that between Freda and utter want struck It rich First a novel and en a play of his made a great hit ringing his copy Into sudden demand k after book and play after play tten during past heartbreaking ears only to bo unanimously rejected 7 shortsighted managers and pub iliers were dragged from the dust eap brushed up and sold at increas giy l profitable prices In four years rom a povertystricken hack Dick ad become a famous author comfort bl ljr fixed for life Freda had reaped the benefit of this jot course After one summer spent In California with a western schoolmate she had left school for good and was spending a year with a careful chaperone chaper-one In a tour of Europe designed toTe to-Te a final breadth to her education before she took up tho actual study of Her profession in life Meanwhile the years had had their Influence on Dick no less than on the girl As she had grown in grace Dick had found it increasingly hard to maintain his brotherly pose Steady old man ho had said to hlfnself again and again This wont do Freda Is to be a great actress and she will be one there is no doubt of that and you must not stand In her way She likes you as an elder brother Iet her continue to do so until she has made her hit then then At this point Dick would J I I I Ii4 = l A Precarious living at space work on a New York newspapers I ° newspaper-s < himself In a reverie In which ho meditated much on the question Whether 21 and 32 could really be con Wered a disparity in years lie was wondering this one October afternoon when the postman brought 4 him a letter with a Paris Postmark Ills i heart leaped at tho sight Prob ably It would tell him on what steamer Freda would return for the summer maa over and the Americans abroad trer0 Preening themselves for their return to their native land lie broke the seal and read Dear brother Dick ITO got some wonderful news to tell youyou first ot allyou who have been so good to the penniless penni-less little orphan thrown on your hands seven years ago Dear Dick I am to be married Dear darling Dick I I will be married before you get this letter Dearest brother I am to bo married tomorrow Forgive me Dick for not waiting to hear from you but there Is no time TomTom Woodward brother of my California friend Rita you know asked mo last summer and I refused him But ho came over here and asked me again andDick Dick dear Dick I Just couldnt refuse Tom has fz I I I I b A mimic to her finger tips only two weeks more to stay in Europe Eu-rope before we must both go back to California and he wants so much to spend It In Switzerland with me so that we may always have the memory to look back on So dear Dick dear elder brother we are to slip away to tho American church here ana be mar rled tomorrow and go to Geneva for a week then come home If you write I at once we will get your letter at the Embassy in London P SOh yes I had almost forgotten forgot-ten my career I regret it only because be-cause Im sure you will For myself l Tom will make up for everything When Dick raised his eyes his lace wens very white Without pausing to I think he drew a sheet of paper before him and wrote You letter lies before me It la exactly the sort of letter I might have expected from your fathers daughter Without faith without gratitude without with-out even common decency he never hesitated to sacrifice his best friends to his selfishness You have followed worthily In his footsteps For several years I have educated you clothed you fed you many a day I have gone hungry that you might have money to throw away with your wealthy school companions cold wet ragged hungry hun-gry ill day after day I tolled that you might not suffer that you might have your career And this Is my reward re-ward For tho sake of your two weeks with Tom you forget everything every-thing you can not do me even the poor courtesy of cabling your intentions inten-tions before executing them I hope I shall never see your face again Dick stopped abruptly and stared Into vacancy for a moment then he laid aside what he had written and began anew Mrs Thomas Howard Dear MadamYour favor without date telling mo of your marriage has been received Permit me to extend my congratulations I regret that I shall not have the honor of meeting your husband on your return as I am about leaving the city indefinitely Again Dick paused and threw down his den then a softer expression came over his face and he again essayed es-sayed Dear Freda Your unexpected news startled me but if tho young man is worthy its all right I shall immediately imme-diately placo ten thousand dollars to your account as a little wedding present pres-ent A wife Is never the worse oft foi having a small income of her own Your Own Brother For the third time Dick paused and a malignant expression passed over his face He laid the three letters before be-fore him and read them over again and again At last with a sudden ges turo he tore up two of them signed his name to the one remaining placed It in an envelope and without pausing to think rushed out into the hull and slipped It Into the mall chute As it vanished from his sight ho went sow ly and despairingly back to bin room Which letter did ho post I |