| Show r t K K b V n t tT 4 r r i Y Jf 1 If i l T l i d 7 f T L ghe i IN NAtLE S SL JUST where lies the line between n honor and duty can cana if J a man he be dishonorable and still be dutiful That is the question raised by Mr Milner a rising young English writer who adroitly answers it in this delightful story of business achievement and success r 1 j MR R CRICHTON TWISS glanced round him furtively I The bedroom was empty save for his own p portly natured good handsomely middle- middle aged self He lIe stepped quickly to the mirror and surveyed eyed himself He Heas was as especially t pleased leased with ith his eye eye- brows He lIe had never noticed before how their shaggy overhanging whiteness gave a statesmanlike dignity to his face For the first time in his life Mr Twiss realized realize that he lIe probably had majestic eyebrows to thank for his his poor law guardianship and his on the Foreston Borough Council Mr 1 Twiss cleared his throat gave ave another another another an an- other glance at the door and began to address address ad nd- dress his hiB reflection He lIe slipped t the four fingers of his right hand l between the top and second buttons of his coat and made a slight inclination of his head My ly good friends and fellow aldermen and councilors he began this invitation to toh 1 h become your our slayer Mayor for the coming year is is' is a a-a a n a bewildering surprise to me mC With r so fco many good men and true to choose from I J it seems seems to me an honor which I could never ne have anticipated But if you show 1 me so much regard and believe the dignity of our town may for a n time be vested vetted vetted- Mr lr Twiss stopped suddenly and swung round with two pink spots of color in his ti cheeks A connecting door between this and his wife's room had bad abruptly opened His wife pale and rather fragile was smiling as she excitedly crossed the room Then it is true Crichton she blurted r rt with ith adoring a eyes es lifted to his face Peo I pIe pie have been whispering it to me for lo long enough but I wouldn't believe them Youre You're i really to be the Mayor next year t t Mr Twiss dropped swiftly from the thea stilted stilted pose to his normal self He adored a his wife and knew she thought him bim the m most st wonderful man in the world Ive I Ive ve had the sure tip given to tome me today I Kath Kathy he said with tremulous pride of the After my ten years years' chairmanship 0 Finance Committee it was understood I 1 should be offered the this year jear tar But it wasn't settled until yesterday No Now i I understand that a n deputation will wait on me tomorrow evening to ask for my con con- sen sent cent t. t v vAnd And you'll give it Of course I. I t I down the edge dge of RS TWISS TWISS' 1 sat on the bed and clasped one one ne knee with her ller T 1 interlocked fing fingers rs wh while I staring up at at himI himI him I I 1 always knew you'd joud climb to the top y i Crichton she said And isn't it lovely i it t should happen just now i Margarets Margaret's fiance intends to call to ask your consent tonight and this honor to you will willi i lift you to the level of his father So 1 Margaret needn't think think she she's s marrying marrying so frightfully above e her even though you make maket t your money in trade And nd Hector will be De exclusive college weve we've admitted d to that most I been trying to get him into As for me me-a me mear a r I year as the will plant me just S 5 where Ive I've been trying to get in Foreston N J. society for ten years past Its It's just glorious riou ii nr r of of you And every particle of success yo you youcan can can thank sour Jour own honorable labor for Until those last few words Mr 1 I drunk in the praise with the feeling that of his eyebrows But a I 5 lie was worthy wince of or pain almost of fear touched his bis i I lips ps hs e he heard the last phrase He turned r i. i 1 the subject aside by suggesting that the K voices which were suddenly audible in the ther r hall were his daughter Margarets Margaret's and her fiances f. f d lies Hes come to see you I told you he j would affirmed Mrs Twiss gayly Drop him the hint about you jou ou being the new new r f. f I he Although I daresay Crichton Mayor knows all nIl about it already Nearly every everyone everyone one does I r. r Mr 11 Twiss Twice discovered she had guessed r. r I right when he interviewed the very eligible young youn suitor a few moments later I. I 1 HE young oung man had asked for Margarets Margaret's Mar Mar- Margaret's Margarets T THE garets garet's garets garet's hand in marriage Dir Mr lr Twiss had hod granted it secretly proud of the match d' d j t t Rob nob was a n. varsity man and Ithe the only son of the biggest landowner in Foreston Fores- Fores ore ton i 1 t. t When were you hoping the marri marriage I might be fixed Mr Twiss asked wi wish vi h v 3 3 lr hr grave grac c complaisance f. f 1 i During your term of office as Mayor 1 f sir suggested the younger man eagerly r V- V Vj J j I You c count my y chickens before they're y Latched hatched laughed Mr 1 Twiss hiding biding his But stay for tor din din- i I J delight behind 5 It ner and come to the play with us tonight Rob There will be be room for x just four in the box for Margaret w will be of the thorn party 5 At linnet dinnet that evening Mr l I Twiss Tw ss gave gove 5 excusable moment of self- self himself to an nn congratulation His wife lo looked ked years younger and years this night when her dearest prettier o on and her daughter hopes for lr her bee husband had been realized Perhaps she dreamed also of her coming promotion in the society of the town This Thi was her moment of of deI devoted devoted de- de success after thirty long l years I voted wifedom through good times and bid 11 Margaret was radiant with her shining sinning turned proudly upon her eyes sometimes wistful in often glowing father but more delight delight- as ns they met and ana held the gaze of her lover Even en Hector having heard beard of his improved im improved im- im proved chance of entering that most exclusive ex ex- elusive e college fr r the sons of gentlemen t I wa was unusually tolerant of his elders As a setting to all this thil content Mr Ir Twiss was ws con conscious ous of the handsomest band r dining room in Foreston the trained best-trained butler and footman and of himself a worthy frontispiece to the whole His night of nights Their route to the theatre took them past the long pile of buildings on which the name of of Crichton Twiss appeared a dozen times This was Forestons Foreston's biggest and most prosper prosperous prosperous us store founded by Crichton Twiss himself two thirty-two years ago Little Joe Buckle the caretaker was was asking for a n wage increase today to compensate compensate com com- te for a n family increase remar remarked ed Mr Twiss to his wife as they motored past rast I I 1 gave it him of course Youre so ridiculously generous to your staff Crichton murmured Mrs Twiss in lazy happiness Somebody told me the theother theother theother other d day y that you could pick out the em- em of Crichton Twiss when you saw them in the street Just by their general trade mark of fat prosperity as ns wage-earners wage of the best employer in the town Mr Crichton Twiss secretly charmed by bythe bythe bythe the story made no reply Thc They reached ed edthe the theatre and watched the advertising safety curtain rise slowly Ive seen the piece before remarked Rob nob Hannay One of these Scandinavian pieces which send you you home feeling that the worlds world's too far wrong to ever come right fight again But wonderfully gripping of course Mr Twiss as ns yet unmindful of the fate which wl ch was lowering upon upon him prepared to see and and hear and enjoy and enjoy He was blessed with that imaginatively ely receptive mind mina which is the perfect audience of the play play- wright But presently he leaned forward a n li little tle in his chair his hands clasped and a n queer queer glitter in in his kindly eyes And again there came t to tp his lips that wince either of shame or of fear which had come to them when his bis wife ife reminded him that all aU his property I IThe was of his own making The story was of a man man who had risen high in in- society as Crichton Twiss had risen This man of the play pIny also w was s about to be bc honored by y his townsmen But the man of the play was a whited sepulchre a rogue unsuspected by even those of his own household A man in whom conscience slept while the world lifted him to the pinnacle of success A pinnacle of success whose foundation was villainy Mr Twiss P had bad forgotten t the y with wi him in the box He He lIe had bad forgotten the theatre itself He had almost forgotten that the the play he watched was not real life He groaned from bloodless lips as he be saw his own portrait strutting on the boards a hl hypocrite whom all men reverenced Myself 1 Myself was the word which drummed in his horrified brain silent brain silent yet d deafening That man is me Crichton Twiss Between the acts I his wife spoke to him and his daughter and th the young young aristocrat who wis was to be his son in But Mr 1 Twiss scarcely heard them He remembered assuring them that nothing w was wa's was s wrong that he be felt perfectly well No 0 he be would not leave yet He lie must see the end of the play I HE curtain rose for the fhe last time And TilE THE now Mr Twiss was vas conscious that for him the play had leaped into life itself The fate of the mummer hypocrite was his own fate That man had lived his own life The beginning of his fortune like that that of Crichton Twiss was rooted in fraud Like Cri Crichton Twiss the tho man had escaped detection Like Twiss again the man had bad gathered about himself a family he loved and friends wh who revered re him Like Twiss the town town to was about to do him honor What would his end be Could he accept accept ac nc- the homage homage- of his to townspeople Would that unthinkable hypocrisy crown the climax Mr Twiss bent farther forward translated translated trans trans- out of l himself into the figure of his moral self f which strutted the stage Then suddenly with a queer queer slackening of his taut nei ne vs v's he realized the end The man confessed At the very hour when the people had met to laud him he took the path of honor From the topmost pinnacle he flung himself down Into those thoe ears which had come to listen to his praises h In poured his brave confession n of a villainous villain main mainous ous past Then the thing righted itself marvelously After the astounded multitude had hall geared snarling their reproaches at nt the self- self confessed impostor the man received his reward reward re re- re- re ward from the han hands s of Honor He lIe had won back his self lIe He had bad won back his s wife's wiCe's love He had placed himself once more as an honest man before the world Mr Twiss gulped and shivered shi as ns the curtain dropped He lie said nothing during the j journey urney home but his mind was crammed with visions For the first time in his life he Relieved belie ed he knew himself for the man he be was was Honor lIonor The word pictured itself before his closed eyes and he not noticed ed that it spelt itself with a capital H II What was a aman's amans amans aman's amans aman's mans man's life worth until he had confessed his hia wrongdoing to his fellowmen fell and set himself himself himself him him- self lih right t He said Mid nothing of his his' inner conflict to his wife wiCe Nor did he let her ller see the paling of his face whenever a reference to his hia coming coming corning com corn ing mayoralty came from her lips He ne knew he was fighting the biggest battle of his life as ns the fancied character of the drama had fought this same battle and had won The next evening after dinner Mr Twiss had made up his mind mi d. d lie retired im fm- V b y ncr Wi mediately after the meal to his smoke room and dropped limply into a great chair before before be be- fore tore the fire His wife came softly behind him The deputation from the Council is to wait on you tonight about the mayoralty Shall I show the gentlemen in here Mr Twiss ground his teeth He believed he be understood what the condemned man must feel when he hears the tramp of feet outside his bis cell on execution morning Yes my dear Kathy he ho said brokenly Show them here heie Ill I'll see them tonight She peered down at him over the top of the chair anxiously wonderingly Youre sure you feel well Crichton she asked You haven't ha seemed like yourself yourself yourself your your- self since we were at the play pIny last night Quite well Kathy He heard the door doo close behind her leaving leaving leaving leav leav- ing him alone With closed eyes he tried to picture the ordeal of the coming coming- hour With straining nerves he waited cc GENTLE p said Mr 11 Twiss look look- ing fug round him at nt the faces of his friends I am nm deeply conscious of the thc honor you do me by eying conveying this invitation to become Mayor of Foreston during the ensuing ensuing ensuing en en- suing municipal year But I do not choose to give you my decision tonight I I-I I I have reasons for wishing to make my answer more publicly There is to be a Towns Town's Meeting in in the Square at nt 7 o'clock tomorrow in gone before Mr Twiss had quite realized the bitter unfairness of the taunt It a few days later later later-he he had when time when Margaret Margaret Margaret Mar Mar- begun to lose count of time garet came to him She held out a letter she had bad just received giving it to him to read Her face was ashy white save for forthe forthe forthe the dull red which rimmed her eyes Even her beauty had faded with the fading of ot yest yesterdays yesterday's hopes bopes As she handed him the letter she glanced at h her i- i left lefi hand The k engagement rin ring of which she had been so absurdly proud was missing from its place Gone al already already already al- al ready dad she said tremulously I knew it would be too last last all rail that happiness happiness happi happi- ness Dess for me Mr Ur Twiss read the letter An exceedingly exceedingly exceedingly exceed exceed- courteous letter from Rob nob Hannay setting forth with grave simplicity the reasons reasons rea rea- reasons sons why his engagement to Margaret must be broken off His Hia wa was a proud family rooted in honor Margarets Margaret's father had openly confessed to a fraud upon which the whole of his fortune had been built No fault could possibly attach itself to Margaret yet he feared for her happiness as his wife knowing that many small small- minded members of his own circle would assuredly assuredly assuredly as as- visit isit the sin sm of of the father upon the th daughter In practice anyhow if not avowedly And so forth Jorth to many pages of of elegant penmanship You see ee dad said Margaret very S I i ii ti I J I oj f r i i 1 t 1 I I I 1 1 r f I I d 1 S g s r S ti 5 I II I I S S T I i 1 r li u i SS S j 55 S Ij I y 1 1 I t I tr I 1 I. I r 1 L J f t I 1 ti 1 l I 1 i iy 1 c r A l it r rW I W I Irl rl 1 S r fY 1 s r rS I S 'S f rr S 5 tl 5 5 1 5 I 11 Margaret was radiant k her eyes glowing with wistful delight a as she r met and held the gaze of her lover connection with the War Memorial e I will will give gi you and the town of Foreston my tny answer then Please dont don't ask me me why but accept what I have said as ns final The deputation was first astonished and then a trifle amused Evidently their eminent fellow citizen wanted to make the very tery most of his new dign dignity ty at the very very earliest moment Yet it was strangely out of keeping with what they knew v of Crichton Twiss j for Twiss had always been admitted a n man of singular modesty and good nature Nothing more was to be said Nor or 9 was wai another word spoken in explanation by br Mr Twiss until he found himself in the big |
