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Show r J- vjQtie Phelps- aJJ J CHAPTER CXVII. Mildr.d Wr Burn, Mayaon. j Whra roulil Clifford be? It whs now loo Ini for him to com, lo UK, but I omway I wantd him to know war In lroubl. that father had Irft ua for-evar. for-evar. Th funeral waa over. Wa laid father In the oUI cemetery where all the Huttnna had been buried Mother bravely tried to put away her grief and make the home neem aa usual Hut father', neraonahtv t had been ao marked, hla Influenre ao felt I by earn of ua that-vrhthr-wa realligM til a I certain aitent the effort ah vaa mnknr, , I fear m did not eecond her aa w might. Mad waa JuM d:d In all of us. 1 di.n't I know that I ran quite make you know what I mean: but no one could lake hia place, no one aupplulit him In our hearts and meiuortea. 1 found myaelf constantly recurring to the thuuicht of the reason of Clifford". .Hence. In deaperatlon I telegraphed H'lrnw Mm won : hh-h lie fmwl tn think Pttnnre. hut , ; diamiaiied without further com men I. He ; n'-fnied surprised thiil I waa not in I I mournlnjr. J EDITH TAKES DRIVING LESSONS. "lad hated mournln." 1 told htm. ';iO j derided not to wenr It. Although mother will war hlark hut not t-m-." "A very aenmrile arrnneenieTU." "l fffird a (treed. "Alnumlng alwavs depressos me, and I should thitik It would the wenit-r to a Kreat degreo. 1 believe, too, that It Is tinhenlthy to hf nwnthed In crepe the war some women are." j I took up my Ihtti.' life aanln with J -no percaptibia chatuctt, -bul. always. lhe re -ax the thouaht of dad Not dnd lyma . In the graveyard, hut aa he UKed to be 1 jlronit, lovtna. iiitpnttetit of anything Wh'rh he t'Onatdnred wronjr. j Muriel and otht-rn railed at once tn ex- j preaa l heir sympathy. Ionarit Krnoke ! cnnie often. He peemed lo have forROt- It mi all. aave a deaire to help me I tear mv aorrow. He hroiight new rnuir, and t when we played or nana toeihr I forgot I to grieve for a time. He alao had taken I upon hlmrelf the tak of teachlna l-Mlth to drive her pony I told Clifford he had offered to do fo and he replied: ! "Tell him to ao aheai.. I haven't tlm. 1 ! and he'll be more careful of Kdnh than a man we could hire." . ! KATE JORDON GOSSIPS. Two or three ttmert a week Leonard I and Kdlth would drive for nn hour. Tnen I he would come in nnd chat with tne. j The day when ! did not pee Mih aeemed I gray and lonely, no matter how brinhtry I the nun shone. Vet I gave that no , I thought, Junt accepted hia company as mv right. Had Clifford rtect-d. or had t- I reahx'd to what It wa lending me, my . siorv mieht never have been -told I I had been horns about a wk whnj' 1 K'f JrH-4on called. Aa uual ahe waa ' ' full and running over with goiip. After , i recounting all th news of the town, sne ' i I commenced to talk of M.tM Horton. of I I.ola Onrdner. and of Clifford. Aa ever ' I when he tn'ked nf them 1 rather helped ' I .her long. My jealouay wa a gre.it, m y ciiruaeiiy an keen concerning them, as It ever had been. 1 "Vour hUrtand waa tn Chtcago when j your father died, waan't he?" ahe queried. ! Ve I waa to go with him. but fa- ther waa taken nick the day befora we were to atart," I explained "Mabel Horton told me Mr. Hammond I did not go to the funeral " "No. I could not reach htm In time, and I although he offered. It would have ben ' uaeleas to come afterward." I told her, commencing to be sorry 1 had ehown . Interoat. j Tomorrow I'npleaaant Information! t "Father hurled veaterdav. .Hava been I unable to locate Mr. Hammond. Tlcaae : noiffy him " I T'' ,mp?ir came awlfilv; ' "Will notify your husband. Accept my I et my input ny. Burns Mayaon." MILORED HEARS FROM CLIFFORD. So Clifford waa In Chicago. Vet he evidently ev-idently had received none of my mea-It mea-It waa at range; I couldn't under-, under-, stand It. Hut what did a little thing , like that matter Iad was gone. That w:aa all I wa able to grasp Just then. Afterward the meaning of it cams to me but not for a long time. A few hour after received Tturwa Mayaon a meaaage. I heard from Clifford. "Have Juat learned of father'a death. So aorry couldn't be with you. Had I received your- meaaage, should certainly have come. Will atart now If I cAn b if aervu-e. Pvmpathy. Clifford." I ahowed t he meaaage to mother and the girla. then when alone I lore it Into Rhrt-da and burned It. A aort of mar fnrv ponaeaeed me. I think. But someway some-way I felt that there was something wrong; something not quit fair about It all. MR. SUTTON'S WILL IS READ. I had gone home prepared for only a ahort stay, but It eemed tmpoaaihle to lar mveelf awy Kdlth waa like a rav of aunahlne In that aad hoitae. and they legKMl me to remain. The girl, even the old negro servant, looked their re-I re-I proach when 1 mentioned leaving: so that j a month had pa seed befora i finally decided de-cided to go. Father's will nad been read, and to my I surprise he had left quite a large for- !tnne. He wa so simple In his taste. o free from anything like show, that I had . no Idea he was so rich Mother's ahare had been left to her with no reatrlctlons. i' hut we girls were only allowed to spend the tntereat The principal was to be left untouched until w were 35. It seemed a peculatr thing for dad tn do - almost a if he didn't truvt us. Hut Mr. Dayton, father'a lawyer, told us that father fa-ther feared someone might taka tt away from n. aa we were so unused to handling hand-ling tnoner. "He reckoned br the time you were. thst old. vour eve teeth would ba cut. and von would he wise to handlln' your money." mon-ey." the old lawyer said. I never gave the money a single thought (hen. Clifford had plentv, he waa very generona; so the d'upoaltlon of my fortune for-tune affected me not at all. Mother and the girls were to go right on tn the old home. Had had arranged everything. Befora 1 left mother prom- i 1ed to come north after a while and to bring one or both of the fflrta. "Mm nM now. Mildred." ahe said, whan f urged her to return wtth me. 'l want to b near HIM." 8o 1 urged her no more. CM AFTER XCVIII. The colt father had given Kdith when I ahe was born we shipped home. 1 would get her a pony crt and she should learn to drive If. I offered to let Mandy remain with mother for a 'while, at least until aha rlslted ma. Rut with her ueusl unselfishness unselfish-ness she would not hear of It I know . now that ahe felt that I needed Mandy. I tbat she would be a comfort aa well as I a --vaPt to me. I "No. dear, be aald. T have all the help I need, and t am happier about you i when I know Msndy ta with vou " I didn't think then that sbo referred tn i any manner to my life with Clifford, but i afterward I waa ur that waa what ahe . meant. Mother was A quiet, so dependent, had ao leaned on dd all her life, that when 1 h-ard one mf the neighbor nay he would not he long In foMowtng him. I feared she spoke the truth Mother had I grown so trad looking, although ber evea i Ml mile bravely at ua Her spirit wa I ironeer than her hod v, and I clung lo 1 her at ihe laat as I never had done be- I fore: fearful that I mirh l"e her, too ' fiad'a had alay been the 1di"g ap'rtt I ir OUC home, mother's the gentle, lot'ng one. Thetr devotion to ec.)i other bad U'n wondf i' t rememhee .- t When I first married T thought sll marHed p p!e were like fhetn. And I smiled sndir as I rofalled hoap very eoon 1 had been diaabtned 1 that Idea. Clifford met ua. and naa mM kind ard -r-T i told him of dad. ejf tha wiU-. |
