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Show I? H3; ;lH7,aMl7iV 'J iWl CHAPTER II. Micky stood staring at the envelope 1 tn hi hand. He fit as if something hd happened to paral) se all power of actio!. ac-tio!. Waa this, then, why she had cried, be-causa be-causa of Ashton , . .? Ashtoo tailed to him impatlent'y from the stairs. "What the deuce are you doing? I shall mlaa my train." 1 Micky roused himself with a start, and. dropping the letter into h.a pocket, went slowly out of the room ; he felt as if he ! could not hae hurried had hia life de- pemled upon it: there waa an absurdly I cold sort of feeling round his bewrt. I The tall jurned into the station yard. ! moving slowly because of the congealed traffic. "If you cu:d give I-aMie acme money." Ashton aakl with a rush. ' I d aervl her some, but I've only just got enough to et out of the wiy with 111 ou back hs eoon as the mater condescends to send me another che4ue. "I thought her name waa Ksther." sawl Micky. "Yea. hut I call her Iji'.lle." Mick's face felt hot. "HaetCt she hasn't she got any then", he ekeJ with an effort. No at least. I promise her acme when I saw her this morning .She she s lert Kidred a You see" he drew a hard breath "you see. I hoped we d be able you. old man There was a real anxiety in his eyes, but Micky was not looking at him; he answered stiffly "Yes. Ml do what I can." 'She ll soon get another job. Ashton went on. w.ih forced confidence. "I'm sorry ahe left Kidred a now lt'a come to l hi, hut how waa I to know" he appealed to Micky, but he might aa well have appealed to a brick wall for all reepome he got. "And when I come back "he said j again. "Tell her that when I come back1 thinga may be all right again . . . tell I her that, will your "1 11 tell her' said Micky stolidly. The guard waa blowing his whistle now and doors were being shut. "Are you er are you going ta writs to her- he asked constrainedly. Avnton colored. "No lt'a better not far better let tha thing drop till I come back. I've em-Ipiaied em-Ipiaied it a'l In my letter she'll understand under-stand lt'a no tee writing -doa't you tin r if, better not ' Mcky hunched hia shoulder. "II a your affair,' be said laconically. 'Tea. well. I shan't wrtie I i send you my address mm eoon aa 1 know where I'm staying, ami you can let me knew what i tehe sand and how she takes it. . . .Oh.) I confound It." j A porter had come alorg and sUmmed i the door, the train was sowlv moving; t J Micky waa vaguely gutd that there had (been no time in which to shake handa. j I A moment, and be wae Walking away i again. He a sensible gir. and try and ee thing from my point of View. It would oniy have meant rum for both of us if I'd stuck to you. tioodbe: 1 send you my love for the last time. "RAYMOND ASHTON." Micky dragged forward a chair with hia foot and sat down at raddle w is. He leaned an el hew on the chairback and ran his f'.ngers through his hair, wlta a ieort of bewilderment. e "He s aa r:ca as Croesus and as selfish as the devil . . And this from Ashton. his friendthe f man whom he bad helped out of scrape tst-oree of tunes: the w.an to whom he had lnt money without the least hope of Its .ever beinc returned. Micky fell as if be i h.ul a b:ow in the face. ; M.cky at for a long time, loet in jthoucht; the hands of hte cock crawled round to 1 and the chime struck; he , looked up then, gUncu.g at the clock aguely. j If he had not met Ksther Shepetrne it here might have be n no Ksther in the world at ail now; f he a!kw-d that letter let-ter to rea.-h us destination he would be; piur.g.ng her back again into the abas of desrAir from which he had dragvd her only that evening. ihe toted Ah- ion; of that Micky was sure Very well i then, she should at least have some part ' of her ideal left to her, j He went er to h-S desk snd took up paper and pen: he spread Asnion a letter i wut before him and studied the writing' carefully. boarding house what odd comer the thin bark cat curled Into to sleep. He took Ash ton's letter from his pocket and stuck it up agajnst the clock on t he mant)ehe1f. 'Miea Esther t he pat one . . ." It was fate, that s what It was' He wondered if ahe would ever have lived to get that letter hnd fate not thrown her acroaa his path that night. (the had been desperate at the end of her tether, and all for the sake of that cad Ashton. He tore the envelope open Impulsively snd drew out the Incloeure. He unfolded un-folded It and began to read. The silence of the room waa unbroken save for the little criop sound aa Micky turned the paper; then the letter fullered to the ! rug at his feet and lay there, half curled 'up. aa If it were ashamed cf the words It bore and wished to h.de them. J iTeeently he picked the 'etter up from 1 the rug. He p.iked it up with ihe tips1 of his fingers, as if it were something I repulsive to h.m. and threw it uou on ; ihe table. 1 The first few words stared up at him j as U lay there. j "Dear ijUhe Br the time you get this, letter 1 shall he out of toigland. and 1 hope you won't make things worse for me .than they already are by-trying to findVufwhero I have gone or by wniing my people and making a scene. The worst of these little flirtations la that they always have to end. as this must, and you must have known it. I shad never forget you and the good times i we ve had together. I should try and get hack at Kidred a, if I were you. It s a good th;ng we didn't get married as matters mat-ters have turned out. or the fat woud have been In the fire with a vengeance. Ai it U. I ahall have all mv work cut out to put the mater in a good temper again. I am sending you some money by Micky Me-Uowee: he a a friend of mire and as rich as Oroeeua, and as selfish as the de ki. It he offara to Uievou oJt. (Vet him. by aD sseana. It wou-Ttrt be a; I had thing If he took a fawcy to you: he doesn't care a bang for any one hut turn-1 ee-f. If oniy I'd got ha'.f his money . . . but whai e the ue ef ta-king about it"i lo get married, and so well, there was no sense tn her stauig on there, tfhe waa wotked to death, poor kid.' He glanced at Mck, but could not see hla face. "You understand don t you' he said.1 encouraged by his aiience. "She owes them a bit at the boarding house where; she la ling I promised to wipe It off, tor her. but the mairr cutting up rough , I altered everything, and so ... If ou 1 could gUe her a Utile " I "1 11 see to it." said Micky. He operted j ! the door of the 1ai and got OJt before it waa at a standstill. He look off his, bat and let the co;d a'r piay on hia hot , forehead. He could hard y truel himself to apeak. I He ws thankful when Ashton went oft to aee to hie Iur.ae. He wa'ked Into the atat'on and fw nd hl- f a-m-staring at a rol.ee hoard. He. I could not rr member when he had felt SO' , furHMJeiy snjtry. i Sou.1 Ahijn rejoined hm. i "Hock up' The trains in" They went ant the p'utform. fol. lowed bv a porter wtth AiMon i Htg- gage Mky krd at tt teaentf jIU ; AMon was evtdenUy prepared te enjoy; himself this was re rush after mere soli- i lurie and forget uU.es j -vM4 ia beat you im woa't 'atone down the piatfurea. I A hat a cad the man waa what a red ! he was a ma aed that he had not die-covered die-covered it before to clear off and leave a girl like this, without a word of fare , well eicept the letter. He wondered If i he meant to deliver It and admit that he knew Ashton. or If he meant Just to stick a stamp on it and poet it to her. j He re. teed that ihre ae nothing ! very much td he proud of la an admission admis-sion thai he knew As ton. and yet they I had been friends for year. It was striking 1 when he got home; he stood for a moment on the doorstep, looking up st the eiarnr eky. Setral clocks were chiming midnight In tae distance, he listened with a queer i scr of fatalism. 1 T.a was the strangest New Tear's eve he had ever ti in his life. The fire had been raeefu'ty aee up and he al'cnerv and dreaina; sown pl to warm. Uicky looked at ihem with a sort ef disgust; li waa ackenirg for a healthy grown nun tn to so pampeced. he kicked the alipperw Into a corner and loesed the dreaut guwn onto the couch. H wondered what sewt of a room atoinnr JUMuua sti 1m tuej lery btsmd trdiiVAry sort of wrttir.g. rather un- j formed and sprawiy. but after a truj-un ! Micky managed a very preenit.e copy jof u. i He sat back tn h s chsir and eyed h1 'handiwork with pride; he had miwed his pcai.on. he told himself with a chuckle. be euehl to have ben a forger. Then he dipped the pen In the irk again aM squared hie elbows He had never written a lore letter tn his life: hut 1 he knew positively that he was about i to write on new. Ho thought of rather and- the wtful-ne?e wtful-ne?e of her gray eee; Ae was the g.rl whona a ma a co-!d love He co.ored a j tittle aa the thouritt lno unta-ily crteed his mind, she was a girt whom he be-I !gn to wra repiJlv. f : "My dar :og AW g ri " I M.cky wes tetur-l y n'lr e'rjuent ' fnuor h,s en lH?agh he ad r.e.er be-f 1 f cry tr-d it in tins especial direction. t i "Tbie is the rost d ffx-ult letter I have ever d lo wnte 40 ail my life, f.rst. 1 be.-aue I love you so much; and. s- 1 ondfy. becauee 1 arn afraid it ia going tot hurt you rarty as nurh as It hurts sne. I Iear. as it wiU be some time Wfore 1 1 ee you agaUa. a ad hecauae 1 ouuMi ex-1 |