Show HER NOBLE MAN ay ALVAH JORDAN JORDA N GARTH the noblest man I 1 ever 1 you are e w j iler r fair soul in her eyes evelyn stood before the man who at the Is siow k na of h bis is life had saved her brother n m a 2 terrible death in a rudaw runaway ay row trembling all over in her she was the warm ardor ar dor of more than eg was yes bertram morse read and latitude rati tude bat it was wag and his heart seemed bursting evelyn plyn swayed toward him closer ailie e the cherry lips bent on bestow him the kiss of utter thank ng upon reward for his the courage alnese ul nese and ind manliness 01 vol ol 11 he said eald and his voice was oarse hoarse an and d restrained and he held her it t arms length she deemed that his rp repression conveyed a charge of un womanliness oman liness she tried to break from blin and hide her faco face for shame but e held those struggling hands imvris boned ned walt wait he said sharp pain in very accent of his voice but tender ess and decision too you and I 1 eed not misunderstand your troth 3 plighted to amory kendall ile he Is y best friend I 1 dare not be irous ous to him you must not my aly vel ye and his great frame was laken haken oh ob my lovel love this shall be t 10 0 supreme moment of my life until claim the kiss I 1 only deter defer what do you mean she ehe fluttered wa nd longingly that I 1 am going away that I 1 hope you ou will be happy with the man whose lory ory Is in claiming you as his wife ut through all the lonely future I 1 ith ah to feel that you owe me me that kiss t may be years but some time some lace ace I 1 shall ask what honor bids me ow low postpone when I 1 ask will I 1 lave ave that kiss yes yes oh you are breaking my Si eard eart and evelyn ran from the room a sobbing bobbing distraction bertram morse hurried from the ouse couse and its vicinity ile he thought only t you will not send me away will you 71 of reaching the outskirts of the town of being alono alone in some secluded wood lend spot where lie he could think out and wear out the great grief that was consuming him ile he tried to slip down a side lane as he saw coming toward him amory kendall but the latter had espied him ile he ran up to bertram affectionately entwining the arm of the loyal friend he loved next best to evelyn you big brave fellow cried kendall ive heard all about it the whole town Is talking of the tearful fearful risk you took and well they may oh how low grateful evelyn will bet be you must come at once and see her 1 I have just left lefther her said bertram an aa steadily as aa he be could amory she is a rare jewel cherish her as the apple of your eyel eye why how grave and strange you achill commented amory 1 I feel so responded bertram gravely sort of shaken up after your lucky escape I 1 see remarked the lighthearted amory and let his friend pass on little dreaming of the wild turmoil going on within that loyal heart till the dews of evening covered him till the distant bells chimed out the solemn midnight hour till the first twittering birds began the greeting chorus to dawn his face burled buried in the grass bertram morse fought out his great battle ile he loved evelyn he be was even sure that she loved him ile he was unfortunate in not coming on the scene until amory had proposed to lier her good old amory they had bad been like brothers ile he was not strong and muscular like bertram and that had bad made amory always lean toward him then too he needed a domans womans tender care for there were times when his trail all frame could not withstand a chronic illness he had inherited so with the early dawn bertram morse quietly sadly turned his back on the world that had been and the ones he cherished and all through the searing ordeal he be whispered to himself when she Is old and I 1 am old and amory will not care I 1 shall claim that kiss bertram visited a widowed d sister in a town at a distance he wrote only one letter it was to ble h trend arnor amor telling him that ho he counted counte d on ft a better working chance chanca out west and had started on his journey thus abruptly to spare tho the pain of parting with his good kind friends lenda tr then for three years those friends heard nothing or oc bertram nor he ot of them ile he went away from civilization clyl liza with a body of sturdy prospectors proa pec ho he braved the hardships ot of two trying alaska winters one day bertram bertrain turned up at tho the home of his sister a tired out man bronzed roughened but breaking down with a fever there were weeks of lonely illness then a protracted convalescence ile ho was seated in his invalid chair one sunny afternoon when he called his sister to his side 1 I am getting nearly well enough to move on again dertha he said 1 I want you to call in the lawyer tomorrow I 1 did quite well out we west at and brought a tidy little fortune home with mo me I 1 want to settle it on you tor or I 1 may no not t return again that was life ills determination the old tugging had come at his heart when he realized that he was comparatively ively near to r evelyn when desperately pera tely ill he had thought of sending for her but had procrastinated the tha ordeal now however ho he said and mail this letter bertha and it was directed to evelyn ile he had asked her to come and see him and bring tier her husband with tier her 1 I am going away never to return he wrote 1 I want to make amory a little present out of the fortune I 1 have made and dont know what to do with and I 1 want your parting benison ben lson the kiss the lights were low at eventide two days later when the invalid heard a rustle at the front doorway and a voice that thrilled him in converse with his bis sister it was evelyn bertram and a welcome form came into the room oh ob why did you not send for nie me before during all your lonely illness th this a moment compensates for all murmured bertram unsteadily and now I 1 am here continued evelyn you will not send roe me away will you but your husband amory I 1 did you not hear he died a year ago explained evelyn in a subdued tone bertram I 1 was waa hla his true wife and I 1 told him alt all lie he died blessing me as hla his faithful devoted companion and you as the truest friend heaven ever gave to man one hand rested caressingly across the fevered brow the other held his hand and the contact thrilled him father Is dead she said mournfully there were no children 0 often aften I 1 have wondered her voice died down and her head sank sanh low wondered what he asked so softly atly it if you would ever come coma back it if it if 1 I would claim that dear kiss he supplemented yes her voice was the merest whisper now its HB memory has made my life sweet and beautiful he said thrillingly dear amoral we both loved him we both were true to him yes added bertram clearly you can stay you must stay for I 1 cannot live without you and the kiss hiss her shy face was halt half averted but every pulse was fluttering 1 I wish it now he said copyright by W 0 chapman |