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Show (Copyilght 1905 by Dally Story Pub Co. Tho two wero SQr-etrBreSsed In each other that thoy uld not notice tho ontranco of tho third person. And surely tho two woro fascinating enough each of them to make It no wonder. won-der. Sho was of tho Cleopatra typo and singularly perfect in fnco and form and color nnd graco. Her magnificent gown was designed to show or suggest all tho beauties of her voluptuous figure. fig-ure. Jewels flashed rom her hands and hair and neck and ears. Her dnrk oyos sparkled with passion and her red lips breathed love. Sho was a dream to ravish tho fancy of any mnn. Ho was tall, slnowy, alert, distinctly handsome, with n broad, Intelligent forehead a man to attract attention anywhere. Thoro was something a trifle shifty about his keen eyes and something a trlflo weak about his lower face and something a trlflo sensual sen-sual about his lips but this was all Indefinable and apparent only upon closo analysis. As a whole ho was a flno appearing man and ho carried himself him-self as ono who had won the fight with tho world. They woro tnlklng eagerly, Joyously, and tho first Intimation thoy land of tho advent of tho third person was whon her shadow fell across tho table at which they BaL They glanced up simultaneously, sim-ultaneously, and both looked a trlflo (BtarUodi4atnvUjijeVv'l jk Kwonmn i 'looked contemptuous aniT'trlumpnant' and tho man looked annoyed and defiant. de-fiant. Tho third person was a woman slight of build and her worn faco was Burmounted by brown hair plainly dressed, and was Illuminated by great gray eyes which would have been beautiful beau-tiful had they not beca so sad. Sho was dressed Blmply In black. "Well," remarked tho woman at tho tablo after nn awkward pauso, "to what do wo owo this this intrusion?" Sho spoko with studied insolence. Tho third person neither flushed nor shank from tho Insult Sho did not lock at tho man at all, but kept a steady and searching gaze upon the woman at tho tablo, who leaned back and fanned horself lazily with a priceless price-less fan. "I enmo to seo you," replied tho third person In low distinct tones. Tho woman nt tho tablo shifted uneasily un-easily under tho steady gazo and tho solf-polso of tho other woman. Sho reached out for a Jeweled paper knlfo on tho tnble. Tho third person smiled sadly. "You need not fear me," sho said. "At first I had thoughts of personal vengennco, but only for a moment. I am not angry. What I havo lost Is probably duo to my owa fault and you 1 . The third person, aro simply an Incident In tho trngedy. I camo herb for qulto nnothor purpose" pur-pose" "Of courso you lost him through your own fault," cried tho woman nt tho tablo vohomently, "Oh, you cold women, you self-effacing, gloomy, passionless pas-sionless wives! What, do you think men aro, icebergs? No wondor thoy loavo you. Don't you know thoy aro strong nnd nrdont and Imaginative that what thoy want is lovo and Ufa i 1 and Joy In their hours of lelsure7 Don't you know that they hato gloom and sermons and namby pamby babying? baby-ing? Thoy can biro tholr buttons sowed on nnd buy their meals. You havo had your chanco and you hnve lost, because you were not n fit mato for a lion. Ho will now get his first tnsto of real llfo and will shudder as & Still sobbing at the table. he looks back at tho coldness of all his early years." "Onco wo thought them very happy years," roplled tho third person, "but niaybo wo wero mistaken. I would not glvo up tho memory of them for my soul's salvation. But fear not. I did not como to try to deprive you of him. Neither you nor ho could glvo mo back what I havo lost. I merely wanted want-ed to seo you and to know what his llfo Is to bo. You seo I cannot help being a llttlo Interested In that llfo becauso I gavo so much to help build it and It has occupied so great a placo In my mind and heart nnd all -my thoughts and hopes and fears. I had thought to bo n part of It, but oven now that I nm not I still cannot holp being Interested. It would help mo carry my burden to tho grave to know that all tho labor and sacrifice by both of us had not been ln vain, and that all tho aspirations and ambitions and ideals wero not to fall." "Of courso I seo my dreams for myself my-self wero not to bo. But you cannot blnmo mo for wanting to know If somo of our dreams for him aro not to come truo. You seo wo really woro very honest nnd wo worked very hard. Wo started, you know, very poor nnd married very young. Sometimes I havo thought It was a great ralstako, but again I am not suro. Becauso, yoa seo, ho did not havo much of a chanco at homo. His people did not sympathize sympa-thize with his ambitions and kept him hard at work, so ho had llttlo time to study. Then tho atmosphere of his homo was deadly to his ambition. "So wo tried to mako it otherwise. Wo did not try to llvo very well. Wo got along on very llttlo. I was so glad to practlco all tho llttlo economies econo-mies so ho need work less for bread and havo more tlmo to study. I tried, too, to encourage and stimulate him, At first I tried to keep along with him, but with tho work 1 found It necessary nec-essary to do bo ho could bo moro froe, I could not keop up. It hurt mo bitterly, bit-terly, but I thought I was doing for tho best becnuso It was his career for which wo were working. Then as ho began to forgo ahead and becamo Impatient Im-patient of his limited opportunities. 1 got ln tho habit of getting work to do which would not Interfere with my hooping tho homo comfortable for him und providing for his needs. I earned somo llttlo monoy which I saved and was ablo to help him mako still moro rapid strides at critical times. I recollect recol-lect that I had enough to pay his tuition tui-tion at the law school tho first year. It was not much, but It took a long tlmo to cum It. So you seo I nm In- i terested ln wndt tho result 1 to bo. , "I own I felt a llttlo badly when success began to como and his Interest began to center elsewhere, Things wero moro comfortablo nnd easy at homo and I had rather too much leisure on my hands than not enough. I tried, oh, so hard, to work along after him, but tho best seemed to havo gone out of mo nnd I could not seom to-recall to-recall the mentnl nlertness It seems to mo I had ln tho youngor days. But I was happy In his successes and proud of him and of my part In holplng him. nlon. y"ien this happoned I thought nt first I could not bear It, but I havo I como to think perhaps It all may bo- ! for tho best. Only don't tear him 1 down. Ho is not fairly started yet. 1 Croat heights await his climbing and I ho has marvelous powers to climb. I I hopo you will help him climb. Mnybo- I you can do It bettor than I. Good-byo 1 and God bless you both." S With a dry catch ln her volco tho H third person turned nnd vanished. 8 The mnn, whoso head had sunk B lower nnd lower during the talk of tho third person, finally had dropped upon his arm on tho table, and ho wns sobbing sob-bing like n child. Tho woman at tho table had dropped her fan and she was staring with unseeing un-seeing eyes. Presently sho enmo to herself with a start. Sho aroso and wnlked to tho door. Sho turned nnd glanced at the mnn. "Good-byo, John," sho snld, and sho vanished through tho samo door which had swallowed up tho third person, leaving tho mnn still sobbing nt tho tnblo. |