OCR Text |
Show 31 Forsaking all Others . By AMELIA DVOIIEMIN fa ('1IAPTKII x Nearly half n hour passM before the married l""lr. looking formidable determined and unllnl, pr. scntcd ' ' ' themselves st . her door, ma in the v . . . ' interval she hurt fun-mi herself into a cold calmness that enabled her to meet them composedly. Almost before I they kw ere seated llarvpy, who seemed mm h excited, opened Hip s'M.j, , t ui- I pcrmost In Hip niln le of nil. j "So j-oii threaten to shut up the bouse an.l so lo New York?" In. Rn- j grlly asked, j "It l an Intention, Harvey, not a : threat." j "And do you think 1 will submit ,, j Biich a course, merely In... .use you! have chosen to quarrel with my wile, I whose only offense has lie n her rare j for u both? You do not know tuti, i . , madam." I "I am afraid I hnvo never known . you, Hm-vey.'" "Perhaps not; you hadn't applied t my character the teat of Injiisti... uud , tho mint monstrous sclnMin. evert shown, hy mother, to son!'' I,c hotly retorted. Helen hud made gn.d use of ! her hnlf hour. "You reared in., with j the expectation of antirliiK your prop- . rty; but for that I ahould not havo I .. . , marrlrd. And now you coolly ssy that henreforth 1 must depend upon myself i I, who hnvo been accustomed to I everv luxurv!" I VI think you would havo marrlp.l In any case." nld (lltulya. In a tone that made hla eyes waver for a moment. ' It la aa well; I do not fenr for your fu- tore. You eertalnly hava not mlTercd .from my aeiriBhneaa In the past." "Don't you think the pa you Bay ahout your peat the better?" he asked, carried beyond all .prudence, all kindness, kind-ness, by a burilng sense of hla wrongs. For a full mlnuto they looked stead-.. stead-.. . Ily at each other; her womanly In tuition enabled her to road the thoughts that owed their existence to j llt'len. and her weakene1 affection for hi in seemed to fall dead. "If 1 live to be a hundred," the aald slowly, her fare hard with acorn, "I will never forgive you for that Insult, von though 1 know It orglnntcd with the woman who haa an strangely perverted' per-verted' your moral nature. Your wl.k-odncaa wl.k-odncaa and covotousnesa (lcaerve punishment, pun-ishment, and It has overtaken you In the way you will feel most; for thouxh you have no legal claim upon my money, I alwaya Intended to provide for you when you came of age, and -ahould have enrrled out the Intention, J In apllo of the fact that you married I agaluat my with, had not your wife? a j -character to aoon revealed Itself. He- con t evonta have shown me that you ' t -are equally unworthy, and not a dol- lnr of mine ahall aver pane Into your poaaeaalon and hers unleaa you come i to actual want" A dead alienee enaued. Doth llsteu-era llsteu-era saw that Mrs. Atherton was lu , earnest, and had been pushed too fur, though righteously pushed; for they .had eo blinded tliemselvee by apccloua reasoning, that eveu now they would not admit they were wrong. It waa ' Helen who brifke the drnury pause. "Yeju hated me from the first," she aald In a voice uneven with rage, "and have well calculated your revenge. You know I would die for Harvey, and by making mo the apparent medium of ' his downfall, you try to Inflict upon .-me the moat harrowing of punjah-nienta. punjah-nienta. Hut here you fall, Gladys Atherton, for It la you who have been his ruin. You have scorned me, not 1n words, perhaps, but with meaning looks, for having decoyed him Into marriage before your appointed time. I know bow you regard my people-that, people-that, too, your looks have told. And what are you, pray, with all your pride? In the beginning a bold, pampered pam-pered girl following the first man who though It worth hla while to beckon her to ahame, for aught she knew or cared, to that her fumy waa gratified grati-fied " "Harvey," cried Oladya, deadly pale, "bid thla Impious woman be silent. She la speaking of your mother." "A mother to be proud of, truly!" exclaimed Helen, her eyes Imperatively Imperative-ly demanding Harvey's alienee, though the apoke so fast and loud that he had no opportunity to Interrupt her, even had he wished. "The wife of a drunkard drunk-ard and gambler, the widow of a criminal! crim-inal! I despise you, and ao shall your' son. Be very sure of that Hut we'll have our right If we claim them In a court of law. I doubt If you have power to withhold what you call your money. How do we know your atory la true? You were not squeamish In the past, when you had a purpose to serve, It appears. Why should you be over particular at this late day?" Gladys, still pale, but with her former look of scorn Intensified, turned to Harvey. "You have heard your wife. air. I have no claim upon her affection, aa on yours, and care nothing for her ' opinion unites you uphold her In It. uio you?" 'This Is not the time for heroic speeches and professions of belief in virtues that never exlated." he said ' sulkily, his eyes on Helen's prompting face. "We must recugnlre the fact that the person who marrleo unwisely -entails certain consequences upon the children of the marriage for which he or she owes them compenaation. Through you I a.r my grandfathers natural heir, and should not be robbed of my birthright. If I am covetous 1n urging a Just claim, what then are ; you? In keeping control of your prop- ' ierty you msy be right by iWi but j 70U are acting dlsncmestly none the I leY H.i fur I fully agice with my '"" . With a low cry Gladys fell back In her ch.ilr. As If waiting for tho aig-nnl. aig-nnl. I'hetio enteral the room, a leirlhlc I 'd woman In her wrath, i "I am goin to tell them the truth. Ml t:iiiils. whether you forbid it or ' not," she defiantly aniioun.ed. "Aa j Mr. Harvey nays, this Isn't the time I fur pretending, and I ru..! wp e in settle the mutter out of court." Gladys Put up i protesting hand, but she would not h.ed. ' Til muke short work of It, You re wmne In thinking j ymi have any sort of share In the mm-I mm-I Ileus property, Mr. Harvey, because 1 lnr father. Joseph Stirling, your j grniHlalre, ill. In t own n dollar in It. I He married twlro-first a j.oor girl j who dlpl when her b.iby wn horn: i "'en a rich young heiress, who also illed early in life leivlng her money 1 lo her only .MM, Gladys, your mini or half aunt; fur you are the son of the daughter of Hie first marriage." , "My Hod! The muter Is not my mother?" cried Harvey, after n stupe-lied stupe-lied pause. He sprang to hla feet and Kined wildly from one face t.i the j other, with the look of a man pierced ' to the heart. ' Madam, madam, Is this true?" ho Imploringly asked. Then, J meptlng Gladys' enmintsslnnatn yet I strangely cold look, with a half aoh he threw himself Into chnlr and hurled hla fnee li his hands, never moving until l'hchc had finally ceased speaking. Helen said nothing: her burning eyes were fixed on the housekeeper; she knew she told the truth, and that from the fair domain which had promised prom-ised to lie her garden of Kden, like was banished forever.' "You know how your mother married. mar-ried. Mr. Htlrllng awore bo would never forgive her; but ho wus a Just mnn, and sent her the money she would have had when ahp came of ago 1 j It didn't last long. Twenty thousand dollars Isn't ninth In tho hands of a gambler. And when It was gono ho went too." "Miks Gladys was at school when your poor 11104 her begged her way to New York, her lis by In her nrms. She did not seek her father; ahe knew his unforgiving spirit, but alio sent for me I was Irl tils service from the hospital whero sho lay dying, and by her deathbed I promised never to forsake for-sake her child, and to hldo him from her husband, Matthew Harvey, who would try to make use of the boy to get money from hla young aunt, Gladys. He was bad enuugK for anything, any-thing, ahe aald. 1 had a Utile money aaved, and put you to board with a woman I knew. I alwaya had It In my mind to tell the master aome day; but he had a heart trouble and I darean't do It. "I hadn't a chance to worry long, for In a few months after your motner died he fell dead In the street, without a moment's warning. Mlsa Gladys came home for the funeral, and after the first shock waa over I told her everything. Hhe had a tender heart, my lamb, and wouldn't real till ahe had seen her poor sinter's baby." CHAITKIt XI. Phebe paused, overcome by sad memories. Gladys, unnerved by all that hnd passed, was crying, hut not as the wholly desolate weep; she po longer Btrove to prevent her old friend from apeaklng. "Your mother's sorrows had left their mark on you. Mr. Harvey; you wore a sail little tot, with mournful eyes and atlmorous manner. You ran to my dear young lady, attracted by her aweet voice, unit hid your face In her gown, and when we left they had to drag you away; wo heard your screams aa the carriage drove off, and Miaa Gladys sobbed all the way home. After that, the Idea of your growing up among strangers, with no one to love you Just considered for the money you brought, niuyhiip was terrible ter-rible to her. We must take you far away to a corner In the west, whoro none would know ua, and you'd be sals from your futher. I begged her on my knees not to spoil her life; but ahe coaxed and argued and cried till ahe got the better of nie, and we left New York unhindered, her having no relations. rela-tions. "She put on widow's mourning, to make her look older and prevent explanations, ex-planations, and took your grandmother's grandmoth-er's family nume. Your mother had given It you for a tint name; It was easy to change It round.. "Rockvllle was only a village then: people hadn't taken to coming here for their healths.-and what are now streets were farms. It waa Just the pluce to be lost In, and until Mrs. Leonard s doctor sent here here last year, nobody but the family lawyer Mra. Ixmnurd la hla daughter knew whnt had become of the pretty Mlsa Stirling. How much, ahe haa been to you, Mr. Harvey, yon well know. Hhe waa only eighteen when she left New York, a light-hearted girl. Now aho's turned thirty-all. with a great aorrow on her of your brewing. Hhe'll got over it, for ahe'a young yet. Hut you've made a atrange return to her for wasted years!" Not a word waa spoken by either of the other three. Helen stole over to her husband and timidly laid her hand on his shoulder. All self-confidence was gone from her bearing; she seemed sowed and b-iuten; and for the , first time her loving tout h waa 1, .1 heeded. Phebe looked at her fmv Ingly. "Ay. comfort hi rn IT you can; he'll have need of It," stir- said In a hard I tons. "If he eomes to ruin he siay thank you; hut for your avarice au$ meddling he'd have bad a good bit of monpy a hundred thousand dollars, dol-lars, no I'-s-i. He'll nev. r have It now. Perhaps he'll not reprtia.-h you Just vt fur his loss, slnre lie lielpeil you out with the deviltry you cal ed your duty. Hut he'll know U s to you he owes It --he wasn't foil grown when you look him In hand, and, easily led ' - ali.l the thoiiKht w ill grow and grow until one d iy he ll despise you In hi heart, and turn from the lovn that ilragg.il him down." As If that day ha. I come. Helen moved n.-nrer to her husband, the rich color ebbing even from her lips. Gladys half rose. "He merciful. PhctV," sh gently remonstrated re-monstrated "You nip to hard, flu now. dear old friend; enough has been Slid." Muttering . mm, Phebe lumbered away, furtively wiping her eies; under h'T bristling exterior beat a warm heart, and. despite her nliger, she felt for Harvey in his hour of darkness. As the iloorc'iH.d bphlnd he- lie raised his head, revealing ''a white, wild face, "I must speak to my-my aunt nlorip, Helen," he a:.l.l hoataely. "Leave ua together." (To hp Continued.) |