A Day of Fate

d undoubtedly prepared her for the arrival of the expected guest, and made known also his relations to one of wh

not wish to hurt her feelings; therefore she found me m

rs are wretched company; their paper is everything to them, a

ough to work yet," sh

tion of Samson. Besides, I'm as poor as Job's impoverishe

eeling that way; we-" and t

his wide valley, but then I must keep my self-respect, you know. Y

she replied, blushing, and

ld!" I muttered. "'Life is a tangle,' as Miss War

n, and looked with solicitude

y appetite flags strangely. I

wholly in me

e so well. Has Adah said anything to t

he's becoming as good as she is beautiful. Every day increa

's cheek, and she seemed pleased an

ith a touch of motherly pride and solicitude, "She'

I said, with quiet emphasis. "She and Zillah have both been so kind to me that they already seem like sist

s face, that was still so fair and

hee for saving our lives and our home, but I love thee more now. Sti

o run away in self-defence. When you talk in that style I feel like an arra

ring at?" she aske

nd with go

aid gravely, but regarding me with deep solicitude. Pre

ndness and trust, which I have ill requi

es

he tel

throttle that man. Now you kno

, smiling, "I'll trust him with thee, nevertheless. I'm inclined to think that

te from trouble, that I'm not fit for decent society, much less your company. You believe i

n Emily Warren's devoted friend for years. He has taken care of her little property, and done everything for her that her indepen

irritably. "Emily Warren is t

ngs, though in my estimation, as well as in thine, no other class is more respectable. But I'm not blinded by prejudice, and I think it speaks well f

name?" I as

Hearn the banker, who

e s

itterly, "It's just like him; he has always had the good th

anything a

st him: I feel as if he wer

inently respectable, as the world goes. He is shrewd, wonderfully shrewd, and always makes a ten-strike in Wall Street; but his securing Miss Warren was a masterstroke. There, I'm tal

ee'll be in a better mood to-morrow," and

d, reckless apathy, and from the d

in, looking half ashamed of her weakness, a

one whose mother left him much too early. Take this, every drop, and remember thy pledge to get we

ome a man after her kindness," I muttered, and I gul

I could almost have sh

spered in all

ay. A moment later Miss Warren mounted the horseblock and stoo

ow of the tree she stood under; but I muttered, "Even his critical taste can find no fault with that f

rted back, forgetting that I was hidden by the half-closed b

t forget me wholly, even on th

rl started visibly, sprang lightly down from the block and caressed her great heavy-footed pet, and then, without another glance at my win

with the old plow-horse, and, sore-hearted as I wa

ould not feel flattered if he knew about it. How in th

e might. "No matter how devoted he has been, he can never plume himself on any magnanimity," I said to myself. "She probably finds him a trifle formal and sedate, and rather lacking in ideality, just as Old Plod is very stolid till she appears; but then he is safe and strong, and very kind to a friendless girl, who might well shrink from the vicissitudes of her lot, and would naturally be attracted by the protection and position which he could offer. In spite of the disparity of years, a woman might easily love a man who could do so much for her, and the banker is still well preserved and handsome. Of course Emily Warren does love him: all the wealth of Wa

ever could. She will be the millionaire's wife, and I'll go back to my dingy little office and write paragraphs heavy enough to