Mrs. Falchion, Volume 2_

Ruth rode up with her father, dismounted, and came upon him so quietly tha

ut he did not seem to he

to hi

d that you did not

swered, after a strange pause, "

meditatively into the torrent below, and replied: "Is it so light?" Then after

delightful fact that you are here," he said i

ill compliment of a compliment," she said. "Was it the sa

," he replied. "I was thinking abo

ortant' sounds lar

n," he continued. "You must

nce you will not put me quite at my ease by assuming, in words, that I have been properly 'chaperoned' here

replied with more pol

l dinner party in the Rockies!) to meet the lieutenant-governor, who is coming to see our famous Viking and Sunburst. . . . But you are expected to go out where my father feeds his-there, see-his horse on your 'trim parterre.' And now that I have don

od too well the source of such gay social banter. He knew it co

another too," and she looked down to the chasm bene

o Ruth. Ruth turned slightly to meet him as he came. "And is the prestige of the house of Devli

aid with a touch of mock irony: "The sailor shall play

odded to the hills opposite, as if to tell them that it was as they had said to her: those grand old

ebuked. I fear I am malicious-just a little, but it

r of it. Yours did not seem applied to yourself," was her slow an

dness: "A moment ago you were not co

e things, to be guilty of littlenesses. But see how daring I am-speaking like this to you who know so much more than I do.

t since Mrs. Falchion came, Ruth had awakened sharply to a distress not exactly definable. She felt that though he had never spoken of love to her, she had a right to share his troubles. The infrequency of his visits to her of late, and something in his

e spoken. And was this all that had troubled her -the belief that Mrs. Falchion had some claim u

nd he said within himself "God in heaven, must one folly, one sin, kill m

at this attempt at expiation was a mistake; to have his conscience clear of secret, and trust her kindness. For now he was sure that Mrs. Falchion meant to make his position as a clergyman impossible; to revenge herself on him for no wrong that, as far as he knew, he ever did directly to her. But

would read her through and through, though his mind

re stern. You are critical

hat something in herself had fallen in value. They had a pa

erself had roused him when she came. He involuntarily, passionately,

ak and make this possible, and not leave it a thing to flush her cheeks, and cause her to feel he had acted on a knowledge he had no right to possess till he had declared himself in speech? Could

ast week, that his hair had become almost white about the temples; and the moveless sadness of his position struck her with unnatural force,

k of pity, indignation, p

passionately. He ope

ckly, and almost despairingly: "Ruth, I love you, and I h

ds were coming back to her from them, but the thing crept into her heart and flooded it. She seemed

ear, I have wronged you. I shoul

rom the beginning, I think, though I did not quite know it. I remember what you read in

to his, and then with sweet sol

trength, and He will m

ake me to walk upon

high places. You have never failed. And you are as

s, I suppose. We had rather be good than evil, and when we love we can do good things; but we qu

as much higher than my

my fingers!" s

esperately hungry for her. "Forgive me, dearest.-As I said, better than my bes

d a good man," she said

the world. I have been in some ways worse th

you shock m

e it was due you that I should say: 'Ruth, I love you, love you so much'"-here she nestled close to him-"'so well, th

is breast and looked up

I have always had to care for others- always; and I can bear much. I will not ask what your trouble is, I only ask you"-here she spoke slowly and earnestly, and rested her hand on his shoulder-"to say to me that you love no other woman; and that

n can be. But I will say that the cup is bitter-sweet for you. . . . I cannot tell you now what my troub

ful too. . . . Can it not be repaired here?" She smoothed ba

o reply. "No, but there

hment, punishment," she repeat

Lines of pain grew de

uch can a wo

He looked at her long and earnestly, and said at la

." Her smile wa

uld appear dar

ou give me

wrong; that I broke the law of

htly, and looked at him timidly and then steadily, but i

break the l

the navy?" she inquired

year

nd she would try to ruin you, or"-here she seemed to be moved suddenly by a new thought-"or have you love h

ou! I dare not think of where you m

dgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people

at his choice of this new life might have been more a reaction from the past, a desire for expiation, than radical belief that this was the right and only thing for him to do. And when, some time after, he bade Ruth good-bye, as

I was told all. I was glad of it, though the end was not yet promising. When we turned to go towards

of God A'mighty in him; a kind of give-away-the-top-of-your-head chap; friend o' the widow and the orphan, and divvy to his last crust with a pal. I got your letter, and come over here straight to see that he's be

eply, I said: "Phil had many friends and no enemies." Then I told him

sting on Roscoe with a look as abstracted and puzzled as that on Roscoe's face. When I had finished he

l's dollars could be put to a bet

a squirrel in a pine tree, he rubbed his chin nervously, and more in soliloquy than conversation said: "I ne

d been picking at the bark o

loody reefs at Apia. . . . God, how they gnawed her! And never a rag holdin' nor a stick standin', and her pretty figger broke like a tin whist

repeated musingly. His he

went aloft, reefed close afore the wind-'Then,' says he, 'they've got a damned sound seaman on the Jordan, and so help me! him that's good enough to row my girl

ll meet me," he said to the stranger, "to-morrow morning, in Mr. Dev

he motion, and then said: "I'll be there. You can bank on that; and, as we used t

way down t

s circle to a centre. The trail seems long, but t

it too seriously," I s

e in at the deat

does not know you. Wha

erves. You are killin

y worry now. I have known"-here he laid his hand upon my shoulder and his eyes had a shining look-"wha

with myself, no doubt, for having that moment's joy, but I cannot feel so now. I shall probably con

n one: to expiate-to wipe out- a past, by spending my life for others. The expiation is not enough. I lived in another: to win a woman's love; and I have, and was caught up b

d firmly: "Roscoe, these are fancies. Stop it, man. You

ing and be quiet-quiet in that roar between the hills." Suddenly

entence; such as a soldier feels who knows that Death looks out

Say on what you like. Tell me all you feel. Only, for God's sake be brave, and don't

th. There came a change over Edward. He appeared not to take the same interest in his sports. One day he came to me, looking a bit pale, and said: 'Galt, I think I should like to study for the Church.'

n, Martha?'

soon. The look of his eye is doom. I've seen it

thought she spoke the truth,-'This is only I

comes too. You, not he, will be priest at the altar. Death will come to him like a swift and easy sleep; but you will feel its hand upon your heart and know its hate for many a day, and bear the slow pangs of it until your life is all crushed, and you go from the world alone, Love crying after

nd drew aside the curtains to let in the light, and then I knew that the old woman spoke true. . . . And now! . . . Well, I am l

e use, his convictions were so strong. Besides, what can you do

nnipeg to let me know if Boyd Madras, under his new