The Man Who Rose Again

letters which had come to his house one morning,

rl, who was intent on a letter o

nd then returned to the table again. His daughter was still inte

nterestin

er

ound his mouth. Perhaps he sighed because his daughter reminded him of her mother, who was dead. Perhaps he remembered the fact that she was his only child, and that if she married he

ort. Especially was this so since she had left school. He had bestowed all his affection on her as a child, but when she r

place, unnoteworthy; but there is generally one, if not more, who strikes the attention, and claims the interest of the observer. When you see such a one you begin to ask questio

y," you say, "he or she should do an

form or face. Not that nature had dealt niggardly towards her in this direction-quite the contrary; she had a finely formed face, and there were those who raved about the purity of her complexion and the glory of her "nut-brown hair." She was tall, and well formed too, and carried herself with grace. But it was not beauty of face and form that singled her out from the crowd. What it was I will not try and tell. I should only fail if I attempted. Beauty rightly understood is a

to describe her at all. You would be impressed by a sense of nobility, of spirituality, and you would be surprised if you heard of her doing anything mean and small. Indeed you would not believe it.

y, Ol

, fa

y fini

t to be ashamed of myself, but

is it

e. We were together

rne? Where do

viton Grange. Don

aine with a smile. Then he

a coinc

r is from a m

t le

tell you that two men are co

Yes, I must tell Mrs. Bray.

hat makes your lett

ow, she writes well, and she has quite a gift in summing u

y clever. Has some one else of n

nks he will be of note. Indeed s

is

her has persuaded to fight Sir Cha

ther widely for a moment, then a ra

thinks about him

d on the table and began to search for the part wh

carcely spoke a word. And yet I am sure that nothing escaped him. He has large grey eyes, which have a strange look in them. His face is very pale, and he looks all the more striking because he is cleanly shaven. As I said, he was very silent, and yet I felt interested in him. He impressed me as one of those strong, masterful men who compel people to do things against their wills. Of course father asked two or three people of local importance to meet him, and the quiet way in which he snubbed them without being rude-ay, and without their feeling that they were snubbed-amused me. I rarely go to these political meetings, but I was so interested that I wanted to hear him, and I went. Of course there was a great crowd, but I took very little notice of it; I was too intent upon studying Mr. Radford Leicester's face. I have heard him spoken of as a keen

William Dunstable writhe and wriggle and try to explain and qualify was simply splendid. I think I see his method. Mr. Dunstable would make one of his very orthodox assertions, with which Mr. Leicester would seem to agree. After this he would lead the vicar on by a series of the most innocent question

seems to have no faith in anything. He coolly pours scorn upon our most cherished traditions, and yet you can't fasten upon a

, but he's the talk of the town just now, and really he's a most fascinating man. If ever you have the chance to m

that

ll abou

w, I should think. Should

Bridget is rather given to enthuse. Stil

emaine slowly, "it is rat

at

ester is one of the two men who

th Bridget," said Olive, after a moment's

ee me on a matter of some importance, and he has asked this Mr. Leicester to be his sp

spend th

n to town. There is

hat she had just read she felt rather desirous of seeing Mr. Radford Leicester. Perhaps that was why she told her maid to take special car

st before the dinner-hour, and a few minu

ld. He was impressed by the quiet dignity of the great house. The old-fashioned, costly furniture, the sombre richness of everything, gave a feeling of repose to which his own house was a stranger. He wondered why it was so. He had given instructions to the manager of one of the largest furnishing establishments in Tottenham Court Road to spare no expense either in decorating or furnishing the mansion he had built, and although they had obeyed him he knew that it was different from this. As a consequence he felt ill at ease, and he stammered when Olive spoke to him. But Radford Leicester was different. He was perfectly at ease in the great drawing-room, and placed himself in the right relationship towards every one immediately. And yet a careful observer could see that he was more than usually interested. His large eyes flashed when he saw Olive Castlem

wry, had felt the quiet dignity and the atmos

he asked himself, "the

tarnished reputation for honour and uprightness, but he was not a cultured man; he would never give the house its tone. There were

is conversation in the club in London a week or so before was, to say the least of it, in bad taste. He did not mean to go back upon his w

ength and knowledge which she had never before felt when brought into contact with other political aspirants. She knew the general type of Parliamentary candidates. Some had made money and wanted to have the honour associated with the British House of Legislature; others, again, were brought up

the well-shaped head, the large grey eyes, co

time Radford Leicester was seeking to weigh Oliv

he girl makes me angry. What business has a rich City man's daughter-a religious w

iss Castlemaine," he said, glanci

d of ours knows the family. He paid a visit to Tolstoi's home, and t

u admir

you th

w his picture to

ather would naturally

father would elect to give hon

tly admires the

who had overheard their conversation. "I am not an admirer of this Russian's r

lemaine had th

ument?" said Mr. Castlemaine good-humoured

?" asked Radford Leice

s strength, courage, h

which

nes

resting. Migh

er two do not ex

that rose to his lips. He could not be altoge

respectable trad

not beli

d. "I can feel the whole constitution rattling abo

do not be

say if I told

lstoi's life would pr

known honest men-that is, as honest men go-as timid as rabbits, and I have known scou

nts are so shallow. We do n

main objection to the so-called honest

st of him, Tols

e he is n

onclusion from a ver

ot unc

how you can p

meeting with

e honest people you h

et with an honest man. But I have met w

was in earnest. It is true his face was perfectly serious,

are those who are least self-conscious. The moment they become s

that all but chi

o you

wn-up people are

e not still o

tell. Only I have noticed this: in life, as on the stage, those who elect to act the part of the good honest person are invari

man you must be, Mr.

hy

o unfortunate in the soc

been singular

es

have found people wo

sure he was not such a little man as to pride himself upon breaking away from recognised rules of life simply for the

Castlemaine. "I wonder i

d at each other, they hardly knew why, and ea