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JULY 23, 1904 i THE SUNNY SOUTH THIRD ‘PAGE By j t 4. Out of Nazareth Frances Jlfimmo Greene Written for ZTAc Sunny South EOPLE who attended pots of a most uncompromising shade or red. to Dr. Tfayden’s private af fairs to the neglect of their own, spent little mental energy in guess ing why that old gentle man had practically ban ished his son from home for cn unbroken period of five years. “Of course it was to wean live hoy from his growing infatua tion for Nellie Tracy. It was a wise thing, too,” they told each other. "Nellie was sweet and petty and all that—but—” At length, however, the long term of cnIU' neared its close, and people who r* momberod the Hayden boy as a pre- te:naturally clean, long-legged lad with a pair of rascally black eyes, looked f ir- j ward to his home-coming, curious to see j what changes flic years and a college ! degree had worked In him. Months before Charles Hayden’s re- i turn, however, it began to be felt about • t wn that something had gone wrong | between f.ither and son. At first it was i merely an impression, a miasmatic form j of rumor that soaked info people from 1 the atmosphere; then the local gossips : put their heads together, and reduced | it to a certain quantity. According to j them. Charles had broken every com- ( mnndment in the Decalogue half in two. ; and had then sat down tike a young I Alexander, and wept because there were i°". v ar| d fat an old wine-drinking unbe- hm more to break. Conservative people | liever as any in the state. His soul never tv.-re rather of the opinion that the bov 1 "few to fit his belt, and he was a small had got in with a bad crowd at col- |enough man to feel spiteful against the Inge and been gaming. Charles’ friends- doctor’s high-nanded Christianity, and to ; notable Frank Poelnitz-said that it 'was f,amlt his own skepticism in a thousand a ,j a lit! jways. Both men had buried their wives, so there were no women at home to" feel Across a low, ivy-covered wall were the grounds of another mansion, and thi« demesne was a fair reflex of the general appearance of the Bee property before the modern vandals had taken possession of it. Th e stone wall that separated the Haydep place from the new neighbor hood which crept up about It seemed also to mark the boundary between the old south and the new; and the differ ence in the local time of the world within it. and tile world without, was a differ ence of some thirty years. No grass cut ter ever rolled over the green expanse that stretched away under the oaks. Wild ivy had covered every bit of wall and terrace, and even climbed over tne side of the hfg house itself, and peeped In at the windows. Green mosses had taken silent possession of the only fountain, and the weather beaten statues which sen- iiv-tc 1 the parti, seemed only to augment the stillness Dr. Hayden was a Christian of the un compromising. slay-ir.e-mine-enemy type. Dr. Hayden was a gentleman and an aristocrat. He might, in time, have forgiven his new neighbor for his godlessness, and for the red nose and fat stomach he carried about with him; but never could he con done the liquor dealer's having bought the home of the knightly race of gentle men with whom his own house had been intimate for generations. And certainly, no one could ask him to pardon the red flower pots and gypsy kettles. Mr. Tracy, on the other hand, was as In spite of Hayden's friends, however, the air became thicker and thicker with rumors of stormy letters about gambling debts and fast living; but if there was an atom 'of truth in any one of the stories, a little bird in the air must have whispered ihe secret, for Dr. Hayden was as non-commital as a dead man It was noticed that his hair quickly, that his demeanor was a shad.* haughtier than usual, that he held the world a little farther from him—if these might be taken as prmfs of anything. The whole matter came out In a per- feet storm of gossip that fateful day when Charles Hayden came hack in the early part of his college year—dismissed— disgraced. No one ever knew what passed between father and son on the morning of the young man’s home-coming: hut half at* hour after his arrival Charles was I the unneighborly coolness; hut there was ' a lonely little child in each household, j arid it was not to be wondered at that j they could not be kept apart Children never cherish vendettas, nor fall out over quesfions of doctrine. And in these early years tiie lock of the olrl whitened !sate in the dividing wall was broken by a brown boyish hand; and Charley anti the little heathen, Nell, visited each other fifty times a day. Mr. Tracy never objected to anything that pleased Nellie, and put no harriers in the way of the intimacy. But Dr. Hay- J He flung himself on an old rustic den thrashed his son many a time for ; bench, and sat for a long time with his being caught at the wicked Tracy man- | elbows resting on his knees and his face sion; and more than once, told Nellie that jin his hands. lie didn't want his boy to play with a j "Stumbled and hurt yourself, didn’t bad iittle girl like her, and sent her, ' you, old fellow*?” The pressure of a little crying, home. She was generally back ! hand on each shoulder, as she leaned again next morning before breakfast, ; over him, would have told him. without He remembered, with a thrill, the frank vet half-timid way in w’hlch she had come to him, "because he was”—he was too modest to repeat hbr words to the night air; ‘‘but that just showed how delicate a wonlan’s Intuition is, that she, a mere girl should see at a glance all those— to put it frankly—hidden graces of char acter. which a chuckle-headed, unappre ciative world had not found out In twen ty-nine years. And how beneath one’s notice was that spiteful remark from be hind the newsuper when she left—‘She knew just how much you'd swallow, didn’t she Frank? Sized you up exact ly.’ ” At tea that night his sister in law- treated the table to the following eulogy on Miss Tracy, which only goes to show how one good woman can misjudge an other: "Gracious goodness! You taken in. too? Well, if hat doesn't cap the cli max! Why, she’s a female Machiavelli, and you men haven’t sense enough to see Ihrough her. Pshaw, those baby ways of hers! Yes. she's innocent!” Because he had promised Nellie, was why Frank Foclnitz did the unprece dented thing of calling on Dr. Hayden. His courage wont down to zero as he sat on the hair-covered sofa in the doc tor's gloomy dra’wing room, trying to look dignified and circumspect under the gaze of a dozen pairs of painted eyes, be longing, as one could see by their black ness, to the Hayden ancestry. But the mercury of liis humor went up with a bound when the doctor met j him with a real highland welcome in his j grasp. He was more comfortable still when the old gentleman led him from the | shrine of his ancestral deities, to a light i and pleasant study, where a hottle of fine old wine soon put him entirely at ease. “Yes.” said his host, after a long ver bal retrospect, “I knew* your father, Mr. Poelnitz. and a more high-minded gentle man never died for the south. “Then.” said Poelnitz. seizing his op portunity. ‘‘let your knowledge timacy with a certain young lady. /No connection with a godless woman can work you anything but harm, and no woman who is, to say the least, so very imprudent can make you a worthy wife. to her.” He paused for a moment iR thought, and when he took up his pen again, his whole face had softened, and the handwriting was not so bold, as ho continued: "in closing, sir, let me beg If you intend marriage, take warning be- 1 you not to form your judgment of the fore it Is too late; if you wish to pur- j lady from the idle reports of idle people, sue a platonic friendship have a double i or from a prejudice against her as an un care. I need scarcely add that your disciplined and untrained child. You have prospects—in so far as I am connected called her godless. In my hour of tempta- with them—will depend upon your action | ticn she prayed for me w’hon you, my In this matter. Yours very truly, CHARLES W. HAYPK.N, SK. The young- fellow followed the letter to t'he close with the same proud reserve that had characterized the old man when he wrote it. But wnen the cold, format signature was reached, lie flung himself father, condemned. That she is without guile is the .iudgimnt of those who know her best. She is, as you say. sir, very imprudent, and was never more so than when she stooped to lift your fallen son. "I have taken a new start In life, and with the help of God I shall not turn on the table in an agony that not Nell back; but I go with her who is at one herself could have understood or charmed away. Neither sh,- nor bluff old Frank Poelnitz had dreamed that the boy’s heart was breaking for the father who •had cast him off. Then he thought of Nell, and In a storm of indignation wrote: “Mr. Charles W. Hayden—Sir: It is your spirit and your training that have taught me to hold principle an untrattlc- able tiling. Now you offer me a price for the renunciation of a friend who re mained true to me when you shut your door against me. Need l word my .an swer? The young lady in question is my promised wife. 1 desire that you will rem< mber this in any future reference my help, my hope and my reward.” There was another pause in the writing, an other struggle, and the young fellow's lashes were wet as he finished, "1 cannot hope that you will belitve me, sir. Your affectionate son.” The letter was sent by a servant who, in returning, brought an unsteadily writ ten answer: “My Son: I need you—come to me. My compliments to the little lady, and ask her to do nif. the honor to come wiih you and make my house her home. And tell her for me that the time will n't he long before she rr ! car the yellow jasmine all to pic.-es without year of re proof. Your Father.” At the MasK Ball By H. B. MARRIOTT-WATSON. hear what the gentleman 'says!" . She turned with a. flourish 'if her pretty skirts HE swirl of the dancers or- • 10 Lord Francis. "Shall we let it out? copied the main body of Oh, you dear goose! Why—” the hall, but the outskirts j "Here ho is,” said Queen Elizabeth. Lord Francis looked and saw approach ing a young man of his own height ar.d apparent age, habited his a cavalier. He was evidently flurried, and gazed quickly imation in every pose of from one to another of the party; then: were free, open prome nades. in which the masks went to and fro with an- “It’s Highly Improper for Me To Be Standing Here with My Arms Around Your Neck, Isn’t It?” 1 hov/ever. lElkigiiig his yellow jasmine seen descending his fathers steps, with i v j ne before he was up to drive her off. the hard lines about liis mouth drawn [ xhe May following Hayden's estrange- to their greatest tension. Out from the mfM1 t from liis father, brought Nellie. Tra- home of his nativity he went straight j ( .y home to stay; and society, thanks to into the city s sin. the scheming stepmother, opened wide its arms "I won't do it. Nell, j know what you are going to ask me. and I won't give a promise to you or anybody else that 1 know y ean’t keep.” "I wasn't going to ask you that.” she said, quite as earnestly as himself. A I just want you to promise me that when you feci like you said you did, sometimes —like you arc- being driven on. no niattei him in his great need. It did not occur how hard you try to resist—that you will been in him lately.” th< help of her voice, that Nell had come of him acquit his son of any wrong or officious j her post now for intention in this visit. Dr. Hayden, I am here on business, and though it is none of my own. I hope you will let me speak.” "Certainly, sir, certainly.” He was too well bred to show his suspicion. Poelnitz was beginning to feel nervous again, but went straight to the point ."I want to talk to you, Charley.” ••j\ti, and what about Cha 1 1 passively. "You must have noticed, sir, every one has. what a wonderful change there has their bodies. Beauty was there, implicit in the para- pernalia. but beauty lat ent, unrevealed and flaunt ing itself in disguise. Lord Francis’ eyes passed across the shepherdesses, Marie Antoinettes, vivandieres and rested ior the third time on file gray domino in the alcove. She was in the costume of a Spanish dancer, and she had not loft quarter of an hour. Obviously from her attentive air she was expecting some one. Lord Francis made his way deliberately toward her. “Well, I’ve found you at last,’’ he said, heartily. Tiie. Spanish dancer started, and there was a momentary pause, while the n:usi( "So, I have found you at last,” he ex claimed to Gladys. They were almost the same words with which Lord Francis had opened his ad dress, but they hud a. remarkable effect. Poor Carmen started and dropped her tan, which Lord Francis stooped to re cover. When he stood up again Cai- men was regarding him out of troubled, wondering eyes. "But who—why—Jack—” she faltered. "1 spotted you by jour necklet,” said th<- cavalier, cheerfully. "It's our dance, 1 think.” said Lord Francis, coolly, and crooked his arm. Poor, bewildered Carmen mechanically put her gloved hand in it, but, she was staring from one man to the other. "The music is beginning,’’ said Lord Francis. "Blit—bat I thought you were Jack,” sir. about im- Snoiety, inexpressibly surprised and arms before the train landed her. The shocked, wondered under its breath how erstwhile liquor dealer had been meta file old man would lea Ills monev. Ann every woman in town was guessing as , to what that madcap Nellie Tracy would say when she got back from the hlg northern college where her newly ac quired stepmother had sent her to b<- "polished off.” Dr. Hayden lived on the income from his property, and spent his time in read ing and study, hut a fortune, well in vested. is not hard to take care of, and there was, time—too much time to think. Not Biogenesis, nor even the Good Book j Itself could stand between the old man “S-hd jncfiory, and on the pages of the i Concordance wqye pictured alternately the faces of his dead wife and ruined ! son. One night when the winds were especially restless, he recalled the time to him then to be much surprised, and he only looked up wearily, and answered: "Yes. girlie, but ! don't know how badly—how fatally—till you came back.” "Don’t say ‘fatally,’ dear, that’s such a merciless word; ‘badly’’ is fiad enough. Let's go hack to old times again—see—I'll kiss it. and make it well!” And drawing . his head back against her pretty pink Tracy was ambitious. , ghirt waist , she leaned over, and kissed him. in spite of his knowledge of ids own unworthiness, he let his miserable head rest against her shoulder, as she drew her hand soothingly across lus fore head. And Nell, who was ever led l>y impulse whose untrained natun morphosed into a hank president, and that put quite a new face on the matter, you know/. The second Mr Her one aim in life was to make her hus band's money the means of getting into society, and she had succeeded, for the old order had changed at the south. So Nellie Tracy came home to be the debu tante of the coming season, and the daughter of the richest banker in the gulf states. Out of a city of thirty thousand there was one w tio dreaded 1 her coming. The morning after her arrival found him, ns ; alone, ; grown up in j td the big hoy. [.natural thing in I were the usual. had the wild, patted and sooth ir it the world. As the circumspect t I onte to me and let me try to help you. Say yes. there’s a dear. Surely it is not much to promise, when it is I who ask it.” It was not of a piece with their old comradeship that lie caught her suddenly and passionately to his heart. Places of dissipation athletic form of young Hayden, and two weeks after the meeting in the park, he went quietly to work in a. grocery store. 011 a starvation salary. Nellie never knew, for he wanted work out his own salvation without al lowing her to ask her father's aid. how long and earnestly’ he tri'-d before he could get a situation. Nor did Frank Poelnitz know, for like reason), flavin* reasout been ttie spoiled (darling of wealth and i position/ Charles had never stri/ek a lick thing 0 j- w ork j ol - himself, or anybody else; and follow a rmsera- been the music of his boyhood exclaimed: “Heyo, Charley!” He started violently and shrank from her as he had often shrunk from his eon- 'longer, science. He thought and felt a thousand Ion the : Instead of Pass- | things in an instant, but he only flushed j passing. hi ight no ■ - nil out ' t* ave to tell her. One look into her eyes, ied his however, told him that she knew all when she had come out of her quiet self and warned him that unless lie should ! gain the love and confidence of his child, i he would never be able to influence him. And he had not believed. One rainy’ night, some months later, a white-haired Levite was hurrying home out of the cold. In taking the shortest way to his destination he turned into a narrow, deserted street, and almost ran over a drunken figure which lay under the drip of the eaves. Ing by on the other side, the Levite paused up tQ the roots of a moment, then stooped and turned into ] an tly the light, the face of—his son. For one long, silent moment (he old man gazed Irto the unconscious face, then pushed the hoy- from him, and hurried home out of the cold. Slippers and dressing-gown brought n comfort: no number of wraps sh thp cold draughts that benumbed heart and trickled through every- vein In his body. There was a roaring nre on the andirons, hut the flames licked out at him like ribbons of cold air and hISSorl. "Fool! How’ can we warm your old flesh and blood when part of It is lying <y;t yonder in the night?” Half an hour later a fat citizen came waddling along the sam e street, and stooped, with much discomfort to his bowed facade, over the figure lying unuer the eaves. "Why. Charley, boy. bless my heart, drunk again!” He stood up and waved frantically to a passing hack, and soon, with tiie aid of the strapping liackman. had himself and Hayden snug inside- Nor did the fat citiz- n rest that night until he had seen the young fellow put warmly to bed in on/- -of the luxurious rooms of the much-talked-of Tracy house. Then, and not till then, did the £rnv- hatred Levite within the ivy-covered walls next door, fall wearily asl The Tracy house was a tnry, and, in a measure, indexed the eras that had passed over the south since the time when stone houses were first hunt In the stale. It was originally the prop- e-tv of Hip Lee family, hut in the general upheaval which had followed the war between the states, it had been bought bv Mr. Tracy, a wholesale liquor dealer, and “fixed up.” The buried generations of aristocrats that lay in the garden, were restless enough, ns the negroes sakl. when the work of remodeling was in progress. A swarm of carpenters built all sort? usual, on a saloon corner, but no one could tempt him to drink. He seemed sud- I f° r a young woman wood- and denly to have lost his taste for liquor, hie fellow far out .ntn th ooci., an^ and his companions eyed him askance. 1 hold ids head upon and Inquired if the Salvation army "had : te 'l 1,im *° done for him.” At length they left him never mind, dear. a long confession, with his rapid work. ly; “I was the utrongest man in college, i£ that's a recommendation.” I “Well, we are not pressed for help, no way’,” said tiie grocer, doubtfully; "1 reck on we don't need you just now.” As .Haj’den thanked him and left, the merchant looked after him and thought: ■ "Old Dr. Hayden’s scamp of a son. What i the dickens is lie up to now? I—I—wonder 1 take it off his hands place of his- l’lien followed alone; and he stood leaning against a Tx f ’l> sitting by him, puiietu.itin ... . . , lamp post* watching the crowds hurry by. 'sentences with sympathetic nod*. He ( he m ,.de application at the very last place Suddenly from behind a soft hand was ' told her everything from the bc = >nmg, j where a man was said to he wanted. His laid upon his arm. and * voice that had land his face was very grave a s ne nn , Chesterfieldian grace of hearing was sadly ' ished with— .out of place among the cracker boxes "And now, Nell, you must—you nuiot all( j m oIasses barrels, where he stood and understand that we can't he chums any . cx pi a i nt;( j simply that he was looking for You must not come up to me treat, or even speak to me. in Can't you see how awful hair and said petu- | it was to talk to me there be fori that 'liar room? What do you suppose those “Nell, don t!” j people said?” There had been no communication lie- j "1 suppose they said that the wliis- tween the two during their school life; j ky-dealer’s child was the right man in and a great fear now took possession of i the right place; but t'ne banker's daugh- Ha.vden—Xel] had not heard.and he w’ouid 'ter is supremely indifferent to anything they may say.”— all ! “oil, 1 know you are indifferent, iou about it. j can't tel! me anything about that. But Only a minute hud passed In their ! you’ve just got to care. dear. Now. it greeting, but the crowd had already’ be- was very wrong in you to come out here gun to stare, and the loungers to return , after me. Just a« wrong as it was sweet to the door of the saloon to see the little and lovable—you needn’t make faces, you beauty who had stopped almost on the know it was. Give me your hands, threshold. Just then a handsome vie- dear, and listen to me. Nell—1 have toria, bearing two fashionably dressed fallen too low for even y-our dear love women, dashed past. They stared first, to reach down to me.” then smiled brilliantly, and bowed to “Charley,” she said, with just a iittle Nellie. catch in her voice, "love lias all dimon- Tliis seemed to rouse Hayden to the j sions. and lie exclaimed under his world so deep that there is no sinking beyond pi a ce somewhere.” its reach!" j "Now don’t you bother about hint. Miss it cost a little struggle to get their Xellie,” advised the lawyer. “Hayden faces presentable, and then, witn one has decided to he a man, and he is on the accord, they began to talk of lighter 1 right track. He’s just learning ,0 wall* things. Like humanity in general, they alone, as it were. You let him be, and shrank from “scenes,"’ and as there, was he'll come out on top yet.” real tragedy in their hearts, they nat- , Nellie went home with cooler cheeks and urally took refuge in the commonplace. : a lighter heart. And Hayden's indomita- After strolling over the park, they 1 ble will, which, in its opposition to every stopped at the main entrance to wait for | restraint, had very nearly wrecked hint— a car. Here Nell discovered an old I mastered now—became his saving grace, stump, and promptly- mounted it "to i Society was very much astonished that see how it would fee! t« be long-iegged. Miss Tracy did not spend that summer at like Charley, and always obliged to take ; some fashionable watering place, but Miss a bird’s eye view of things.” When she Tracy knew her own business, and stayed had got tired of remarking on every thing in sight, a new idea seemed to If the doctor had noticed, lie didn’t commit himself. "NovA” addled 'Poelnitz quickly.. “I don’t want you to think. Dr. Hayden,- that Charley—Charles—had anything ti do with my coming to you In his be half.” "Sir!” exclaimed his host, his spirit, ion missed the 1 flashing up in spite of himself, "my son could not ho guilty of an act of duplicity. You might have saved yourself the trouble of explaining.” • “Exactly, sir, exactly!” cried P'-elnitz. to j delighted at being thus sat upon, since it seemed to augur well for his friend. "That’s just what I found out when I mentioned the matter to him. Why, he wanfrd to whip me! 'So I came on my own hook, and there wiy he a lively cure utt»v— -It a Then guarding, against further mistakes, and nailing his -inis like a true lawyer. Poelnitz plead the .cause of liis uncon scious client, with eloquence enough to have carried his case with any men in the country’. The old ;,?an sat throughout, with liis uncompromising expression of counte nance set up as a shield, and never by- look or motion was anything but politely attentive, till Poelnitz began relating how Charles had refused to accept as sistance, either in the shape of money •c r influence, even from his closest friends. At this poiift Dr. Hay-den looked the lawyer straight in the eyes, and followed “I’m afraid I don’t need your style.” narrative more closely thereafter, said the man. i*ot unkindly; "I'm looking when Poelnitz had finished, the old for a man who can truck flour and side maa asked a number of questions about meat.” his sou , a u of which were triumphantly | "I can do that.” replied Hayden prompt- answered by the lawyer, till the doctor swept on. “Is it—" she began, hesitating- I burst forth Carmen, tremulously, “and ly. and then broke off. ’.Jack, how did j - v ' u —and, oil, 1 said— you recognize me?’- she said eestatical- witlKlre w her arm in a frightened ly. "Do you think I couldn’t tell you in wai l ' !at arrested the notice of the dull a thousand—ten thousand, 1 mean 0 ” he tv| Valiei. replied, with a >ave of his hand at the .'V', 0 * s ;i ° a-'-lrcd pointedly. 4i lrn „ n . rj, , , . . » Lord l«ram*is saw tnat tin- game was °' ‘ ' - 1 Shed a iovous l.-ms-h "I ' ijj,—and he had not seen her face! Ho bowed. "A gentleman live you the slight- of the Grand Monarqu*-, illy, “and one who is ae secrets, madam”—lie b< uu the person .” said he, t iv- tomed to court d to Gladys. “That's the worst of these charity af- I fairs,” said the cavalier, as Lord Fran- , els' form receded. All sorts of bounders get in. But Carmen was looking after the Gen tleman of the Court of le Roi Soleil. How Some of Our Headers Can Make Monev. as it was a well-known fact that lie had been dissipating, it was no wonder that 1 his services wi re nowhere needed. Per- | haps thorn Was much against liis chances 1 in the coid elegance of his manner. It was with very- little hope, therefore, that thought I should puzzle you, you know. Jack, because T didn't est hint what 1 was going as. did I? And auntie said you'd never find out, and — But I am so glad you did. I’ve been trying to make out which was you for ever so long.” I-ord Francis seated himself comfort ably. “And now, how have you done it?” he asked. ”Oh, well, your ring, you know. Jack-- the puzzle ring. ‘I hat wag pretty smart of me, wasn' it?” “Wonderful perspicacity!” said Lord having read of the success of some of 1 J lu c-u u your readers selling Dish-washers, I have l- raneis with a glance at his hand. . tried the work with wonderful success. I “And you’ve been trying to disguise have not made less than $9.00 any day- your voice,” the gray domino went on for t5|f ’ Iast months. The Mound City triumphantly. “It’s a very good imita’ 'Dish-washer gives good satisfaction and f —. ir,,.*-. hnt . ., , every- family wants one. a lady can “I’m so glad,” he decJa^f A" wash and dry the dishes w-ithout re- I'd deceive you into taking mo for some, in IfPfT llfir. Jtiot es.apfLcwn, do, ,ffy*. work one else ” 1 chine from the Mound City- Dish-washer , ,, 0 , Co., of St. Louis, Mo. I used it to take Oh, no. She shook her head mor- j orders and sold 12 Dish-washers the hi st twelve j rily, rocking herself to and fro, with her day. The Mound City- Dish-washer Co. ! hands clasped about one knee. “And so ! will start you. Write them for particu sa id: "And does Charles seem disposed to save anything from his salary? You know. Mr. Poelnitz. one of his greatest faults—and one that will ruin any man is his spendthrift habit. Sir, I never knew that boy to keep a cent in hts pocket, when he could get anybody to situation, breath: “Go home, Nell, you are making a spectacle of yourself; and never-never— speak to me again!’’ "1 can’t go till my car comes.” she said deliberately, “and I expect .vou to help me on it." “You'll he disappointed,” sullenly, “fo r I’m going in here,” and he turned toward the. liar to escape her. "Well, if yo do. you’ll have to set ’em up." sir- whispered, in a hysterical little voice, “for I’m going with you." She was light at his side, and lie look ed down into her eyes to see if she were telling the truth. “Lord, he might have known the little dickens by- this time!” The bell rang sharply for the crossing if Tom ever went about huntin’ a job—” And the memory of another boy who- had gone astray- impelled him to call this one back and engage him on the spot. JJfllie went to Poelnitz with crimson cheeks and a choking voice. “It’s a shame, Mr. Poelnitz. it’s a burn ing shame!” she cried. "If lie had only lt is broad enough for alt tiie 1 p a p a use liis influence for him, or you, -as high as heaven—and so deep or somebody, he could have got a good and Hayden turned and escorted her to occur to her - tlie car. As he helped her on, she said wnrningly: "You’d better come to see ire. Charley’ if you know when you are well off.” "Poor little thing, she never did have any sense,” he commented, as the car "Come here to me, Charley!" she ex claimed. “Oh, come closer; I'm not go ing to bite you! There, that’ll do. Now, put your hands behind you and keep them there.” Then she put her arms around hi s nock far enough to clasp her of moved off; but he passed his companions j Augers tightly on the hack of his col at the corner, and walked toward the lar - morning sun. Hayden|evldentl.v didn't know when lie was well off. for he failed to call on Nell. And the weeks passed by. The certainty that she would approach and' speak to him under any circuni- "Now, Charley, I don’t want you to talk back at me; just shake your head this way, or that way, when you mean ‘Yes,’ or ’No.’ Stop your foolishness! You dont’ need any’ practice—I’m afraid you’ll but me at that rate. Firstly: gingerbread excrescences about the mas sive plainness of the wall'.--; landscape gardeners cut up tiie broad gre n lawn into numberless little flower beds and borders: the whole place seemed snd- <jjn.lv abloom with ftov.er urns and g> P h > stances made him keep his wits about D’ s highly improper for me to be sland- flllR FREE TRIAL OFFER. and the saloon sa w him seldom ing here with my arms around your neck. ■■■■■» very. But he spent all his time now. in- isn’t it?” He shook liis head violently stead of half of it. at the card table; j from side to side. and. unnerved by’ his unwonted abstinence “Yes. it is; you know it is. (iou, from drink, played losingly, almost in- | Charley! I’m surprised at you; I told variably. jyou lo keep them behind you). Secondly; His lucky earnings of months before ! There s more than apt to be a dozen soon gave out; and one day, as the last psople on that next car. (Qui-i-t!) And these people will ride up to within ten steps of us”—a nod of assent—“and if they see me this way, they’ll talk about OUR FREE TRIAL UITtK. jjMaL «Hilp w Mil «M. M««H_Ar™ B-0r»w«r >t9.00. ___ mm Mil (hi. High arm o- FOR $7.75 onp ■MkiKWH*h •» dollar was lost, he flung the cards from hipi. and left the room. Once in the open air, he swung on the first car that passed, eager to be carried me over town.” Another nod. “Well, at home. in the middle of August Hayden pro- qured, through his own efforts, a respon sible place with an insurance company. His reform had been a seven days’ bonder fn-the town, and when he had fully demonstrated that lie was in earn est, there was a sort of good-hearted impulse toward Tiiih generally’. And I fay den found, as many a returning prod igal does, that even society has warm hearts and ready hands, • willing to help a fallen fellow to his feet again. Pleas ant contact with his former associates, restored him to his hopeful self; but the discipline of his misfortunes, and his es trangement from his father, made him a grave and thoughtful man. Frank Poelnitz was sore troubled, and he wished in his heart he had never promised Nellie. “But what,” he mus ed. "is a fellow to do when a pretty girl comes to bis office and sits with her lit tle hands clasped on the corner of his desk, looking at him with such grave, sweet eyes, and tells him she has come to him for help? Nothing in the world hut promise anything and everything she wants. What a wonderful insight into charactir tTat girl had! It must have ■wnN.Hc> -g-zz..--- -|l»*r-„in j --‘— ! —anywhere. AVhen the car stopped 7 m >' fine fe,,ow ’ rve « ot a regular | been entirely' intuitive, for what could .rideither'h*gh grad. m*hin« ei .(.teni.hlngiy lo- | m( , es from the city, for the reversal of Chinese grip on you. and I’m going to , such an innocent, childlike thing know prim*. m rmr ‘VJT'f'riii'sil'ntin trolley, he stepped off and walked i swing onto your collar till it thunders, of the world?” He remembered the scene W»t«Tri!l out »nd r.tnrn tbt* •<!• onr aimlessly fbrward into an overgrown | audience or no audience, till you make in his office that morning in every de- ew j neglected park. Here at last was a place a solemn promise.” : tail His old bald-headed partner in the ^MlSbedwUi be Iient by niMLpoetKjd^Dont^njr. I where a jnan mi g ht be miserable all by He had been laughing like a boy, and dim perspective, buried behind a news- AddrrBB. • himself, with no one to see-no one to ! behaving like one, too. but at her last paper, and he and Miss Nellie having SEARS ROEBUCK A CO., CHICAOO, ILL* , pity—thank heaven for that! j words his face grew suddenly serious. such a cosy chat in the near foreground. Poelnitz would have given money to have “objected” vigorously, but the old man had the low on hint; so he had the humiliation of having to give the dam aging testimony’ that Charles hadn’t learned to save. The two men were sileut for a while, and then the older said: “If I understand you. Mr. Poelnitz. you have made me this visit in order to induce me to restore to my son the right to inherfT-^y property. Am I mis taken?” “I hoped more than that,” replied the other with failing self-confidence, “I hoped and believed, that if all were told, you and he might be friends again.” The doctor drew his hand across his brow, and answered evasively. “It takes more than three months to reform a man, Mr. Poelnitz. I believe that Charles has made a beginning. It seems from all you tell me he has done much Tietter—been more of a man—since he and I parted company. Then does It not stand to reason that the best thing to be done for him is to let him alone?" If Poelnitz had possessed the cheek he got the credit for, he would have argued "home influence” anj "parental care," but lie could not just then command his stock of assurance, so he rose to go, feel ing badly defeated. "Mr. Poelnitz,” said the other, and he looked tired and old as He opened the door for liis guest,("I hope you will prove as good a lawyer as you have a friend. And. believe me, I do appreciate your in terest in my son, and thank you for it.” When Charles Hay-den went to his room that night he found a letter lying in the center table. The bold characters of the address were quite familiar to him, and reminded him, somehow, of his own handwriting. Instead of opening the en velope at once, he stared at it for some moments and wondered what it contained. Ever since he had chosen the better way, he had looked and fr-nged for this letter, and now it was at hand. Then he tore it open in an agony of hope and read: Mr. Charles W. Hayden, Jr.—Charles: I am pleased to hear of your new start in life, and am willing to say to you that I will forget the past provided you follow my suggestion in regard to another and almost equally grave mistake or yours. Allow me to remind you that no gentleman has the right to bring dis- y-011 needn’t keep up the deception.” She j looked at him closely through the eyes of the mask, anil Lord Francis gazed back. He was sure that beauty was la- , tent here; lie could have told it from the ■ voice alone. The situation wag piquant. "Well?” he ventured at last. “Do j’ou know, Jack, you are looking j splendid—really quite distinguished. What i made you think of—? I suppose it's the : court dress. I didn't know that you could he so—” ! "So what?” he asked, as she paused. ‘‘Oil. nothing.” she replied, with a little j laugh. "And now what do you think of ! me?” “You. my- dear girl, are adorable, as , always,” he said, feeling that the inti- j macy thus discovered between them jus- ! titled the remark. “Jack, you are in an odd mood to- 1 night. I can’t make you out,” she said, j hesitatingly. “It's the intoxication of the ball, and ! the company,” he explained, lightly. 1 "But, come, am I to have no reward? ’ "Reward?” slic asked, with an as sumption of indifference. “Yes, now that I have found you.” He put out a hand tentatively, but Carmen withdrew quickly. “Jack, I’ll—I'll never forgive you,” she said, hotly. “I assure you I wasn t.— he began. “I only thought perhaps 1 might be priv ileged to obtain a dance or—” She looked away- toward the dancers. “But I don't say you may not perhaps do what I promised,” she said hesitating ly-. “only auntie—” “Oh, let’s get rid of auntie. Let’s lose her at the doors,” suggested Lord I- raneis quickly. She laughed. “You are rude. T don t know what's come to you.” What had she promised to do? "Only-, of course, only If what T said happens, you know,” she ended, meaningly. Oh, what, thought Lord Francis, had she said was to hap pen? “I shall take very good care it does happen,” he said, emphatically. “Oh. Jack, how dare you say such things?” she flashed suddenly. Oh, he was sure of her beauty. But what had he done? “I will go straight back to auntie,” and her eyes turned toward a thin wom an in the full costume of Queen Eliza beth. who was advancing. So that was auntie. "Please don’t,” he pleaded. "Give me another chance. I simply loae my head talking to you.” "Here's aunties,” said Carmen, evasive ly, as Queen Elizabeth sailed majestical ly up and came to a pause. Carmen rose. Lord Francis heard a whisper. “Who's that, Gtadj’s?” He made a profound bow. “A gentle man of the court of le Roi Soleil, your majesty,” said he. Queen Elizabeth curtsied, and engaged her niece in a penetrating whisper. “You’ve been talking here about half an nour,” she said, “and, Gladys, I’ve found Mr. Prince.” Gladys' pleasant laughter tinkled in his ears. "Oh, how clever of you, auntie! Have you, really?” “Yes, and he’s looking out for you. I told him where you were.” Gray domino laughed merrily, and her eyes, through the mask, beamed and lai s. Ladies can do as well as men. JOHN F. M. Florida Fruit Tablets credit upon his birth by choosing for his I gleamed on Lord Francis. “Isn’t that ex- a-sso-ciates those who are not his peers, I cedent news, sir?” she demanded. “Did and no man has the right to give himself j you hear?” to the society of such as may be unfit “I am desolated,” he murmured. “But companions in the strait and narrow \ ay. I am very much displeased by iyour in- I will do my best to prevent the tragedy.” " Gladys clapped her hands; she was palpably excited. "There, auntie! Yo" <SN PR,CE fyiL 25 * riAOC RCCiSlERtO FOR CONSTIPATION LIVER. STOMACH. BOWELS AND BLOOD _ Eclipse medicine CO. ATLANTA. CA They are wholly and purely the product of the laxative juices of Florida fruits and vegetables. 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