Part 4 (2/2)

Suddenly a fear transfixed him: suppose that this woman, from whom he could not hide the truth, should tell his son what he had done Bob would believe her Could he, Isaac Worthington, humble his pride and ask her to keep her suspicions to herself? He would then be acknowledging that they were more than suspicions If he did so, he would have to appear to forgive her in spite of what she had said to hi hoed his e? There world be the reason, and again Bob would believe her And again, if he withdrew his consent, there was Jethro to reckon with Jethro h he could not iton sat there, thinking, it grew clear, to him at last that there was but one exit out of a, very desperate situation

He glanced at Cynthia again, this tily She had dried her eyes, but she made no effort to speak After all, she would ht of Sarah Hollingsworth She had been a good woman, but there had been many times when he had deplored--especially in his travels the lack of other qualities in his wife Cynthia, he thought, had these qualities,--so necessary for the wife of one ould succeed to power--though whence she had got theine She would becoe; she was a woman of who completed these reflections, he broke the silence

”I a such a thing as you have expressed, Cynthia,” he said, ”but I believe that I can understand sos which proainstthat has happened It is perhaps natural, too, that I should lose et it And I trust that in the future we shall grow into the mutual respect and affection which our nearer relationshi+p will demand”

He rose, and took up his hat, and Cynthia rose too There was soe and expression as she stood in front of him

”There is my hand,” he said,--”will you take it?”

”I will take it,” Cynthia answered, ”because you are Bob's father”

And then Mr Worthington went away

CHAPTER XX

I am able to cite one notable instance, at least, to disprove the saying a part of which is written above, and I have yet to hear of a case in which a gentlele instant on account of the first letter of a lady's last name I know, indeed, of an occasion when locoh, when thirtymain who sat by the openof a train that crept northward on a certain hazy Septe up the beautiful valley of a broad river which we know

It was after three o'clock before he caught sight of the familiar crest of Farewell Mountain, and the train ran into Harwich How glad he was to see everybody there, whether he knew the the conductor of the Truro accommodation; who, needless to say, did not ask hi ineer and the fireine himself as far as Bra taken soes at a speed a little beyond the law The engineer was richer by five dollars, and the son of a railroad president is a privileged character, anyway

Yes, here was Brampton, and in spite of the haze the sun had never shone so brightly on the terraced steeple of the ine had stopped, and beamed upon everybody on the platform,--even upon Mr Dodd, who chanced to be there In a twinkling the younghis horse down Brawould be a better word Here are the irone door and leaps out, and the door is ales by the h the hall, and into the library, where the first citizen and his seneschal are sitting

hello, Father, you see I didn't waste any tirip that ton wince ”Well, you are a truuess, and do things we're sorry for,--but that's all over now, isn't it? I'ht have known you'd coirl Cynthia was Did you ever see anybody like her?”

Mr Flint turned his back, and started to walk out of the roo Mr Flint's hand, too ”I can't stay but a ht, Bob,” answered Mr Flint, with a curious, kindly look in his eyes that was not often there ”I'o to the bank”

”Well, Father,” said Bob, ”schoolI just thought I'd stop in to--to thank you, and get a benediction”

I aton, and it was true It would have been strange indeed if soleam of pride in his eye as he looked upon his son

”So you saw her, and couldn't resist her,” said Bob ”Wasn't that how it happened?”

Mr Worthington sat down again at the desk, and his hand began to stray a of Mr Flint's exit

”I do not arrive at my decisions quite in that way, Robert,” he answered

”But you have seen her?”

”Yes, I have seen her”

There was a hesitation, an uneasiness in his father's tone for which Bob could not account, and which he attributed to euess that this hour of supreton another sensation

”Isn't she the finest girl in the world?” he demanded ”How does she seem? How does she look?”

”She looks extreton, who had now schooled his voice ”In fact, I am quite ready to admit that Cynthia Wetherell possesses the qualifications necessary for your wife If she had not, I should never have written you”

Bob walked to the

”Father;” he said, speaking with a little difficulty, ”I can't tell you howround I wanted to do the right thing, but I just couldn't give up such a girl as that”

”We shall let bygones be bygones, Robert,” answered Mr Worthington, clearing his throat

”She never would havesuddenly, ”did she say she'd havehis throat again, ”I believe she reserved her decision”

”I oes to Coniston on Fridays I'll drive her out Good-by, Father”

He flew out of the roo on the cheek, and astonished evenher to tell Silas to drive his black horses to Gabriel Post's house--as the cottage was still known in Bra hastily removed some of the cinders, he flew out of the door and reached the park-like space in the middle of Brampton Street Then he tried to walk decorously, but it was hard work What if she should not be in?

The door and s of the little house were open that bal the flohich Cynthia had planted on either side of the step Bob went up the path, and caught a gli rooe, and she did not see hie of the reader who has known her so long by trying to tell what she looked like? Sorow thin and worn by the troubles which they are forced to go through Cynthia was not this kind of a heroine She was neither tall nor short, and the dark blue gohich she wore set off (so Bob thought) the curves of her figure to perfection Her face had becorave--yes, and more noble; and the eyes and mouth had an indescribable, womanly sweetness

He stood for ato desecrate that revery, which seemed to him to have a touch of sadness in it And then she turned her head, slowly, and saw him, and her lips parted, and a startled look came into her eyes, but she did not ain, quivering froht of her never failed to unloose within him Still she did not speak, but her lip tre in hers,--a yearning she was powerless to resist He e power have drawn her toward hiiven evidence on that ed the space between them He could not say whether this woman whom he had seized by force before had shown alike vitality in her surrender He only knew that her arms oven about his neck, and that the kiss of which he had dreaain on his lips, and that he felt once ainst his, and her heart beating, and her breast heaving And he knew that the strength of the love in her which he had gained was beyond estiether in ethereal space, breathless with the ht The duration of such ainst hiht feast upon hers until she dropped her lashes and the criain in the refuge she had longed for,-- his naht back to earth, she led hiently to theat the side and looked up at hier

”I was afraid you had been working too hard,” she said

”So you do love me?” was Bob's answer to this reravely, if such a thing may be said of a smile

”Bob, how can you ask?”

”Oh, Cynthia,” he cried, ”if you knehat I have been through, you wouldn't have held out, I know it I began to think I should never have you”

”But you have me now,” she said, and was silent

”Why do you look like that?” he asked

She sain

”I, too, have suffered, Bob,” she said ”And I have thought of you night and day”