by MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN " The Debtor," "A Humble Romance," "The Heart's Highway," "Pembroke," Etc. Illustrated in Water-Colors by FRANK T. MERRILL Copyright, 1906, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman H.L. MOORE SPECIAL EDITION, For Sale exclusively by us in Rahway, N.J. NEW YORK AND LONDON THE AUTHORS AND NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION 1906 COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN. Entered at Stationers' Hall. All rights reserved . Composition and Electrotyping by J.J. Little & Co. Printed and boun

"These quick-lunch wagons are a mighty good idea," said he. The man grunted and took a swallow of coffee. "Where do you work?" asked James. "None of your d—— business!" retorted the other man unexpectedly. "Where do you work yourself?" James stared at him, then he burst into a roar. For a second the man's surly mouth did not budge, then the corners twitched a little. "What in thunder are you mad about?" inquired James. "I am going to work for Doctor Gordon in Alton, and I don't care a d—— where

"Bones are improved by use," said Clemency severely, as she took her seat at the dinner-table. They all laughed. The girl herself relaxed her pretty face with a whimsical smile. It was quite evident that Clemency was the spoiled and petted darling of the house, and that she traded innocently upon the fact. The young doctor, although his first impression of the elder woman was still upon him, yet realized the charm of the young girl. The older woman was, as it were, crowned with an aureole of per

Gordon looked laughingly at James when the man had gone. "I infer that you are wondering what 'aqua' may be," he said. "I was brought up to think it was water," said James. "So it is, water pure and simple, with a little coloring matter thrown in. Bless you, boy, the people around here want their medicines by the quart, and if they had them by the quart, good-by to the doctor's job, and ho for the undertaker! So the doctor is obliged to impose upon the credulity of the avariciously innocent, and

"She defies her sex," replied Doctor Gordon, "and still there is nothing mannish about her. She is a woman angry and ashamed at her womanhood. If she ever marries, it will be at the cost of a terrible mental struggle. There are women-haters among men, and there are a very few—so few as to rank with albinos and white blackbirds in scarcity—man-haters among women. Annie is a man-hater." "She is very pretty, too," said James. "If you attempt the conquest, I'll warn you there will be scaling ladders

"I had the gray mare, and she balked about half a mile from here. You are sure you are not hurt?" "No, only I am trying hard not to faint. Let us walk on very fast, but step softly, and don't talk." James put his arm around the girl and half carried her. She continued to draw short, panting breaths, which she tried to subdue. They reached the place where the gray mare loomed faintly out of the gloom with the dark mass of the buggy behind her. "Let us get in," whispered Clemency. "Quick!" "I am a

"Boy, I am about at the finish!" he groaned out. "Now, see here, Doctor Gordon, can't I be of some assistance if you were to tell me?" asked James. He passed his hand under the older man's arm, and helped him through a snowdrift as if he had been his father. A great compassion filled his heart. But Gordon only groaned out a great sigh. "No," he said. "Secrecy is the one shield I have. I don't say weapon, but shield. In these latter days we try to content ourselves with shields; and secrecy is th

"Make it eighty-five," said Gordon. "Couldn't think of it." "I don't know as I want the horse anyway," said Gordon. "I'll call it eighty-seven and a half," said the little red-haired man. Gordon stood still for a moment. Then he pulled out his wallet. "Eighty-six and call it square," he said. "All right," said the red-haired man. "It's a-givin' of him away, but I'm so darned tired of trampin' the country with him, that I'll call it eighty-six, and it's the biggest bargain you ever got in your li

"Dogs know me pooty well," said the man. "They ain't no particler likin' for me. Don't want to run and jump an' wag, but they know I mean well, and they mostly let me alone." "Yes, I guess that's so," said Gordon. "Jack would have barked if he had not known you were all right, Joe." "Queer how much they know," said the man reflectively, and a dazed look overspread his dingy face with its cloud of beard. If once he became launched upon a current of reflection, he lost his mental bearings instantl

"No, I don't think so," replied Gordon, as if in answer to an unspoken question, as James, having complied with his request, drew near with the basin of fresh water. "Was it the dog?" asked James in a low voice. "Yes, the fool came round to the office door, and—" Gordon stopped with a miserable sigh which was almost a groan, and dipped the cloth in the basin. "How did you get him off?" asked James. "I had the whip, and Aaron came in just then with that damned mare. She had balked. I don't think

"He always paid me regular, and he ain't been to meals or to home nights two-thirds of the time." Gordon said nothing. "You mean if my other boarders went, and the room had to be done over, he ain't got money enough to make it good?" Gordon said nothing. The woman fidgeted. "Well," said she, "if there's any doubt of it, mebbe he is better off here." Suddenly she gave a suspicious glance at Gordon. "Say," said she, "the room here will have to be done over. Who's goin' to pay for that?" "The room

"She told me some time ago that she was ill," James said pityingly. "Ill? She has been upon the executioner's block for years. It is not illness; that is too tame a word for it. It is torture, prolonged as only the evil forces of Nature herself can prolong it." Gordon rose and shook himself angrily. "I am keeping her now almost constantly under morphine," he said. "She has suffered more lately. The attacks have been more frequent. There has never been the slightest possibility of a surgical oper

"You have no hope, then?" James said in a low voice. "I have had no more from the outset than if she had been already dead," said Gordon. James said nothing. An enormous pity for the other man was within him. He thought of Clemency, and he seemed to undergo the same pangs. He felt such a terrible understanding of the other's suffering that it passed the bounds of sympathy. It became almost experience. His young face took on the same expression of dull misery as Gordon's. Presently Gordon glanced

There was a murmur of assent. James read the article from beginning to end. "I suppose it is news to you," he said, when he had finished. He looked at them all with a superior air. He looked older and more manly than when he had first come in their midst. He was older and more manly, and he was superior. The men recognized it, not sullenly nor defiantly, but with the unquestioning attitude of the New Jerseyman when he is really below the scale in birth and education. Still their faces all expres

"I did not go because I was quite sure that she did not wish it. She had been very curt with me, and had shown me unmistakably that my attentions were not welcome." "And you don't know why? There had been no quarrel?" "Not the slightest. I have not the faintest idea what the trouble is or was, and why she wishes to break the engagement. All I know is that as suddenly as a weather vane turns from west to north, she turned, and seemed to have no more use for me." "Queer," Gordon said reflectively.

James was silent for a moment. He realized the impossibility of clearing himself from the accusation unless he told the whole truth and implicated Doctor Gordon. Finally he said, miserably enough, "You don't know how horribly she was suffering, dear. You don't know what torments she would have had to suffer." He knew when he said that that he incriminated himself. Clemency retorted immediately, "You don't know. I have heard Uncle Tom say that nobody can ever know. She might have gotten well. Any

"It's awful queer how men folks can be imposed on," said Emma. "That has nothing to do with it," Clemency said. "You must treat Doctor Elliot respectfully, Emma." "I'm jest as good as he be," said Emma resentfully. "Well, what if you are? He's as good as you, isn't he? And he treats you civilly. He always has." "I'm a good deal better than he be," Emma went on irascibly. "I wouldn't have gone and went, and—" "Hush!" ordered Clemency in a frightened voice. "Emma, you must do as I say." James drov