THE PROVING OF LOVE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 17, 13 February 1909, Page 4

THE PROVING OF LOVE.

The man who had the day before been Dudley Arkwright grovelled in his misery. To-day he was .No. 481)1, a despised thing, a convict iu the. State's prison. Smeared with the taint of a confessed crime, coward iu honesty ami trust, false to manhood and probity, he had been taken from the world of honorable men and women to expiate his sin through live lung, weary years to come. ' Nor was this all; back there in the huge, | pulsing city was a girl who had given 1 her heart into his keeping, believing him to be i-a truth what she saw on the surface. Therein lay his greater crime. The perspiration drcened from his brow, his facial muscles twitched in convulsive agony, and his lingers clenched and relaxed from the passion of his reniorse. "Cod! If 1 could only have died!" lie cried. "1 was a coward, a despicable thing, that 1 did not blow out my brains. My life, my existence, dead to all the rest of the world in these prison walls, must ever be a reproach to you, Catherine; This, vour lover, is not a man;, he is Convict Xo. 481)1." and he sprawled on the pallet of the cell as thick, greil sobs tumbled from his throat, cam laden with its message of intense misery and self-asserted damnation.

The life of Dudley Arkwright had given ;proniise of great accomplishments. ■At the age of thirty he was cashier of one of the largest banks in the city. He did not have the excuse of an inadequate salary nor of expensive vices for the crime he did. It was soulless lust for a sudden harvest of the golden lleece. He sought a short cut from n salary of thousands lo an income of hundreds of thousands, and in the seeking he fell. I A commonplace story: except for the fact that the bank concerned was prominent, his case would have excited no great interest. Hut it was tile strongbox for almost millions enough to make that incomprehensible sum, a billion of dollars.

Catherine -Armstrong was a woman created for a purpose. By this is not meant that she was a reformer with a mission—she was nothing of the sort, but she had strength ami character underlying her femininity that gave inspiration to men and gained for her the love of women without envy. She was secretary to the head of a big corporation, with a salary that would make most men gasp and all women incredulous, and she owed her prosperity to tact and silence. Arkwright had come into her lid- three years before, and from the first she had believed ill 'him, and, what is far more important, had made hi in believe in himself. ■ -sin- knew In- was in love with her long before he did, for a woman can sic into the depths while a man is idly ■watching the ripples above. When Ark■Wright impetuously declared his love and'asked her to be his wife she had accepted, awl for the six months previous to his arrest had lived deep in the joys of her engagement. The man had lied well. • Catherine thought he hail a few thousands to his credit in the bank, and believed lie would make no important venture without consulting I her. She did not hunger for great riches.; the things that give creature comfort and love—these two were all she prayed for, for together they spell happiness. During the preliminary trial he had heard no word of her or from her. I'crhaps it was the sense of his loss of her that prompted him to plead guilty and accept whatever leniency the court would grant. To-morrow he would march with other prisoners to the workshops, where for live years he would serve the State. -He would bcNo.'-IMM to-morrow. This night he was a soul in travail for his sin. and his repentance seemed too late, lie knew that great love ofttimes forgives great faults, but he could not conceive Catherine conduitin" his crime. Honor was *r line point, i/a wav her religion. She was the sort of woman who would give her own oll''sprimr. if he stained his honor, a weapon and bid him. "Son. pay for your sin.' - Two vears of the allotted live had passed; No. -18111 bad been relieved from luminal labor in the shops and given a place ill the ollice. He was pallid and listless, livbg with the monotony of L-oinptil.sorv routine, apparently indifferent to' the passing of time which brought nearer the hour of his release. The,warden had occasion to attend a conference in the city one day, and was .surprised to receive au unsigned note slating that the writer would call at a designated, time and asking that lie be in lie kept the appointment, and the visitor proved to be a woman. It was Catherine. The warden of the penitentiary was not a prison-keeper, lie was a man of much heart, who had sought the ollice not because of the salary, which he did not need, but to solve for himself the problem of rescuing unI hardened criminals from the despoml- • enev and sense of everlasting disgrace | which sent them back to become full•Jled"ed citizens of the underworld of crime. Catherine knew this, and was, therefore, unafraid. "Warden, what I say is in confidence. I tell you this before I say what I come for, because I am told you are always ready to counsel and comfort. There is a mini in vour institution to whom I was engaged to he married. When his ■crime was discovered I expected the shock to kill me. I Imped it would. 1 believed in him almost as it religieuse believes in f!od; so von can understand the terviblcncss of the revelation of his dishonor. 1. loved Win as one woman loves one man in her lifetime—and sometimes I think I love him vet. It U because of that that I am here" and she paused as the tears, driven "lit by her sorrow, trickled from her eyes. . "Hut I am not sure. That is the agony of it —T am not sure. I want you to let'me know if anything happens to him, 1 but under no circumstances let him deceiver thai 1 have asked you. When the dav comes that I know my heart T will w'rite him. I'nlil thai day it is better he should think of me as lost to him: love niav not triumph, and the pain would be needlessly given. His name is Dudley Arkwright. and liebut Catherine's strength was«spent mid her "lief found relief in sobbing. "1 know him " said the warden tenderly. ''l have thought he had a sorrow hidden. This. I presume, is it. My dear coung linlv. I will do as you wi-o and wherever you think you will find happine-s. may' (iod grant it you." and the man soothed (he stricken girl with ( words of comfort and cheer. For good behaviour a prisoner is allowed a reduction of his lime of service, and \'o 4S!U earned all that thf regulations allowed. In three days he was to be released, and he vaguely wondered what he should do. where he would go. Of Catherine, he had heard nothing: In-' friends in the city had not communicated with him: there was no one Jo whom he could turn for assistance. He knew the warden would, on his day of release, provide liim. with a suit of clothes, a ticket lo the city, and a small sum in money. These were his only resources.

"No. -IStll. you become Dudley Arkwrighl to-ilav'. I have given you. as ■F have'been instructed, a suit of .lollies, somewhat belter than is provided by the •Slate, also 111(1 dollars in money, and this letter to a lumber company in 'Everett, Wn.. where you will be given employment," said the wardeu the morning of his freedom. I "Yes," said Arkwriglil, not. fully yoinprehending. ''.May 1 ask who?" i "A friend. Arkwriglil. you are a very lucky man. Thai's all," and the warden took him to the door that had separated him from the world. On the trip west Arkwriglil | lereil long as lo the identity of his benefactor. Numerous names were weighed and eas's out as unlikely, 'lie was still in the dark when he entered the olliee of the general manager of the lumber coinpan v. i "T know your story, Arkwriglil, but none of the other employees do. Make good and vou. will get back all yon have iosl. Here's my band and good luck to vou." said the' official, cordially, even friendly.

1 "I can't begin to thank you, I—" began Arkwriglit,

"Of course, you can't," the manager interrupted. "Tin- person you're looking for to thank is in the 'next room; go in," mid he half pushed him through .the door.

; The oilice was darkened and tho shadows fell deep. Arkwright could see uo one.

"I—all—beg your pardon," lie begau, tentatively. Frum a corner he saw a figure arise, a woman's. She walked slowly forward until the light seeping through the curI tamed window disclosed her features. Arkwrighl recoiled when lie saw her. , "Catherine!'' lie cried.

"Yes, Dudley," she .said, and her voice was Jow and tender.

"Vou have done this for me? Why, Catherine, whyV"

iShc. came nearer to him. Her bunds were on his shoulder, and, as his arms went about her, they slipped around his nock and were interlaced at the back. "For love, Dudley, love?'