An Experiment in Conscience II [Volume: 2, Issue: 5, February, 1896, pp. 261-265]

264

THE AMERICANA JE WESS.

land, perhaps forever, he made a trip
down to the village in which Ellen
lived, to settle up some business affairs which he had with her father,
and was persuaded to spend a few
days with the Nashes before embarking.
The scene on the mountain side was
ever fresh in Ellen's memory and the
moment she saw Giles enter the house
she jumped to the conclusion that
the mystery of her former friend's behavior was on the eve of a solution.
She welcomed him with all the cordiality her dreamy, unenthusiastic
nature possessed. He, in turn, was
surprised to note how pleased he was
to see her. A new sensation had
stolen upon him, it was as unaccountable as it was queer.
After the evening meal when he sat
opposite her in the library she sought
to unravel the skein of gnarled thought
which had puzzled her all the summer. " I met a Miss Van Sant this
summer," she said slowly, gazing at
him intently to note the effect of her
words. "She-"
" And so it has reached even you,"
he interrupted her in despair. " When
a man does his duty I cannot see why
every one should make it so hard for
him. I was engaged to her, but before our marriage I found out that it
was all a mistake, that I did not love
her as I should, and so -I broke off
the match."
It was now Ellen's time to feel a
peculiar sensation of horror creep over
her. She had tried to make a good
man of him. Alas! Too well she
had succeeded. But three months
ago he was a prosperous business
man, to-day he was an adventurer
seeking his fortune in distant lands.

She suddenly conceived the idea that
even this reverse of fortune might be
turned to her account as an investigator.
For the next three days she watched
him as a chemist watches an experiment in one of his test tubes. His
levity was gone. He loved right and
hated wrong. The farmer was no
longer an object of ridicule, but a
being in whose behalf Giles was
strangely interested. He saw the
farmer from an ethical standpoint and
thought that by helping him he could
elevate at least one portion of humanity. He eagerly consented to attend
church with the Nashes Sunday morning, and was as devout a worshiper
as could be found at this shrine of holiness. Ellen marveled much at this
change. He was now attuned to her
touch. The nocturne emitted sounds
which she had desired. But were
they pleasing to her? A hundred
times, no. The very discordant notes
which she had changed were the
notes that had pleased her most
though she knew it not. The sweet
melodies of the nocturne she had always derived from the people about
her, and his difference to them had
been the charm which attracted her
to him. She saw it all.
Vainly did she combat with her
former ideal. She could not understand how right had so plainly been
wrong. She liked him better as he
had been. Why should this be?
At last a logical explanation dawned
upon her, and it came in the words of
Miss Van Sant, " Interferer in the divine workings of nature." She had
made a mistake. God had made this
man, and her attempts to change him
had worked his ruin. What a fool