King Midas: A Romance | Page 9

of his parentage,
and the fact that it was known to all served to keep him aloof from the
other children of the town, and to drive him still more to the confidence
of Helen. One of the phrases which Mr. Davis had caught from the
mother's lips had been that the boy was a "gentleman's son;" and Helen
was wont to solace him by that reminder. Perhaps the phrase,
constantly repeated, had much to do with the proud sensitiveness and
the resolute independence which soon manifested itself in the lad's
character. He had scarcely passed the age of twelve before, tho treated
by Mr. Davis with the love and kindness of a father, he astonished the
good man by declaring that he was old enough to take care of himself;
and tho Mr. Davis was better situated financially by that time, nothing
that he could say could alter the boy's quiet determination to leave
school and be independent, a resolution in which he was seconded by
Helen, a little miss of some nine years. The two children had talked it
over for months, as it appeared, and concluded that it was best to
sacrifice in the cause of honor the privilege of going to school together,
and of spending the long holidays roaming about the country.
So the lad had served with childish dignity, first as an errand boy, and
then as a store clerk, always contributing his mite of "board" to Mr.
Davis' household expenses; meanwhile, possibly because he was really
"a gentleman's son," and had inherited a taste for study, he had made by
himself about as much progress as if he had been at school. Some years
later, to the delight of Helen and Mr. Davis, he had carried off a prize
scholarship above the heads of the graduates of the Hilltown High
School, and still refusing all help, had gone away to college, to support
himself there while studying by such work as he could find, knowing
well that a true gentleman's son is ashamed of nothing honest.

He spent his vacations at home, where he and Helen studied
together,--or such rather had been his hope; it was realized only for the
first year.
Helen had an aunt upon her mother's side, a woman of wealth and
social position, who owned a large country home near Oakdale, and
who was by no means inclined to view with the complacency of Mr.
Davis the idyllic friendship of the two young people. Mrs. Roberts, or
"Aunt Polly" as she was known to the family, had plans of her own
concerning the future of the beauty which she saw unfolding itself at
the Oakdale parsonage. She said nothing to Mr. Davis, for he, being
busy with theological works and charitable organizations, was not
considered a man from whom one might hope for proper ideas about
life. But with her own more practical husband she had frequently
discussed the danger, and the possible methods of warding it off.
To send Helen to a boarding school would have been of no use, for the
vacations were the times of danger; so it was that the trip abroad was
finally decided upon. Aunt Polly, having traveled herself, had a
wholesome regard for German culture, believing that music and things
of that sort were paying investments. It chanced, also, that her own
eldest daughter, who was a year older than Helen, was about through
with all that American teachers had to impart; and so after much
argument with Mr. Davis, it was finally arranged that she and Helen
should study in Germany together. Just when poor Arthur was
returning home with the sublime title of junior, his dream of all things
divine was carried off by Aunt Polly, and after a summer spent in
"doing" Europe, was installed in a girl's school in Leipzig.
And now, three years having passed, Helen has left her cousin for
another year of travel, and returned home in all the glory of her own
springtime and of Nature's; which brings us to where we left her,
hurrying away to pay a duty call in the little settlement on the hillside.
The visit had not been entirely a subterfuge, for Helen's father had
mentioned to her that the elderly person whom she had named to
Arthur was expecting to see her when she returned, and Helen had been
troubled by the thought that she would never have any peace until she
had paid that visit. It was by no means an agreeable one, for old Mrs.
Woodward was exceedingly dull, and Helen felt that she was called
upon to make war upon dullness. However, it had occurred to her to get

her task out of the way at once, while she felt that she ought to leave
Arthur.
The