Her Martyrdom

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Jim Reynolds, bookkeeper for Waverly Hamilton, contracts tuberculosis, and is warned by his doctor that only a trip west will save his life. Jim is engaged to Dolly Daniels, a stenographer in the same office, to whom Hamilton, the employer, has paid considerable attention. Jim has no money to pay the expenses of his trip, and Dolly determines to ask Hamilton to advance the necessary sum, though she fears that he may demand a sacrifice from her in return. Her desire to save Jim, however, is strong enough for her to risk anything. Hamilton gives Dolly $200. He makes love to her, and she, willing to play the game to save Jim, submits. She is astounded when Hamilton asks her to marry him. To put herself in a position to give Jim more money, she agrees. Her husband is considerate to her in the extreme. He knows that she does not love him, and is willing to wait until she does. He does not suspect her love for Jim. But Hamilton's kindness makes a deep impression upon Dolly, and she finds at length that he has awakened in her heart a love beside which her infatuation for Jim was as nothing. She cannot let Jim know of her marriage. He must be kept in ignorance of anything which might hinder his recovery. She keeps the old apartment in which he lived, so as to receive his letters, and she writes him such letters as he would expect to receive from her. In time, the thought of Jim becomes only a shadow. Then, one day, a letter comes, saying that he is coming home; that he will arrive almost as soon as the letter. Even as she is reading it in the little apartment, he comes in. When she resists his caresses, he, noting her expensive clothes, accuses her of intimacy with Hamilton. Then she tells him that she is Hamilton's wife. Jim, thinking only of himself, accuses her of having tricked him, declares that he will not be left out of her good fortune. He has twenty-five of her letters, written since her marriage. He offers to sell these to her at one thousand dollars each; otherwise he will send them to Hamilton. Dolly is distracted. She considers selling her jewels, but knows that Hamilton would miss them. But the mention of jewelry gives Jim an idea. If she will give him a key to the house, he will come and get them himself and will leave the letters. Dolly is forced to submit. That night, Jim comes to the mansion. Dolly is wide-eyed waiting. Hamilton is asleep. She hears Jim open the safe, and knows that he will soon be gone. Then there is a crash. In leaving, Jim has knocked over a vase. Hamilton wakes and dashes into the hall. At the head of the stairs he meets Jim. The two men lock in a struggle. Jim is armed, and in self-defense, Hamilton hurls him down the stairs. Hamilton has secured the revolver and as Jim, rising, throws a heavy vase at Hamilton, he fires. In the safe, Dolly finds her letters. Hamilton has not recognized Jim, and takes Dolly in his arms, telling her that the man was only a "thief in the night."