The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-08-31
CHAPTER XXI.-CoNrINuEp.

eileSs Foe" etc., etc.
CHAPTER XXI.-CoNrrNuEp.
"You see, / had heard the stories
about his infatuation for La June ant
was jealous; but he swore to me thai
her reign was over, that the attraction
which drew him so constantly tc
Nariek's was only the fatal gambler
passion which held him in iron chains.
She had not even aroused that in him
the habit was confirmed one before he
fell into Varick's hands. He told me
himself that he did not believe she
could have saved him; he was beyond
saving | did not believe it. How
could | when he was so gentle and low
ing and yielding when with me? had
fond dreams of his reforming for nv
sake. He lavished gifts upon me,
against my will. it is hard to believe.
is it not, but was not so wise then as |
have grown to be now. He had one
answer for nv circumstances, it was
better to eNpend his money on me than
to let it slip away at the gambling
table. He wanted to place sum in
bank TO my credit. but that l would not
permit. And three weeks afterward he
had lost it all, and in fit of melan-
choly despair at his utter ruin, not
through disappointed love, he put that
pistol to his head and blew out his
brains.
THAT is the true story. Mignon AL
mont was no more responsible for his
death than l was; and he left a note for
me saying that if any woman could have
saved him, surely would. 1 have it
Yet, along with a half-dozen Others. all
| ever had from him. I've wondered
often why | kept them so long; we out
live such sentimental fancies in these
days; but l suppose fate had something
to do with it in reserving them for this
occasion. I'll send nv maid for the
packet and You shall have it before
YOU 60.
Am right in my surmises, and have
played the part of fairy godmother to
you? Better, l dare say, than l should
have the part of step-mamma which l
once expected to take. You never knew
1T, and yet your grandmother might
have told you. went to her, l thought
| had right to mourn for him, too. l
knew how bitter she was against La
June, and went TO set her right; and
instead of mingling her tears with mine,
she turned on me.
You. too" she said. Then
between the two of you. you have be-
reaved me of the dearest son mother
ever had
well, l don't bear her any ill-will.
Il do bear YOU very genuine kind
feelings for your fathers sake, and /
suppose after tonight it won't matter
ito you whether we ever meet again"
What answer he MAJ e. Launt could
never afterward tell. How he made
blank to him. but madame had been as
good as her word. She had slipped
that little packet of letters in his hand
when they parted.
In his own room he read them. and
uhe idol he had worshiped all his life
was crushed. He saw the young father
whom he had been taught to revere in
his true light at last. The man who
had written these letters was weak,
unstable, changeable as the wind. His
best resolutions We're wavering i'm
pulses. 1t was not in him to have a
true or lasting affection for any one.
In one breath he was ready to give up
all the world for his darling Florine; in
the next, there was not charm on
earth for one so bldse as he.
And it was for a man like this that
the happiness of two lives had been
wrecked.
Launt slept none that night. He was
at his grandmother house in the sub
urbs of the city by the time the sun had
well risen in the morning. She came
to him, after an interval, with some
untold anxiety gnawing inwardly, and
he referred briefly to the story he had
heard.
And you knew this was his one
TeFCoach. You knew, and YOU reared
me TO believe him the noblest of men.
most basely betrayed by the woman he |
leved.''
The stern old face. haggard with suf- |
fering. lit with defiant blaze.
And it was true. She lured him |
away first; if she had not treated him |
cruelty he would never have turned to |
that Florine. He never cared for her as
he cared for La June. She was the |
guilty one; she led him, directly or in
directly, TO his doom, to his death Oh, !
Launt, don't quarrel with me because 1
hate her for it. -
She stretched out two trembling, i'm
ploring hands.
What is it you intend to do?" she
asked.
Repair the wrong have done, gain
Dana's forgiveness if can. Pray for
it, grandmother. 1t depends upon her
whether you ever see me again"