The Dillon tribune., 1886-01-02

oS - H.
at is not " bal likeness, is Il, Mr.. .1anie.
son 2"
Turning rould he saw Flora. He bowed
and. d"xtcrousiy avoiding nor preferred
baud, e. " rcnl:el:
You wisiael to see me, madam, and am
here
There was pause. You see they met un-
der he shadow of misunderstanding, and
neither OF hem knew exactly how to begin.
She, of course. deemed herself wronged. At
one time 81" had made up her mind that
she never woul', never could, forgive Curly.
But after all she was woman. She was
alone in the wor.d now for her father had
been dc for some month. Sh, did not
even affec5 to bewa;l him, though in defer
enc, to lie prejudice, of society she wore
mourning She was now free to think and
act for herself. If Curly could only explain
the past, il
Of ali her hopes and fears. Of tn. tcrribls
tria! throu III which she and her lover had
passed. Willie knew nothing. He only knew
that lis friend had been cruelty wronged,
and then, u, he imar med, treacherously
atan one1 10y tn" woman he loved On tho
other hand. it must be remembered that it
was she VINO had mCst reason to think hcr-
self deserted and betrayed. Besides, she
was in total ignorance Of what had occurred
to Curly. CT iudeel what had become of him
since their parting. She hal seen Willie's
name announced at the theatre, and she felt
convinced that it any man knew Curly's
whereabouts Willie Jameson was that man.
She rememl cred, too, the promise Of the
latter on the night of the elopement. Hencs
1t occurrei to her as an inspiration to invite
him to come and see her. He had accepted
her invitation, certainly, but he might ap-
parentlv as we'll have been in Aberdeen, SO
coll md distant did he seem
mir. Jameson" she said, "you once told
lne that should l need a friend, might
rely On you."
II dill hut manv things have happened
since that night. You were then about to
become the wife of the man whom you have
since SO cruelty abandoned"
stop. sir" she said, 'one moment" and
She went rapidly to All escritoire at the
other side OF the room. and taking out the
fatal paper with Curly's signature, she con-
tinued, "tef, re you speak further, perhaps
You had bet ter read this"
Jameson read it. Then he exclaimed:
my Goll Whatdoes it all meanT'
'"That IS tho question l ask myself-by
teay, on my Tended knees. by night, on nv
sleepless pillow-but answer never comes I
thought possibly you might have been able
to explain
II know less, Miss MacAllister, than you
know yourself. After you left Aberdeen
together, l never even heard from him,
until the CAV after last saw you. The
next morning brou ,ht ,ne a message from
him. Al I.Gur later was on nv way to
Dundee, whsrs found him in this infirmary
how, have II It the heart to tell you,"
and he brO.sc down utterly.
1t was ASTONISHING. how calm she remained
till he ha, recovered himself Then he re.
sumed tn! toll her everything which the
reader KNOWS already. IL was her turn
then She Hcpt one moment and cha fed
the mex, with cliache hands an / set tech
she strobe tn and fro. as she exclaimed:
The vl'nih the cowardiy, dastardly
villain. Oh! that were u man for your
sake. Dani,i D,amps:er!''
Don't y'u W; ST. your breath ON that
gentlenan-- e,va him to met! said Jamie-
son. ''Now, if You please. Miss MacAllisser,
we are lreni hcncafOrth, SO give me your
hanl' sll extend II it frankly and he
kiss"i it r,verrnl..
Since .Ee lime told you of" he contin.
ued, ''ytu" MEME has never passed between
AS. but l know the poo fellow loves you
still. dear = ;lia i,e."
If he loci Ne. could he-could lie have
done his ,ha full thing: And to call God
to witnrss too! Oh! the cowarll tho
cownrd!"
I'VE mu' AXE human nature as We find
It, Col he /, him, if he is coward, AMI
God help me, for l can love him none the
less. Do y"" love him less than DOR
II did love tia once, mora than all the
world, lm, oh! Mr.. Jamieson," she ex-
claimed. ",Ee MacAlliste.s have held their
n H.C1 ,,,lt .lI
nation. And Il coward! Ga! / can't bear
it," And she cast herself on the couch, and
wept bitterly. Thsa shs got up and po;n ted
10 the picture.
Look there,' she said, ',ioes that look
like a cowarl!
NO." Willie replied, land don't be.
teve he l. coward. but there ar, moments
when the bravest man loses heart. Toll me
one thing: Were they not armei!
YES: they both had loaded pistols"
And, " course. he was unarme,l, de.
ienseles'! Can't YOU see; they would have
slain bin. there ana then, had he not signed
that miserahi" paper. Besides, they worked
upon his fear ;Nr YOU. and IN q moment
OF weakness lac yielded to their infamous
threats
He ought net to have y ielded- death
anything but dishonor. ! would nave
avenged him first and bewailed him af.er.r
1t was Willie's turn 10 wait now. When
she had sof;enal down little he showed
her letter h, had received that morning,
At the very sight of the well-known hand
her heart leaw with joy; he was alive-he
still loved ier-,all was forgotten. forgiven
Jameson asked her permission to write K
Curly to explain that he had seen her, bu,
she begged him to leave her to take her OWL
course, which she did, with results to b,
hereafter state J.