The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1889-09-06

He showed the doctor out Of the
house, REFRESHING his emotion as far :.
possible, but wnen the front door was
closed he did not dare to 20 near the
cIamne. in which were his mother and
! POOR Kate. -
When his mother at length appeared;
she found him so nearly unconscious
that she Thought for a time that she
was going to have two inyalids upon
her hands instead of one.
Judging that he was suffering from
/ exhaustion as much e. anything, she
made him swallow an egg beaten up ID
brandy and milk, and when he Nae
slightly recovered she said sternly.
You must make an effort to GUS
yourself t0 meet tha trouble you have
brought upon us. Tell me. in as few
words as possible, what has happened,
for I mean to send for Mr.. Lilburne at
once"
Her cold hard words seemed to give
him a fictitious strength. pnd he told
her the story OF bis adventure and OK
his nights work. beiitg careful alike to
avoid excuse and exaggerntiol,.
And what business had You outside
Silverton Castle at such time?n she
demanded sharply.
~ only went to cascI one glimpse OF
Kate" he replied humbl,s4
Catch q glimpse OF kate!n she re-
peated with disdaln. "Who do YOU
!, think will ever believe that you spent
WHOLE hours in the cold aud the dark
| with no other motive than thatsn sbe
demanded.
Evidently you do not lie retorted,
stung by her tone and manner.
NO. DON'T was the emphatic re-
spouse.
Then it is useless my trying to con.
vince YOU" he returned.
Quite useless; aud as for any secret
passage or staircase that leads. into the
castle, It's very. strange that / bhould
have lived at Silvertdn all those wears
and never heard of anything Of the
kind. should mighty like to see if ii
is thcre.'
You "a easily do that" he replied
calmly. 81 found the place out many
years ago, and have gone in and out
that way at right hundreds of times.''
And yet no living soul besides your
self knew of it?o she asked with in
creased suspicion.
Yes, Miss gFase knew of it..
showed her the hole in the floor once
and threatened to throw her down if
SAS "*sShSu llC VI ltlu ldlSS dUOut
me again. frightened my lady, | can
tell you. and | remember the look of
mingled horror and wonder in her ewes
when | pressed the spring and riade
the floor Slide back into Its place"
Miss Grace Eepeated Mrs. Fair
field thoNghtfully. mo; this isn't her
work; but she may have told somebody
else how to omen the place through
which you say Kate fell. She or some
body else might have been showing the
place to Kate herself"
But Frank shook his head as he said:
ut could not have been an accident
or the place would not have been cover
ed in directly Kate fell. The false floor
does not open nor shut easily, the spring
needs q good deal of pressure. afdeould
never have closed by accident
"What 90 you propose to do?" was
! f.. That don't know" he replied de-
| iectedly. sit is not for myself that I
hesitate" he added, seeing the look of
impatient anger gathering on his moth.
er's face; "but the consideration that
kept me from raising an alarm when
Kate fell at my feet Is equally strong
now. Tie give Kate to her father is,
perhaps, to give her back to the m-lcf
of the person who tried to destroy her.n
Good Heavens! you don't Suspect
her father of having tried to murder
her, do your exclaimed Mrs. Fairfield
i'll Mortified amazement.
II suspect no singl, person." he re-
piled eyasively; but that spmalsodt
did try to destroy Kate's iifa. and that
Tue same man or Nat!!an believes her to
be l.ying at the bottom of the shaft
down Which she fell, there can be no
uo'lbt whatever. | expected that Kate
would pe able to tell us who took her
70 that little room, but the doctor has
dashed that hope to The ground"
There Is another view of the matter
which Vol don't seem to have thought
| about his mother said severely. lit
would have been dellough for wv man
to have brought Kate from her fathers
roof in the middle of the night: but for
you to have done 1t was only to bring
suspicion upon YOU and disgrace upoi
hers
ooh yes; I have thought of all that.''
ne replied bitterly; but when life is at
stake one forgets what malicious tongues
may say about ones actions"
Mrs. Fairfield rose to her feet, re-
marking empliatically:
well, if you won't go 10 MI. Lii
hurne and tell him what has happened,
] will
VERY we'll" he returned resignedly;
do as you think best. / am willing to
suffer any penalty for what have done
that the severest judge can inti!ct upon
me. only remember, mother, that kate'B
life is ut stake,,n
Hates lifei'7
The two words took all the Tempo
faiy courage out of the nurse. and made
her weak and vacillating as her son.
What would you have me doy" abe
asked.
"If You have the nerve to 90 to Sill:
verton Castle as. though nothing had
happened and ask to see Kate. and lis.
ten to all they can tell you. and then
act upon your W judgment as to
what is best for her" he replied, then
l should say do it,
NO: If what you have told meis true
l should break down. was her shud-
dering reply; land if it is not trlle-''
She paused. andhe repeated her words
questioningly.
IF it is not true! Do you doubt me?'
She made no direct reply, but said
eyasively:
You had better go to Mr.. Lilburne;
1t is YOU, duty, not mine, to do So"
No he answered; II will wait and
see it Kate gets better. When her rea.
son returns there will be no more cause
for anxiety. No; | won't go. | will
wait"
His mother said no more, but left
him, for at heart she was as unable to
come to any decision as he was.
AS day after day, and week after
week went by, however, the doctors
fear became a sad reality.
kate's body recovered from the shock
it had received, and she grew strong,
and able to eat and drink and walk
about like a person in ordinary health.
Mentally, however, she was little bet
ter than an idiot; she had no memory.
and no intellectual consciousness; he1
reasoning faculties were dead or dor
mant, and the doctor who attended her
shook his head when Fairfield suggest.
ed an operation to remove the pressure
on the brain.
CHAPTER TX.
The anxiety and grief that succeeded
Franks rescue of Kate from the vault
to which her sister had consigned her,
had blanched the young mans hair and
aged him as by the lapse of many a
Previous to this event he had not
| liyod IN hio roothor.a .,ot+,.o ut