The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-11-02

turned away his head and his whole frame
shook with the fierce struggle that was
going on within him.
"Give up this hateful life," she pleaded.
Come with me to France I'll do any
thing you tell me. You talk the language
fuently. There we are both unknown, and
you can find work suited to you"
The leafy screen before them was thick
and hid them well from view. She slipped
from the ottoman to the soft and velvety
rug at his feet and knelt there. Genuine
tears glistened in her eyes. Her voice, at
tuned to the language of love, tenderly be.
sought him.
at is impossible" he cried at last rough
ly, rising and shaking her off. "You
should have known long ago that there
could be no reconciliation between you
and me-"
And now she stood before him, painting,
indignant, yet terribly fearful lest he
should overwhelm her before all those
people, for she had injured this man be-
yond hope of forgiveness, and at last she
knew it.
you should have staid abroad" he said
and it was the detective the officer of
the law, who spoke. 1--WE told you after
that last escapade of yours that If you
ever returned you would find America too
hot to hold you. Your disguise might de-
ceive some, but not me, for have learned
through bitter experience all your tricks
of trade-though | confess that for pro
nounced brunette, that blond wig of yours
quite becomes you. How much have you
let them in for down there on Prairie ave
nuep
"Only about $500" she answered
"They deserve TO lose something for run
ming after women like you and toadying
to foreign titles. Upon my word, but the
joke is a good one La Comtesse de Hon
fieurl Where did you get that name'
Isn't Honfeur some little fishing village
on the coast of France2" But he didn't
laugh. for he knew it well. 1t was the
place where their honeymoon had been
passed. What sacrilege
She was pleading with him for life and
death.
Don't expose me. Think of my friends
here; they have been so kind. Think how
they will be ridiculed by all who know
them, and think what the past few weeks
have been to me, for have been treated as
a ladyp
Detective though he was, he was touched
at last A gentleman himself once, in the
old spendthrift days which had brought
him nothing but ruin and disgrace, he
knew what she meant. The old instinct
of caste was strong upon him. He fore
bore his revenge.
"Finsh your evening"" he said quietly,
"but midnight must see you off this floor,
and tomorrow must be your last day in
Chicago"
He gave her his arm, and calm and APP
parently unmoved passed out with her to
the floor of the ballroom.
"Shall we waltz, countess9" he asked
her in full hearing of that fashionable
gathering.
A moment later an elderly gentleman
emerged from curtained alcove, and pass
ing behind the bank of flowers dropped
onto the ottoman this man and woman had
just vacated
"Eavesdroppin at my time of life Well,
couldn't help it. They should ha' let me
stay at home and finished my nap. Great
Scott What woman, and what a ro-
mancer
Next morning Mrs. Saunders guest re-
ceived a sudden call necessitating her i'm
mediate departure for San Francisco. She
must positively go at once, she said, or her
real estate interests would suffer tremen-
dously.
1t was not until six weeks later when
Mrs Saunders read in the San Francisco
Argonaut of the arrest of Mrs Margaret
Hamburg, alias Mrs. Humphrey Lord,
alias Mrs Jennie Taylor alias Mile.
Chicot of the Varieties, Paris, France,
alias the Countess De Honfeur, that a GER
tain light forced itself on Mrs. Saunders
brain.
Heavens! Had she entertained an adven-
| tress?
I'm afraid she had.
Old man Saunders could have told her a
good deal which would have surprised her
still further, but he didn't. Perhaps he
thought his wife had been punished
enough.
Old man Saunders simply kept on think
ing.-KdnSaS city Times