The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-04-13

nand. lake them for Gods Sake!5
and leave me in peace. a
oh, no, my dear! Il don't submit to-
a shabby trick like that!'' retorted her
COMPANION. That's not the way RALPH
Walden pays his debts. / asked your
fs.tih.r for you Years ago, and he had
the impudence to tell me I was not
good enough for you-then / deter
mined to have you by fair means CT
fcul-and l never break an oath. 7 have
found you'll hold your secret and l
give you the alternative-to come
quietly with me, now, or to compel me
to have an interview with your very,
coEfiding lover, and see how he will
take the news that he-prolld as I
know him from report to be-that he
was about to bestow his name and
honor upon the daughter Of a felon!
Az, moreH' he Kissed, drawing her
closer, as he fancied he read signs of
yielding in her face. "My power does
not. stop therein my hands lies not
only your secret, but the power to send
your father to shameful death, if YOU
defy me!' E-% ~ I
Death" Faith almost shrieked, as
she faced him desperately "Has not
death already placed, n1m beyond your
power?" ...
"No!' he exclaimed, carried away by
his sense of power. II prevented that
just in time, and conveyed him away
where I have kept him in concealment
all this time. This is your last chance
Marry me, and I viii and can clear
your fathers name, so far at least as
to free him from danger, and enable
him to get safely out of the country.
Refuse, and your lover and every one
else shall know Of your disgrace, and
your father shall be kept no longer
from the legal consequences of his mis-
deeds!' .E
For a moment Faith stood like one
distraught, wringing ner hands in utter
agony.
'''Oh, how can I leave hin,?-ellat can
l say to him2hcw repay his love and
trust" she moaned. y.
Tel him anything you plcase,''
sneered Ralph, regarding her with as
stred triumph. 1.-The. daughter of a
felon need not be over. scrupulous about
what She does" .,,.
Something like a heaven-bo1n in
SEPARATION, gave to those words an en-
tirefy different turn from the one i'll
tel ded-made them to Faith Il message
Of courage, of hope, of high, loyal re-
solve.
"YCu say WELL" she responded. with
new flrmness in her tone II will
call my 1over-my1trus, trusting lover
and tell BIN the truih-the truth that
l have withheld thus far-and he shall
judge my cause"
e sHn hi",-he is 49,
sounded voice behind her; and as,
simultaneously Ralph, with livid
pa]or oversL reading his face, turned to
make his escape, be found his way cut
OH by the strong grasp of two sturdy
fellows, who had crept upon him at
signal. while Phjlip caught
Faiths fainting form in his arms.
His clasp revived her, however, and
in moment she could stand upright
again-but his loving, protecting clasp
did not relax.
''Oh, Faith, my darling!" he ex-
claimed, his face radient. "You little
know hoW your loyalty to truth and
love, that'kept you firm amid all peril,
has brought its own reward, and en-
abled me to do you a great and last
ing service. Listen. / was retained to
commence the prosecution against your
father---and ere long I became con-
WINGED that so far from being q Grim
lnal he was the victim of some internal
plot.
ERE I could complete my investiga-
tons, he disappeared, and I read the
account OF his reputed suicide, and the
flight Of his daughter from her home.
1t was my sympathy for her desolate
cOndition-innocent as she Was--that
warmed my heart toward you, when I
discovered you that night lying by the
road, unconscious, and induced me to
offer you the shelter of my own home.
And feeling that you might have Just
as good cause as she would have to
conceal your history, forebore to
question you in any: way, content to
read your truth, purity and innocence
in your face-that face that has since
been to : me the dearest object the
world can hold. left my study to
seek you, just as you passed out Of the
doOr-fOllOWed you here-heard enough
to supply the link I wanted in the
chain of evidence-and after placing
these men where they would be ready,
l waited for the rest-waited to see if
my darling's love and faith to me
would rise superior even to the cruel
test of having me-;t supposed stranger
to that sad history-hear it with all it's
sinister intent, from the lips Of this vile
man. 800
ana that love conquered. Rather
than sell yourself to his power to pre-
serve shameful secret in which YOU
had no guilty part, you would trust
your Judgment to that love on which
you leaned. Look up, darling the last
shade Of sorrow and reproach has
through your own ste:dfast faith to
me, been lifted from your life, and I
shall have the JOY of knowing that the
woman / have desired so to befriend
to clear from that cloud Of mmerited
shame and disgrace, is the one who has
the best right to ask it of me-wllose
answering faith and confde1ce in me
had brought their own rich reward
And It it is true that your father does
Indeed live, he can take his old hon
ored place among his fellow men,
Faith herd no more knew no more
for a little while; but when conscious
n IS again returned, Philip was able
to confirm much of what he had con
jectured. Aided by the clews he had
unwittngly furnished, Mr. Clyde had
little difficulty in fastening the entire
conspiracy, as we'll as the abd11.ti0n