St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-03-30

lul TeHccllOn. La ~ minutes more
ne was Fst i sappearing over the
veldt i'll cloud Of dust.
Night came, bul rs had not return
ed. Ashunt went outside TO give
last look round before retiring. "No
Gregory yeti" he muttered to him
self, "Well, | think III turn in
now" And he suited the word to
the action.
For an hour or two he lay tossing
on his bed, thinking over his past
wrongs, and working himself up in
to a maudlin state of SEM. delirious
excitement. But at last outraged
nature asserted herself, and he fell
into restless, troubled sleep. He
knew no more until he was rudely
awakened by terrific crash Of
thunder
At last The long hoped-for
storm had come. The drought was
at an end. The remainder Of the
stock was saved. Soon the dams
would be filled to overlooking with
the precious fluid, and in few days
the dry, parched-up veldt would be
clothed with fresh, delicately tinted
verdure.
The moon was soon hid behind
heavy masses of cloud, from which
the blue lightning flashed like the
search light of an ironclad, filing the
small room with its dazzling light.
Where can Gregory be?" thought
Ashunt, for at that instant a fash
revealed the fact that the other bed
was still unoccupied. Perhaps he
was in the other room or, perhaps,
he was staying at Dutch Sans over
night as he had mentioned
Now the foodgatcs of heaven were
suddenly opened. The rain and hail
came pelting down with terrific force
on the metallic roof and beat a wild
tattoo on the window panes
Ashunt got up, slipped on his
clothes, and went into the living
room
Gregory" recalled But Gregory
was not there.
The lightning had now ceased, ant
the thunder was rapidly dying away
in the distance, but the torrents o
rain abated not one jot. Lighting
his pipe, Ashunt stood in the dark
ness peering out into the night.
Soon the gray dawn appeared, anC
the different objects without began
to assume defnable shape and color
In moment more it was day, ant
the eye could take in the vas
, changes that the storm had alread,
wrought. The daylight also Shove,
Ashunt something elsa letter Oh
the table, addressed to himself
, which was certainly not there whe
he went to bed. Opening it, thi
was what he read:
Dear Tom: This is the last time
shall address you at all, for whe
t you have read this letter you will sc
t that hcnceforth the paths of ourlive
! must lie far apart.
= When | spoke to you this atte
| noon of my past history lied
Il have past, but until today
e thought it was blotted out | i'm
n that it is not.
Like YOU, |, too, have hidden m
identity under an alias. Gregory
n is no more my name than Tor
=, Sellicotes" is yours. | am Georg
0 Dravton, the man who stole you
| wife away from you. What toll
c YOU of the man Dalton was put
> fabrication, concocted on the spur {
| the moment.
/ AS heaven is my Judge | had nc
] the iaintest idea until today that I'll
= man whom had SO foully wrongeC
a and YOU. to whom took a stron
). fancy at our first meeting, an
i whom atterward grew to love as
brother. were one and the SAN
person. My sin was great, and 5
is the punishment it has brought III
n on me. l Offer no excuses for m
| dastarllv couduct-l know that
1 can admit OF none-and, howev)
5 deeply iuwardly crave it, wall no
n insult YOU by asking you for tn
forgiveness which know it is impo'
5 sible for YOU to extend to me.
1t is not the fear of reyeng
that leads me to sneak away lik
the cur | am. My motive is t
t remove out of your reach tn
temptation to stain your hand
h with blood.
| Your wife lies in the cemetery a
| Cape Town, at which latter plac
If she died just two months before
+ met YOU. She was known only a
d Mrs. Gregory, and was buried |
i that name. You will find the usui
d documents relating to her death an
e burial among the papers in my desl
r GEORGE DRAYToN. "
Il The first effect this letter had III
n on Ashunt was to set him into
state of complete stupefaction, an
t for quarter of an hour he sat dazeC
motioness as statue, his eyes sta
=. ing straight before him, but seem
Q nothing. Then he burst into a trenz
,. of passionate rage, but an hour lateI
h when two of the herderS came to tn
n house in search OF their master, the
=, found him sitting, with his iat
Ia