Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1893-09-15

MI his heart he congratulated himself
uron his coolnees.
AS he was about to pull the trigger no
heard indistinctly tho mufied report 81
the u;stcl which had been fred in q room
further down the corridor The sound
hastened him. and he at once pulled ne
trigger.
lie fell into the chair beside him, hia
hand pressed 70 his heart. hoping that
death would not b. long delayed, for the
pain he was suffering was intense He
could feel the warm blood trickling over
his hand, dyeing the bosom Of his shirt a
vivid red.
His eyes fell upon his trembling hand,
which still clutched the pistol. Il was
not smoking, and suddenly there echoed
in Wyndam's car the dull fall of tho
hammer. He realized that he was not
shot; that the pistol had been unloaded
The mirror, which he faced, unmcrci-
fully reflected him. The color had hed
from his face; his eyes were Fixed and
distended; his lips were twitching. 10
gave some contemptuous commisoration
to the abject figure, failing to realize I'M
mediately that il was himself.
The weapon dropped from his n~ervoless
ingerg. and no buried his face in his
hands. He continued to sit in his hud-
died position for some time, then, after
several fruitless attempts, got to his feet.
He groped his way blindly to the car
tridges, and when he at last had the box
in his hand slowly retraced his steps to
the pistol, which lay upon the floor. Ho
lowered his hand for it, but he could not
pick it up. He had lost control Of his
fingers. He drew himself erect and
wiped away the cold perspiration which
had broken out on his brow.
"Grcat God" he whispered, "what a
coward l ami"
Hecarefully smoothed the anguish from
his face, and once again bent for tho re-
volver. This time he was able to con
vey it to the table. He %endeavored to re-
load it, but could not.
II shall rest for q time" he meditated,
dragging himself to q chair. 1T is true
l told him / should end it all within tho
hour, but there is no pressing hurry, and
my worst enemy would not wish to
shorten these extra moments"
His eyes wandered aimlessly about the
room, but finally rested upon a long en-
velope which lay upon his desk. 1t was
directed to him in an unfamiliar hand.
In one corner was the name and address
of n prominent firm Of lawyers. He.
had noticed it previously, but had not
opened it. Now, wishing to divert his
mind, he incuriously broke the seal.
1t was a lengthy communication, but
from his brief glance he CLEANED that
through the death Of his mothers only
brother he and his brother were Joint
heirs TO an fortune. He re-
stored the letter to its envelope. The in
telligence seemed an unnecessarily cruel
taunt Of fate. His riches or his poverty
could not now concern him.
"And to think of it all ~reverting to
Howard" lie muttered. "He will not
know how to use it; he win be more I'M
comfortable than pleased. He becomes
heir to 10 times what should originally
have been his through one mans perfidy,
and because | nm that mans son, and
because it is a just law that the sins OF
the father shall be visited on the chill
dren | must suffer. There is but one
q GOn1OAAlADl-nO hAG kAlOMef VI GNGI Glll
know, the depth of our fathers baseness
but ourselves"
1t suddenly flashed upon him that tlso
knowledge had now narrowed down to
himself. lie turned the envelope over
caressingly, repeating softly. "No one
on earth knows but myself"
He seemed to derive a certain satisfac-
ton from the words.
"fWere we right in so summarily de-
Gliding that only through our death could
restitution be nader lie demanded.
"Howard would be far more content if
left with his books and a modest com
potency. The control Of vast wealth
would DO nothing but a burden to him.
OF course he could not. be given what is
rightfully his without creating suspicion,
and that must be avoided, but we can
He vent no further, for he was again
confronted by his brothers death. He
once more extended his hand to the re-
volver, and all his lately acquired re-
pose vanished. His face hardened; a
look Of subtle cunning crept about his
lips.
perhaps it is as WELL" he urged.
ii would never nave been AT peace, IOi
he had an exaggerated idea Of honor. II
l determine to live" he pursued, Il shall
~resolutely thrust from me the remem-
brance of what we discovered. There
win be nobody, nothing, to remind me
of it, and even to myself l shall appear
as much a man of honor as before We
happened upon these papers.
With logged tirmness he replaced the
cartridges and revolver ntheir compart
ment. No sign Of the conflict which hai
ragged remained.
It had grown late, and he carefully
dressed for dinner. Once or twice Iii
thoughts lowered over the motionles.
form lying in his brothers room. L
would be necessary for him to feign sur
prise when the servants found the body
but he impressed upon himself the fac
that he must be cautions not to oYerac
his role.
He had dressed without his valet
help, but as no was about to leave tn.
room he heard him in the corridor. III
advanced toward the door, smiling a lit
tie. "a il pleased at having got alOnt