The Red Cloud chief., 1894-03-23

~ ''''A III w. N"NNiNlV nav 10 w |
the footman.
Take that back" she said in an icy,
level tone.
"What answer, madam"
"No answer. just take it back"
'But Mr.. Trevelyon"-
"Go. Tell my father-tell Mr.. Trevel-
yon," she said, hurriedly correcting her
self-'that | cannot answer it as | would
If he stood here before me-"
HE might come himself, madam"
".And the way I would answer it is
this: Ill tear it to bits and cast them in
his mercil,ss facc.'
Long after the door had closed upon
the footman she sat there, white, silent,
unmindful ever of Ted's furtive caresses
and tender questioning. She seemed to
see the words of that cruel letter still be-
fore her-yes. every sentence was burn
Ell on her brain:
Your note of appeal reached me when ! ar
rived here from San Francisco on q trip
around the world. You are weak. you say. and
poor. You ask me for help. You say you would
not do this but for your child's sake that II
you cannot work be must starve. lhave con-
sidered the %iaatter. and l have decided to give
you one more chance. The facts Of the case are
these:
You married Terry Mason against my ex-
pressed threats. lie WAS the son of the only man
I hated. one who tried to ruin mo financially
and socially for reasons ! need not state here.
I told you that IL you chung to your absurd In.
fatuati0n for Terry Mason you lost your father
forever. Perhaps you thought ] did not mcan
Il. did.
However. Terry Mason Ii dead. Come back,
then, IL you will, and I'll receive you. give you
q lnu,s. lsiS hts rlild will nayur tpruttt In
live under my roof. Send him to the bcggarly
relatives his father has beQueathed to him or
put him Ia sumo institution where he can be
paid for. do as you please about that. He
cannot live with me-and. more than that, you
must drop the "Mason" and be my daughter
again. In name and In spirit. There must be
no reminders Of your sorry past. For your I'M
mediate need l inclose s5L.
JuNrus TREvELyoS.
.'The money would have scorched my
fingers" the girl muttcred. 'And yet,
oh, how I wish l might have kept just n
few dollars to buy something for Ted for
Easter-poor darling!"
What fancies passed before the young
widows sad, blue eyes, what pictures Of
the past!
She saw herself 80 happy as II girl ut
Treveiyon House. her fathers ancestral
home in England. She saw Terry Ma.
son, who had won her heart the very
first time she had met him. during the
London season. She saw herself SO hap.
py, SO happy with him during their short
honeymoon together-lappy, despite her
fathers enlargement and bitter words.
But the happiness had died SO soon.
She thought of one sunshiny April
n,prp;,,,r ,x.lan t1,at. xx,arn -, tln 1,u IN
few months before Ted was born. Terry
had gone up one of the mountains with a
party of men. His last words still echoed
in her ears:
Don't worry, Mildred, dear. I'll be
back before You are up in the morning"
All. death had its shadow over him
even as he spoke! He never came back.
Into one of the treacherous crevasses
that Turk in the still, white depths of the
eternal SHOWS he had disappeared. His
companions, reaching the top, had called
and waited for him in vain. Search par
ties sent out had returned without a
hope. The earth had literally swallowed
him and with it all Mildred's JOY in life.
Yet-not all-for when Ted was born
poor, pretty. crippled Ted, with his
eyes like the sky that arched the peaks of
snOw-there was something to live for.
Money Went. ill luck came like a shadow
that persistently kept pace with her, but
her love for Ted grew stronger with sick
ness and disappointment.
Like 80 many other hapless ones, she
had eventually drifted to America, the
land of promise, but it had brought no
r,1Gllpat 20 1a~ What xr,ao v, 1,anro
of struggle had passed, yet she had been
brave, had fought the fight alone, and
no prayer for help had reached the iron
willed master Of Trevelyon House.
But just q week before this Eastertide
she had seen her father step from his
carriage into one of the hotels on Fifth
avenue. This was her first intimation
that he was in New York. An irresisti.
! BILE impulse had led her to appeal to him
|, for Ted's sake. Despair was the result.
"Oh, is this all of lifeY" vas her dreary
protest on this Easter Thursday as she
, listened to the slow, silvery notes of q
church bell drifting over the battered
rooftops that crowded Mingin's alley
as this all. dear TedT'
, But Ted. leaning his elbow in its frayed
, sleeve upon her knee, only shook his vel
, low curls and looked with wondering
eyes into hers,
The next morning, after a breakfast OF
; dry bread and suspiciously blush milk
Ted was left alone. Mildred had gone tC
p seek a position in one of the big shops, Q
, quest she had started on daily for al
!, most q month. while her small horde OF
, savings was decreasing with terrifying
rapidity.
Ted was used to being left alone, but
4 this morning he was restless. The mem
DRY of his mothers tears the day before
: seemed to burn his baby heart. Hi
wooden horse didn't amuse him, hi
s couldn't find any interest in his tiny
: reading book nor prepare his spelling les
son of one syllable words for his mother
Y by the time she came back. He just sa,
/ with his crutch across his knee, thinking
Suddenly his eye caught sight of "a tat,