The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1895-03-21


church out of your affection for me
and take a sum of money to hold
your tongue, when by speaking out,
il this accusation be true, and you
car change places with me and be
master of Aboyne Court tomorrow.
| do not believe you, you are play
ing false. Never in his life did
Pierce Vaughan do SO much for so
little.n
"You have always misjudged me,
Clement" said Vaughan, d~eferen-
TALLY, still bent on softening Sir
Clements ire, being a little afraid of
the consequences to himself.
"We are cousins, why cannot we
also be friends, thorough friends?"
Thorough blackguards both OF us
according to your showing" NUT
tered Sir Clement.
But the other went on taking nj
notice of this interruption.
"Remain here as master, utter no
word to Lady Gertrude, allow me-
say lgo thousand a year out o4-4y
own estate and re~nouncing all claim
and interest in Lisbeth Glendinning,
give her also to me-"
No word was spoken in reply to
this monstrous proposition, but as in
a flash as quick as the lightning that
played around them, Clement Dun
raven, who though morally weak was
ply sically strong, seized his cousin
by the throat and threw him into the
dark waters of the lake.
y piercing cry for help uttered by
the wretched man as he sank into
the deep waters was unheard, for
the thunder growled ~ominously; a
bird with a wild shrill note seemed
to echo the cry, but no human was
near Pierce Vaughan elected that
the interview should be in privacy
and solitude and thus set the trap
for his own destruction.
For a second or two Clement
stood perfectly still, staring at the
waters-once there was a slight
movement as though a struggle were
going on beneath the surface, then
all vas quiet. The storm wss roll
ing away i'll the distance, and the
stiffness of the place, only occasion-
ally broken by the thunder claps,
was most oppressive.
He Mas as one dazcd? What had
he done? Where was Pierce
Vaughan? Was it trne that only a
few moments ago he had been stand
ing there, and now?
1t could not be possible, he had
been asleep and dreaming, and then
he laughed a strange wild laugh
which echoed mockingly through
that weird haunt. Was he going
mad? He almost believed it himself
as he wiped from his brow the huge
drops of perspiration that clustered
there, forced into existence by the
intensity of his agony.
Once more he looked around him
as though half expecting to see his
cousin standing by his side as he had
stood there only a few minutes be-
fore.
No one, nothing but the solitude
which was becoming absolutely in
tolerable.
On the ground lay a piece of white
paper, he picked it up mechanically.
The copy of the marriage certif-
cate.
Then it was real and tangible, it
was no dream.
Great God, into what an abyss of
crime had this first false step led
him?
He looked once more at the cold
waters which were peacefully flow
ing over the spot where Pierce
Vaughan had fallen in.
Which had sunk the lowest, the
mar who would rise no more from
that deep water or himself, who
though still living would never rise
again TO the level of an honest man?
Would he not at that moment
gladly have changed places even
with Pierce Vaughan? What relief
a it to know that the secret was
his own for a little while longer,
since it was oyerweighted by that
heavier secret which, when discov-
cred, as it must be sooner or later
would bring him and all those con-
nected with him into a slough of
misery.
Would it not be better to give
himself up at once and say, "We
were q%uarrelling. l pushed him
) intotha water aud he N drowned. y
If only he had the moral courage
to do this, but he felt that he dare
not, he thought of Lady Gertrude,
of his beautiful home gladdened by
her sweet presence, of the unborn
heir; nor did he forget Lisbeth and
the agony she would suffer If he
ere indicted for manslaughter, and,
fearful lest he should forfeit the
good things of this life and the good
opinion of those he cared for, the
feeling of self-preservation sur
mounted every other and he decided
to carry this terrible freight about in
his hear tor as long as it was posi-