Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-02-09

w tlS4 Ic EcdClic0 bilc camp, lltOHSiri
found the priest talking coniidentially to
Juanna-
by the way, father he said some
what brusqiely, as you see, | have got
rid of those slaves. 1t was impossible to
take them with US, and now they must
shift for themselves. AT any rate, they aro
better off than they We're yonder. What
are your plansf You have behaved well
to us, but cannot forget that We found
you in bad company. Perhaps you wish
to return to it, and in that case your way
lies eastward, T" and he nodded toward the
nest.
II DO not wonder that you mistrust me,
senior, F" said Francisco, his pale and girl
ish face coloring as he spoke, 'for appear
anccs arc much against me. But l assure
you that, although / came into the compa-
ny of Antonio Pereira by my own will, it
was for no evil purpose. To be brief,
senior, | had a brother who led hither
from Portugal because of a crime that he
had committed and joined Pereira's band.
With much toll / tracked him out and
was welcomed at the nest because / am II
priest who can comfort the sick and shrive
the dying, for wickedness does not console
men at the last, senior. / persuaded my
UfOtIGF 10 rtturI with Tic, anu VIC IilaUS a
plan to escape. But Pereira's cars were
long. We were betrayed, and my brother
was hanged. They did not hang me be
cause | am a priest. Afterward l was
kept prisoner and forced to accompany
the band in their expeditions. That is all
the story. Now, with your permission,
will follow you, for have no money and
nowhere else to go in this wilderness,
7 7
to be of much service, and being of an
other faith you viii scarcely need my min
| istrations "
VERY well, father, " answered Leonard
| coldly, "but please understand that We
| are still surrounded by many dangers
which any treachery might cause to over
whelm us. Therefore L warn you that
should / detect anything of the sort my
answer to it will be quick one, - and he
glanced significantly at his revolver.
| Il do not think that you need suspect
the father Mr.. Outram, - said Juanna in
| dignantly. Il owe him gerat deal. Had
it not been for his kindness and counsel
| should not be alive today. l ain most
| deeply grateful to him"
IF you vouch for him, Miss Rodd, that
| is enough You have had tho advantage
VI CjpSGl DtQol.
When their meal was done, they pro-
ceedod up the river in the boats which
they had captured from the slayers, each
boat being rowed by the best oarsmen
among the settlement men. Including
women and children, their party number
ed GO souls. At evening they passed the
| island where they had left the party of
slavers, but could see no sign of life upon
tI,o.,
persisted or escaped. An hour later they
! encamped fog the night upon tho bank of
| the river and it was while they were sit
| ting around the fire at night that Juanna
told Leonard of the horrors that she had
undergone during her dreadful sojourn
with the slave caravan. She told him also
| how she had torn leaves from the Bible,
which she CHANGED to have with her, and
| fixed them uDon reeds whenever she could
| find an opportunity of so doing in the
| hope that they might guide her father
should he return and attempt her rescue
at is all like nightmare, she said,
and, as for that hideous farce of marriage
with which it ended, 1 can scarcely bear
| to think of it,
| Then Francisco, who had been sitting
| silent, spoke for the first time
You speak, senora, he said in his
subducd voice, ''of that hideous farce of
marriage, and l suppose You mean the
ceremony which l performed between you
and the SeECr Outram, being forced to
| the act by Pereira 1t is my duty to tell
| you both that, however irregular this mar
riage may have been, do not believe il to
| be a farce. believe that you are lawful
| ly man and wife until death part you
unless indeed the pope should annul the
union, as he alone can do"
''NonsCnse, nonsense, said Leonard
! You forget that we are of another feli
| gion, and that the form was necessary to
our plot.
THE church knows nothing of the rea
| sons which lead to the undertaking Of
wcdlock," Francisco answered mildly
They are various, and many of them
would not bear Investigation. But you
were married without protest on your
| part. on Portuguese territory, according
| to Portuguese custom, and by duly
| qualified priest. The fact that you arc of
the Protestant religion and were united
| by the Catholic ritual does not matter in
the least. For the purposes of the cere-
mony you accepted that ritual as when a
| Catholic marrics a Protestant, or vice
versa. 1t is disagreeable for me to have
to tell you this but the truth remains.
| believe that you are man and wife in the
eyes of God and the world. -
| Here Juanna sprang to her feet, and
even in that light Leonard could see that
her breast was heaving and her eyes shone
with anger