Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-08-01

CHAPTER VIII
"Do not try to change me, )" repeated
Louis Kyle
It was an appeal to his father rather
than an assertion Of his own inflexible
determination.
II cannot read your past, he went
on, 'but I see my own present, and
must work for my own future This
will do with love for you, my mother
and Nora, but do not force me to diso-
bey by asking me to run counter to my
own sense of duty"
"He has his uncle Frederick's spirit
and his uncle Frederick's ways OGod,
o Godr' cried the agonized father, and
his fingers again interlocked and his
head fell forward on his breast
can uncle Frederick exclaimed
Louis II never heard you speak Of him
tefore,
"He is dead," walled the distracted
father
"Oh, Valentine! Tell him ALL Tell
him alll'' cried Mrs Kyle, coming over
and kneeling beside her husband, with
her white hands pressed about his. SO
hard and brown. Ease your heart by
telling Louis all A knowledge Of the
one rash act Of your life will not quench
his love-" -.
"Oh, my father, there can be no act
in the past that would change me You
have been to me from my earliest mem.
ory my ideal of all that is brave, self
denying and noble ask not to lift the
curtain Of your past But hear me-be'
ieye me that I would die to save you
now; that l am ready to bear with you
all the troubles Of the past and to share
with you all the burden they have
brought For many years I have noticed
that the shadow Of a great af1iction
hung ever your heart, and I have yearn-
ed to dispel it by the sunshine Of my
own love. But. do not. let us yield to
despair; there are four Of Us left '" he
continued, drawing Nora to his side and
kissing her wet cheeks IF need be,
will give up all else to make you happy,
but I should scorn myself If did not
follow the light that I have, and that
light leads me to act for your good as
well as mine.
thrust him, husband Trust Louis, -"
pleaded Mrs. Kyle. ..-..-.s=,--..-----
Valentine Kyle heaved sigh, and,
COMPRISING his lips, raised his agonized
face to the ceiling. Gould he open his
heart to his own son-to this only son,
for the other was worse than dead
and show him there the blood stains that
had remained fresh through all the
years since that awful night?
The conflict between desire and
shame. duty and love, the confirmed
habit Of secrecy and the fear Of letting
in more light and Of knowing what his
son might think Of him, was fearful
but brief!
II will tell Louis all. ALL" he said,
Strengthening up, with such an express
sion on lis face as brave men wear when
the ship is sinking beneath them.
"Shall Nora and 1 withdraw" asked
Mrs Kyle, taking her daughters hand
and leading her toward the door.
"Yes, wife, and tell her the whole
truth. The years have made our secret
too big and heavy for two to bear: We
thought that time would obliterate it,
but it has grown and grown and gnaw-
ed into my soul like rusting fetters on
the limbs of a prisoner.
Mrs Kyle bowed and with Nora left
the room and quietly closed the door be-
hind her. When they were alone, Louis
said, Let us sit side by side, father,
and let me hold your hand as when |
was child"
mo, no, Louis, you cannot hold my
hand till you have heard my story, for
as speak you might fling it from you
with scorn, and that would kill me. "
Il swear to you by that God whom
you taught me to worship that l could
not do such deed if | saw your arm
reddened by the blood of the innocent
to the shoulder" cried Louis with i'm
passioned intensity.
''Do you see this hand, my son?" Mr..
Kyle held his right arm up and spread
out the fingers.
~ do, father"
docs it differ from other hands?"
1T is brave and gentle and strong.
Yes. yes, it differs from every hand in
the world 1t is my fathers hand" :"
1T is the hand of a murderer said
the father, sinking his voice and speak
ing 80 rapidly that his nostrils dilated
and his hungry eyes were eating into
his sons startled face
'Of murderer Louis trembled and
turned pale under the blow.
Yes of murderer; of fratricidal
murderer slew my brother l8 years
agony brother Frederick, your uncle,
and the brayest, finest man on whom
Gods sunshine ever fell That is why
took my wife and two baby boys and
fed into this wilderness That is why
thought the shadow of these everlasting
hills would shield my face from men
and my sin from heaven. But the very
solitude that promised relief has but in
tensified the consciousness Of the crime
that has blasted my life
Overcome with emotion, Valentine
Kyle kneeled beside the bed and buried
his face in his hands This startling but
indefinite confession overwhelmed Louis