The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1896-10-01
CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.
A,tho,ph !Rrant was convinced as
coon as ba left the bouse that he could
not accent ANYTHING from the Boom
nointer influence. and that his inter
view with susy was fruitless. he knew
that he must tsmporize. While he did
mt believe Tint his old PLAYMATE would
willingly betray him. he was uneasy
when he Thought Of the vanity and i'm
,,,ls;xapess which might compromize
bim--or of a possible jealousy that
,nirht seek revenge. Yethe had no rea.
son to believe that susy's nature was
;ealons or that she was likely to have
anv cause hut the fact was that the
climax of Miss Faulkner's temperance
when they were together affected him
more strongly than the real climax of
his interview with Susy--whichwas her
offer. Once out of the atmosphere Of
that house, it struck him, too, that
| Miss Faulkner was almost Us much of
an alien to it as himself. He wondered
what she had been doing there. Could
it be possible that she was obtaining
information for the south2 But he re-
iected the idea as quickly as it had
occurred to him. Perhaps there could
| be no stronger proof OF the unconscious
influence the young girl already had
over him,
4 He remembered the liveries OF the
diplomatic carriage that had borne her
away and ascertained without diff
Guilty that her sister had married one
of the foreign ministers, and that she
was the guest in his house. But he was
the more astonished to hear that she
and her sister were considered to be
southern unionists, and were greatly
petted in governmental circles for their
sacrificing fidelity to the flag. His in
formant, an official in the state depart
ment. added that Miss Matilda might
have been a good deal OF madcap at
the outbreak OF the war, for the sisters
had brother in the confederate sery-
ice, but that she had changed greatly,
and, indeed, within month. "For," he
added, "she was at the white house for
the first time last week, and they say
the president talked more to her than
any other woman"
/ The indescribable sensation with
4 which this simple information filed
Drant startled him more than the news
itself. Hope, Joy, fear, tlistrust and de-
spair alternately thrilled him. He re
called Miss Faulkner's almost agonizing
glance Of appeal to him in the drawing
room at Susy's, and ii seemed to be
equally consistent with the truth of
what he had just heari--or some mon.
strous treachery and deceit of which
she might be capable. Even now she
might be a secret emissary of some spy
within the presidents family; she
might have been in correspondence
with some traitor in the Boompointet
clique, and her imploring glance only
the result of a fear OF exposure. Or
| again, Sfle mlEnt nave GTuIJ Teeiiht<t
after her escapede at Gray Oaks, and
feared only his recollection Of her as
go-between of spies, And yet both O
these presumptions were Inconsistent
with her conduct In the conservatory
II seemed impossible that this impul
sive woman, capable Of doing what hi
had himself known her to do, ant
equally sensitive to the shame or 10,
OF such impulses. should be the SAINT
heartless woman Of society, who had 81
coldly recognized and parted from him
But this interval Of doubt was transi
tory. The next day he received q dis
patch from the war department, order
ing him to report himself for duty @
once. With beating heart he hurrie'
to the secretary. But that official haa
merely left memorandum with hi
assistant, directing Gen. Brant to &C
company some fresh levies to camp o
occupation near the front for 'crgani
zation." Brant felt chill Of tlisap
pointment. Duties Of this kind hal beef
l.