Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-03-05

cloudy green contents giving them an
unearthiy CLEAN Tho man who was ele.
gantly and fashionably attired was young
and extraordinarily handsome, though his
face showed signs of dissipation, and his
dark eyes beneath the thick brows had
bold unpleasant expression He wore q
white flower In his buttonhole.
He lifted the glass To his lips, but set It
down hastily Octave i4aflttel Ii was a
whisper, family dying breath but he
heard his own name distinctly pronounced
He looked at the deaf old man half asleep
Ia his chair Then nc stepped noiselessly
70 the door The rain, striking him full
in the face as no opened il, blurred his vi.
sion for second Mile. Destran
LeoGie" ht exclaimed starting back sur.
prisel his dark face flushing with pleas.
ure.
She lifted her hand Stay. monsieur,
she said speaking rapidly and In French
There is no time for words. was fol-
lowing you and saw you enter here
have been waiting for you 10 come out,
hut | dared wait no longer You must
leave this state, this country, at once
Stay for be was beginning TO speak
'Toinette Fargo, on Bayou Desnoyers,
near our plantation, has confessed 10 her
father that IL is yuu'-a wave of crimson
dyed her face and throat, but she con.
tinued TO look steadily at him-"that ii
Is you who have disgraced her and ruined
their home Old Dominique Fargo will
kill You. He has sworn TO hunt you down
like dog My father is ill-we fear he is
dying-he could not come himself TO warn
you'll did not even stop 10 change my
dress--I have been travelling all day"
She stopped, painting for breath, with her
hand pressed TO her side.
His eyes were glowing He smiled ex-
ultantly. And you have done this for
me. Leonie for met he whispered ten
derby, moving toward her with out.
stretched arms Then you do care for
met You do love-
She drew away with gesture of loath-
ing. "You! God Forbid" she cried II
do the dury of the Destrehan To the La
fitte, " she added calmly. But you must
90 at once, monsieur Dominique Fargo
may reach the city 1T any moment Go
before ii is too late -
1t was already too late. There was a
sound Of footsteps above the rush of the
rain, and Dominique Fargo came around
TIE corner--a large, old man, with "A swart
bearded face. His blue cotton shirt-he
wore no coat--was open at the throat,
showing his massive chest, and the unbot-
toned sleeves fell away from his hairy
wrists. His deep sunken eyes were blood
shot. His long, griZZled hair, soaked and
matted by the rain, chung to his cheeks
At sight of his prey his face lighted horri-
bly, Iii move nomme'' he Kissed, with
forward spring.
Laatte, with his eyes on the uplifted
hand, stood rooted to his place But there
N gtticLy nm, thn eyipl -
She had thrown herself in front of the
intended victim, and the alligator knife in
Dominique's hand descending sheathed it.
self in her bosom
Without "a cry and like bayou lily
whose stem has been suddenly cut, the
white figure sank into the ooZe of the
banquette, her squirting blood dyeing the
succeed wall
The old man passed his hand over his
starting eyes He did not even stoop to
see If the child of his neighbor and old
comrade in arms were dead, but stepping
back "a pace he drew "A revolver from his
belt and placed the muzzle against his
forehead
His body fell heavily at her feet
! The report OF the pistol brought volu
/ 51e hurrying crowd into the drowned
street, but there had been no witnesses Of
the double tragedy-which caused extraor
binary comment No one ever knew its
meaning. To. "otto Fargo covering over
her nameloss i:.-.nt in the cabin on Bayou
Desnoyers Henri Dcstrehan ON his death
bed in the old Dostrehan plantation house.
even these but dimly surmised the truth
The deaf old cabaret keeper came out to
watch the removal of the dead bodies
leaving the little room quite empty.
The untasted glass of absinth on the
bar glowed like huge scintillating opal
In the purple shadows.
A year later man driftcd at nightfall
one day alone into cheap pothouse on
the outskirts of Paris There was an air
of decayed gentility about him. His well
fitting clothes were shabby The lining
OF the topcont he carried over his arm was
frayed and much soiled
His face, covered with a stubble OF black
beard, was haggard His dark shifting
eyes had a dull. outworn expression The
hand which he stretched out toward the
little glass, pushed toward him by the gruff,
i'll looking proprietor, shook almost as If
with palsy
He grasped the slender stem eagerly and
raised the glass 10 his lips, but set il down
/ again with nauseated shudder and turned
away. IL cannot drink it, " he muttered,
dropping upon the rude bench outside the
door, and drawing the brim of his hat over
/ his eyes, as If to shut out something from
/ his sight. God | am dying for il, yet
cannot drink it, There were exactly
those green, changing lights in her eyes
that DAY And whom l remember he
/ threw out his arms with gesture of self
/ loathing-"wh / remember that am,
after ALL Laiitte only by adoption IN
] n NJ DnXis In Rnmnncn