St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1899-03-18

patches" was the manager of the Big
Horn. 'a6
At this. after-dinner hour@,he was
usually clothed on with his.Sevening
liquor, and incommunicable to the
/ pitch of surliness 1t was thus that She
i found him. He had risen from his
chairs and was moFing with eircslIsa-
fspection from the table to the side
board, when. his daughters excited en-
trance startled him. He let fall the key
\ which he hed-that very precious
4 duplicate key of the sideboard closet
1 where his liquors and brandies were
kept, the possession of which he had
thus far been able to conceal from the
yigilant Abby. As it slipped from his
/ fat, smooth, shaking fingers. all that
was left of his intelligence groveled
after it upon the floor.
Father, father! cried Faith, rush
/ ing upon him &c come, come with me!
Oh, rouse up, dol Come out, and stop
this fearful thing!"
Seeiug nohops of comprehension in
his CLASSY, floating eyes, which tried to
| fix hers, with reprehensiTe frown, she
seized him and shook him passionate
| II, trying TO awaken in that dead heart
! some spark of warmth from the indig
nation that burned in her own.
tsWiH you listen to that noor thing
begging fer his life! Do yon want to
have your people murdered
| But the late Mr.. Bingham simply
stared, working his empty fingers,
feeling for the lost key; his mindswas
concentrated solely on that interrupted
4 journey TO the sidebroad.
Keep 'wayz-don' talk shoe lou;
where 'sh it? Only keyI got. Abby fin
she--J--wha' sh'll I do?y he Whim-
| pered.
a0h, oh!' shuddered the girl.
@ Mr. Biaghana groped for.thechair he.
had imprudently forsaken and seated
himself maies tically upon theaarms The
heavy chair tipped with his weight
Faith. helped him to regain his seat.
She stoopedsto search forshis key. dash
ing the tears from her eyes.
Here it is, poor father" she said,
putting the key back into his hand.
There; haze you got it ri Let me put
it into your pocket. See, you win lose
it again" 80
Itawas all that he cared for; so let
him have it and find his way to the
4sideboard andsso1ut of the world, where
he, was no longer of any use. Faith
could not have reasoned in this cold
blooded fashion ;%she acted on the i'm
I e,t,. = g1,.
him that he wanted done before she
left shings IF not that night, yet she
must leave him soon, shejcou1d ID notSaf-
ford TO beharsh with what was already
a memory, a grave.
There was yet one man in his senses
in that distracted place whose courage
and humanity could beeounted on; the
doctor, Faith knew, had returned to the
mine. But as she few to seek him at
his office he was on his way to her,
and thus they missed each other by con-
trary paths in the dark.
The Office was locked. Faith beat
upon the door with barehands, but got
no answer. Then she ran around tot the
kitchen door, which stood open, show
ing light burning in an empty house.
The. doctor could not be far away,
she thought, and, stepping inside, she
stood on the PLATFORM and sshrieked:
ooh. doctor, doctor!" In asvoice Of an
guish which brought, not the doctor,
but Darcie Hamilton out of the cellar,
where her piercing cry had reached him.
He sprang to her side and put his good
arm around her as the simplest way
of answering that there he was If she
needed him. aes Hs e8ss
What do you want of the doctor?
What has happened? Dear, what is this
horror in your face ?''
''I thought you were gone,s' she said,
days Sago." She had forgotten that
it was ouly the night before that he
had left her fathers house; it seemed as
il it might have been years. VIC
We are going tonight" he an
swered. Have you not seen the doc
tor?n FR8 IA
mo, no; I cannot. find him. They
are doing something dreadful to Wan,
to make him tell where you areand
they are not done with him. must
find the tioctor!s
"They are done with him, said Dar-
Gle, listening. ''Hark! it's all quiet
up the gulch.'
ssWhat do you mean? He IS deady''
He has told.'
y What! Does he know n
Why, it was he who brought me
here. He'll tell. you know, if that win
save him" Dareie explained.
The shock of this discovery, and its
seIf-egident consequences, left the poor
girl no strength wherewith to acoun-
terfeit' any longer, for pride's sake.
1t was the simple truth that Dareie
read in her face as their sad eyes mai,
in the sincerity of a moment that
might be their last-on earth together.
60 this instantl why do you stay
here ?ss0h, mercy. where can he go ?i'
She tried to push him from her,
while he held her IL 4 dream, hardly
daring to believe what her pale face
told him =.tsss1 sseS ss
We were waiting for You, Faith
dear. The doctor said you were to go
with us; but / said you would never
go-with me. But would you go?'' he
implored $500.
Here Mikes double bass interrupted,
lamenting il suppressed roar:
s'Afusha, mnshal the doether has not
towld her d word =
II it's about my going don't say am
other word pleaded Faith. 81