The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1900-09-15

II suspicion attached to Harvey. 1t
would be difficult to obtain proof. Be-
sides, he had o t.forged the name. And
o that she had hidden him hope,
could she again relegate him to des-
pair? But how to obtain the sigma
ture? Well, she must trust that to her
woman's wit.
She had reached the square when
she had gained this stage of her solilo-
guy, and finding 1t, as he supposed. de-
serted, she sat down On n Of its
benches, in a spot as secluded as she
could select. Lifting her veil. she let
the cold air blow upon her brow.
The short afternoon vas fast draw
ing to a close. Already darkness was
gathering. Quiet and motionless, h
seemed a part of the falling shadows.
A light wind blew through the bare
branches Of the trees. She drew her
furs more closely about her, but other-
wise stirred not.
At last a step sounded at the extreme
end of h walk. She could distinguish
the figure of a man coming. toward her
"a man her quick glance declared un-
known to her, n so she sat quietly
until he should pass BY.
He was of medium height. broad
shouldered, thick-set. His dress al
seedy and worn, though a diamond
flashed in a bright-colored scarf loose
ly knotted about his throat.
His head was bent, as IL in thought.
and between his lips he held a cigar.
! He did not seem yer to see the silent
figure on the bench.
He had nearly passed her by, when
he casually lifted his head. and their
eyes met.
A change, awful in its suddenness
and character, swept over both faces.
both grew ashen. with livid lips. But
the woman vas pale with the pallor of
a hideous fear; the man white, with
the white fire Of a pitiless triumph.
He stopped abruptly in his walk. and
for a full moment their eyes unflinch~
ingly met; then. with a harsh, low
laugh, he took a short step forward.
and abruptly laid his hand on her
shoulder.
"At.last, my lady-at last" were the
words with which he broke the silence,
which. in reality, had lasted scarce
sixty seconds, but which to her, at
an eternity Of torture.
She strove' to speak, but, though her
lips moved, she could ~articulate no
sound. Her heart, which at first had
peat in 'maddest tumult. now stood al
most still. She could have counted its
measured pulse.
Repulsion. fear, horror. all had rob-
bed her face of its well-nigh unnatural
beauty, and left it haggard and aged.
The grasp upon her shoulder tight
ened until its pressure caused her phys
ical pain. The mans hot breath she
felt uron her cheek; the cigar he still
held between his now set teeth mingled
its fumes with the air until it suffocat-
ed, rather than revived herr
"The surprise Of seeing me isn't alto
gether a welcome one-eh, my girl?"
AS he spoke for the second time, she
~shuddered.
I'll thought you were dead-mur-
dered!" she finally gasped out.
Grace had said, when first she heard
the voice of Harry's wife, that it held
more music than any voice to which
she had ever listened.
Could she. have heard it now she
would not have recognized 1t.
It seemed to come from some vault,
and ring with the metallic echoes of
the sepulchre.
"Oh, God!" breaking the horrid spell
which bound her, and burying her face
in her hands to hide this terrible flesh
and-blood spectre Of her dead past
"oh, God, let me wake and find that
this Is all a dream!"
$50 I find you here!" asserted the
man, unheeding her words. $50 at last
my long search is rewarded! In the
moment that I despaired, my end is
achieved; and here-here of all places
where I least looked for you! Six
hours more, and I should have turned
my back upon this place, not dream.
ing in my widest dreams, that it held
you! Six hours only, and you would
again have been lost to me, this time.
perhaps, forever. How I have tried to
track you! How cunning you have
been! And now chance-this poor ac-
cident Of chance-has done for me what
all my skill-what all my counter-cun-
ming failed to do. Once more. Helen
Window, we stand face to facet"
He could have stabbed her no more
cruelty than by his words. In six hours
he would, by his own concession. nave
left the city. She would have been SAFE
from him forever-safe, and believing
him dead.
And but for Harvey she would at this
hour-at this moment-have been saIe-
" sheltered and protected beneath ho-
gar Reynolds roof.
Already her absence might be noted
already some anxiety might arise coh-
corning It.
In Imagination she saw the room wi.n
all its luxurious belongings, where n
and Harvey had talked and plotted and
schemed. The lights were lit ere now,
the curtains drawn, the fire shed its
brilliant warmth upon the pretty pic
ture, and she was away from 1t all, QUIZ
here in the cold and growing darkness.
How cold It was! She had not feit u
before. She must go home-home'
Had she q home?
She almost forgot, as her fancy
painted the well known picture. hat
between her and It had risen . sudden
barrier-the barrier formed OF n
fieshless bones Of the skeleton OF her
long-buried- past!
"How many years had It been?" went
on that pitiless voice in her ear. Five
I think-hve long, long years! An, q
man must live them through as I nave
done to know how long they may be!
There has not been a town I have not
visited. L think, Whenever ~ had q