Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1900-12-08
CLARENCE
By BRET HARTE.

aged by sheer force Of will to struggle
to a sitting posture. Then as the COW
erlet slipped from the bare shoulders,
she said, as she drew ii with a shiver
or disgust around her again: II forgot
that you strip women-you northern
soldiers. But l forgot Also she add
ed, with a sarcastic smile, that you
are likewise my husband-and this is
your room"
me contemptuous significance of her
speech dispelled the last lingering rem
nant OF Brant's dream. In a voice as
dry as her own he said. II am afraid
you Will now have to remember only
that am a northern general and you
a southern spy"
SO be it," she said, gravely. Then.
impulsively, but / have not spied on
you
Yet the next m she bit her lips
as II the expression had unwittingly
escaped her; and with a reckless shrug
or her shoulders she lay back on her
pillow.
1t matters not" said Brant, coldly.
You have used this house, and those
within it to forward your designs. 1t
is not your fault that you found moth
ing In the dispatch box you opened.
she stared at him quickly then
shrugged her shoulders again. II
might have known she was false TO
me, she said bitterly, "and that you
would wheedle her soul away and YOU
have others. Well-she betrayed me-,
For what?"
"A flush passed over Brant's face. But
Win an EFFORT he contained himself.
II was the flower that betrayed you!
Inc mower whose red lust fell in the
box when you opened 1t on the desk
by the window in yonder room. The
mower that stood In the window as q
signal. The flower | myself removed
so spoiled the miserable plot your
friends had concocted."
A look OF mingled terror and awe
came into her face. You changed the
sisnal' she repeated. dazedly; then I'm
q ,o"er voice THAT accounts for it
an But the next moment she turned
again Hereby upon him: "And you
mean to tell me that she didn't help
you-that she didn't sell me-your wife
to you for-for what was it?-a look
"a kiss?"
Il mean TO say that she did not
KNOW the signal was changed and that
she herself restored ii to its place. 1t
Is no tault of hers nor OF youlI that |
am not now a prisoner"
She passed her thin hand dazedIy
across her forehead. Il see" she INIT
tered Then again bursting out pas
slohateIy, she said: Fool! you never
would have been touched! DO Won
thlhk that Lee would have gone for
you-with higher game In your division
commander? No, Those supports were
Il telnt To draw him to your assistance
Whlie our main column broke his CEN
YET nes, you may stare at me, Clar-
ence Brant. You are a good lavver-
they say a dashing fighter. too. nav-
81 ihought you a coward, even I'm vour
lrfesolution, but you are fighting with
men drilled in the art OF war and STRAIT
eSy When you were a boy outcast ON
the plains. She stopped, closed her
eyes and then added YEARLY: But
mat was yesterday--today, who
Knows! All may be changed. The
support may still attack you. That
was why stopped to write you that
note an noun ago-when / believed |
should be leaving here forever. Yes'
l did it," she went on, with half.
Wearied, half-dCgsed determination
you may as well know all. | had ar
ranged to NY, your pickets were to he
Drawn by friends Of mine. who were
waiting for me beyond the lines. We'll,
l fingered when ] saw you arrive-lin-
gered to write you that note. And-I
was too late!"
But Brant had beer watching her
varying expression, her kindling eve.
7 straHss masculine grasp Of military
knowledge, her soldierly phraseolopv
all so new to her, that he scarcely heed.
ed the feminine ending OF her speech.
III seemed to him no longer the Diana
OF ms youthful fancy, hut some Pallas
Athene VINO now looked up at him
from the pillow. He had never before
fully believed in her unselfsh devotion
to the cause. until now, when il seem
eu 10 nave almost unseXed her. In his
widest comprehension of her he had
never dreamed her a Joan of Arc, and
yet that was the face which might
nave confronted him, exalted and in
spired, on the battlefield itself. He re-
called himself with an effort.
Il thank you for your would he
fnl he said, more gently, If not
tenderly, and God knows | wish your
hight had been successful. But even
your warning is unnecessary. For the
had already cone IN: they
had ollowed only the second signal
ana dlverged to engage our division on
the lett' leaving me alone. And their
ruse or drawing our commander to as
sist me would not have been success
full, as | had suspected it and sent n
message TO him that ! wanted no help"
1t was the truth-it was the sole plr-
port of the note he had Sent through
Miss Faulkner. He might not have
it, but so great was the
domination of his woman still
over him that he felt compelled to as
his superiority. She fixed her
upon him. And Miss Faulkner
look your message" she said, slowly.
Don't deny it! No one else could
passed through our lines, and YOU
her a safe conduct through yours,
Yes! | might have known it. And
this is the creature they sent me for
ally and confidant!"
For an instant Brant felt the sting
this enforced contrast between the
women. But he only said: You
h a | did not know you were
the spy, nor do ! believe that she sus-
you were my wife"
why should she?" she said. almost
lercely. Il am known among these
people only by the name OF Renham-
my maiden name. Yes! Won can take
me out and shoot me under that name.
without disgracing yours. Nobody will
know that the southern spy was the
of he northern general. You see
| have thought even Of that!"
And thinking that" said Brant.
slowly, you have put YOURSELF will
not say in my power-for you are I'm
the power of any man in this camp. |
VIC may know you, or even hear YOU
speak. Well-let us understand each
other plainly. / do not know how
great a sacrifice your devotion to your
cause demands OF you. / do not know
what 1t seems to demand OF me. Hear
me, then! i will do my best to protect
you and get o safely away from
mere; but. failing that, l tell you plain
" that / shall blow out your brains
md my own together"
She knew that he would do 1t. Yet
ler eyes suddenly bcamed with a new
awakening light! she put zach
ler hair again and h~alf-raised herself
lpon the pillow TO axe at his dark, set
ace.
And as l shall let no other life but
ours be periled in this affair." he went
quietly, "and will accompany you
myself. In some Disguise havond tho