Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1900-10-25

stroy It. Here In my presence, smtl-
| ing in my eyes, you hid 1t, like ser.
pent. in your breast, until you could
give 1t into the hands Of one as un-
| scrupulous as yourself. and make Il
| the weapon to strike at the heart OF
your husbands honor! Did you think
to escape the consequences of such al.
act? Do you know that as look at
you all your beauty seems changed to
me? I seem to see the serpent's
scales. I seem to hear the serpent's
hiss. Between us yawns a great, Inn
passable gulf, and in its blacklist
depths you would hurl the honor OF tbs
name you bear"
1.-THE name I bear" she echoed,
scornfully. "And what is an empty
name? See." pointing to the paper
chow readily another may fitch 1t from
us! It is an accomplishment upon
which you pride yourself. You say
you wrote this name and stole 1t
from you for purposes of my own.
How will you prove this?. 1t seems
strange, unnatural story-does it not?
You wrote Grace Hawthorne's name IN
idle jsst. Your friend raised money on
it for fifty thousand dollars. The day
the note falls due you sail for Eu'
rope. A coincidence, merely, the lat
ter, you explain. You were in no way
DESTROYS of being absent when the note
was taken up, whose existence was
alike unknown to and unsupported by
YOU Perhaps you will drag the mat
ter before the courts. Perhaps you
would lay the guilt upon your wife.
To do so would not rob her of the
you would drag it and her through the
mud in order that your own skirts be
cleaned. But suppose your wife denies
the story? Suppose she declares her.
self the innocent one? Suppose that
Harvey Barclay supports her proof,
and tells how and where you signed
the note? Are not two witnesses bet
ter than one. Meantime, agitation,
they say, will prove fatal to your
father. Do you not think, Harry Rey-
nolds, we had best let sleeping dogs
lie? You hold the note. The proof of
your forgery is in your own hands,
Grace Hawthorne alone believes you
guilty. At what cost could you con-
vince her of your innocence?"
Twice Harry Reynolds essayed to
stem the GREATNESS torrent of her
words, but from his ashen lips escaped
only a low, gurgling sound. The air
appeared to have converted itself into
hammers, which struck necessarily
against his temples and prevented
thought.
''This-this is your internal plot!" at
last he was able to gasp out; and then
the room again grew dark to him.
He reached out his hand to steady
himself against the table, but, with a
dead log upon the floor, while around
emblem Of the frailty of his own hope,
and the shattering of his brightest and
most beautiful dreams.
Helen, bending over him, thought,
for the moment, that death had inter-
cepted in her behalf to keep her secret;
but as she wrenched from his rigid
fingers the paper he had clutched in
his fall, she felt the skin warm to her
touch.
A hasty knock sounded at the door.
She thrust the paper into her bosom
and rose to open it.
Grace stood, pale and GREATNESS, on
the threshold, with Andrew close be.
hind.
What has happened?" gasped the
girl.
Harry is ILL.," answered the wife,
calmly. eff DR.. Hope is with Mr.. Rey-
nolds, let him come up at once. Mean
time, Andrew can lift him on the
lounge"
But, ere she had finished speaking,
Grace had sped on her errand-a dull,
dead weight of an awful fear upon her
heart, where the birds song had sung
to silence.
The physician looked very grave as
he felt the pulse of the unconscious
be some skeleton hidden in this splen-
did mansion, to cause father and son
alike, within twenty-four hours. to be
stricken with sudden and desperate
illness; and, invo1untarily, he glanced
toward the young, beautiful woman
who so calmly awaited his verdict and
directions.
"The brain is affected, Mrs. Rey-
nolds,' he said, finding the face he
studied an inscrutable mask "Your
husband must be kept perfectly quiet,
and his recovery must be unattended
by the slightest agitation. All excit-
ing causes, if any exist, must be ban
ished. His youth and strength will,
doubtless, soon reassert itself. Mean
time, leave this prescription for him.
Please give it according to exact d.
rections, as in itself it is a powerful
poison, and must be carefully admin
istered. could trust it to no one but
yourself; I will see him again in few
hours. OF course, his father must
know nothing of his Illness"
Helen bowed her assent and under
standing; but. when the door had shut
behind, him he stood in the attitude he
had left her, only with her eyes fixed
on the white face resting upon the pill
lows of the lounge. The dark eyes
were open now, but they had restless
CLEAN Of vacancy, and seemed un-
mindful Of her glance. Neither pity
nor remorse was written in her own
face; only desperate hardness gath
cred there.
IF had loved him, he might have
saved mel" at last she murmured, halt
aloud. Gle is worthy only good wo-
| mans love, and I'm not good wo-
man. And besides, besides, all I had
| to give belonged to HARVEY long before