Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-04-26

thus far had been able to win from
| bachelorhood.
Mrs. Gatacre was the social queen o.
military Dublin in those days, but Col
Gatacre was not the social king. Or
| society's throne the queens Censor
had to be of society's own selection
Society chose Capt. Fitzgerald.
One day Col. Gatacre found society
! whispering. This would have inter
ested him if the whispering hadn'I
| ceased the moment he came within
| earShot. When it occurred several
times and had become unmistakably
Of personal significance, the colone
| tapped one of the whisperers on the
shoulder and demanded to know what
was going on that he might not prop
erly hear. The whisperer was dear
friend of the colonel, so he carefully
broke the latter's heart with rumor
as friends have habit of doing
The rumor connected Mrs. Gatacre
| with the handsome captain.
1t was only suggestion, of course
and the coloneIs friend hoped there
was nothing in it; but that was what
the people were saying, and the col
onel's friend, neglecting to state that
ne was one of the people himself, SYM
pathetically thought that the colonel
ought to know about it.
The colonel grimly assured the
friend that at last he did know about
it, and was very much obliged for the
knowledge. Then he turned his back
on the friend and went to crave an au-
dience with Dublin's social queen.
The interview between husband and
wife was brief, and, in effect, some
thing like this:
Il am informed, madam, that you
are in love with Capt. Fitzgerald. Is
it true?"
1T is true
I thank you for your candor. 1t
will prevent any unnecessary oompli-
cations. 1t may preclude the necessity
of my killing Capt Fitzgerald. That
will depend, of course, upon his being
equally candid, and upon both OF you
being willing to abide by the terms l
shall make for all three o. u.s."
What are the terms, Col. Gatacre ?"
That Capt. Fitzgerald shall leave
the country Immediately and take you
with him"
And your"
Il shall leave England forever"
Your commission in the army?"
That can be arranged will be
transferred to a colonial post. Denied
this favor from my sovereign, who
alone is left me to serve, shall re-
sign my commission and go abroad, an
outcast unranked by my country, as
am otherwise degraded by my wife"
L am sorry. l could not help it. l
will do anything you ask, and l shall
pray for your forgiveness when I am
gone away. Or l will stay and let
let Capt. Fitzgerald go. I will stay
or, better still, will go with you"
You will go with Capt Fitzgerald,
and as far away from me as he can
take you. You must both pledge
yourselves never to return to England
alive. Tell him this for me. Tell him
also if ever I see him again I shall kill
him. That is all. 1t is our goodby-
my goodby to you"
Fitzgerald was not a coward 1t
was no fear of losing his life that
made him an exile. The departure
from England of all three principals
was freely accepted as an alternative
to remaining in Dublin to furnish
scandal for the gossips. So Capt. Fitz-
gerald settled his business affairs in
Dublin, converted his estate into cash,
and in company with Mrs. Gatacre,
went to southern California, where he
bought handsome home and settled
down.
And so it might have remained if
this world were not such a really small
place, after all. 1t is not so far cry
from Dublin to Los Angeles that a
whisper against a Woman's reputation
can't be heard. 1t did not take Dublin
long to whisper to Los Angeles that
Mrs. Gatacre was not Mrs. Fitzgerald,
and while that was quite as much as it
was really necessary for it to whisper
it went on at a much greater length
and told the first chapters of the story
which are here set down.
When it became known that Mrs
Gatacre was not the captains wife
both were turned out of the English
colony summarily, and out of pretty
much everywhere else besides, so that
scarcely anything was left them but to
enjoy each others society a lit
tie more than ever, and retire to a
solitude where there were nc knowing
tongues to remind them that even that
enjoyment was wrong. Capt. FitZ-
gerald went down into his inexhausti-
BILE purse and bought an orange or
chard near Duarte.
Thither the two outcasts repaired,
and in a cozy little home amid the
trees the brilliant man and woman of
the world resigned themselves to re-
Election and Renaissance. Neither
was good for them, especially remin-
iscence.
If there is anything that will make
a person i'll in California it is such
Renaissance as Mrs. Gatacre dWelt
upon in her solitude in the Duarte
orange orchard. The residents round
about Duarte say they lived happily