Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-06-04

L
forget my sorrow and live in peace
forget the shame that in England was
ever present with me- You will find
the shame and sorrow follow you as
it did me, and that people will re-
gard you with kindly pity. All, give
me anything rather than that"
But, mamma" said Kathleen, 1--WE
have no cause for shame; we had no.
thing to do with what happened.
cit falls and rests on us just the
same" she replied "A deserted wife!
All, children, when you know more of
the world, you will understand all
| that that means! A deserted wife is
branded even by the pity and compass
sion she excites''
Then Sir Karls daughter rose from
her mothers side and stood erect in
| the white moonlight. She raised her
clear, delicate face to the sky. She
| had been child when she knelt in
the long grass two hours before; she
was a woman now with the light of
high resolve on her face.
| Mamma" she said, "haye you the
two letters written by this-woman?
| Will you show them to me?"
II will I have your fathers por-
trait, too I have not looked at it
| for sixteen years; but I will show it
| to you"
Thank you. And during these
years you have not heard one word of
the man who loved you and his child
rem SO dearly?"
''No-not one, Gertrude
"And you believe, mamma, that for
sixteen years he has been with
with this rival of yours?"
II must believe it, Gertrude. Surely,
| if he had been anywhere in the wide
world but with her, he would have
written to me. Why should he not?
We parted on the most loving terms.
But, mamma, that argument cuts
both ways If you parted on such
| loving terms, so much the less rea-
son is there for DESERVING you in such
a fashion,
Dolores looked in bewilderment at
| the child; she had never viewed the
| uIdLL6F Ill LudC llSuJ D0IOT0.
Mamma said the girl, with
grave solemnity that startled Dol
ores, II do not believe it will not
believe it. If my father was the
good and honorable man you describe
him, would one hours interview with
a person for whom you say he had lit
tie affection or respect make him false
to his whole life false to you and to
us? A thousand times no! If the
whole world swore to me that my
father was guilty, | would maintain
his innocence as I would maintain the
truth of Heaven. He is innocent,
mamma continued Gertrude, "as
surely as the stars shine in the sky
above us. Oh, how could you who
loved him have believed him other
wiser" She turned and pointed to
the river. you might as well say
that suddenly and without cause that
water could become black as ink. Oh,
mamma, how could you believe that
my father was false?"
What else could do, Gertrude my
child?'
do? Trust him! am only his
line of his dear face, but | would
scorn to believe him guilty on the
word of such a woman as that
ooh, child" said Dolores, family,
you have a golden hearth
The depths of her soul were stirred;
11orh ct hofn
her and spoke for the long-lost man
From the hour in which she had re-
ceived Lola's letter she had accepted
her husbands guilt as matter of
course.
'But, Gertrude she said, piteously,
do you not see that is the only pos
sible explanation of his absence? If
he is elsewhere, why has he not writ
ten to me? He must have known that, |
loving him as | did, every hour of his
absence would be torture to me; and |
II he is not under baneful influence, I
repeat, why has he not written to
me?'
Il do not know You will say, |
mamma, that reason or judgment does
not enter into my counsels. I go by
instinct, by my feeling, by the voice
OF my own heart and l know he is
nnocent-innocent as you or t.
Dolores fair head dropped on her
breast; she felt rebuked by the firm
faith of her daughter
81 am sure of this said Gertrude |
her fair face glowing with excitement |
that the truth will be discovered |
one day. If murder will out, inno-
cence will be indicated. My fathers |
name will yet be as unsullied as the |
stars in the heavens. Rely upon it, |
mamma, there has been somewhere or
other a terrible mistake
Could it be possible? A terrible
mistake! In what way? Dolores knew
Lola's writing only too we'll Her
husband had vanished-there was no
doubt about that.