The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1901-06-11

TUESDAY......~...~JUNE II, 1901.
A YEAR AND A DAY

4
undulationS. From the earth Itself
arose the soft. shining simmer of in
tense heat and through II, With sort
of automatic unCOnSciouSnesS, plunged
the figure whose gun aud game bag be-
spoke the hunter-a hunter and Il
mighty man as well. whose broad
shoulders, 1.-THE limbs and lean, I'M
handsome face bore the unmistakable
stamp Of breeding and refinement.
For hours this man had tramped. NJ
terly lost To the discOmforts of the
present, in the intense pain of vivid
retroSpectlon. Il rctroSpection suddenly
interrupted 10y spectacle OF human
misery as grews0me as ii was pathetic.
Quite alone. yet within the shadow
Of a hastily improyised shelter of bend
ing boughS. lay the worn and wasted
figure of man, man upon whose
brow lay damp and cold n CHASTITY dew.
whose limbs had already fallen into
the absolute lmmobility of coming dis.
solution and whose passing life seemed
caught and focused in wide opened.
angushed eyes.
startled out of his long day dream.
Serge Vernon knelt beside the sufferer,
pressing his brandy flask 20 his lips.
stranger" said he, God sent you. |
am dying dying with my work UNI
done out yonder I've a daughter look
ing for water. a pretty girl and a good
one. raised lady with her mothers
people. but she left them all FOR me. l
didn't ask IL. At first l even tried 10
send her back. Ranch life is hard on
some women. but she loved it-loved
everything the dogs. the horses. the
wild. free life that was glad and beau
tiful 10 us both-until he came. a man,
rich. handsome and educated like her
self. a man whose speech was the
speech of her own people and who
brought to his woOing all the subtle
arts OF civilization never thought Of
danger. never dreamed Of treachery.
until the black hearted scOundrel had
goue-gone denying the private mar
rage into which he had entrapped her
and finging her shame in her face.
What could l do but follow and wipe
out that shame In his hearts blood
Murder they called II; just Judgment |
knew Il. but for her sake guarded well
the secret that she has never guessed,
that she must never know. But trou-
bic came of it ana loss until now, when
l must leave my poor gil pennileSs and
alone I'm a strange land. They have Of
fcred reward for the murderer
$1,000 for him alive or dead. The
proofs are all here laying q purple
hand across his labOrlng breast.
Stranger. she needs it. VIII you get
the money FOR my girl? When the end
comes. she has promised TO 60 home.
Then find the murderer Of Jim Ran
mas and send the blood money 10 the
woman who. before God, is his widow
Jim Rannis. Serge Vernon lived in
that moment year Of misery-the long
year since Stella Marsden had chosen
between his love and his cousins for
tune. the cousin who cared SO little for
the treasure won that he soon left II
for q taste Of pleasure and adventure
in the new world All that he had
found and deserved death as we'll Lit
tie liking the task. Serge had crossed
the water. had learned the evil story
Of a wasted life, lived under false
name. ended in disguise and disgrace.
had offered a reward for the apprehen-
sion Of the murderer and had found
him.
There was a rustling among the wild
rose bushes. and. looking up. Serge
saw them part above the head Of
girl, tall. fair and Ike q rose herself
Their perfume caught in her wind
blown hair, their bloom on perfect lip
and cheek. lip and cheek that paled at
sight OF the dying man as, with a low
cry, she dropped beside him.
In the pocket Of Serge's hunting shirt
lay q letter, a sweet and gracious APP
peal for forgiveness, written by his
cousins widow. The letter, that morn
ing received. had been less surprise
than his own reception Of the fact that
she was no longer inconsOlable Know
ing the heights Of sacrifice to which
this guilty wayfarer had attained. see
ing his paternal passion returned with
absorbing filial affection. he realized
that the English girl. willing to sell her
sordid soul for the Vernon title, was no
longer his ideal Of perfect womanhOod.
Suddenly. loud and clear, from the
dying lips came the eager question,
Stranger, will you get that money for
my girlT Serge Vernon barred his
head and lifted his hand. "As God is
my Witness" said he, 81 will"
Before Serge Vernon and his wife
were married she told him the story Of
her sinless shame, but he gave her no
answering confidence. Today her IA
Their sleeps In an hoDored grave, and
she In her happy English home has
won all hearts save that of the wild
owed Lady Vernon. Serge himself dis
courages any intimacy between the
fWO feeling IL IN bo unnatural and IN.