Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1901-03-20

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stood open. II was the second house l
had entered u~nannounccd that night,
and in this, rs in the other, | cnc0ua.
tered Il man sitting asleep 10y the table.
"Golng w To him, | saw 1t to be the
elder Of the two, John label, aud, per-
cclving that he was suffering for food
and In a condition of extreme misery,
took out the first bill my hand encoui.'
tered In my ovcrfull pockets and laid it
on the table 10y his side. AS | did so lie
gave n sigh, but did not wake; and, sat.
isiicd that | had done all that was wise
aud all that even my mother would cX-
pcct Of me under the circumstances,
and fearing to encounter the other
brother if 1 fingered, | FASTENED away
mud took the shortest path home. Had
l been more Of a man, or If my visit to
Mrs. Webb had been actuatcd by a
more communicable motive, | would
have gone ut once to the good man
who believed me TO be Of his own flesh
and blood and told him of tie strange
and hcartrending adventure which had
changed the whole tenor Of my
thoughts and life and begged his nj.
vice rs 10 what | had better do under
the difficult circumstances in which
found myself placed. But the memory
Of n thousand past lngratitudcS, TO.
gcthcr with the knowledge Of the shock
which he could not fail TO receive on
learning Mt this late day and under con.
dltions ut once so tragic and full Of
menace that the child which his long
buried wife had once placed In his
arms MS MS own was neither of her
blood or his, rose up between us and
caused mo not only To attempt silence.
but To sccrctc In the adjoining woods
the money | had received In the vain
hope that all visible connection DO.
tween myself and my mothers tragic
death would thus be lost. You see,
lad not calculated on Miss Amabel
Page"
The flash he here received from that
lady's eyes startled the crowd and gave
Swcctwater, already suffering under
shock after shock of mingled surprise
and wonder, his first definite idea that
he had never rightly understood the re.
lations between these two and that
something besides justice had actuated
Amabel in her treatment Of this young
man. This feeling was shared by 9th.
ers. and n reaction set In In his favor
which even affected the officials who
were conducting the inquiry. This was
shown by the difference of manner now
assumed by the coroner and by the
more easily impressed Sweetwatcr
who had not yet learned the indlspen.
sable art of hiding his feelings. Fred.
crick himself felt the change and show.
ed Il 10y the look Of relief and growing
c~onfidSncc he east at Agnes.
OF tie questions and answers which
now passed between him and the vari
Gus members OF the jury | need give nc
account. They but emphasized fact.
already known and produced but little
change In the general feeling, which
was one now Of suppressed pity for al
who had been drawn into the meshe.
OF this tragic mystery. When he wa.
allowed to resume his seat. the nam,
Of Miss Amabel Page was again called
She rose with n bound. Naught tina
she had anticipated had occurred; fact.
OF which she could know nothing hat
changed the aspect OF affairs and mad,
the position OF Frederick something $,
remote from any she could have imag
ined that sue was still In the maze o
the numberless conflicting emotions
which these revelations were ~calculat
ed to call out In one who had risked nj
on the hazard of a die and lost. ShI
did not ven know at this momen
whether she was glad or sorry he coul,
explain so cleyerly his anomalous posi-
ton. She had caught the look he ha,
cast at Agnes, and. while this angere,
her. Ii did not greatly modify her opin
ion that he was destined for herself
for. however other people might feel
she did not for n moment believe hi
story. She had not a pure enough hear
TO do SO. To her all self sacrifice wa.
an anomaly.
No woman Of the mental or physica
strength Of Agatha Webb would plan