Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1901-04-09


the luxurious apartment with the fury
and abandon of a tigress entrapped,
her crushed parasol and the emblems
OF her mourning beneath her feet. Re-
sponsive to her furious ringing, Will
liam came running to the room at in
tervals of five minutes to answer over
and over:
No, ma am, Mr.. Raymond amt come
IN yet" and returned to tell below
stairs that "Mistis is done gone plum
mad over some'p'n!" Raymond came
at last. AS he entered his mothers
room such storm burst upon him as
he had not dreamed could emanate
from the heart of woman. She had
been Inundated, outwitted and BELT.
tied by an adventures, she declared;
she had been threatened and would be
forced into compromise with a crea-
ture otthe cutters, and if they carried
out their contract, what triumph for
Brodnar and the jealous, envious peo-
pie who had resented their entrance
into Richmond society! AT the mo-
ment she hated even her son; she
her wishes; he had been a marplot,
she declared, baking her efforts to
advance his fortunes, winning disgrace
where she had opened the path TO
honor; and now nothing was left for
him but marriage with low woman,
and the loss of all for which she had
striven.
Take her" cried the despairing
woman, land out of my sight forever.
Go down to her level-starve, and leave
your miserable offspring to wretched-
ness" She gave way at length under
the strain, and Raymond for the first
time in his life beheld his mother
abandon herself to tears. He stood
moodily looking from the window I'M
til she grew quieter. When he turned
she was carefully righting the room,
her face was pale, but her old express
sion of resolve had returned. and a
dangerous light shone in her eyes.
You spoke of marriage he said.
DO you think Louise will insist upon
that? Will she not be satisfied with the
child?"
she will dictate the terms. not you.
She is desperate enough for anything;
and l know what desperate woman
will do to save herself Raymond
turned quickly and looked at his moth
err She did not avoid his questioning
gaze. she will denounce us both to
the government if you do not marry
her and give her back the child. I
Shp,,11 if T i,,6 L
will make public announcement of her
claim to common law marriage with
YOU"
He waited in silence minute, as
though to weigh her words.
Whether or not Louise substan-
tiates her claim, proof of your immoral
life would kill the will of my husband
for public policy would not compel
Frances to marry you to inherit her
property. 1t will not compel young
girl to condone immoral conduct for
which it would grant a married wom-
an divorce"
Then we are ruined!" said Ray
mond. II shall look out for myself
Promise her anything tonight" The
SYM ~hiiSsS VI VIC NCClSlOu NOulQ nave
been appalling to anyone but his
mother. She looked at him a moment,
sarcastic smile lowering about her
lips.
And 1 shall look out for myself"
She began this self-preservation in
stantly, and with falsehood SO in
genious that its use AT that moment
would alone have proven her ability as
a diplomat. But hard asst is upon me,
great as is my ppointment, for
you the blow is heavier; l should not.
except under these circumstances, tell
you, as ] do tell you now, that Frances
and ! have reached an agreement;
she has consented to carry out her
fathers wishes; she stipulated only
that you were not to be informed of
this agreement until she chose to tell
you; She will not place herself in a
position to be harassed or worried by
lover now; her whole thought is on
the wounded soldiers" She saw the
sudden rush of blood to her sons face,
and then the pallor return. A sroan
burst from him, and he turned away;
and therein was apparent the vast diff
ference in the natures of mother and
son; helplessness, weakness and sur
render was possible with the man; but
with the woman, though storms of adj
versity might overwhelm her and
clouds darken her path, nothing could
long daunt her fierce, relentless sirit.
For her there was no such thing as
complete despair. Her time had come
in this battle which she was fighting
against odds; she approached her
despairing ally and laid her hand upon
his shoulder.
Raymond" she said, what would
you sacrifice to clear the way for mar
riage with Frances?"
He saw the calm, confident look in
her face, and a breath of hope stirred
his fainting manhood.
"Anything-everything!" he said, at
length.
IF you will yield implicit obedience
to me-if you will be guided shall
clear the way for you. Will your
YES"
Human life or lives must not be
regarded. We have no friends; we
are surrounded by enemies; we must
put aside conscience and sentiment to
win; we must hesitate nowhere. Do
you understand? And do you con-
sent? ?"
Il shall leave it all to you, moth
err. What is first to be done?"
Meet Louise here at six o'clock,
and take your cue from me. She
must be disarmed of suspicion"