Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1901-02-07

say.
He promised to do as ] wished and
hurried off. for the steam-r was close az
hand.
Yes, There he stood on the bridge,
looking every inch a captain, n ne
handled his boa in a way that mace
me proud to think that / was h-sn OF
his flesh. When she was securely
moored the friendly Fijiars locked on
board, and he had a handkerchief Tor
this one and a kindly greeting for that
until he walked apart with the head
man, and then / knew that he was De-
ing told that someon wished to speak
with him.
They stood talking earnestly for some
minutes, and then my father went be-
low, and presently he came up leading
a man by the hand. The man was
dressed as 2 clergyman. and from the
way in which he walked, and the curl
GUS manner I'm which he held his face
up, I could see that n was blind, and
that his surroundings were strange to
him was clear from the fact that he put
his feet down warily and chung nerV-
Ously to my fathers arm. And / no.
ticed, with some surprise that on my
father's sleeve. and close to where he
blind mans hand rested, was a band OF
Grape.
The light from the torches and Ian
| terms were so glaring that I could SEE
the blind mans profile as clearly as
though II had been noOntide, and l
knew that the two men walking togeth-
er there were the two men who, Of all
others. shoul1 have been kept aauDderl
I knew that n again 7 was looking
upon Maurice D'Orvirle, + wls q IS
will and Gods way. and though doubt
less D'Orville thought that the Evil
One. his master WAS ordering matters
as he, his pupil, would have them, and
though h was so close to the man
whom he he'd come all these miles 10
murder, I knew that he would not raise
a hand against him yet.
My father. D'OrviIle and the Fii'an
chief walked FIR m the pier along the
one street, while / foil WED at a dis"r ct
distance. To my delight, 1 saw the
supposed Clergyman led away 10 an
other part Of the village than that in
which my host lived. and, waiting IN.
til D'OrvilIe was within doors. I fol-
lowed my father, who had entered the
house where I had been so Hospitality
entertained.
You wish to see me, sir?" said he, as
I entered. My friend, Mr.. Manuel,
will be back in a few minutes, so please
say what you have to say as speedily
as possible" and from the peculiar
way in which he held his hand within
the breast of his coat, I knew that he
could have used his wearon, had the
occasion arisen, in very quick time.
All my heart went out 10 him. l
could only utter n word. I stretched
out my arms and cried "Father!"-an1
the next moment he was kissing my
face ard grippinC NV hands. and sob
blng out, Jack! jack And there w
stood, looking into each others eyes,
with hearts too fun for words, and
there we were standing when our hist
rushed in.
Capt. T~remayne!" he cried, II can't
find the man who"
Aid then, seeing how matters stood,
he was for Withdrawing, but my fatheI
stopped him.
Come in, Manuel" he said. This is
my son that was dead and is alive
again. I have mOurned for him. but he
has come back to M. Blessed be the
name of the Lord for this, H S crowai1g
mercy"
l was puzzled at his words then, as I
had been by the badge Of grape, but I
was soon to learn the meaning Of both.
1 was the first to recover from ny emo
ton.
Listen for one moment. father" I
said. THE mar who came here with
you and pretends to be blind, has come
to kill you and me. He calls himself
Maurice D'Orville, but his real name is
Lennon"
Maurice Lennon!" he cried. "Do
you know what you are talking about,
Jack?"
Eyes; I know everything connected
with the Ragged Thirteen" I went on.
hurriedly. 81 know your danger; but
before we begin to talk we must see
that he is safe"
Pardon me-" interrupted the Fiiian,
who had, UP till now stood by in 81
lence. Pardon me. Capt. ~Tremayne,
but you and your son have much to say
to each other. Who is this man of
whom. you. are afraid?".
II am speaking of the man who came
a ashore leaning on my fathers arm" I |
said, and pretending to be blind. He
must not see me until we are ready to
meet him"
Good" said he. "In see to that.
Make yourselves comfortable. and III I
be back presently" and with the ease
n bearing Of the perfect gentleman
he was, he withdrew and left us alon..
You were surprised" I said, when I
mentioned Maurice Lemons name.
You couldn't have got my lett r, then?''
mo, Jack. 1 never had any letter
from you. When did you post il. and
did you direct ftp"
When I told him / learned that this
very letter must have bean In the mail
bag that was lost when one of the
shore boats that had put off to the Cor
foundered. And, after this ex-
PLANTATION, ] told my story, with fun de.
tails, and heard my fathers. and the
first thing he did was to make clear TO
me ~the-meaning of the words that had
me, and the symbol of MOURN
that he had torn from his sleeve.
Il had a long letter, Jack. some time