The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-03
= ONE OF MY SONS =
A THRILLING DETECTIVE STORY
Leave "IIanda Ring"
Door" Etc.
yp@mnacna
a THRILLING DETECTIVES
BY HNN.4 KATHARINE GREEN
MRS CHARLES RoHLFal

was too happy, and when parted from
her 1t was with the full intention of sac
rifcing for her pleasure the first real
business engagement ! had ever entered
upon. But did not carry out this I'M
pulse; I merely made arrangements for
the train to stop for me at the little
station on the mountains where my af-
fairs led me. But l did not confide this
plan to her till I was upon the point of
leaving. Then l told her she might look
for me On the train Immediately after
passing Buckley, and while wondered at
! the way she received my words, thought
the embarrassment she showed was due
deeper sources. She had planned to leave
me again, this time forever; and, baf1ed
as she thought in the attempt, she sue
cumbed for little while to despair. Then
her fertile brain suggested an expedient.
Two trains left Mountain Springs that
morning. one, north and one south. She
would take the southern train, and lest
she should be preinaturely discovered in
her flight and SO be followed before she
had found refuge, she prevailed upon
a girl over whom she had some influence,
to exchange garments with her and take
her place among the excursionists. She
little dreamed what lay before those ex-
cursionists. AS little did I realize that
it was in behalf of a stranger 1 entered
upon that mad chase after the runaway
cars I had seen slip from. the engine and
go crashing down towards the train on
which believed my wife to be. I knew
those cars to be loaded with dynamite,
for 1t was In connection with this fact
I had come to this place, and the thought
that they were destined to prove the de-
struction of the life I SO much priced
maddened me to such an extent that it
was a mere matter of instinct for me to
leap upon the engine I saw bounding to
her rescue. Had time been given me to
think, I might not have shown such
temerity, for l knew nothing of fire
| mans duties or what would be expected
OF me by the engineer. But I did not
| pause to think; 1 only stood ready to
hazard my life for the woman I loved
! the woman whom I believed to be on the
train l even then could see advancing up
| the valley. OF that ride, its swirl and
! whirlwind rush, I remember little; every
thought, every fear, was eGgrossed in the
| one question. How were we to save that
train? But two methods suggested them
| selves to me in my ignorance and. lsola-
ton from the brave engineer. Either we
must overtake the cars and by coupling
| to them stay their downward rush to the
| main track belOW--a trick l did not I'M
derstand-or we must crush so fiercely
into them as to explode the dynamite
with which they we're loaded before they
| had a chance to collide with the advanc-
ing train. That the latter catastrophe
did not happen was not owing to any pre-
caution on my part, for I do not remem-
Der that l had the least dread of per-
| sonal destruction. AS I have just said,
my one thought, my only thought in that
dizzy descent, was to save her. And
failed to do it; or so I had reason to
| think. AS you remember, all our efforts
were in vain, the unspeakable occurred, and
I anofh nd octn
when, after period Of blank darkness, ]
Erose from the ground where I had been
hurled by the force Of that dynamite ex-
| plosion. Amid this wreck, in face of this
| death, plunged in my search for her, and
as I believed, found her. A loving hus-
band cannot be deceived in his wife's
clothes, and the fragments I handled told
their tale, as I thought, only too we'll
But, as you know, it was not my wife who
wore these clothes, though we buried he1
as such, and I mourned my lost love as
| no one who has not fixed his whole heart
upon one object can possibly understand
| my father, whose relief at this release
can be readily imagined, endeavored tc
calm my grief, not by sympathy, for thai
he could not feel, but by an unvarying
kindness which assured me that, now thai
this obstacle to right understanding be-
tween us had been removed, I might hope
for the establishment of more cordial re.
| lations between us. I was older now
and he more considerate of my many un.
| congenial ways and habits; besides, Claire
made tender bond between us, and with
one of her baby smiles healed many a
breach that might otherwise have sep
arated us. .
ri began to be content, when, having
some business in a strange quarter OF the
city, I CHANGED to walk down East. -Four
teenth street. 1t was holiday OF some
kind and there had been a procession. The
| stir in the streets was Just what usually
follows the breaking up Of long lines o.
people. But this did not disturb me
Claire had been unusually engaging thai
| morning, and I was just rejoicing in the
memory OF her innocent prattIe, when the
band In the far distance broke out into a
merry strain, and saw on the Sidewalk
before me a cluster OF people separate
into sort Of ring, In the middle Of which
a woman stood poised with swaying arms
so like the image that was day by day
receding farther and farther into the deer
recesses of my memory, that a species Of
sick and half blinded, directly III the path
| Of the people pressing In my rear. This
| caused me to receive push from behind
which effectually reused me and gave me
strength to look again at one who could
recall my lost Mille-fleurs. I expected
how could I expect anything else ?-tc
be met by strange face and an unknown
smile. But it was her face, her smile;
and the figure, clad in such clothes as !
had never, even in my worst dreams, as
ISOLATED with the woman to whom had
given my name. was hers Had God
made two such women? Two with such
eyes, such hair, such Instinct, and such
genius? Was this sister Of Mile feurs
, Ia twin of my lost darling, Of whose ex-
istence I had never heard? God grant
not! I had buried Mille-feurs, and with
her, memories which this creature would
only bring back to the destruction of my
peace. 1 dared not give way for one in
slant to the thought that this likeness
| was anything but passing illusion
! which the next moment would dispe1. ]
dared not for my life. And yet stood star
ing; hearing and not hearing the shouts Of
| wild applause rising around me and was
looking, yes looking, directly into her eyes
when they suddenly turned my way ii
startled recognition. It was Mile feurs
Mille-feurs! The woman had buried
was stranger, and she who was makine
pastime for the passing crowd was my
wife!
| II made no scene. I accepted the fact
as we accept any unforeseen catastrophe
that comes upon us unawares, tearing uI
our peaceful present and making chaos
! Of the future. AS she was Still dancing
though f1tfully and with curious breaks,
stopped her by my steady look and held
her SO, till the crowd had melted away
sufficiently for me to take her BY tie hand
and lead her under the cover Of the first
small shop we came to. Then dues:
toned her closely, and, when understood
pail. asked her if she would go with me and
! be clothed and fed. She answered with 8