Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-02-24

S0Id were W u1O'
mo; it would be very good thing,
indeed said the captain. Cali the
same, hope it will not happen"
'Most certainly" agreed Sir Hal.
"The girl has right to enjoy her life
and her wealth, too
"She will enjoy both so far as am
concerned" said the captain.
Vance," observed his friend, you
must change your tactics. 1nls will
never do You must turn over an
other leaf; you must take more care
of Lady Laura. What misfortune it
would be for you if she were to die!
Suppose she fell i'll tomorrow and died
in few days, where would you be-"
The captain looked up with a
startled face. The prospect of such
a sudden change in his circumstances
had never occurred to him.
"You are altogether on the wrong
road" continued his friend. Instead
of making your wife miserable, as |
see you do, instead of crushing her
and making her heart ache, you should
be all that is kind and loving. Make
her happy, if you would prolong her
life and enjoy the benefit of her
wealth."
''There is reason in what you say
Hail." agreed the captain; "but there
are limits to human patience"
Never mind human patience" re-
Joined Sir Hal Patience has moth
ing to do with it.. Think Of what you
have at stake. If your wife dies, you
will be left a comparatively poor man
and, to my thinking, she looks more
likely to die than to live. Think of
what you are doing before it is too
late"
And those very unpleasant words
sounded in the captains ears all day.
CHAPTER XxxIV.
eff your wife dies, you will be left
comparatively poor man." No matter
what other sounds came to the cap
tain's ears, these words were para
mount. A poor man! He had run
through two fortunes, he had no ex,
pectations of money from any other
source, and his tastes were more lux.
urious and extravagant than ever.
He could not live on small income;
and he felt that he deserved blame
for not having been kinder to his wife
and more careful of her. 1t was a
grave mistake on his part, he admitted
to himself. But his thoughts wan
dered to other contingencies. If An
gela died, and his fragile, delicate wife
followed her, then the position of at
fairs would be quite different. He
would be free, and the property would
be his.
Free! At the very word his heart
beat with a quickened pulsation. He
knew what he should do with his free
dom. He should go straight to Gladys
Rane and ask her to be his wife. lie
closed his eyes as though the better
to realize the possibility of such a
thing. Master of a splendid estate,
and free to marry Gladys!
He gave himself up to the contem-
plation of freedom and wealth with
Gladys by his side If it were but
reality instead of dream! Yet the
dream might be realized if Angela
died! The time came when the whole
of his life was regulated by those
words-"if Angela died. His mind
dwelt forever on them. They greeted
him in the morning; they never left
him all the day; they seemed to hover
round his pillow at night-"if Angela
died"
There were times when he looked
at his step-daughter so strangely that
the girl herself was half terrified.
Gazing at her steadfastly, he would
weigh the chances of her early death;
but the healthy robustness of the girl
seemed to forbid such an ex-
pectation. He had no pity for the
sweet young life that stood in his way.
Had she been dying, and could he
have saved her life by raising his fin
ger, this handsome, smiling, suave
gentleman would not have raised it.
He saw in her nothing but a barrier
that stood between him and his inter
ests. He wanted her out of Ills path,
and, in his cold, cruel selfishness, he
cared but little by what means his
purpose might be served. He could
the mother well enough, he
thought, even now. A little fondness
and a little fiattery, with a great pre-
tense Of giving up Gladys Rane for
her sake, would go long way. But
with the noble, innocent girl he had
no influence; and he recognized in her
honesty that she was
more than his match. He could not
deceive her. and it was CALLING to him
to remember that he had never been
able to do so.
eff Angela dies!" He found him
self repeating those words a hundred
times. each day, and mentally deter
mining what he woull do in that case.
II ever the property became his, he
had made up his mind as to many
things. One was that he would pur-
chase steam yacht in which to
cruise with the love of his life