The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-23

slowly melting the flames tossing
wisps of smoke into the chimney still
booming 10 the sind.
II know. too. that am not French"
she presently resumed. but / don't
know Just how | know il. My first
words must have been English, for
have always dreamed of talking in
that language. and my dimmest half
recoliecfioDs of the Old days are OF
large white house and soft-Voiced
black " Woman. who sang to ma in that
language the very sweetest songs in
the world
1t must be borne in mind that all this
was told b. Alice in her creole French,
half bookisis. half patois. OF which no
translation can give any fair impress
sion.
Beverley listened. as one who hears
a clever reader intoning a strange ana
captivating poem. He was charmed
His ina gination welcomed the story
and furnished it with all that II lacked
of picturesque completeness. In those
DAYS il was no uncommon thing for a
white child to be found among the In
dams with not trace left by which to
restore il to its people. He had often
heard OF such a case. But here was
Alice right before him, the most beau
tiful girl that ne had ever seen, telling
him the strangest story OF all. To his
mind it was clear that she belonged TO
the Tarleton family OF Virginia Youth
always concludes a matter at once. lie
knew some of the Tarietons; but it was
widely scattered family. its members
living in almost every colony in Amer
lea The crest he recognized at
glance by the dragon on the helmet
with three stars. 1t was not for
woman to bear: but doubtless 1t had
been enanieled on the locket merely as
a family mark, as was often done in
America.
The black woman was your nurse,
your NANNY he said. Il know by
that and by your prayer in English, as
we'll as by your locket, that you are of
a good family"
Like most southerners. he had strong
faith in genealogy, and he held at his
tongues tip the names of all the cid
families. The Carriers, the Blairs. the
Fitzhughs the Hansons, the RandOlphs.
the Lees. the Ludwells, the Joneses.
the Beverleys. the Tarletons-a whole
catalogue of them stretched back in
his memory. He knew the coat of arms
displayed by each house. He could re-
peat their legends.
Il wish you could tell me more" he
went on. Cant you recollect anything
further about your early childhood.
your first impressions-the house, ths
woman who taught you to pray. the
| old black nanny? Any little thing
! might be of priceless value as evil
dence."
| Alice shrugged her shoulders after
the creole fashion with something of
/ her habitual levity of manner, and
| laughed. His earnestness seemed dis
proportioned to the subject, as she fam
| cied he must view it. although to ner it
had always. been something to dream
over. 1t was impossible for her to seai-
/ ize. as he did. the Importance of details
| in solving a problem like that involved
| in her past history. Nor could she feel
the pathos and almost tragic fascina-
| ton with which her story had touched
| him
There is absolutely nothing more to
| tell" she said. All my life / have
| tried to remember more. but it's i'm
possible; / can't get any further hack
or call up another thing. There's no
use trying. It's all like a dream-prob-
| ably it is one 1 do have such dreams.
In NV sleep / can lift myself into the
air, just as easy. and fly back to the
/ remember. When you told me about
your home it was like something That
! had often seen before. 1 shall be
| dreaming about ii next
| Beverley rOSS-QueStioned her from
| every possible point of view; ne was
| fascinated with the mystery: but She
gave him nothing out of which the
least further light could be drawn. A
/ had-breed woman, 1t seemed. had been
her Indian foster mother; a silent,
grave, watchful guardian from whom
not hint of disclosure ever fell. She
! was. moreover, Christian woman,
who had received her conversion from
an English-speaking Protestant mis-
sionary. She prayed with Alice. thus
keeping in the child's mind a perfect
| memory of the Lords prayer
| Well said Beverley at last "you
are more of a mystery to me the long
er 1 know you
Then L must grow every day more
| distasteful to you"
No, l love mystery
! he went away feeling a new web of
interest binding him to this inscruta-
bic maiden whose life seemed to him at
once so full of idyllic happiness and SO
| enshrouded in tantalizing doubt. At the
first opportunity he frankly questioned
! NJ RouSsillon with no helpful result
| The big Frenchman told the same mea-
ger story. The woman was dying in
| the time of great epidemic. which
killed most Of her tribe. She gave
Alice to Mr.. Roussillon. but told him
not word about her ancestry or pre-
vious life. That was all.
A wise old man. when he finds him
self in blind alley no sooner touches
the terminal wall than he faces about
and goes back the way he came IN
der Ike circumstances a young man
| must needs try to batter the wall down
/ with his head. Beverley endeavored TO
break through the web of mystery by
/ sheer force. 1t seemed to him that a
| vigorous attempt could not fail to sue
coed; but, like the fly in the spiders
lines, he became more hopelessly bound
at every move he made. Moreover.
against his will he was realizing that
he could not longer deceive himself
about Alice. He loved her. and the
love was mastering him body and soul.
Such a confession carries with ii into
an honest masculine heart a sense of
contending responsibilities In Bever-
ley's case the clash was profoundly
| disturbing. And now he clutched the
thought that Alice was not a mere
child of the woods. but a daughter OF
an old family of cavaliers,
With coat buttoned close AGAINST tbs
driving wind, he STROBE toward the fort
in one of those melodramatic moods 10
which youth in all eIimes and times is
subject. 1t was like a slap in the face
when Captain Helm met him at the
stockade gate and said:
Well, sir. you are good at hiding"
Hiding, What do you mean. Can
tain Heinz he demanded, not in the
miidest tone.
you for an hour and more. over the
whole of this damned town. The Eng
fish and Indians are upon US. and
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