The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1902-03-04
The Other
w ornan's Hand
A Studied Offense and Its
Penalty.
BY ovERroN.

THE young man who would make
for himself a name and fame goes
east. BY the same token, he who
would hide those both betakes himself
west.
Henesly went west because the girl
he was in love with Tilted him, out of
hand, for a richer fellow, and he was
very hard hit. He went west and was
lost to sight, and the places where he
had been knew him no more. If any
one CHANGED to mention him to the girl.
she smiled the smile Of plying con
tempt, which is most women's tribute
to the memory of a man they have
treated abominably, and said: Poor
Dick" She was as mean as she was
beautiful-which is not the fairy-taie
formula; but she got her punishment
in the end-which is.
This is how it came about:
Circumstances and physicians over
which she had no control sem the rich
man she had married-whose name was
ksnt-to spend a season on the Pacific
coast. Kent's fancy lighted upon a sea-
port town, the only objects of interest
in which were a break-water, in course
of construction, and a spit of land
upon which, tourists were assured, the
skeletons of dead and gone pirates
might yet be dug up. Neither these
nor the adjoining shipping village,
which only awaited the appropria-
ton of a delinquent congress to
become the harbor of the Pacific
slope, offered 10 Mrs. Kent that
variety and excitement which alone
could make existence pa.atable 10
her. So she decided that if there
were to be any such, they must come
from within herself. Therefore, as the
most unlikely thing that she could
happen upon, she determined to try
what it might be like to lead that
which is known as normaland healthy
life-going to bed when the frogs be-
gan to sing in the dismal marshes
about, and getting up with the sun. 81
will take plenty of exercise" she ex-
planned to her husband; 81 vii! row for
a couple of hours before breakfast, on
the lagoon, l think"
She experienced some real enthusi-
asm about it at this point. Kent did
not. He foresaw the disturbance of
his own comfort, which was not great
~ considered at the best of lines and
he tried TO discourage her; but with
cut success.
At daybreak she made her way across
the strip of land hat divided the Ia
coon and the sea. The hotels and cot
tages faced the sea, but the lagoon was
the inner harbor, and there were upon
it only wharves and rickety boat
houses and ishermen's huts. II was
not exactly a picturesque outlook, or
dinarily, but the sunrise lights cast a
sort of glamour over Il now. Even the
deep, loose sand was cool and tinted,
and al traced over with fine cabalistic
lines where the lizards had dragged
their tails and no one had as yet
stepped. Later on, it would be blister
ing hot and the marsh weeds would
give out a choking smell; but this early,
their stunted yellow and pink blossoms
had a fresh and pungent scent.
She followed a path that lee to a rough
board shack, standing on stills over
the ebb-tide mud, where a sign adver-
tised that boats were builded and for
rent. When she stopped in the small
doorway, her figure shut out most of
the light, and she could barely discern
the man who was moving about inside.
He came toward her. Her back was to
the low rays of the sun, so her face was
in the blackness, and only her form was
90 rrsutantnr vrAf4o - ~ - e
Apocalypse.
Had he a r~ow-boat, she asked; one
not too heavy, and with oars of q mod
crate sweep? He was taciturn-a
long-shore character, probab,y-for
he did not even answer, only took a
pair of spoon oars from their rack on
the wall, and led the way out to the
landing pier. She followed, running
against strange shapes of wood, and
stumbling over piles of lumber in the
gloom. When they were out on the
landing, he turned about and faced
her suddenly. She was quite close be-
hind him, and she gave a quick start
back.
Il thought So" he said, steadily; 81
thought the voice was like yours"
He had had that much warning, but
she had had none at all, and it might
have been a full two seconds before
she got control of herself. Then the
beauty of the situation and all its pos
sibilities foated upon her suddenly,
and she decided that her movement of
impulse had been the best she could
have made. So she followed it up.
She shrank back into the doorway
farther still. "Richardl" she said,
covering.
He stood resting upon the oars and
scrutinizing her stolidly. He hattered
himself that he was calm. not to say
cool, but Mrs. Kent had a deeper than
surface sight. She knew that he APP
psared cool for very much the same
reason that a circular saw appears
still when it is going fast enough. For
herself and for the major part of man
kind she was a very light scoffer at
love; but she was no such fool as not
to know that the heart which has truly
loved and never forgets does have
its existence in the flesh as we'll as in
the lines of Erin's bard. So. summing