Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-02-27

Hal" 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.
IF 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 a small income;
and he felt that he deserved blame
for not having been kinder to his wife
and more careful of her. It was
grave mistake on his part, he admitted
to himself But his thoughts wan
dered to other contingencies If An
CELIA died, and his fragile, delicate wife
followed her, then the position of af-
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. He
closed his eyes as though the better
to realize the possibility of such
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 a
reality instead of a 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
always 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 barrier
| that stood between him and his inter
ests. He wanted her out of ais path,
and. in his cold. cruel selfSbnesS, he
cared but little by what means his
purpose might be served. He could
! manage the mother we'll enough, he
thought, even now A little fOndness
and little flattery, with a great pre-
tense of giving up Gladys Rane for
! her sake, would go a long way. But
; with the noble, innocent girl he had
no influence; and he recognized in her
straightforward 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
IF Angela dies" He found him
self repeating those words a hundred
times each day and mentally deter
mining what he would 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 a steam yacht in which tC
cruise with the love Of his life
GLADYS; another, that he would form
for himself a fine stud of racers. He
would be the envy of all the men, as
he was now the admiration of all the
women.
If Angela died, if the fragile, unhap
by wife followed, there would be ca
reer, a future beore him; and Gladys
dark, beautiful Gladys, with the pas
sionate eyes-she would form part o.
that future, too.
Then for a few days the captain
would shake off the thought. Angela
was young, healthy, and likely to live
as long or even longer than himself
But suppose she met with fatal &C
cident? She might be drowned, she
might fall from some great height
she might by some misadventure take
poison-a hundred unforeseen thing:
might happen. There was no end tt
the list of accidents that might hefal
any one.
To be Continued.