The Van Buren press., 1904-12-17

porch. A man walking away resoluteIy
from the door stopped and turned Ddch
eagerly. But the lonely woman ha"
grown singularly fearless from long Nv
ing alone. Needless alike OF shado"
and substance, she stood in the stream
of light studying the stormy SKIES
There was self-reliance, aye, seli-sum-
cheney in every point Of her polse' Inc
man swung on his heel. Then quota
ton slipped from her;
Safe in the beautiful heaven ana
he wheeled again in time TO eaten the
pale flash Of her face in turning-those
lines of lip and brow that told OF silent
sef-repression.
Had she suffered? People were fools
most of them Those tales they had
told him about her indifference and
He, too, had had Is years in which 10
school himself in self-control, but his
voice shook in his turn when she her
self opened the door to his knocking
Il should not have intruded-at this
time-but | saw you on the SIDE
porch" The chords Of his throat
frightened and cut off his stammering
speech.
There is fire in my study" she sug-
gested, courteously, when he paused. u
was a reporter after stuff about her last
book? He seemed to be new at the busl-
ness, she reflected, and would probably
give herself a heavy half hour to hold
but she would have been impatient with
Insolence had 1t spoken with that voice.
So she led the way down the dimly light
ed hall, speaking pleasantly OF the
weather, and by the time they reached
her study he had got back the mastery.
please don't turn up the lights on my
account" he begged, with a touch OF
peremptoriness that soothed even while
it hurt
well, If you don't mind" she agreed.
lightly. MY eyes are bothering me a
bit"
your eyes? Why, what is the
trouble?"
And instead Of resenting the solicltude
in his tone, it came to the woman in
swift flash Of sweetness that she would
/ like to shed her blood for this unknown,
who had brought her into this echo from
her dear long-dead. She smiled at the
thought, but as she answered;
why ! dare say the trouble with my
/ eyes is merely matter of oyer-driving.
One doesn't violate Natures laws with
out paying the penalty"
Nor the laws of man, either" he
| supplemented, nervously.
The laws of man? Deliver me. Give
me rather the Comedy Of Errors for
code" She spoke lightly. He was plain
| ly ratified, but then nothing short OF
/ brass itself could force an interview on
/ Christmas eve without being bit en-
/ barrassed. Her words however, seemed
/ to have helped the man to better grip.
"The law does make an occasional
mistake" he said grayey,
/ q should say" she retorted dryly.
| "Convicts hundreds Of men yearly for
| crimes they never dreamed of commit
ting"
The man leaned forward and held his
! hand to the fire, as though conscious Of
sudden chilliness
! Reminds me Of a discussion / over
| heard on the car coming up Seems that
the crime was committed several years
ago, but there is still a doubt as to
whether II really was a crime
"Oh, there is generally doubt, don't
you know? Plenty OF innocent men die
on the galows,"
He took no notice Of the comment
But II was peculiar case, 1t seems
! that the accused himself said frankly
that he didn't know whether he had
/ killed his friend, or whether his friend
| had done the shooting, 1t was Christ
mas eve; they had been out calling to-
gether-you know what that means?-
! egg -uogg every few minutes. When they
came home to their rooms, ! suppose
| they put some finishing touches to tho
! situation. At any rate, 1t wasn't long
! before one Of the men was dead with
| bullet hole in his heart and-well, the
other fellow was sent up for number OF
| years"
Twenty" she cut in, laconcally, and
added. with a thrill Of triumph In her
tone: "But he died within week"
Then, as in the sharp effort for self-con-
troll, her mind returned to the dreary
monotone Of the evening"
Just as we'll he died, | imagine, No
doubt living a life IN prison is a good
deal like heapIng up silver as dust"
"Yes," he admitted, deliberately 1T
Is rather that way"
Have you tried it?'
ooh, yes; | knew Gilmore for years.
lie didn't die, He paid a pretty penny
to get that rumor started from strong
source"
why"
Some one on the outside, | fancy,
whom he thought would be happier II
she thought him dead; happier and
freer And"
"He has been in prison all these long.
wretched years-and ! never knew"
A sob caught Aercely at her voice and
the man started joyously to his feet,
well" he said, slowly, "he Is not In
prison now lie has been pardoned
| for"
LAUREL"
when the midnight chimes rang out
In welcome to the merry morn, the man
spoke softly with his cheek against her
hair
"Just think, dear, 4 you had not coma
out on the porch would be hundred
miles from shore. We would have gone
on til death heapIng up silver as dust"
"Uoar the bpllsl" she said happIly.