Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1905-01-04
CHAPTER XXII.-CoNr1SUEp
Copyright. 1908. by Ice and Shepard.)


II feel l owe you an explanation,
Angie" he said directly-they were
seated on the old familiar pile of
~eather-worn planks. LAS you may
have heard, l have an inclination for
trout culture, and one day it occurred
to me that if l could buy the Mizzy
swamp and falls Of David Curtis at a
reasonable price, it would not only be
o good investment but make me a
splendid fsh-pond. l called on him,
secured an option on ii, and paid him
something down. l found also thai
another party has been trying to buy
aim out, for mill purposes. Now comes
another matter, which is all a mystery
TO me. First, as we all know, some
enemy Of his visits his premises night
fy- David must have received an aw-
ful shock, and, in the delirious fever
following it, he accused me of plotting
against him in your behalf 1t may
and must be the result of guilty con-
science, but up till now l am innocent
of what he charges
1--WE heard it all, of course" an
ewered Angie, in constrained voice,
"and while it is painful to have fam.
fly skeleton become public gossip, |
am relieved by what you tell me-"
y wish" continued Martin, hesitat-
ing, II wish you would consent to let
me do something for you in this nat,
ter. l know the whole story and how
sou have been wronged, and-and how
you have gone all these years, bravely
earning your own way, and now believe
me, | want to be your friend, and big
brother, and help you to your rights.
Won't you let me?"
'ffe spoke with earnestness and deep
feeling. every word of which vibrated
with love and tenderness, but Angie
~emained silent for a moment. In fact
she was having a hard struggle with
der own feelings.
al thank you, my good friend she
replied at last, swallowing a lump, but
I can't consent-not now. l feel as
Aunt Comfort does. that some day
God will see all wrongs riShted, and
maybe mine. but do not want them
gossiped about any more than they are
now. | thank you, though, with all
my heart"
Then. as she turned toward him, her
face ethereal in the moonlight, with
eyes kinder teary and lips kinder
smiley" Martin almost lost his head
in a sudden impulse to gather her close
and whisper loving words.
For moment he looked into those
misty eyes. and then, lest heart con-
Quer head, he rose from his seat. I'm
going to get you some sweet flag" he
said. lin memory of the old times when
we used to come here
And when he-oblivious to the soft
banks that soiled his boots-had gath
cred an armful of long, green shoots,
and the two stood on the bridge, he
selecting lhose with buds, while she
ate them, throwing the stalks into the
stream below, somehow there and then
the old sweet dream crept into her
heart once more. and all the years that
dutervened seemed to fade away
What they spoke of now mattered
mot: the moon smiling in the pool be-
low. the green flag shoots floating down
fhe slow current, the whip-poor- wills
calling in the nearby woods, were seen
and heard as in a trance. When they
Eurned from this SPOT, so fraught with
tender memories. and Martin drew her
arm within his, still retaining the hand
ne clasled, she made no protest
When her home and the shading
Enap!es were reached, they paused a
moment at the gate. he still holiins
the hand she had yielded and softly
stroking it.
Angie" he whispered at last, "can
SOU. will you forgive ne all these years
of neglect but not forgetfulness, and
set us begin where We left of; will
your"
81 will try" she answered gently
And as he attempted to clasp hel
waist. she drew away.
mo, not yet" she whispered.
When she entered the sitting room
Aunt Comfort was beside the window
In her high-backed. wooden rocker
~Uatci,ing the moonlit meadows.