The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-01-12
CHAPTER TX.


ulated.
CHAPTER TX.
The threatening shadow Of the war
cloud, daily and hourly expected to burst
its fury over the Southern States, had
transformed a peaceful grove into a
camp Of armed men. Steel flashed in
the summer sun between the dark green
of the cypress and the paler verdure Of
the laurel bushes Rows Of white tents
stretched in even lines in the open space
made gaudy by the red and blue uni
forms which occupied them.
The main portion of the Louisiana
Zouaves was composed Of boys barely
out Of their teens, but in addition to this
raw material, the battalion embodied in
its ranks a very considerable number Of
old French soldiers. Col. Adams was
proud Of his men, and only that very
day had taken especial elation in show
ing their proficiency to no less a person
than an officer Of the United States regu-
lars-a possible enemy. in fact-to his
cousin, Capt. Demon.
Capt. Demon was ON leave of absence
from his command far u West in the
wilds Of Kansas. He had been slightly
wounded in an action with the Apaches.
and, having been ~furloughed, had come
TO his native city. little dreaming that
by the time he arrived there he would
find the townsmen arrayed against the
authority to whom be had sworn allie
glance.
Adams plantation was only divided
from the camp of his regiment by a thick
copse Of magnolias, then in the pride Of
their spring bloom, which perfumed the
air with the sweetest scent of any tree
in the wide. wide world. The house
itself was a struggling erection, mostly OF
n story only, but standing upon a space
large enough for a small village.
Adams was seated in the welcome
shade of the awning over the porch with
a little writing table in front of him.
piled high with papers of all kinds. OPP
posite him sat Walter Ghydes, dressed
in the dark blue, gold-braided uniform
of a lieutenant in the Louisiana Zou-
ayes.
Walter had changed but little physi-
cally since the day when he was so
grievously wounded. He hal allowed his
beard to grow, and his face had become
bronzed by exposure to a Southern sun,
but beyond that he still looked the hale
and stalwart young fellow who had
fought against the reds in Paris.
Kindly Nature and a healthy constitu-
ton had repaired all his hurts except the
one which left q blank in his mind. He
was still as ignorant Of the past. from
the day he was born to the day he was
wounded. as if those days had never ex-
listed for him. Even his own name was
a mystery to him. Helene had first of
all called him Jack, and when they had
settled at the old plantation everybody
had come to call him Jack Adams. and
the name had chung to him.
There was one bright light which illu-
mined his path namely, the near pres
ence of Helene. She was his idol, his
goddess. At her bidding he would glad
ly have laid down his life. He loved her
with the pure and devoted affection Of a
faithful dog.
Helene, in her turn. had grown up, un-
der Adams teaching. exactly what Ad-
ans intended her to be-ft to enslave
men and ruin kings. That she was a
beautiful woman no one might have de-
MED. though hers was a kind of beauty
| which recommended itself not to all men.
Adams had brought her up aid trained
her to despise men. He had laid open to
her every weakness of the so-called stern
er sex. and in the result he had fashioned
a woman who, If she had a heart. was
| guarded at every point where love could
assail it. The natural untutored girl
had become a woman of the world; and
though suitors came and suitors went, il
she loved anybody, that being was her
self.
Adams success with his pupil was his
own punishment. AS Helene grew from
child's estate to that of woman, the as
cetic revolutionist unbent himself to her
and little by little he grew to hunger
for that which he had striven so hard to
eradicate. little by little he began to
yearn for Helene's love, while he him
self had taught her that 1t was unwise
to love anybody. He had never dared
to confess to the woman whom he had
reared from child's estate that he would
have been so happy could he have made
her his wife, and when he saw her sur.
rounded by admirers his heart for the
first time In his life felt the bitter sta b.
of jealousy.
Adams was paying but little attention
to the papers in front of him, but gazed
steadfastly in the direction Of the copst
Of magnolias. where Helene was stroll
ing between the trees by Capt Lemon.
side. Walter looked from Adams &c
| Helene, and from Helene to Adams Will
a puzzled inquiry. he had discovered
a new trouble. Was Adams in love with
Helene as well as all the others who
came and departed again? He would bs
nearer and dearer, If he were accepted
the load would be harder to bear.
Demon seems to be In favor" Re burst
out after waiting weariedly for awhile
Yes. my poor friend" said Adams
rather enigmaticaIly, Il am afraid he i:
in favor"
Walter read IN the words q confrma
ton of his fears, and was silent.
Whatever hopes Capt. Demon may
have cherished were cut short by The
arrival of a young lieutenant with TIT
news that war between the North and
South had actually broken out and tina
Fort Sumter had been attacked Capt
Demon Immediately babe farewell to hi
cousin and took the first train for Wash
ington.
CHAPTER x.