The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1906-08-09

rzs q kind Of gsarrgs ,-tvess Ey fathsf
and GerzIds fsfAsr; and jet Ehen Ger
aid Losx his father. no one Eas kinder 70
hiz than mine. The Old house was open
10 kira 70 osDe 70 Whenever he Liked; my
farber dsd everything in his p0wsr 10 give
hfra q start IN life There Wzs no money
for Gerald 70 claim: Bat Sir Maurice
never ct him realize k0E poor be wzs he
stSnsed hSm in nothing and Gerald al
wzys prOsesseS 10 lore ny father FesJ
SeepsT.7
-Nayhap i wrong kin.- Ben Coop said,
slowly -tut IL he's his fathers son tksrs
cannx Be z1cA that Is good N his heart.
spe4k very frankly. you see. sir; bat I
remember lots Of Iitfts things done to th.
village people By Mr.. RS5@rT Tenby, and
know what I an szyiaE They were not
tbs real family. you Sc: that's Shy xs
found il hard 10 trust rheza- But / am
fnterTgpting y0z- sir
Il don't feel eager 70 90 or" Hubert
Tezby said. -snd yet feel hat / must
Instead Of taking ny cousins advice /
struggled On as best / o0zId. and here
Geszid kslped me 20 zsee- my difficulties.
He Arranged q lOzn- I dare say yO1 IN
derxtAnd what followed"
-Ay." R@n Coop answered. quietly: Il
am not a learned man, but know what
borrowing means"
:! managed 10 Scrzpz along Hubert
said. .-snd pay the interest as II fell due:
ba- / did NET realize till nearly a year
had gone that. instead OF clearing the
way for myself, had only put fresh stum-
bling blocks in my path. Gerald was al
ways coming to ask me either TO settle the
loan or to pap a heavier interest, and
things got worse and w0rs4, until came
TO a kind Of crisis and i had TO find a
sgm four times the amount of what had
originally owed in a space of a few days.
II was useless 10 ask Gerald 10 show me
a way out Of this difficulty. for he told me
plainly he saw none. excspt that of p;z.-
ting the matter before my father and ask
ing him 10 pay the debt. would not
hear what be urged. made myself al
ross III with worry: / felt like a mad
man. just az this time my old aunt and
goimother, Lady Charlotte Singleton,
wrote and asked me TO 90 and stay with
her for few days. She had charming
old country house not far from Oxford,
and / was in the habit of going 10 see
her constantly. In fact, she was kind to
both Gerald and myself, although / be-
lieye that she, like my father. had had
good reason 70 quarrel with Gerald's faith
er. Ii was an open secret that Lady
Charlotte intended TO divide what she pos
sessed between my sister and myself"
Hubert paused here with little sigh
then he went on with his story.
''She was not rich, but she had a GER
tain amount Of property, and, among 9TH
er things, she possessed a collection Of
BEAUTIFUL jewels. Of which she was very
proud, and which were valued at a fairly
large sum of money. I was sorely tempt
ed 70 tell the dear old lady all that was
troubling me while / was with her; and
here again ! see the working of a malig-
nant fate, for if had spoken then, Ben.
l might hare spared myself all that fol-
lowed. Pride, however, and the nervous
fear lest she should imagine / wanted her
to help me, kept my lips sealed When
1 got back to Oxford the first question
Gerald asked me was If Lady Charlotte
would be able to help me. / replied sharp
ly that / had said nothing to my god
mother of the matter. He looked at me
in strange way for a little while. and
then turned on his heel and left me, say
iEg as be went: You are about the big
gest fool have ever known, and you will
realize 1t one day. was very angry with
him"
They had ceased strolling up and down
the little garden, and now they were sit
ting In the porch of the little cottage, and
the light Of the lamp within shone on bis
face. 1t was sorrowful face for such
young man 10 wear, and Ben Coop's heart
contracted as he looked upon 1t.
Next day Gerald and did not meet.
| heard that he had gone away. knew
ina. he had been offered the post of trav-
eng tutor TO an invalid boy, and taa.
this was something he was very keen TO
ID. Generous as my father was TO him,
It was an old story for me to hear hoS
hard life was for my cousin, and how
nIuch there was he wanted to do; and he
had been particularly keen on taking this
appointment, because il would give him
the opportunity Of travelling and seeing
the world. don't know that was sorry
that we did not meet-at any rate, not
then. A little later it was different
natter"
There was another pause. When Hu-
belt spoke again his voice was very hur.
rIed and strained.
ITO be continued.)