The Red Cloud chief., 1906-11-16
I[coNrINuEp.l

ted, the outcome of the duel. He was
mortally wounded and was carried to
his house to die. / fled from Paris to
escape arrest, but the woman in whose
defense | encountered him behaved
most cruelty. She deserted me and
went to him. Ask Mrs. Sheppard. She
was your English nurse ut the time,
Constance. 1t was she who brought
you to England. l never met my wife
again. l believe. on my soul, that she
was innocent of the greater offense. l
think she rebelled against the thought
that l had slain one who said he wor-
SHIPPED her. Anyhow, she had her price.
She remained with him, in sheer de-
fiance of me, until his death, II her
reward was his wealth. Were 1t no
for this we might have come together
again and striven to forget the past in
mutual liberation. The knowledge that
she was enriched with that mans gold
maddened me. l could not forget that
i loathed all that money could give
the diamonds, the dresses, the insane
devices Of society-to pour out treas
ure OH the vanities Of the hour. BY
idle chance | was drawn to the light
house service. 1t was the mere whim
of a friend into whose sympathetic
ears | gave my sorrows 1t Is true l
did not intend to devote my life to my
present occupation. But its vast ST.
lences, It's isolation, its seclusion from
the petty, sordid, money grabbing life
ashore, attracted me. l found quiet
joys, peaceful days and dreamless
nights in its comparative dangers and
privations. Excepting my loyal serv-
ant and friend, Mrs. Sheppard, and the
agent and solicitors of my estate, none
knew of my whereabouts. l was a
lost man and, as I imagined, a fortu-
nate one. Now, In the last week Of
my servlce-for I would have retired
In a few days, and 1t vas my inten-
ton to tell you something, not all, OF
my history, largely on account of your
1ovemaking, Enid - the debacle has
come, and with it my wife,"
Father" asked Constance, sis my
mother still your wife by law"
she cannot be otherwise"
81 wonder If you are right. I 4 am too
young to judge these things, but she
spoke of her approaching marriage
with Mr.. Trail in a way that suggest
ed she would not do him a grievous
wrong. She does not love him as I
understand love. She regards him as
n man admirable in many ways, but
she impressed me with the idea that
she believed she was doing that which
was right, though she feared some un-
foreseen difficulty.
Brand looked at her with troubled
eyes. IT is always amazing to a parent
to find unexpected powers of divination
I'm a child. Constance was still a little
girl in his heart. What had conferred
this insight into a complex nature like
her mothers?
There is something to be said for
that view," he admitted. 81 recollect
now that Pyne told mt she had lived
some years in the western states. but
he said, too, that her husband, the man
whose name she bears, died there. My
poor girls, l do, indeed, pity you IL all
this story of miserable intrigue, this
squalid romance of the law courts, is
to be dragged into the light In q town
where you are honored. Enid, you gee
now how doubly fortunate you are In
being restored to a fathers arms
"Oh, no, mo-" walled Enid. "Do not
say that. 1t seems to cut us apart.
What have you done that you should
dread the worst that can be said? And
why should there be any scandal at
all? l cannot bear you to say such
things"
II think I understand you, dad" said
Constance, her burning glance striving
to read his hidden thought. MATTERS
cannot rest where they are. You will
not allow-my mother-to go away-a
second time-without a clear state
ment as to the future and an equally
honest explanation Of the past"
This was precisely the question he
dreaded. 1t had forced its unwelcome
presence upon him in the first moment
of the meeting with his wife, but he
was a man of order, Of discipline. The
habits of years might not be flung
aside so readily. 1t was absurd, be
held, to infict the self torture of use
less imaginlngs OIL the first night Of
their home coming after the severe
trials Of their precarious life on the
rock.
Above all else it was necessary to re-
assure Constance, whose strength only
concealed the raging fire beneath, and
Enid, whose highly strung tempera-
ment was on the borderland of hys-
terra.
He was still the arbiter Of their
lives, the n to whom they looked for
guidance. He rebelled against the