The Red Cloud chief., 1906-11-09
Gbe PILLAR
OF LIGHT
BY LOUIS TRACY,
Author Of The Wings Of the Morning"
Copyright. 1901, by Edward J. Clode
Continued from Page Ihree.)
Copyright, 1901, by Edward J. Clode

thing else had done u~..-e this troubled
period.
He bowed his head. A strong man in
agony cannot endure the scrutiny of
loving eyes.
ENID" he said brokenly, "my words
to you must be few. Good fortune
needs but slight explanation. The
proofs of my statement I do not pos
sess, but Mr.. Trails letter to me could
not have been written by such n man
If he were not sure Of his facts. Here
1t is. Read it aloud"
He handed her her fathers plain
spoken communication. Constance, in
capable of deeper depths of amazement
than those now probed, looked over her
sisters shoulder. Together they de.
ciphered the somewhat difficult hand
writing of n man whose chief task for
years had been to sign his name.
This drawback was good in its result.
They p~ersevered steadily to the end.
Then Enid, the comforter, broke down
herself.
at cannot be true, dad!" she cried.
81 have been n of your daughters all
my life. Why should l be taken from
you nowT'
81 believe 1t Is quite true" said
Brand quietly, and the need there was
to console her was beneficial to him
self. "Mr. Trail speaks Of proofs.
You have met him. l exchanged bare
ly a word, a glance, with him, but it
is not believable that he would make
these solemn statements without the
most undeniable testimony"
Indeed, Enid" murmured Con-
stance, ut sounds like the truth, else
he would eve have spoken so def
nitely Of my fathers first claim on
your affections"
Brand stroked the weeping girls
hair.
zone does not cry. little one, when
n is suddenly endowed with a
wealthy and distinguished relative.
Now, I did not spring this revelation
on you without a motive. If a cleav-
& has to come let us Mt least face
every consideration. Providence by in
scrutable decree ordained that my wife
IN L ohOuiu hiCCt oltti t"Chty ohO
years. That cannot have been a pur-
poseless meeting. In my careless
youth, when I assigned all things their
scientific place, I have scoffed at pre-
sentiments and vague portents of com
> ing evils. l retract the immature judg-
: ment then formed. During the height
: Of the hurricane when / feared the
D very lantern would be hurled into the
I sea I was vouchsafed a spiritual warn
l Ing. l could not read its import.
( These things battle n man, especially
. one whose mind leans toward materi
. alism. Nevertheless / knew, though
I not In ordered comprehension, that my
8 life was tending toward a supreme
q crisis. AS the storm died, so / be
a came normal, and I attributed @
a glimpse Of the unseen to mere phys
ical facts. I was wrong. The coming
Of that i'll fated vessel was heraldet
l. to me. l lacked the key Of the bidder
S message. Now l possess it. On board
d that ship, Constance, was your moth
e err. How strange that her adven
n should be bound up also with the mys
@ terry Of Ends parentage"
Father, dear, If you can bear 1t, tel
me of my mother. She knew me, ant
that Is why she asked me to kiss her."
"She asked you to kiss herY' Fac
II word was Il crescendo of surprise.
"a Eyes. One night she came to me
n Oh, / remember. She wished Mr.. Pyn
to telegraph to his uncle. When h
quilted us to take the message she, to
how xvnipl ~ oil cnnnnS nnNyf-n1nli
ted that she experienced something O
the intuitive knowledge of the futur
b. you have Just spoken Of"
81 am not surprised. Poor Nanette
M She was always q dreamer IL a sense
Never content, she longed for highe
a. flights. She was "A woman In ambitio
ere she ceased to be a child. When
married her she was only eighteen.
was ten years older. My thought wa
to educate her TO a somewhat highe
ideal Of life than the frivolities OF
fashionable world. 1t was a mistake
II a girl harbors decisions before ma
riage the experience of married life
-. not n cure, but an incentive. A les
tolerant man would have made her
n, safer husband"
Constance would listen to nothin
which would disparage him.
~ 81 hate to be unjust to her even
my thoughts, but where could she hay
found a better husband than you, dad
'e millionaire, indeedw protested Emf
breaking In with her own tumultuo'
thoughts. II would not exchange yC
oh for twenty m~illionaires."
~. "My methods cannot have been so