The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-10

y Her heart was heavy. she told me:
had been heavy for years. Perhaps
some ray of comfort would reach her
IL she took a friend into her confidence
God knew that she needed one. espe-
cially on nights like this. when the
wind woke echoes all over the house
and 1t was hard to tell which most to
fear. the sounds which came from no
one knew where, or the silence which
| settled after.
"Sbe trembled as she said this and
instinctiveIy drew nearer to my side
so that our. heads almost touched over
the fiiekering flame from whose heat
and light we sought courage. She
seemed to feel grateful for this con-
tact, and the next minute, fiinging all
her scruples to the wind, she began
relation of events which more or less
answered my late unwelcome queries.
THE death in the library, about
which her most perplexing memory
hung, took place when she was child
and her father held that high govern
mental position which has reflected so
much credit upon the family. Her IA
Their and the man who thus persisted
had been intimate friends. They had
fought together in the war of 1912 and
received the same distinguished marks
Of presidential approval afterward.
They were both members of an impor-
tant commission which brought them
into diplomatic relations with England.
1t was while serving on this commits
sion that the sudden break occurred
which ended all intimate relations be-
tween them and created a change in
her father that was equally remarked
at home and abroad. What occasioned
this break no one knew. Whether his
great ambition had received some check
through the jealousy of this 50 called
friend-a superstition which did not
seem possible, as he rose rapidly after
this-Or on account Of other causes
darkly limited at by his contemporaries,
but never breaking into open gossip,
he was never the same man afterward.
His children, who used to rush with
effusion to greet him, now shrank into
corners at his step or slid behind half
open doors, whence they peered with
fearful interest at his tall figure, pac-
ing in moody silence the halls Of his
ancestral home or sitting with frown-
Ing brows over the embers dying away
/6n the great hearthstone Of his famous
library.
Their mother, who was an invalid,
did not share these terrors. The IA
Their was ever tender Of her, and the
only smile they ever saw on his face
came with his entrance into her dark
ened room.
"Such were Callista Moore's first
memories. Those which followed were
more definite and much more startling.
President Jackson, who had a high
opinion of her fathers ability, advanced
him rapidly. Finally position was
given him which raised him into ma
tional prominence. AS this had been
the goal Of his ambition for years, he
was much gratiaed by this appoint
ment, and, though his smiles came no
more frequently, his frowns lightened
and from being positively threatening
became simply morose.
why this moroseness should have
sharpened into menace after an un-
expected visit from his once dear but
long estranged companion in arms, his
daughter. even after long years of
constant brooding upon this subject,
dares not decide. If she could she
might be happier.
1.-THE general was a kindly man, sharp
Of face and Of a tall, thin figure, but /
with an eye to draw children and make |
them happy with q look. But his ef ,
feet on the father was different. From |
the moment the two met in the great /
hall below the temper of the host be-
traykd how little he welcomed this
gust. He did not fail in courtesy
tie Moores are always gentlemen
but ii was a hard courtesy. which cut !
while II fattered. The two children, |
shrinking from its edge without know
ing what it was that hurt them, skunk
to covert ana from behind the two pill
lars which marked the entrance to the
library watched the two men as they
walked up and down the halls discuss
ing the merits of this and that detail
Of the freshly furnished mansion.
There two innocent but eager spies,
whom fear rather than curiosity held
in hiding. even caught some of the SEN
fences which passed between the so
called friends, and, though these neces-
sarily conveyed but little meaning to
their childish minds, the words form
ing them We're never forgotten, as wit
ness these phrases confided to me by
Mistress Callista twenty-five years aft
erward.
"'You have much that most men
lack remarked the general as they
paused to admire some little specimen
OF Italian art which had been lately
received from Genoa. You have mon
ey-too much money, Moore, by an
amount l might easily name-a home
which some might call palatial. a love
ly If not altogether healthy wife, two
fine children and all the honor which
a man in commonwealth like this
should ask for. Drop politics
Politics is my life was the cold
response. To bid me drop it is to
bid me commit suicide: Then, as an
TO which a moment of
intervening silence added emphasis.
And for you to drive me from it would
be an act little short Of murder
Justice dealt upon a traitor is not
murder was the stern and unyielding
reply. by one black deed Of treacher-
Gus barter and sale, of which none of