The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-08-06

said at last, his eyes lowered to the I
ground. I will tes you why. 1t was
the father Of Nadia ellis who was
convicted of the murder of Maj.
Brant"
"Oh, my father? Is she Capt. No
lan's daughter? But you say convict |
ed. Was there ever any doubt? Do
you question his being guilty?"
Hampton pointed in silence to the
hideous creature behind them. That
man could tell. but he has gone mad"
Brant endeavored 10 speak, but the
words would not come; his brain
seemed paralyzed. Hampton held him
self under better control.
Il have confidence, Lieut. Brant, in
your honesty" he began, gravely, and
l believe you will strive to do what
ever is best for her, if anything should
happen to me out yonder. But for the
possibility of my being knocked out,
wouldn't talk about this, not even to
YOU. The affair is a long way from
being Strengthened out so as to make
a pleasant story, but I'll give you all
you actually require to know in order
IL
1 shouldn't come back. You see, she
I doesn't know very much more than
/ you do-only what l was obliged to
/ tell to keep her from getting too close
/ ly entangled with you. Maybe l ought
to have given her the full story before
started on this trip. I've since
wished l had. but you see, never
dreamed it was going to end here, on
the Big Horn; besides, l didn't have
the nerve.
You see, Brant, feel that / simply
have to carry these dispatches
through. 1 have a pride in giving
them to Custer myself, because of the
trouble I've had in getting them here.
But perhaps l may not come back,
and IN that case there wouldn't be
anyone living to tell her the truth. 1t
seems to me that there is going to be
a big fight somewhere in these hills
before long. So l want to leave these
private papers with you until l come
back. 1t will relieve my mind to know
they are safe; if don't come, then l
want you to open them and do what
ever you decide is best for the little
girl. You will do that, won't you?"
He handed over long manila en-
velOpe securely sealed, and the young
er man accepted it. noticing that it
was unaddressed before depositing it
safely in an inner pocket of his fatigue
jacket
Certainly, Hampton" he said us
that all?"
"All except what / am going to tell
you now regarding Murphy. There is
no use my attempting to explain ex-
actly how | CHANGED to find out all
these things, for they came to me little
by little during several years. | knew
Nolan, and l knew your father, and
had reason to doubt the guilt of the
captain, in spite of the verdict of the
jury that condemned him In fact,
knew at the time, although it was not
in my power to prove it, that the two
principal witnesses against Nolan lied
| thought | could aless why, but we
drifted apart, and finally l lost al
track of every one connected with the
affair Then l happened to pick VI
| that girl down in the canyon beyond
the Bear Water, and pulled her ou
alive just because she CHANGED to b,
l of that sex, and I couldn't stand to Sc,
her fall into Indian clutches. | didn'
l feel any special interest in her at the
r, time, supposing she belonged to Oh
7 ellis, but she somehow grew on M,
/ she's that kind, you know; AM
when l discovered, purely by accident
/ that she was Capt Nolan's girl. blu
t that 1t all had been kept from her,
e just naturally made up my mind II
/ dig out the truth if I possibly could
S for her sake. The fact is, l began t.
9 think a lot about her-not the wa
i you do, you understand; I'm gettin
r too old for that, and have known to
a much about women,-but maybe some
e what as a father might feel Anyhow
k / wanted to give her a chance,
! square deal, so that she wouldn't b
k ashamed of her own name if ever sh
j. found out what it was
(To be continued)