The Sisseton weekly standard. (Sisseton, Roberts County, S.D.) 1892-1929, 1907-10-11
CHAPTER Il.-Continued.

which was found upon her the night
h was carried into the workhouse
in which she died"
She was your wife, Mark. She had
| your child with her, and yet she sank
to such a depth of poverty as to die
in a ~workhouse. Oh, it is too terrible!
What could have been her motive in
enduring such misery, such %privation,
as she must have known?"
She was mad, Janet. The insanity
which made her hate me, which made
her leave me as she did, must have in
| creased and made her the physical and
mental wreck she was when she died.
Only that al account for a woman
who had every right to claim a SUBJ
stantial allowance from me choosing
to lead the life Of a homeless vaga.
bond, a common tramp"
Poor creature!" exclaimed Lady
rockingham, with a shudder. Il onght
to hate her for the wrong she did you,
but | cannot. l only pity her. But
how did you hear of her death? How
did you make sure of it@'
The letter the %workhouse authori-
ties found upon ner was addressed TO
| me. Before she died she requested
that 1t should be forwarded. When |
came to England l went to the work
house with my solicitor and made ev-
cry inquiry. found that the unhappy
woman had given her real name, and
in that name she had been buried"
And the letter."
Sir Mark went to his bureau, I'M
locked it. and from a drawer took an
old letter.
Read it," he said. handing it to his
| wife. See what she says"
Lady buckingham ~endeavored to
read the faded letter that was the trag-
| edy of her husbands life. But her
tears overcame her.
You read it to me-" she said, "if
If you think 1t right hat I should
know
wife's trembling hand and read it
aloud to her. Now and again his
voice faltered, but he went on bravely
to the end:
Il left you because l hated you. I
brought our child with me, and in time
got to hate the boy because he was
yours. When | had no money left of
my own | would not ask for yours. One
night | slept in a barn. In the morn
ing the farmers wife came and saw
how i'll and weak l was. She gave me
food and milk and pitied the little one.
When she had gone | went away and
left the child. | am now dying and you
will never see me again. That won't
trouble you. But you may trouble
about the boy. He is your son and you
! are proud, and l have left him to die
or to be taken by the parish. That is
my revenge"
Lady rockingham turned away
with a shudder. Don't read any
| more" she said; she was a cruel wo-
mani"
Cruel and unjust" said the %baronet,
| with a sigh. My marriage with her
was a terrible mistake. She was mad
| when she left me. Her conduct after.
ward was that of a mad woman. Her
revenge as she calls it, was the re-
venge of insanity"
And the boy-you did not trace MIN
when you came to England"
mo. 1t must have been some time
previous to her death that she aban-
| doned him. She had not told the
w%orlhouse people anything of that
part of her story. She had been wan
| dering over England like a common
| tramp for months. When my leave had
expired, and l had to return to India
inquiries, but they found out nothing.
The boy was i'll and weak when he
was abandoned-he may have died
| soon afterward. If he grew up he
may have inherited his mothers faint
he may now be in a lunatic asylum
He is dead. or his solicitors would
| have found some trace
81 believe he is dead. For Harold's
sakerfor yours. JANET hope so
| When 1 married you and began a new
! and happy life, I put the memory OF
| the past from me. But now-now that
within a few weeks, If my life is not
| spared, Harold will lake my title and
succeed me here, l feel bound to make
one more effort to ascertain the fate
Of my elder son-the boy who, If he
has lived to manhood. is now my heir
Lady rockingham sighed. ooh
Mark!" she said, sit is bitter enough
to think of what you have to &C
through, without having this terrible
uncertainty about Harold to bear.
shall never know a moments peace
until the fate of Mark rockingham Is
proved beyond a doubt"
Janet, l would have spared 20,
this; I would have left the dead pas
buried. But since l have been Ill
have been haunted by a fear that afte'
my death some one might come for
ward-that the whole miserable stor,
might be told in a way to shame yo,
and Harold. I want him to be ABLE
to say. whatever happens, that We
spared no effort to make sure that Jus
tice should be done"
A servant entered the room ant
handed his master a card. Sir Mari
looked at 1t and his pale face flushed
EL- "