Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-03-13
the embodiment of physical and intel
loct1Ipl vtoor


lectual vigor.
Gazing long and earnestly into the
IRE, the past unrolled before him.
Again he was a man young, gay and
heart free. Then came the Journey to
Allendale and the discovery of Mary
IN the hunters cabin. in the woods.
How well he remembered the shy
pleading in her eyes when her uncle
invited him to remain with them for
time. And how the days few by with
Mary at his side. How he had loved
her, yet he did not mean to claim her
as his own until that last farewell,
when the quiyering lips and the sud
den, wild burst of tears told him her
heart was his. Family pride and CON
ventionalties were nothing to him then
preconceived resolutions were swept
aside, and love. like benediction,
rested over them.
And then the years of happy, welded
life; the birth and death of little ones,
and the crystallIzlng Of all that was
highest and best in his nature. Power
and influence such as rarely radiate
save from home In which husband
and wife are united in the best and
truest sense were his But now Ben
Jamin, their only son, paced the little
room above, hopeless, heartless, ambi-
tionless, the blight of more than grief
on his spirit. Bah! He had been too
easily crushed. Such yielding to fate
III became man, and yet how the boys
high spirit and sensitive, loving nature
appealed to him.
Gently his wlfe's hand stole into his
and thus they sat for long time in
silence. Outside, the trees tossed and
groaned, the lightning flashed, and the
rain came down In torrents. q
"Mother, do you remember, It was
Just such night as this we lost Jen-
ME-"
The old people looked up, startled.
Never before since the hour of their
coming to this place had Bonnie allud.
ed to that fatal night and seldom had
he left his room.
Months ago, ages 1t seemed, Jennie
Montgomery nysterlously disappeared
after stormy scene with her husband.
but one of many that marred their
short welded life. Jennie was beauh.
full, highstrung and vain, and Bennie,s
TASTY temper and foolish jealousles
piqued her to open rebellion. On that
wild night when the clashlng Of the
elements should have taught them bet
ter things the quarrel was one Of more
than ordinary bitterness. Hot words
and threats flew back and forth, and
when Jennie disappeared, suspicion
pointed to her husband, In vain he
protested his grief and Innocence. Cir
cumstantial evidence was lacking to
secure conviction, but everywhere cold
looks and words met him and men
shrank from his approach. The strain
became too great, and the father and
mother gave up the old home and came
to this lonely spot to live Every effort
to find some trace OF Jennie or her
whereabouts was fruitless, and the
young husband whose life had seemed
80 full Of promise dragged out an
inert existence. broken in body and
mind.
| Wilder ragged the storm. Suddenly,
above 1t all rang out the shrill cries Of
"a woman in distress. Bonnie bent a
listening ear.
/ / did you hear 1t, father, mother? 1t
Is Jennie herself out there in the
storm. / must away to her.
!. mo, no, my son you have long been
unused to the hardshlps of the outer
world. James and will CO."
! "And shall go, too, father
/ Gone were the old irresolutIon. the
hopeless, helpless, restless manner of
the past months Benjamin Montgon-
cry was man again, and half in hope
and half in fear the old people realized
1t would be useless to oppose him.
1 Hastily summoning james tho three