Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1908-12-10


nerveusiy nipping the snd from q sisxY.
Have yen been downtownv
Yes. Jnst cot IN few minutes ass.
The road expects to DO a lot Of won
west his year, ana I've been talk1kg
with the ways and means gsnt3smenr-
a polite and parliamentary way to put
it."
81 suppose wen al be eongratulatfng
you after the annual election, Mr.. O.
bier
ooh, that's just talk. nay boy. Wine
mann Is the logical man fer psssident.
But waers Is Jansr
"Sbess-ah. -downStairs, THINK, SAID
the tall young man. pufang vigorously.
81 came up-er-to see you about lana
Mr.. Cable. have asked her to b my
wife, SIR"
For a full minute the keen eyes Of
the older man. sharpened by strife and
experience, looked straight into the
earnest gray eyes Of the young man
who now stood across the room with
his hand on the mantelpiece. Cables
cigar was held poised in his fingers.
half way to his lips. Graydon Ban
semer felt that the man aged year in
that brief moment
You know, Graydon, / love Jane
myself" said Gable at last, arising
slowly. His voice shook
4 II know, Mr.. Gable. She is every
thing to you. And yet have come to
ask you to give her to me-"
"It isn't that have not suspected
! aye, known-what the outcome would
be-" said the other mechanically. "She
will marry, / know. 1t is right that
she should. 1t is right that she should
marry you, my boy. You-you do love
herT He asked the question almost
! fiercely.
with all my soul, Mr.. Gable, She
! loves me. | don't know how to con-
vince you that my whole life will be
/ given to her happiness. l am sure
/ cam
II know. It's all right, my boy. It
it costs a good deal to let her go. but
I'd rather give her to you than to any
man I've ever known. l believe in
! you"
THANK you, Mr.. Cable" said Gray
don Bansemer Two strong hands
clasped each other, and there was no
installing the integrity of the grasp.
''But this is matter in which James
mother is far more deeply concerned
than l." added the older man. "She
likes you, my boy. | know that to be
true, but we must both abide by her
wishes. If she has not RETIRED
"Jane is with her, Mr.. Cable She
knows by this time"
"She is coming" Mrs. Cables light
footsteps were heard crossing the hall,
and an instant later Bansemer was
holding open the den door for her to en-
ter. He had a feeting glimpse of Jane
as that tall young woman turned down
the stairway.
| Frances Cables face was white and
drawn, and her eyes were wet. Her
husband started forward as she extend
ed her hand to him. He clasped them
! in his own and looked down into her
face with the deepest tenderness and
usefulness In his own. Her body
swayed suddenly, and his expression
changed to one of surprise and alarm.
"Don't-don't mind, dear" he said
hoarsely. 1T had to come. Sit down,
do. There. Good Lord, Frances, IL
you cry now Tll-I'n go all to smashv'
He sat down abruptly on the arm of
the big leather chair into which she
had sunk Imply. Something seemed
to choke him, and his fingers went
nervously to his collar. Before them
stood the straight, strong figure of the
man who was to have Jane forever.
Neither of them-nor Jane-knew
what Frances Cable had suffered dur
| ing the last hour. She accidentally had
heard the words which passed between
| the lovers in the den downstairs. She
was prepared when Jane came to her
with the news later on, but that prep
aration had cost her more than any of
them ever could know.
Lying back in chair after she had
almost crept to her room. she stared
white faced and frightened at the CELL
ing until it became peopled with her
| wretched thoughts. All along she had
seen what was coming. The end was
inevitable. Love as 1t grew for them
had known no regard for her misery.
She could not have prevented its
! growth; she could not now Illustrate its
elimination. and yet as she sat there
and stared into the past and the future
she knew that 1t was left for her to
drink Of the cup which they were fill
lng-the cup Of their Joy and Of her
bitterness.
Fear of exposure at the hand of
Graydon Bansemer's father had kept
her purposely blind to the Inevitable.
Her woman's intuition long since had
convinced her that Graydon was not
like his father. She knew him to be
honorable. noble. fair and worthy.
Long and often had she wondered ut
James Bansemer's design In permitting
his SON to 60 to the extreme point In
relation with Jane. As she sat there
md suffered 1t came to her that the
man perhaps had purpose after all
an unfathemable. selfish design which
none could forestall. She knew him for
all that b was In that knowledgs she
felt slight, timid sense Of power. He
stood for honor 20 far ~ his son was
concerned In fair play ne could sx-
psss him n he sought - expose her.
but an sentset1rss, an fsara. palsA
nts fssitxsAesnss vs0 tAs sxs OPsat
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