The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1908-04-16
CHApTER XIV.

| now-perhaps ccgsoliEg hiE1self ws-h the
| reflection thae he would not stand ii
after their marriage. | can imagine him
| promising himself to break her in and
| bring her to meek submission in the fu-
| sure. Pity those poor souls who marry
| q bully they have teased beforehand.
IL think this is scarcely time for
| badinage," said he. after pause, still
| looking upon the ground and tracing the
pattern of the carpet with the lash of his
whip. II know | am not perfect; but
you must admit that allowances shoEld
| be made for a fellow under the influence
of-of emotion"
II am willing to admit that man
under that condition is not responsible
| for his actions--is that enough? s
IF you admit that what ain | TO un-
| derstand by your present attitudef loa
seem TO forget what took place before |
| went away"
.But do not. You made me an oTer
| of marriage; but am | wrong in thinking
| that you made that under the influence
| of emotion? / absolve you from respon-
s;bility for action under that condition.
May I not suppose that you were beside
yourself when you made that proposal
and overlook the mistake as readily as
| that you have committed sinceg"
''It was not mistake, Gcrtrude-l
| loved you then as love you now have
come here this afternoon to ask you again
| if you will have me. faulty as | anl--yet
| an honest fellow--and be my wife,
Nurse Gertrude was not greatly moved
with this speech. which had very little
appearance of depth and sincerity III IT,
| despite the quavering of that manly voice.
May / ask why you have thought it
necessary to ask me second tineT she
asked, trying to fix his shifty eyes, and
learn the truth from them.
"Well, your manner seems to imply
that you consider the engagement broken
off,"
II did think 1t broken off. Had l not
reason to think so:'
'Oh, yes the way | spoke to you and
little Laure was unpardonabie."
He paused and looked down again to
escape from her fathoming eyes lie had
probably thought that there would be lit
tie difficulty in his way. and that he could
just reconcile Gertrude, if she should re-
sent his silence, with few words or
kiss or two, and without gong into any
more yexatious explanation than mere
arowal of manly weakness under trying
circumstances. DIR. Awdrey had told him
to confess the truth. and conceal nothing.
adding that woman would forgive the
man she loves anything except duplicity.
But Lynn, in his own conceited, pig
headed way had fully relied on his own
cleyerness his contempt for women IN
general disposed him TO tell them no more
than was necessary. He woulG rather
have avoided an explanation which,
| though 1t presented certain attraction
| in being untruthful, would require good
| deal of bolstering up to support his as
| sumption Of honesty and generosity. How
ever, he had bungled so disastrousiy in
| his own attempt. that he saw no escape
from his dilemma but by acting now. on
Awdrey's suggestion.
"The fact is,' said he, changing his
tone with slash at his ieg,s''I was pur-
| posely brutal to little Laure and you.
wished you to take offense and relieve
| me from the engagement 80
-That Is what | thought-it was the
| only construction l could put upon your
behavior" said she.
Il dare say you wonder what my rea-
son was. | will tell you. i can't conceal
the truth, and / know well enough that
| there's nothing n loving woman will not
| forgive, except duplcity'
\ new warmth glowed in Gertrude's
| heart. She liked those words; they were
| good and true-it never struck her that
4 tLay ,,,;.yl,f ha Dr
Il knew that through Keene's delay
was ruined--that / had norhing whatever
to expect from my uncle's will. knew
| that must no longer cherish the thought
| of making you my wife, in debt and pen
! niless as ! was, and-but there, you can
| imagine the rest" " t>
"You wanted to give me the opportu-
nifty of breaking the engagement, before 1T
might appear that our separation was due
| to mercenary considerations on my part.
! Oh, that was generous ~ exclaimed Nurse
Gertrude, carried away by her own impul-
| siYe and generous recognition of an un-
| selfsh-nay, chivalrous motive on his
| part. All my warning was forgotten in
an instant.
II did not want TO tell you this he
said, in tone that seemed TO disclaim
| any merit to gratitude.
| but you wronged me, Lynn" she said
| gcntly-'you wronged me, = think ]
| might wish to break the engagement be
cause you were less rich than you ex.
pected to be- when you made me an Offer. '
| She held out her hand TO him frankly
| and he took II. If he had been wise
enough to tell her all that had passed be
] tween him and Awdrey, she would have
/ been his without doubt. In return for an
open avowal she would have swept aside
my warning and all prudential con
siderations, put the best construction OF
his motives. and scorned to entertain any
| suspicion of mercenary motives which
might be suggested by his conduct New
/ .u.as tho tirna Co.. hin, To soHinr nm a M