The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1908-10-30

4rA EEMda the orr c12ts&xt1I spot In tIln
room. touching the rlch bindings Of tbs
books with CLEANS III Iixha.
Fob. II In a long story. amt. mist
te-in af the beginning. have 4 saes-
ton ia ask son, sud your answer means
life Or death 10 me-"
A us~exfion~~to ask fnez"
Mira Fansssa uttered the words slowly,
spacing them oit, one by one. in ker
clear, cain voice i've voice that had
spoken AT committee meetings. and had
laid down The iaw ia matters charitable
and ecclesiastical many times In that good
town Of brighton.
II mast 90 back 10 my childhood, aunt.
In the first place. began Mildred. ! must
70 back to the time when WAS seven
years old, and my dear father falterins.
~ and with tears In her voice, brought
home his adopted daughter, Fay-Fay
Fausset. Ie called her. Ahe was fonra
teen aud / was otiis seven. bui / wss
very fond VI her all the same. We took
TO each other fsotn the beginning. When
we left L,llon aud went to The hook,
Fay went with ns. ] was hi there, and
she helped 10 nurse me-. She was very
good 10 me kinder than ! can say, and
I loved her nv IL she bad he~E ms own sis
ter. Bnt when | got well she was sent
away-~xent to q finishing school AZ Brus-
sells, and / never saw her again. She
had only lived with Ms one short sum
mer, Yet IT seemed M IL she and ! had
besn together all my life ! missed her
sorely. | missed her for years after
wards"
.My tender lea rted Mildred = said Miss
Fausset gently. 1T was like you TO
give yonr love to . stranxse, and to be
so faithful TO her memory"
"Oh, but she was not . stranger. she
was something nearer and dcarcr. ! could
hardly have been So fond OF her II there
had not been come link between u.s.
Nonsense, Mildred. A warm hearted
neild will take to any p Q her own
age who Ia kind 10 her. Why should this
girl have been anything more than an or
phan. whom your father adopted out OF
the generosity Of his hearts'
"Oh, she was something more. There
was a mystery. Did you ever see her,
aunt? don't remember your coming to
Parchment street or to The Hook wfiile
she was with Us"
mo. | was away from England part
Of that year. / spent the autumn at la
den with my friends the Templetnores.
"AL, then you knew nothing Of the
trouble Fay made in our home-rost In
nocentlyf 1t III siich a sad story. aunt.
I can hardly brar 10 touch upon it, even
TO YOU. for ii east a shadow upon my
fathers character. You know bow ! loved
and hcnored him. and how II must pain
me to say one word that reflects upon
him."
Eyes, know you loved him. You could
not love him too we'll, Mildred. He was
i good mana laree-hcarted. large mind
ed man"
And yet that one act of his. bringing
poor Fay into his home. brought unilappi-
meas upon us all. My mother seemed Sc,
against her from the very first and on
her deathbed she told me that Fay was
my fathers daughter. She gave me Nc
proof-she told me nothing beyond that
one cruel fact. Fay was the offspring OF
hidden sin. She told me this. and told I'M
to remember ii all my life. DO YOU think
aunt, she was justified in this accusation
against my father"
How can l tell. Mildred?. Miss Faus
set answered. coldIy. MY brother ma,
have had secrets from me"
But did you never hear anything-an,
hint of this mystery9 Did YOU nevel
knew anything about your brothers lif,
In the years before his marriage whici
would serve AZ a clue: He could hardl,
have cared for any one--been associated
with any one--and you not near some
| thing
81 never heard It limited"
And You do not know the secret o
Fay's parentage--yoa. my fathers onl!
| sister--his only surviving relation? Ga,
You help me to lind any one who knes
more about his youth--any c~onndentia
| frleEd~-any one who can tell nae whcta.s
| thar girl was really my sister,
NO, Mildred. l have no knowledge o
your fathers friends. They are all ica.
and gone perhaps. But what san 1t maj
Ter "a you who this giii was: She /.
dead. Let the secret OF her existence III
with her. 1t 10 wisest, most charitable !,
do 60"
".Al,, you know she il dead - cried Mi.
died. crickly. Where and when II,
she dieg How did you hear Of her,
"From your father. She died abroad
l do not remember the year."
"Was 1t before my MARRIAGE"
Tive or three years. perhaps. I can
net tell you anything precisely. Th
matter was Of no moment to me-"
"Oh, aunt. ii Is life and death to me
She was ms husbands FIRST wife. Sh
and daughters Of one father-as |
alas! can bur believe we were marie,
the same nam
II never heard your husband was
widower."
Nor did | know it until a sew week
ago." Aud then, as clearly as her dis
trces OF mind would allow. Mildred toll
how the discovery had been made.
"The evidence of a photo-rapfl-whie
ma be a good and bad iikeness-is
small thing to 20 upon, Mildred" sal
her aunt. II think you have been yer
foolish 10 make up your mind upon sue,
evidence"
"Oh. but there are other facts-coin
eidenoes! And nothing would p,ake N
doubt the identity Of the original Of tina
photograph with Fay Fausset. reco.
nixed 1t at the first glance; and Bel
Mbc Suug - artnrusuri Laa.v .mn f.~a 4,