Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-11-06

wars old and nv dear father taiterihS-
IT, and with fears in her voice, brought
home his adopted daughter, Fay-fay
Eausset. ne called her. She was tour
tecn and | was only seven, but 1 was
cary fond 81 her al! the same. We TOOK
IN each other from the beginning. When
we left London and went to The HOOK,
E,y wont with us. / was i'll there, and
obo bolned 70 nurse me. She was very
rood to me-kinder than / can say. ana
I loved her az IL she had been my own SIS
fer. But when I got well she was sent
away-sent to a finishing school at brus-
soIs and | never saw her again. She
had only lived with us one short sum,
m.r Yet IL seemed as If she and / hao
beeu together all my life. | missed her
sorely. missed her for years AFTER
wards"
NV tendcr-hear ted Mildred " said MISS
Eonssct gently. 1T was like you 10
give your love to a stranger ana 10 lie
so faithful 10 her memory
ooh, but she was not n stranger ahe
vas something near ar and dearer. l cou'd
hardly have been so fond of her IL there
had not been some link between US.
Nonsense. Mildred. A warm-hearted
child will take to any one near her own
age who is kind to her. Why should 'hls
girl have been anything more than an or
pban, whom your father adopted Out OIL
the generosity of his heart!
..Oh. she was something more! There
was a mystery. Did you ever see her'
aunt | don't remember YOU coming 10
Parchment street or to The Hook while
she was with u.s.. .
NO. I was away from England part
of that year. | spent the autumn at ia
den with my friends the Templemores
.Ab, then you knew nothing OF the
trouble Fay made in our home-most IN
uoccntly? 1t is such a sad story, aunt
| can hardly bear TO touch upon 1t, even
to you. for it cast a shadow upon my
fathers character. You know how l loVed
and honored him. and how it must pam
me 10 say one word that reflects upon
him"
YES, | know you loved him. You could
not love him too well, Mildred. lie was
n good mana large-hcarted, large-mihu-
ed man"
And yet that one act of his, bringing
poor Fay into his home, brought unhappl-
ness upon us all. My mother seemed set
against her from the very first and on
her dcathbed she told me that Fay was
my fathers daughter. She gave me no
proof-she told me nothing beyond that
one cruel fact. Fay was the offspring of
hidden sin. She told me this, and told me
to remember it all my life. DO you think.
aunt, she was justified in this accusation
against my father!
How can | tell, Mildred:" Miss Faus-
set answered. coldly. my brother may
have had secrets from me-
but did you never hear anything-any
| hint of this mystery? Did you never
know anything about your brothers life
in the years before his marriage which
would serve az a clue! He could hardly
have cared Tor any one-been associated
| with any nne-and you nor hear some
thing -
II never heard it limited
"And you do not know the secret of
tay's parentagc-you, my fathers only
| sistcr-his only surviving relation! Can
you help me to find any one who kne7'
more about his youth-any confidential
friend--any one who can tell me whether
that girl was really my sister,
No, Mildred, l ave no knowledge Of
your fathers friends. They are all deal
and gone, perhaps. But what can it mat
ter to you. who this girl was? She is
dead. Let the secret of her existence die
with her. 1t is wisest, most charitable 20
d. so.'
All. you know she is dead !" cried MI
died, en- ickly. Where and when DID
shc die? How did you hear of herr"
.From your father. She died abroad.
| do not remember the year.
WAS it before my MARRIAGE"
1.-Two or three years, perhaps. | can
not tell you anything precisely. The
matter was of no moment to me-
..Oh, aunt, 1t is life and death to me.
She was my husbands first wife. She
and daughters of one father-as l.
alas. can but believe we were-married
the same man..
II never heard your husband was y
widower."
Nor did | know it until a few weeks
ago. And then, as clearly as her dis
trcss of mind would allow, Mildred told
how the discovery had been made.
'.The evidence of a photograph-which
may be a good and bad likeness-is a
small thing to go upon. Mildred" said
her aunt. 81 think you have been very
foolish to make up you mind upon such
evidence
.Oh, but there are other facts-coin-
CluelCeS <Aid uoliihS WouIu huh liz
doubt the identity of the original of that
photograph with Fay Fausset. l recog-
nized it at the first glance; and Bell,
who saw it afterward, knew the face i'm
mediately. There could be no error in
that. The only question is about her
parentage. I thought, If there were room
for doubt in the face of my mothers
death-hed statement, you could help me.
But it is all over. You were my last
hope" said Mildred, despairingly.
She let her face sink forward upon her
clasped hands. Only in this moment did
she know how she had clung to the hope
that her aunt would be able to assure
her she was mistaken in her theory OF
Fay's %parentage.
MY dear Mildred" began Miss Fans
set. after Il pause, "the words you have
Just used-.death-bed statement'-seem To
me something very solemn. indisputable,
irrevocable; but | must beg you to re-
member that your poor mother was a very
weak woman and a very exacting wife.
She was offended with my brother for his
adoption OF an orphan girl. l have heard
her hold forth about her wrongs many a
time. vaguely, MOB daring to accuse him
before me: but still could understand
the drift of her thoughts. She may have
nurscd these vague suspicious until they
to her like positive facts and on
her death bed. her brain enfeebled by i'll