Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1908-03-12
THE DEBT
By CHARLES EDMOND WALK
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Copyright. by Daily Story Pub. Coz

silence, as a sphynx, set Slbyl Cray
ton, alone with her dead husband
Hours had passed since she had dis
missed the few kindly-intentloneo
neighbors whose services she did not
want, and during those hours not
muscle of her tall, slender figure had
moved, not a change had passed over
the beautiful, pallid face. The tiny
parlor, shabby and bare, was but dlfl
ly lighted An incomer could nave
been at first sensible only of the DARK
ness; but, as sight adapted itself TO
the interior twilight, he would have
been bold indeed not to have shrunA
in dread from that terrible, immobile
figure and the sinister glitter OF her
baleful eyes.
For Sibyl Clayton was thinking not
so much of her husbands death as the
manner of it, and she was praying
with an intensity of fervor that was
fast consuming her vitality, praying.
pleading, offering her soul IN eX
change for means of avenging that
death. 1t had required Il years to DO
it, but here, at last, Philip Clayton lay
dead, and to her tortured spirit his
murderer seemed as far above any
earthly punishment as the very stars
Was it really so many years ago
that she had considered herself the
happiest girl in all the world, only to
learn that she knew not what happi
ness was until Phil Clayton came WOO
ing? 1t seemed but yesterday, and
yet the IL years were Ike unto as
many centuries of torture and agony.
For a serpent entered her paradise.
In those halcyon days, wherever
there was a man who laid his two
eyes upon her, ST. numbered an ad-
mirer; where she bestowed the merest
glance in return, lover. She had
more than glanced at Phil. Indeed.
her eyes had become hazy while look
ing into his; they presently fell from
before his ardent look; rich tide OF
color mounted to her cheeks, and from
that moment she was his, body and
soul. There were times when she re
garded her passion for Phil Clayton
with awe and fear, SO wildly it crap
pied her.
But the conquest had not been one
sided by any means, for Phil loved
her with all the ardor that his deep
nature and her wonderful beauty
could inspire.
Neil Black had loved her, too, how
ever-so vehemently and selfishly that
he had devoted his life to revenging
himself upon the successful rival The
words of his threat still rang in Sibyl
Clayton's ears. He had spoken with 4
deadly quiet that made her turn swift
ly to shield her lover with her own
body; but Neil Black had merely
laughed at her, and as he laughed she
had shivered
Mark me well, Clayton words
now started out from the tumult OF
her brain with the suddenness of
cry-"you have taken from me the one
thing l have desired above the whole
world. You know | am ambitious for
wealth and power; that l crave the
good things of life and enjoy them;
that l have won everything upon
which I have set my heart I would
toss them ali away for that woman
aye, even my life in exchange for a
year with her, with or without her
love-and do you think that l will
stand idly by and see her plucked
from me?' And here again he had
laughed that terrible laugh you
were born with wealth, Clayton so
was she. But | fought a bitter fight
for mine, and | mean to be cheated of
nothing.
Now hear me: am going to devote
every minute of my life to make of
yours a blackened wilderness-to
change the sweet fruit of your love to
ashes upon your lips; l am going to
pit my strength against yours-my
wealth, my brain, against your wealth
and your brain-until you curse the
day that you were born" Then he
had bowed low and left them
And how well had Neil Black sue
ceeded! Every undertaking of her
husbands had brought him only loss.
He had not been man to shrink from
such challenge-nay, he had even
laughed at it; but the time soon came
when he had to buckle on his armor
in grim earnest, only to behold lance
after lance broken against the impreg-
nable front of his enemy, while that
enemy's web encompassed him closer
and closer with the passing years! One
night Philip and Sibyl Clayton looked
into each others eyes and silently
read therein the ruin that was theirs.
But that was not ALL As the Clay
ton fortunes dwindled, as each sue
ceeding enterprise met failure and
disaster, Neil Black had waxed and
grown greater until he was a man to
be reckoned with in the world. He
held many invisible but powerful
strings in his hands, and at the end of
each was a puppet that danced as its
master pulled its own particular
string. Some of the puppets were in
humble walks of life, some in high:
some were among great corporations.
and few even on the bench. They
numbered legislators and senators.
ward-heelers and mayors, but one and
all danced obediently when he pulled
the strings. And so, with a bit of art.