Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-06-18
CHAPTER VIII.

Breen was not wholly unconscious of
danger when the large bundle of New
York papers was brought with the mails
into the library. The ladies had busted
themselves over a joint epistle from Mr..
Stansbury, and were scanning the front
pages of the journals, when a sudden
exclamation from Mrs Stansbury init
mated the ugly truth. Breen was chang
ed from guest to outlaw. Miss Stansbury
followed her mother upstairs, the former
bearing the paper with her. A second
account of the demoralizing incident was
not difficult to find. Breen read the fol-
| lowing hastily:
''The Madame de Stael, Mr. Peter Con
stables splendid private yacht, cleared for
West Indian ports this morning. having
on board the young millionaire-owner
and, it is alleged, Nicholas Stembridge,
the notorious reyolutionist, adventurer.
and swindling promoter.
"The purpose in common Of the CAPT.
talist and fortune hunter cannot be told.
Mr.. Constable has figured in the public
| prints on several occasions, but chiefly
through his eccentric ideas of practical
philanthropy. SO far as is known. he has
never before allowed himself to be sub
iected to the attention of the police. 1t
is feared that he will lose at both ends
as result of his present affiliations.
Mr.. Constable's friends aver that the
young millionaire could not have under
stood the character of his companion for
the voyage, and point out that Nicholas
Stembridge, at his best, is man of fasci-
| mating manners and RE personal accom-
plishments. 1t has been added also that
Mr.. Constable is of most impulsive tenn
permanent, and apt to choose his compan-
ions from queer arteries of society, The
young mans innocent intent, however.
might more readily be accepted, were it
not for the important fact that Nicholas
Stembridge, who is known to have been
in hiding for several days in New York.
was seen on board the de Stael shortly
before she sailed: positively recognized.
it is said, by an astute and reliable men,
Der of the local detective force"
A spirited description of the episode on
the Brooklyn pier followed; also a por-
ton of Nicholas Stembridge's police rec
ord. The conservative character of the
paper in which the foregoing appeared
led Breen to believe that the account
| which had fallen into Mrs. Stansbury's
hand might be considerably more emblaz-
oned and embellished. His first thought
was that he had become a source of hor-
ror to the women, and that he must put
himself out of their sight.
Breen was not a constituencies man. A
fatalist, a spendthrift power that prey
ed upon the powers that prey, polished
| reveller-all these he might be, but his
blood was clean from the faint of person
al treachery. He had come to like Con-
stable. The friendship was guileless. He
had even thought, with a trace of humor
in certain moments, that it was worth
being called back from the Brooklyn pier
| for such a large and clear emotion. 1t
is possible that he had never in his life
been troubled as now, having brought a
vital hurt to the man he wished only to
serve. His face showed nothing, not even
the heat of the day, as he left the house.
His own body had felt all, even the
moral dissolution which crawls into the
| brain to prepare a place for the sinister
| guest, suicide. The law of cause and eff
| feet, unable to find any hold upon him.
self nor inspire any fear this side of
| death, had linked him with another, and
made that other suffer through him.
Breen was smitten with the ugliest pun
| ishment that clean fiber is given to writhe
beneath-that of seeing a friend beaten
! TO the ground by the rebounding volley
of ones own sins.
| Half way down the Morne d'Orange
he saw Constables launch turn shoreward
from the ship. Constable was probably
aboard. Breen wasn't ready yet to meet
the man he had hurt. He must think
| Moreover, by no means did he ignore the
possibility of the Panther bringing one
| of his logical enemies, nor was he ready
to face an accumulation of consequences
in the shape of man hunter. He turn
| ed to the right at the base of the morne,
and made his way up one of the winding
| paths to the terraced streets. That his
! steps led him to the fruit shop, where he
had planned not to go again, seemed now
but paltry addition to the incubus
which had so suddenly possessed him.
At the first terrace he turned and star
| ed back through the smoke. The launch
had just touched the pier at the Sugar
Landing. The tall figure of Constable
stepped forth and FASTENED to the car
riage, which was driven rapidly toward
| the morne. Breen smiled, because it was
easier for him to smile than to cry for
mercy. Constable was being driven swift.
| ly to the plantation house, where he
would find the ugly work that had been
done there. Mrs. Stansbury would not