Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-09-26

seSe SeeHVS' iuc buHtuues boothed. and the life of the community below. frankly primitive and uncomplIcated. attracted her, Between the town of Smoky Mountain and the expensive sanitarium on the ridge n great social gulf was fixed The iatter's patrons for tho most part came and went by the narrow gauge road that linked with northern Junction. The settlement far below was only feature of the pano- rama for which they paid so we'll.
 Even Dr. Bren,. h..- -.,.. percned this
 place of healing where his patients
 could breathe air fresh from the Pa
 cifc and cooled by the snow peaks,
 knew 1t chiefly through two of its c!t-
 zens-Mrs. Halloran, the capable, bus
 ting wife of the proprietor of the
 Mountain Valley House. the towns single hostelry. who brewed old fash- toned blackberry wine and cordials for
 his patients, and Tom Fielder, a young
 lawyer whom he had known on the
 coast before i!l health had sent him to
 hang out l 1, shingle In more genial altitude
 The latter sometimes came for a chat with the physician. and on one of these calls Jessica and Le had met. She had liked his keen, good humored face and waving, slightly graying hair. She had met him once since on the noun tain road, and he had walked with her and told her quaint stories of the townspeople. He had taken her to Mrs. Halloran, whose heart she had won by praise of her cherry cordial.
 Tt brings back my boyhood." David Stires said to her one afternoon, tap ping the bottle by his wheel chair. Somehow this has the old taste"
 "It is nearly gone," she said. "rl get another bottle. am going for a ride now. think 1t does you good"
 Before you go," he said. fetch my writing case, and I will dictate a let ter"
 She brought and opened 1t with a trouble at her heart, for the request showed his increasing weakness. Un- til today the few letters he had writ ten had been done with his own hand. Thinking, of this as she waited. her fingers ncrvously plucked at the inside of the leather cover. The morocco flap fell and disclosed slip of paper. It was a cancelled bank draft. It bore Hugh's name, ard across its face in Da- vid Stires' grabbed hand. written large, was the venomous word Forgery"
 The room swan before her eyes, Only by fierce effort could she con- pei her pen to trace the dictated words. Hugh's misdeed, evil as it was, had been to her but an abstract crime. Now it suddenly lay bare before her, a concrete expression of coarse thievery, a living symbol of crafty stimulation. Scarce knowing why she did 1t, she drew the draft covertly from its re- ceptacle and slipped it into her bosom.
 The evidence of Hugh's sin! That | paper must remain, as the sin that 1 made it remained the sign manual of 1 her dishonor and loss. The man whose hand had penned its lying signature was the man she had thought she | loved. By that act he had thrust him. self from her forever. Yet he lived. l Somewhere in the world he walked in 1 shame and degradation beyond the i pale of honorable living. and she was his wife! She was his wife. Though she called herself Jessica Holme. yet in the law his name and fame were hers.
 "Look at that steady hand now. an her hair as red as gloryy' said Mrs. Halloran. gazing admiringly from the doorstep where she had been chatting | with Tom Fielder "Ye needn't stare yer gray eyes out. though, or she'll | stop at the joolry shop to buy ye a ring-to shame ye fer jest hankerin' and sayin nothin'w
 Fielder laughed as he crossed the street. raising his felt hat gallantly to the approaching rider. Mrs. Halloran l was privileged character. It was not Michael Halloran who kept the Moun- tain Valley House popular! The old woman hurried to the curb and tied the horse as Jessica dismounted.
 How did ye guess made some more this day." sho exclaimed. Sure, if ye drink it yerself, my dearie, them cheeks is all tn trademark I need" She led the way into the little carpeted side room, by courtesy denominated "the parlor." "I'll go an put it up in two shakes" she said 'Sit ye down an I'll not be ten minutes" So say ing, she hustled away.
 Left alone, Jessica gaZed abstract edly about her. Her mind was still full of the painful reflections of her