The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1908-11-26
In Place
OF Paul.
BY EPES w.
Copyrighted. l30S. by Associated
Literary Press.

hht oeoAhs oc
grave. with a laugh that did not owe
the irritation that it was intended to
conceal. 1T seems to me, Jeanne. that
you are always fooling with that muir
derous looking thing"
Not always" was the grave re-
Spouse. For whole weeks 1t lies In the
top drawer. Frank. but nee a month l
take it out and clean 1t that 1t may al
ways be ready and that l may not for
get. as though l eve could" she added
wildly.
Musgrave shuddered. He disliked the
sight Of weapons, and there vas some
thing sinister in the care with which
the girl kept the revolver always in
coed condition.
1t was no pearl handled toy such rs
4 woman might be supposed to carry,
but a blue barreled 40 that would
stop" a man with a single shot, the
sort of weapon that was meant for
men.
1t struck a Earring note in the femi-
ninity Of Jeanne Barthon's personality.
1t was absurd and yet repelling that
the dainty little artist should devote so
much time to the care Of the black
muZEled threat. All about were half
finished sketches, BITS Of French sea.
coast. ideal heads and fashion draw
ings in odd confusion. with a hand
some toilet over a dressmaker's form
In one corner.
Jeanne herself was essentially femi.
nine. Il tlny mite of Il woman with a
corouet of golden hair surrounding Il
fragile face. She was scarcely five feet
tall. and the gun was oddly out Of pro-
portion.
MuSgrave sank into a chair from
which he swept the fashion Imaga-
zines to the floor and watched the girl
with gloomy face.
perhaps it VIII be as well to tell you
my secret. Frank" she said at length
whom the weapon had been oiled and
rCaSHembled. Then you will Under-
stand my care and also why | C@HHot
promise to marry Won, dear. 1t j. best
that you should understand"
II have 10 wish to Fry into your
Secrets" no domurrcd. They ca"n@t
be vcrT imrort2nt-eyccpt your rcasrp
for ret wanting to marry me Yen 20
nit that You IRE unmarried ard free
ard that YOU love rae. Those are the
essentials"
"UaMarrieG-yCs," the girl breathe
tensely. but frce-no. 1t is THAT
I would tell YOU, dear. so sit that !
may not see the horror in your face.
and do not speak until have finished
Sit So" she added as she placed q
chair 50 that it stood directly befC-e
her own.
1T is the gun with which some day
I am to Kill a man." she began. plunC-
ing into the middle of her story. DO
not stir until | say that you may.
cannot talk If you interrupt. 1t is
hard enough to tell even So"
"Thcn don't tell" urged the man.
You never will kill a man. You are
afraid even Of the dark"
"Of the dark, yes" she admitted
softly. but when the moment of re-
venge m | shall shoot to kill. with
never Il thought Of what will follow.
They may not kill me. but l will spend
Years in prison, and ali because l have
done the justice that men would not
10. That is why l may not marry.
II had q brother once He was all
that | had. Not even cousins had |,
and when my Paul went to your Klon-
dixie | grieved and grieved, even
though he had promised that In one
year Ire would return with millions Of
francs and | should enter the atelicr
of the great artist with whom I would
study and become famous.
For a year l had his letters. Then
none came. said that mails were not
regular in that far off land. and SO |
waited almost another year. Then
with the little money that | had
sought him, for I knew that evil must
have befallen.
Il %journcyed across this great land
to the frozen north. and there | learn
ed the worst. Paul was ~dcad-killed
by his friend, they said-his friend
who could shoot him down for the lit
tie gold that he had.
They said it was all an accident.
Bah, Men who handle guns do not
have accidents, Is 1t reasonable to tell
that one is killed by another by acct
dent? This man said that he was
cleaning his revolver and that IT went
off by itself. They had let him go.
He had fed the scene. He came to
New York. they said, and he was a
lawyer.
There was Il little photograph Of
him. That l brought with me. OF
course he would shave his beard, but
| have made other sketches-you have
seen them-with the face clean sh2vcn
and with the mustachc. One mark he
had-a great scar across the check. 1t
is his brand of Cain. BY 1t l shall
know him.
"Now l study art no more. ! draw
fashions because it pays, and when |
am idle haunt the courts. | look for
a lawyer with q great scar. and when
| find him this gun shall speak"
Musgrave had risen from the chair,
and as she spoke she raised the re-
yolyer and pointed II Mt an imaGinary