Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-09-05

But the problem before her was
more than question of self-sacrifice.
1t was not at all clearto her as yet
that her marriage to William Tanker
lane would be of any real advantage
to John Shil. The matter resolved
itself into a choice of evils. On the
one hand, her lover would lose his
liberty, perhaps even his life; and
whether he lived or died, his name
would be dishonored for all time. On
the other hand, he would lose the
woman he loved, and would stand no
cleaner in the eyes of his God.
And she had to decide the problem
without help or counsel from any liv-
Ing soul. No other person could know
the shame of her secret and least OF
all could she seek guidance from the
one man to whom woman turns in
the hour of her trial For John Shils
Judgment would be certain and inevi-
table. He would face the gallows ratn-
er than let her do this thing for his
sake.
And so Laura Vane was left to de-
eide her fate alone. She was a relig-
ious woman, but in this matter Col
seemed to have gone out Of her life.
In vain she tried to persuade herself
that she ought to obey the dictates
of her conscience, and that it was the
duty of a Christian woman to serve
the cause of truth. In vain she told
herself that the mans crime would
still stand naked before the eyes Of
his Maker. She knew well enough the
right from the wrong; but in that
hour she blinded her eyes and sI)p-
.@I H. nj uft eli
small voice that cried out to her The
man she loved was in peril, and that
fact plotted out everything else from
her mental horizon save the thought
that, if she saved him, she must be
lost to him forever.
And then again more worldly
voice whispered in her ear. Perhaps
he will be acquitted. There is but the
evidence of one man, and that man
an avowed enemy. The blow was
struck under great provocation, in de
Tense of a woman's good name. At the
worst there will be verdict of man
slaughter The voice spoke calmly
and logically but it grew very faint
as fear pripped her heart. Even the re
mote possibility of a conviction was q
thing too terrible to contemplate. Sh:
knew we'll enough that innocent mea
had sometimes been condemned tc
death, and John Shil was certainl,
not an innocent man.
She was deaf alike to the voice a
conscience and reason and there only
remained single thought to combat
the half-formed resolution IL he,
brain. Would her marriage to William
Tankerlane be of real benefit to Johr
Shil. or would the loss of her IL
more terrible to him to bear thar
shame or degradation, or death itself
These were the questions she asked
herself again and again, and she could
find no definite answer to them.
The neglected fire burnt down to
heap Of gray ashes and half-coaslnnet
logs of wood A few patches Of 1ul
red light still glowed in the embers
but the room was almost in ota
darkness. The shadows of the ceiling
had died away, for the whole apart
ment was itself one deep blur OF shad
ow. Her face was scarcely visible
a mere patch Of white against III
blaclsness.
And there in the silence and III
darkness a youn girl, on the thresh
old of life, with a great love in he
strong, simple heart, and with ali tn
world opening out before her ]ik
some gorgeous flower, resolved to sat
rifice her mind, her body, perhap
even her very soul, lest harm shout
came to the man she loved. Such is tn
love of women, foolish and illogicu
perhaps, but stronger than death an