The Democratic advocate., 1908-11-13
In Place
OF Paul.
BY EPES w. SARGENT.
Copyrighted, 1908, by Associated
Literary Press.

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'That revolver againw asked Mus
grave, with laugh that did not cover
the irritation that it was intended to
conceal. 'It seems to me, Jeanne, that
you are always fooling with that MUIR
derous looking thing
"Not always" was the grave re-
sponse. For whole weeks it lies in the
top drawer, Frank, but once month l
take 1t out and clean 1t that it may al
ways be ready and that may not for
get, as though ever could" she added
wildly.
Musgrave shuddered. He disliked the
sight of weapons, and there was some
thing sinister in the care with which
the girl kept the revolver always in
good condition.
1t was no pearl handled toy such as
a woman might be supposed to carry,
but blue barreled As that would
"stop'' a man with Il single shot, the
sort of weapon that was meant for
men.
1t struck jarring note In the femi-
ninity Of Jeanne Barthon's personality.
1t was absurd and yet repeIing that
the dainty little artist should devote so
much time to the care of the black
muzzled 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 tiny mite Of woman with
coropet of golden hair surmOunting
fragile face. She was scarcely five feet
tall, and the gun was oddly out of pro-
portion.
Musgrave sank into chair from
which he swept the fashion maga
zines to the floor and watched the girl
with gloomy face.
perhaps It will be as well to tell you
when the weapon had been oiled and
reassembled. '"Then you will under
stand my care and also why cannot
promise t2 marry you; dear It is best
that You should understand"
ri have no wish to pry into your
secrets" he demurred. 'oThey cannot
be very important-except your reason
for not wanting to marry me. You ad
NIT that you are unmarried and free
and that you love me. Those are the
essentials"
"Unmarried-yes," the girl breathed
tensely, "but free-no. 1t is that
I would tell you, dear, so sit that I
may not see the horror in your face
and do not speak until have finished.
Sit So" she added as she placed
chair so that it stood directly before
her own.
ut is the gun with which some day
1 am to kill a man." she began, plung-
ing into the middle of her story. "Do
not stir until / say that you may. l
cannot talk if you interrupt 1t is
hard enough to tell even So"
''Then don't tell" urged the man.
'You never will kill q man. You are
afraid even of the dark"
"Of the dark, yes" she admitted
softly, "but when the moment of re-
venge comes shall shoot to kill, with
never thought of what will follow.
They may not kill me, but l will spend
years in prison, and all because have
done the justice that men would not
do. That is why 1 may not marry.
81 had a brother once. He was all
that l had. Not even cousins had I,
and when my Paul went to your Klon
dixie l grieved and grieved, even
though he had promised that in one
year he would return with millions of
francs and I should enter the atelier
Of the great artist with whom I would
study and become famous.
"For a year I had his letters. Then
none came. I said that mails were not
regular in that far off land, and so l
waited almost another year. Then
with the little money that I had l
sought him, for I knew that evil must
have befallen.
IT journeyed across this great land
to the frozen north, and there I learn
ed the worst. Paul was dead-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 acci-
dent? This man said that he was
cleaning his revolver and that 1t 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 little photograph Of
him. That brought with me. OF
course be would shave his beard, but
1 have made other sketches-you have
seen them-with the face clean shaven
and with the mustache. One mark he
had-a great scar across the cheek. 1t
is his brand Of Cain By 1t I shall
know him.
"Now l study art no more. 1 draw
fashions because it pays, and when 1
am idle / haunt the courts. look for
a lawyer with great scar, and when
find him this gun shall speak"
Musgrave had risen from the chair,
and as she spoke she raised the re-
uolver and pointed it at an imaginary
foe. His turning disconnected her, the
gun wavered, there was report, and
the bullet scared Musgrave's arm.
With a cry Of horror, the girl sprang
to his side.
81 have killed you" she gasped