Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1909-12-10
Copyright, 1903, by Stanley j. weyman.
CHAPTER xv.-(Continued.)

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II am" Colonel John replied sternly,
II am, and I intend to be. Nor a day
too soon! Where all are children. there
Is need of a masteri And for my
cousin. let her hear the truth for once!
Let her know what men who nave seen
the world think of the visions, from
which she would have awakened in a
dungeon, and her fellow dupes under
the gibbet! A great rising for a great
cause, IL IL be real, man, If ii be earnest,
IL 1t be based on ~forethought, heaven
knows / hold IL a fine thing, and a high
thing! But the rising OF a child with
a bladder against an armed man, a
rising that can run but cannot help, l
know not whether to call il more silly or
more wicked! Man. the devil does his
choicest work through fools, not
rogues! And, for certain, he never
found filter instruments thar at Nor
ristown yesterday"
Uncle Ulick swore impatiently. 1--WE
may be fools" he growled. Yet spare
the girl! Spare the girl"
What? Spare her the TRUTH"
All! Everythingl" Uncle Ulick cried,
with unusual heat. Cannot you see
that she at least meant Welt"
such do the most ILL.," Colonel John
retorted with sententious severity.
God forgive them-and her!" He
paused for a moment and then. in a
lighter tone, he continued ,"as l do.
Only there must &c al ead OF this
f~oollshness. The two men who had
eason In their w~rongdoing are beyond
seas. The McMurrough is not so mad
as to act without them. He"-with a
faint smile-'is not ~implacable. You,
Ulick, are not OF the stuff of whom
martyrs are made. But the two young
men outside"-he passed as II he re-
hected-"they and three or four others
are-what my cousin nov listening to
me makes them. They are tow, IL the
flame be brought neal them. And
therefore-and therefore" he repeated
still more slowly. II have spoken the
truth and plainly. To this purpose,
that there may be an end"
Flayia had sat at first with closed
eyes, in a state next door to collapse,
her head inclined, her arms dropping,
as If at any moment she might sink to
the floor. But In the course of his
speaking a change had come over her.
The last heavings OF the storm, ply
steal and mental, still shook her. But
the indcc:tta5!c youth al her, and Inc
spirit which she had inherited from
some dead ~forefather, were not to be
long gainsaid. Slowly, as she listened
her color had returned, her face grown
more firm, her form more stiff. In truth
Colonel John had adopted the wrong
with ner. He had been hard
knowing men better than women
When he should have beer mild: he
had 0rowbeaten where he should have
forgiven. And so at his last declara-
ton, There must be an end" she rose
to her feet n spoke. And speaking,
she showed that neither the failure Of
her attempt on him. nor the bodily
struggle with him, horribly as II HUI
inflated her in the remembrance, had
quelled her courage.
An end!" she said, in a voice vi
brating with emotion. Eyes, but ii will
that than be so old before u
time. so cold OF heart and cunning of
head that there Is naught real for us
but that we touch and see, nothing
high for us but that our words will be
measuring, nothing worthy risk but
that We are safe to gain! Children,
we?" she continued, with deep pas
sion. But at least we believe! At
least we own something higher than
o~urselves-a God, a Cause, a Country!
At least we have not bartered all-all
three and honor for a pittance to pay,
fighting alike for right or wrong, be-
traying alike the right and wrong!
May bel But, God be
thanked, we are warm, the blood runs
in U.s.
"Flavia!"
Il say the blood runs in us!" she re-
peated. And If we are foolish, we
are wiser yet than one"-she looked
at him with a strange steadfastness-
who In his wisdom thinks that a
traitor can walk our Irish soil un-
harmed. or n go back and forth in
safety who has ruined and shamed us!
You have escaped my hand! But /
know that all your boosted wisdom will
lengthen your life till the moon
waHes!"
He had tried to interrupt her once
eagerly, wildly, as one who would de-
fend himself. He answered her now
after another fashion: perhaps ne had
learned his lesson. IF God Wills" he
said simply, 1T will be as you say.
And the road will lie open TO you.
Only while / live, Flavia. whether 7
this irish soil or not, or my coun-
try, or my honor, the storm shall not
break here, nor the house fall from
which we springi"
While yu livel" she repeated, with
a dreadful smile. Il tell you, I tell
YOU" and she extended her hand
toward him. "the winding sheet Is high
upon your breast, and the salt dried
that shall lie upon your heart"