The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1909-11-10

again.
The next day she was still enraged
when be called. 1t cost DO effort t.
have him turned from the door When
his note arrived she started imnul
sively to open it. then checked her
self. She would be firm; she would
punish him.
And so with some slight effort she
handed the letter to the servant with
| instructions to return it to Lieutenant
Sommers at his hotel.
| Passing her Old lover on the street
| had been an effort. but that too, she
managed to do. It took the last of
her anger. however. The reaction he'd
come She began to regret, then to
forgive and finally to long once more
for the one man who, she felt sure.
could make her happy.
A little discreet questioning had
Brought out the cause Of his anger.
| She found out the real reputation OF
Pinckney among the work people. The
discovery shocked her.
She understood them why SommerS
had NDeen so enraged. She saw it was
not against her or brought about by
any doubt of her, but merely fierce
uncomfortable rage against PinCkne!
that he had dared-a man OF his kind
Ito put her ia a position that his char
Hcter at once made questionable.
When she had finally come to q real
understanding the girl longed to write,
| y hot "
on sea duty, and she could not reach
him. Against her own judgment she
had longed for and expected some
word from him But the naval Off
GERS pride was too great to pursue a
further intrusien after SO signal a re-
buff.
Then the girl began to grow pale
and to worry. Her parents noticed
the change without realizing the cause.
No one had any suspicion of the real
relation between Frances and the
Young naval officer. That good
night" on the vine covered porch was
a ,secret-a tender memory locked in
her heart and in his, to be brought out
by each, regarded fesldiy and mourned
,over when alone.
| SommerS had his work, but Frances
Sld1 lotnln9 to distract her mind No
wonder she grew potter and seemed TO
lose interest in everything. Mir and
Mrs. Du1ant became alarmed. They
consulted, doctors. but there was moth
ing wrong physically with their
daughter. Finally one big expert pro-
posed q sea voyage, and for the first
! time Frances showed some sign of in
terest. Mr.. Durant paid double
size bill cheerfully. thinking that doe
tor a wonderful man
The Durant yacht the IrveSsa, Was
got ready as quickly as possible. Mr.
Durant could not go himself and he
decided it would be good plan to
send his wife and daughter away for
a cruise in charge of Pinckney
Now for month they cruised but
Frances sl-yed little sign of interest
Pinckney was the only one who
seemed to get real enjoyment out of
the trip. He now felt that victory
must in the end be his
He was not deceived by the result
of the first test of the Sommers gun
1t had stood the first test safely. but
in his heart the conspirator knew that
soon the badly tempered gun must
fail, perhaps with shocking results.
That mattered little to him. TIE
worse the accident the greater the dis
grace of SOmmers and the Surer the
result in his favor. The government
must then accept the Rhinestrom sun
and probably would give a bigger or
der than ever.
He had no fear of an investigation
That had been web attended to- Smith.
under another name, was working far
away. There was no one else who
knew anything except Marsh. and he
could Zoe depended on to keep quiet
The ultimate src~osS of all that he
had Planned now seemed to the gen
eral manager certain. He gave him.
self up to tine enjoyments of the cruise
dreaming now ana then of the time to
come when he and Frances as man
and wife should go on long trips to-
gether.
The first sign of real interest the girl
showed after starting was when the
yacht cast anchor in the broad harbor
of Ponce. Porto Rice. and she learned
! quite by accident that the cruiser
| Roanoke was expected there in few
| days. sr
Then. TO the intense establishment of
Mrs. Durant and Piuckney. Frances
once more asserted herself She de-
clared that she loved the old Spanish
town. Even the dirty plaza. two miles
away from the main city. interested
her. She insisted on staying over. be-
cause. she declared. she was deter
mined to study the town and the peo-
pie and even ride over the famous mil
ltary road constructed by the Span
iards at terrible cost Of labor and
life from Ponce through the mountains
to San Juan
Nothing that her mother or Pinck-
ney could do would move her. She was
infnrnCtn6 tAI