Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1909-04-07

NOt dI uISl. MY eyes WShC " thS
bad out yonder in the glare
The effort had been too much for
Dick He sank weakly over Jacks
knees. Jack turned him partly on his
back and let more water trickle down
his throat. Dick clutched madly at
the canteen, but Jack drew it back
out of his reach. With his handker
chief he moistened lips and neck.
When Dicks strength returned Jack
helped him to sit up.
"I've been hunting for you for
months" he told him.
Hunting for me?" echoed Dick.
EYES," answered Jack. Il traced you
through the Lost Cities, then to Cooney,
then up in the Tularosas. At Fort
Grant they put me on the right trail"
AS the clouds break, revealing the
blue of the heavens, so Dicks memory
came back to him. He shrank from
the man at his side.
"Well?" he asked as he stared at his
betrayer.
Jack gazed fixedly ahead. He dared
not look into the face of him he had
wronged SO bitterly.
"She wants you" he said in voice
void of all emotion.
"Who wants me?" asked Dick after
pause.
echo"
"Your wife," gritted Dick. He fin
gered his gun as he spoke.
.Huskily Jack replied, yes"
Bitter thoughts filed the mind Of
one; the other had schOOled himself to
make atonement. For the wrong he
had done Jack was ready to offer his
life. He had endured the full measure
of his sufferings. The hour of his de-
livery was at hand. Hard as it was to
die in the mid-glory of manhood, it
was easier to end it all here and now
than to live unloved by Echo, hated by
Dick, despised by himself.
"She sent me to find you. Bring him
back to me- That's what she said,"
Jack cried in his agony
"Your wife-she said that?' faltered
Dick.
Fiercely in his torture Jack answer
ed: yes my wife-my wife said it.
Bring him back to me.'"~
| I ''Back?" Dick paused. Back to
' what?' he asked himself "She's your
wife, isn't she?" he demanded.
'Thats what the law says" an
| swered Jack
With the thought of the evening in
| the garden when he heard Jack and
| Echo pronounced man and wife surg
ing over him Dick murmured, "What
God hath joined together let no man
put aSunder."
"That's what the book says" an
swered Jack. But when hands alone
are joined and hearts are asunder it
can't go on record as the work of God"
Dick bowed his head in his hands.
Il don't understand
Stubbornlv Jack pursued his mes
sage to Dick. 'She doesn't love me. I
thought l had won her, but she mar
ried me with your image in her heart.
She married me, yet all the while you
were the man she loved-you-you-
and in the end / found it OUT
Jacks voice sank almost into whis-
per as he finished his revelation to
Dick, who raised his head and cried
"And yet she broke her faith with
me-
Jack arose in his misery. His task
was harder than he expected. Dick
was forcing him to tell all without
concealing even the smallest trifle OF
his shame.
'She thought-you were deaG. l new
err told her otherwise / lied to her.
lied to her."
''She never knew?" asked Dick joy
fully. ''The letter.
Il never gave it to her." answered
Jack simply.
j Dick leaped to his feet, pulling his
revolver from his holster. "And
thought her false to her trust" HI
aimed his gun at Payson's heart. g
ought to kill you for thisr'
Jack spread out his arms and calml,
replied I'm ready"
Dick dropped his gun and slipped i
into the holster, with gesture of de
spair But it's too late now-too late!
In his eagerness to tell Dick the wa.
he had solved the problem Jack spok
nervously and quickly. mo. it ism
too late. There's one way out of this
one way in which can atone for th
wrong I've done you both. and / stan,
ready to make that atonement. 1t
your right to kill me, but it is bette
that you go back to her without m
blood on your hands"
"Go-back-to her." questioned Die
rs the meaning of the phrase slowl
| 1awned upon him.
EYES," said Jack, holding out hi
hands. 600 back with clean hands t
Echo Allen. It is you she loves
There's my horse up yonder Beyon
here's the pack mule loaded with We
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