Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1910-09-02

Strains Tor the Indlvldual-I confess
Interested mp. You can Imagine q Der.
sonal reason or-an abstract one.
From the lonely perspective of q tiny
coral isle. system or systemS-codes
Of conduct or morals built up for the
swarming millions. so to speak-could
not but possess fascination for one to
whom those millions had become only
as the faraway shadows Of II dream"
LAS boyw John Steele repeated the
words almost mechanically. my par
ents died when l was a child. They
came Of good stock-New England"
He uttered the last part Of the SEN
tence acknowledgement. II was
bound out. was beaten. fought, ran
away. In lumber camps, the drunken
riffraff cursed the new scrub boy, on
the Mississippi the sailors and steve
dores kicked him because the mate
kicked them. Everywhere 1t was the
same. The boy learned only one thing
to fight Fight or be beaten!
"ln worldly sense prospered
after ! was rescued-in New Zealand,
I'm Tasmania Fate. as If to atone for
having delayed her favors. now lavish
ed them freely Work became easy.
A mine or two that was lucky
enough to locate yielded and continues
to yield unexpected returns"
"And then. having fairly. through
your own efforts. won place in the
world. having conquered fortune. why
did you return to England knowing
the risk that some one Of these fel-
lows like Gillett. the police agent.
might
"Why." said John Steele. because
wished to sift. to get to the very
bottom Of. this crime for which I was
convicted. For all real wrongdoing.
resisting officers Of the law. offenses
against otiicialdom. l had paid the
penalty in full. l believe. But this
other matter-that was different 1t
weighed on me through those years
on the island and afterward. A jury
had convicted Inc wrongfully. But
had to prove II. to satisfy myself. to
find out beyond any shadow Of n
doubt. and
-'He did" For the first tine Captain
Forsythe spoke "Steele has In his
possession full proofs Of his innocence.
and have seen them. They 20 to
show that he suffered through the cow
ardice Of a miserable cad. titled
scoundrel who struck his hand from
the gunwale Of the boat when the
Lord Nelson went down. Yes. you
told that story in your fevered ram
blings. Steele"
"Forsythe"-the others voice rang
out warningly didn't I tell you the
part he played was TO be forgotten un-
less
"All right: have your way" grudg-
ingly.
"a titled scoundrel. There was only
one person Of rank on the Lord Nelson
besides myself. and Forsy the"-the
old nobleman's voice called, out sharp
ly-"you have said too much or too lit
tie"
John Steele made gesture. II have
given my word not to-
but haven't" said Captain For
sythe '"rhe confession I procured
and what I subsequently learned led
me directly to Here Is the tale. Sir
Charles"
1t was over at last. They were gone.
Sir Charles and Captain Forsythe.
Their hand clasps still fingered in his
For few moments now John Steele
remained moti3nless. listening to their
departing footsteps. then turned and
gazed around him.
Never had his rooms appeared more
cherries. more barren. more empty.
No: not empty. They were filed with
memories. The man squared his shoul-
de-s ana looked out again from the
window toward that small bit Of the
river he could just discern. Once he
had gazed Mt 1t when Its song seemed
to he of the green banks and flowers
1t had passed by. but that had been ON
a fairer occasiOn-at the close Of a JOY
Gus spring day How 1t came hack to
him. the solemn court Of justice. the
beautiful face. an open doorway. with
the sunshine golden without and II
figure that. ere passing into 1t. had
turned to look back! 1t was but for
an instant. yet again his gaze seemed
to leap to that Turing light. the pass
ing CLEAN Of her eyes. that had lin
gered-
TYa
That he saw now. or was it dream !:
At the threshold near by some one
looked out-some one as fair-fairer.
II that could be-whose cheeks wore
the tint Of the wild rose.
Pardon me. came up to see II
my uncle
He stared at her.
"Youw
"Yes." She raised a small. gloved
hand and swept back q disordered
tress.
"Your-your uncle has just gone"
he said.
IT know.
"You dor
II was in the library when they
went out. ] mad come up to see
was with my uncle In the cab and
wondered why he"-
She stopped. He took a quick step
toward her. You were in there. that
room. when
EYES," she said and threw back her
head as II to contradict a sudden misti-
ness that seemed stupidity sweeping
over her gaze. why did you not tell
me-you did not-that you were inno-
cent?
you were in thereT He did not
seem to catch her words. Heard
heard
A moment they stood looking at each
other. Suddenly she reached out her
hands to him. With a quick exclam ma.
ton he caught and held them.
But in moment he let them fall.
- 49, ~