Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1910-03-10

bro vn eyes, though cold to hers. were
very appealing
Blind chance threw the clew into her
hands; then II was a small matter to
obtain the coloners paper yet, when
the long envelope lay within her desk,
and the key to his very hearthstone
in her fingers. she hardly knew her.
self why she had plotted SO feverishly
to this end. She had given Truesdale
& Co. orders to refuse the extension
without further security. but TO await
her notice before foreclosing. AS she
rode slowly along the pike. half
defined plan came to her.
Jack twisted the note between her
fingers. Daddy. what can she mean?
A matter of business with mel" She
moved around to his side of the table.
See her for me, daddy?"
No. childie, you must see her as she
/ requests. Possibly we have been lit
| tie discourteous TO a very charming
woman. She is that-all of 1t. | must
confess | have warmed to her since !
| heard Simmons, down there at the
works. tell how she sent him n check
when his house was burned, and then
/ came herself and gathered up the
| children in that red devil-wagon OF
hers that has scared every decent
horse in the county into fits. She ac-
.ually took them to her house and
| kept them there, four of them, until
he could provide a place for them. 1t
isn't every fine lady that would have
touched those little gamins, much less
have taken them into her home.
Yes, daddy, but all that has nothing
TO do with this matter. Shall | see
! herr"
You cannot do anything else She
says she is coming-and she will come.
Are we heathens to shut the door in
her face? See her by all means.
reckon It's time we came down to
earth a bit After all, there have been
good women on the stage-we're all
actors, more or less, in this weary
drama; and mind, Jack, ! stumbled on
that fact about the lady by accident,
so you II respect it. I'm off! Dan says
that the colt has scratched himself on
bit of wire. I'll wager it's nail!
in the gloom of the old-fashioned par
lor 1t brought back the meager days,
and the one time, as If it were but yes
terday, when she had entered the
house with a message for the colonel
Now-she swept the frou frou OF her
laces beneath the disappearing frowns
of all the Wandlows, and sank into
chair as Jacqueline paused in the
doorway Therese gave her no time
to hesitate.
II have taken the law into my own
hands, though you would have none
of me-" she said, going straight to the
point. And my excuse is" She
paused and came little nearer to the
girl. Child, | wonder what you will
say to me? Will you resent my effort
to help you, or will you try to under
stand. for my sake, for yours and-an-
other's?" Before Jacqueline could
fathom her meaning she found her
self on the sofa beside her, listening,
bewildered at the tangle of legal
terms that, sifted down, meant that
the woman before her held their very
living in her hands. At last she un-
derstood, when the paper was pressed
between her fingers.
But this is charity pure and
simple! You are giving it to us!
Daddy would never accept that; but
it will kill him to lose it, to lose every
thing!" She covered her face and
uttered low moan.
Therese slipped one arm around the
trembling shoulders. He need not
know" Somehow her fears of Jacque-
line was gone. He shall not lose it,
and he shall never know it from me.
| can arrange 1t all, if you will help
me-
but what return? don't under
stand!"
Therese hesltated, then. with GER
tain instinct of the blood that must run
true. she told Jacqueline the story Of
the child who had loved the colonel.
who had looked with longing eyes at
a baby girl that she might not hope to
touch She told it all, sparing no de-
tail of the struggle upward, and at the
finish looked searchingly into the eyes
of the girl, who flung both arms
around her, crushing silks and laces
in her surrender.
When the colonel returned from town
two days lat2r, he was different man.
He had had another interview with
Truesdale q Co., and the wind sat in
another quarter. Better still he had
fallen in with an old crony, horseman
who held out great hopes for the colt.
Guilderoy would go into training i'm
mediately 1t was not too late TO enter
him for the Derby provided he worked
out all right. but 1t would be grilling
work for the youngster. II be won
we'll they might save the old place yet
Jack frightened visibly. and the
weight slipped away for time Her
interview with Therese had troubled
her with a sense of guilt. She knew
that the colonel would not endure the
situation If he knew it. but the truth
would be fatal. She had accepted this