The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1910-05-26
COPYRIGHT. 1910. BY AMERICAN PRESS fAssociAT1oN

take her 10 her own home. 5ecause
the.distanee was very great and he
was compelled to join his soldier COM
rades or eIse prove disobedient to his
superior oficer-something he would
under no circumstances do.
The planters mate surveyed them
both with keenly penetrating eyes.
Perhaps she guessed that the hand
some soldier lad had not told her all
of his story or very much OF the truth
Of the situation.
Perhaps she knew that the bewflder-
cd gaze OF the wearied young girl as
she listened to her companions story
revealed it to be pure and, SO far
as she was concerned, an entirely un-
necessary fabrication.
Perhaps the kindly woman knew in.
tuitively that before her were tp'o
hearts that throbbed solely for one an
other, and she questioned not the
story.
She gave them food and drink. and
when 1t came time for the soldier to
face the long tramp to his camp she
withdrew quietly from the room. leav-
ing them to bid each other farewell.
do not leave me: do not GO" the
girl pleaded with Gilbert. You must
never be away from me again. and"-
her voice quavered-"they will shoot
you-ycu will be killed"
Her eyes filed with tears as she
/ chung TO him.
40, no; it is soldiers duty to
brave untilnchingly whatever danger
may occur. My country has called me.
and must respond Besides. dear
one, there Is no danger Those red
coats don't know the country. They
stand up in line IN the open. while We
shoot them from behind trees and
from bitches where we lie concealed"
She shuddered at his description Of
the horrible thing which she vaguely
understood to be war. A strange. ter
ritied look came into her eyes.
You say what is not So" she flut-
tered. There is danger. You will be
killed. feel 1t; l know It. I eau see
| you now"-her eyes closed. and she
clutched his arm with both her tiny
! hands-'1 can see you now lying be-
side rock: there is a hole in your
forehead; there is blood on your face,
Gilbert. and lying all around yon are
men whose arms and legs are gone"
She reeled away from him and sway
ed backward. He sprang to her and
saved her from falling.
Yes" she went on prophetically,
her voice rising-"yes. Gilbert-my Gil
bertrand / can see the man who
killed you There he is crouching over
there" She pointed Historically before
her. He is laughing and loading his
gun. and his face-oh. his face is the
face Of Raoul de Valette"
As she cried out these last words
her voice broke into despairing wall.
and she fell forward Imply in her
lovers arms. She was unconscious.
The planter and his wife responded
TO the lads frantic calls. and they
carried the precious form up into
bedroom. where the woman applied
restoratives. When Madeleine finally
opened her eyes and looked about her
word was sent to the anxious soldier
waiting below.
You had better go now. She is all
right" advised the planter she will
be taken home In the morning II
you 20 near her again she will only
faint again. so my old woman says"
Gilbert Steele took up his hat and,
With a heart overwhelmed with sad.
ness. plunged desperately out into the
darkness.
/ A vague, intangible sense of impend.
ing doom smote him. He fought it on
manfully, but 1t would not down. The
girls words, her manner, her closed
eyes that Sat0 as she warned him Of his
fate. made him tremble for the NOR.
row.
Gilbert Steele was not a coward.
Yet for the first time In his life he
was possessed by physical fear. In
his elementary young life he had not
been accustomed to Analysing his feel
ings or his emotions. Events had
come too quickly to permit him to dis
cover that there was such form OF
self examination as psychology. Had
he known something about this in
prospective as well as protective sci
ence he would have been able to COM
fort himself with the reflection that
the unnerying fear that threatened to
master him was solely the result of
the overweight and temporarily dis
tracted mind of the girl he loved.
But to Gilbert Steele, stumbling
through the abysmal pitch of the
night, the closed eyes that saw had
penetrated into the hidden world of
The things that were TO be. and try as
he would he could not shut out from
his own vision the crouching body
that reloaded gun and the face that
laughedv-the face Of Raoul de YaletteI
a E...;s.g.l