The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-23

which she was but vaguely familiar.
 He wrote that the first day the doc tors let him set up to a table after Jack Moreau shot him." sharply ex- plained Bunce, angered at the recep- | ton accorded what he considered sublime act of generosity, forbearance and asininity.
 l Slowly Adele raised her eyes from the paper and looked steadily at the "common gambler" "This was in re- morse-for my father?' she whispered.
 "No." It was said quite simply and i emotionlessly, as if the question were too absurd to seriously consider. He 1 would have employed the same tone in refuting the statement that he was a | Chinaman
 'That doesn't agree very well with l Colonel Moreau's story" sneered young Randall, loath to credit such an enemy l with one worthy motive. "You bet your bottom dollar it don't" agreed Bunce.
 "That will do, Larkin,'' said Kirby ! sharply. There's nothing more to be said. We're through here." | Despite Adele's earnest request to 1 remain and the plea that she had the right to know the meaning of this strange contradiction of evidence, he resolutely turned to leave the room, his l partner obediently following. But once again NJ. Veaudry, sinking | his own interests in those of justice. stepped forward and detained his sometime rival.
 | Make him speak, Tomv' he cried, turning to young Randall. "This min iature of your mother we found in | Colonel Moreau's portmanteau." And he handed the other the red morocco box
 'But-but my father lost it to youv' | exclaimed the bewildered boy, turning to Kirby.
 l .sNo, not to me, MT. Randall" Again that same patient, emotionless tone, to- | tally devoid of resentment or even in- terest.
 | Tiff we've been in the wrong" tremulously whispered Adele, raising her head proudly, but pleading suppli- cation speaking strongly from her eyes, 'you will set us straight. you will be fair?"
 | For a long moment Kirby hesitated, 1 then finally turned to the now eagerly waiting boy.
 "Mr Randall" he said, with elabo- rate irony, "the question involved in my conduct is so purely professional that it may be almost impossible to clear it up to the satisfaction of lay man. MT. Bunce, being one of the brethren, would comprehend me per fectly, but shall have to point out | that in my profession there are sepa- rate castes, both high and low, each controlled by its own standards" l "You accuse Colonel Moreau of being | gambler?" said syoung Randall as, the other paused. 'I regretfully admit that he had some claim to the title,' replied Kirby. with intentional elegance of manner, "for the group to which the colonel belonged countenances certain prac- tices, such as the intoxication of op- ponents and the elimination of chance in the fall of the cards. and this, we feel, shows a lack of foresight tending to bring discredit on the entire profes- sion, which might in time drive its fol lowers from their legitimate field of industry. For that reason, when I | discovered the late Colonel Moreau in private stateroom of the Shotwell despoiling a gentleman who was-who was not himself, took charge of the despoliation of what remained, intend Ing to make restitution in the morning, | when the victim should be in better condition
 Young Randall being one who cher ished his hatreds and affections and renounced them with difficulty, this new and obviously accurate version of his fathers suicide left him in a state of mental fog. Where Adele was only too willing and eager to believe, the boy was loath. To the girl Kirby had once appeared all that woman can think of man. but to her brother he had ever been the personifcation of evil. Tom had blindly nourished his hatred. Now he felt strangely bewil- dered, self distrustful and unclean. His credulity had been shattered with his self respect He flushed hotly at the thought of how implicitly and on such meager evidence he had believed the spacious and totally interruptions Moreau, how from such a tissue of falsehood he had carefully erected his elaborate feud. He had even stopped to the unutterably foul act of swear ing a murder upon this man, who, rather than being an enemy, had stood his fathers sole friend. To him it was difficult to relegate unto himself a new viewpoint with the common gambler as. an object for admiration rather than vilification, 70 disinter and trans fer the halo which Moreau had calmly appropriated and taken with him to the grave to this erstwhile master rogue, this arch fiend. titles for which his name of Cameo Kirby had been a l synonym.
 "You meant to protect my father?'
 he faltered at length.
 "For the honor of the profession ?
 said Kirby. That's all right. MT
 Randall" he added gently as the boy,
 utterly crushed and filled with a bitter
 self hatred, strove to verbally inter
 pret his abject thoughts, to frame
 some sort of fitting apology. 'If you'll
 lend me a horse to get back to the
 city we'll call it square. Pm ready
 Larkin."
 CContfnued on Page 9)