The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1910-10-27

MY spirit c!eared aItef tnat, perhaps
as the reward of q good action, per
haps because l was rid of the hamper;
at any rate, l could lift my Lead Inc
look about me and take joy in the
beauty of the night. There were only
the stars to light us, for the moon had
not yet risen. They looked down upon
us from the high heavens, and it
seemed to me that there was kindness
and sympathy in their gaze-that they
blessed us and wished US well. The
road was much smoother han the one
we have traversed the night before,
and we got forward at a speed which
warranted u reaching Coulanges in
good time, if nothing happened to delay
us. We were both we'll rested and / had
already a good reason to know and
wonder at my companions powers of
endurance.
L glanced down at her and saw that
she was staring straight ahead at the
road unrolling before us. How near we
were TO the II of parting! With
every step we approached the place
where l must leave her. Even should I
survive my pilgrimage of vengeance, 1t
seemed most unlikely that I should see
her again-certainly, we should never
be thrown together in this sweet, init
mate, personal relation. And would 1
wish to see her in any other way? To
gaze at her from 4 distance. to find her
St'S ooSobs " Stdiiu GAiCllt "llliO Solilt
other gallant whispered in her ear
would not all that be as the rubbing of
salt into an open wound?
Indeed, she had already applied
that torture with that hooking invi-
tation to Chambray! Why was it that
I had SO failed to touch g responsive
chord in her; or, rather, why, at the
very moment l fancied had touched it,
should She draw back and deal me a
cruel blow? Perhaps she fancied there
was kindness in this cruelty: perhaps
she was trying to saw me from sink.
Ing too deeply into the ~quicksand which
e%ntangled me. Alas! I felt that / was
already past al hope of rescue. So a
real kindness would have been to make
my last moments as happy as might be,
ere the sands closed over me and di-
yfded us fore ger!
1 shook he thought away. Nothing
on earth should so divide us. Honor
compelled no man to wreck his life
beyond redemption. But as I turned
the problem over in my mind, I con-
TESS my heart sank. So long as Mdlle.
de Benseval lived, Just so long was I
bound to flcr. That was the final
statement to which the tangle reduced
itself, and I reflected bitterly upon the
folly Of parents who disposed of their
children without asking their consent.
or, indeed, before they were old enough
to kno to what they were c~onsenting.
"A boy Of 10 will blithely promise 20
marry anyone, or will bind himself In
differently with a vow of celibacy, for
what does he know of either? Only
when he comes to ook at the world
and the women In it with a mans
eyes does he understand. Then he asks
himself the question. Am I bound by
a vow taken in ignorance? Must I
stagger on till death under this burden
innocently assumed? Must I permit
~ 1{Fa tN ho prrroplro5 IN fLoea rorfa.
into which another hand propelled
me?"
What is 1T, Sir sorrowful?" asked
my companion at last. 1.-THE old prob
Iem2"
The old problem" I answered.
why ponder it7 You nave already
said that no man can escape his des-
tiny.
4 am going to escape mine, If 1t Is
possible"
us escape worth so much worry2''
TT is all the difference between hell
and heaven
'Oh, fie! What would the bethrothed
think, could she hear your"
Il wish she could" I retorted bit
"Ah, NJ. de Tavernay," and her voice
had a note of sadness in 1t. "I thought
you a gallant man. I thought you brave
enough to approach your fate with
a smile upon your lips. I thought you
generous enough to make this girl who
IS waiting for you believe that you
really loved her. Consider how much
more difficult is her task. Perhaps
she remembers YOU only as a thought
less and unattractive boy, perhaps she
also has seen some one whom she
fancies she could love better, perhaps
1t Is some one who is really better
worth loving. Yet she is awaiting you,
fiftnpr har rf0ofx ~ ea IN hnr h>.N0,
ready to keep her oath, although an
oath Is not the same thing to a woman
as to a a Nor is marriage the
same thing. TO a man II is an cpl
sode; to a woman 1t is her whole life.
She belongs to h man she has mar
whom you are bethrothed does not real
lie all this? Be sure she does-and
trembles at 1t. And you propose to
make her task more difficult still. You
will come TO her with a sour and down.
cast face; o will say to her as plain
l1y as II you spoke the words, II do
not love you; I take you because /
must; If / were free I would not look
at you a second time; I am making
a martyr of myself by marrying YOU
Which do you think will be the greater
martyr, monsieur. you or she? You
are right in your estimate of your
scifr-SJu are wholly seifisn.
/ had listened with bowed head and
quivering r Every word burnt
into me as a white-not iron.
You are right I said hoarsely
when she had finished. "I am a cow.
ard-a u I am not really a man
or honor."
You are only a boy, she said. and
her tone was more tender. You have
been too long in your mothers lead
ing strings. But you have in you the
making of a man, my friend. and T
know that | shall live to be proud Of
YOU"
/ caught her hand and kissed IT
a kiss not Of love. but of gratitude.
! swear that at that moment passion
was as dead in me as though it had
never been.
We Went on in silence after that. i
had my bitter draught to swallow and
swallow 1t ! did without hinching. All
pretty euphemism had beer stripped
away. I saw that / had been dishon-
orable in thought. IL not in deed. /
mad befouled myself, and, worse than
all, ! had tried to drag a~nother-the
one person that / touchdown into the
mire with me.
M~adeinofselle, said at last, II hope
that In time yeu Will pardon me. And
thank you from the bottom OF my
heart that you had the courage to
/ Sy1a0i r 49, xAx, IS 4 ~ ~ 80 -