The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1910-02-04
CHAPTER II.
THE OATH.

4 sigh from the painting breast OF Amo
lCadwalad,r followed these words. Plane
than speech it told OF a grief still fresh an,
an agony still unappeased, though thiri.
years had passed away since the unhapp!
hour OF which Felix spoke.
Felix, echoing IL, went quickly on;
1T was dusk when | told my story. an,
I from dark TO dawn We sat with eyts IKE,
on each Others face, without sleep an,
without rest. Then We sought John Pom
dexter.
Had he summed H. We might have haC
mercy. but he met W openly, quietly, anC
with all the Indifference of one who can
not measure feeling. because he Is incap
able OF experiencing It himself. His tirs,
sentence evinced this. spare yourselves
spare me all useless determinations. The
girl is dead; ! cannot call her back again
Enjoy your life, your eating and your
drinking, your getting and your spending
II is but fOr few more years at best.
Why harp on old grieis.' His last word
was triumph, When a man cares for
nothing or nobody, il i useless to curse
him.
"Ah. that was il That was the secret
OF his power He cared for nothing aud
for no one no, even for himself. We felt
the blow and bent under it. But before
leaving him and the town, we sworc, your
father and |, that we would yet make that
cold heart feel; that some day. in some
way. We would cause that impassiye ma
turc to suffer as he had made Us suffer,
however happy he might seem or however
closely his prosperity might cling to him
That was thirty wears ago. and that oath
has not yet been fulfilled"
Felix paused. Thomas lifted his head.
Iut fba old 4tsytYlI lot him, /.
There are men who forget i'm month.
others who forget in a year. | have never
forgotten, nor has Felix here, When you
We're born Il had married again, in the
hope Of renewed joy | felt, ! know not
why, that Evelyn's avenger was come And
when, year or so after this event. we
heard that God had forgotten John Poin.
deXters sins, or, perhaps. remembered
them. and that a child was given him also.
after eighteen years of married life. |
looked uuon your bonny face and SAVIOR
thought | saw--a possible means of bring
ing about the vengeance to which Felix
md | had dedicated our lives.
"You grew; your ardent nature. gcncr-
rus temper, and facie mind promised an
abundant manhood, and when your mother
he'd, leaving me for second time wild
,wer, | no longer hesitated to devote YOU
0 the purpose for which you seemed born.
homaS, do you remember the beginning
If that journey which finally led you far
rom me; How | bore you on my shout
Ter along dusty road, till arrived within
lght OF his home, | raised You from among
he tombs and showing you those distant
Hbles looming black against the twilght's
old, dedicated you to the destruction of |
whatever happiness might hereafter de. !
pInn nn.inr 70, =, ,1.,g i
did not think you could forget and now
hat the time has come for the promise of
hat hour to be fulfilled. / call on YOU
gain, Thomas. Avenge our griefs. avenge
our sister PoindeXter's girl has grown
D womanhood.'
At the suggestion conveyed in these
,ords Thomas recoiled in horror. But the
Id man failed to read his emotion rightly
lutching his arm, he proceeded passion
tely:
woo her! Win her! They do not
now you. You will be Thomas Adams to /
lem, not Thomas Cadwalader. Gather
Ills budding flower into your bosom, and
ZEN Oh, he must love his child! Through
or we have our hand on his heart Make
ar suffer-she's but a country girl. and
III have lived in Paris-make her suffer.
nd #, in doing so, you cause him to
ench, then believe | am looking upon
III from the grave go to, and be happy:
r yon will not have lived, nor will /
I'VE died, in vain
He paused to catch his failing breath,
1t his indomitable will triumphed over
ath and held Thomas under a spell that
nfounded his instincts and made him the
lppet OF feelings which had accumulated
cir force to fill him, in one hour. with a
te, which it had taken his father and
other quarter of a century to bring TO
e point of active vengeance
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.
lS4osxx L