The Irish standard., 1910-12-24
Copyright. 1903. by the Ainslee M saxins
Company

Kirby had but vaguely heard Of the
@just accusation and, having been
long since casenardened to calumny
in all its phases, paid little If any at
tention. Had any member of the Ran
dali family sought him out he would,
as a matter Of duty, have proved his
innocence. But they, believing him
dead, had not done so, and he refused
to take the initiative, partly because he
could not give absolute credence to
the rumor, but in a greater measure
because of the demands upon his
time. After all, 1t did not matter. 1t
meant only another tally to the score
of Jack Moreau, and all would be
wiped out by that gentleman's death,
an undertaking upon which he had
definitely decided. What stood be-
tween them could be erad1cated only
by the bullet.
Meanwhile the passing year had
brought with it many changes for the
surviving members of the Randall fam
lily. Life is tenacious, and they had
persisted in surviving as best they
could the shock incident upon their
fathers suicide The one small meas
ure Of satisfaction in the whole ter
rible affair was the knowledge that the
despoiler Of their home had promptly
met his death and that in consequence
they were at least saved from pauper-
1zation, for they were entirely igno-
rant Of Kirby's recovery or the meas
ures he had voluntarily taken for their
protection.
To the only girl, Adele, had fallen
the brunt Of suffering. The General,
child Of eight, was too young to fully
comprehend his loss, while Tom, a
hot headed youth in his early twenties,
occupied all his time with the planta-
ton and devoted all spare moments to
nursing his hatred against Kirby's
memory. While glorying in the lat
ter's supposed death he deplored that
his hand had not effected it. Where
grief had paralyzed Adele it had but
further aroused the boys militant and
aggressive nature, adding, moreover, a
He abhorred Kirby's memory with an
intensity passing the hatred of man
and, even had he been a stranger to
the then prevailing and primitive no.
lions of justice, would, had he known
the other lived, have Immediately
sought him out and killed him. If his
fathers memory demanded that no re-
sistance should be made to the gam
blers claim 1t likewise demanded that
the latter should not live overlong to
enjoy his newly acquired property.
More than once, as If uneasy intui-
ton sought to prompt the truth, the
boy had suggested to his sister the pos
sibinty of Kirby having survived Mo-
reau's sincere attentions. Then he
would break out in an ungovernable
at of fury and hatred.
"Supposing that scoundrel has lived
and intends reaping the reward Of his
crime" he would cry. "He gained
that deed by the vilest scoundrelism
ever practiced. Well, let him make
good his claim If he can"
"But who will dispute itY Adele
would hfelessly inquire. plucking at
her black dress, while twin patches Of
scarlet would begin to burn in the
dead white Of her face. "Do you think
we could stoop to ask mercy from a
man Of that stamp? Whether the
deed was gained honestly or not, it
does not matter. Fathers signature
is on the paper, and we must stand
by It, Tom. You know that. Any
way" she would finish drearily, "what
does It matter? What does it matter
where we go, what we become? Let
this Mr.. Krby-if that be his name
finish the work he began SO we'll"
I'll wish you could pluck up a
little more spirit, Dele" he would re-
turn, solicitous and resentful in the
one breath. Doesn't the thought of
that scoundrers possible recovery
make your blood boil? Don't you ever