The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-11-03
CHAPTER xxyII-fContinned

me church door--counting as nothing
the effort she had make to speak 20
him on the night of vengeance.
She was sitting at the piano In the
otherwise deserted MUSHROOM e
ne entered; and she broke a chord in
the middle to give him both OF her
hands, and to say, with eyes shining,
as If the rescue were a thing Of yes
terday:
% Toni! knew you had it in YOU
Il was finei"
Hold on" he said. a bit u~nsteadily.
There must be no more m~isunder-
standings What happened that night
three weeks ago. had to happer: and
i've mute before it happened was
wondering If L could aim straight
enough in the light from the Las pot
70 hi him. And / fully meant to do
It"
II was afraid" she faltered- Il
knew. you know-Japheth had told me.
in-in justice to you. That was why l
iran across the lawn and called to YOU
Looking 1t all over, I don't see that
there Is much to choose between ms
and the men I've been hunting down.
They vent after the things they need
ed without much conjunction for 9th
er people,; and SO did l. On the night
Of the-on the night when you called
to me and / wouldn't Saswer. / vas
going down to rub 1t in; to tell them
they were IN the hole and that / had
put them there. / met a man at the
gate who told me what Japheth told
YOU 1t made a demon OF me. Ardea-
I took the mans gun and followed
Vincent around the yard I meant to
kill him."
The ~provocation was very great"
she said. evenly. why didn't you 10
It. Tom?"
Now you've cornered me: I don't
know why I didn't had only to walk
away and let him alone when the time
came b Stag splitting would hav
settled him. But 1 couldn't do it."
OF course you couldn't" she agreed,
convincingly. God wouldn't let you"
He lets other men commit murder:
one a day., or such \ matter"
Not n Of those who have namsd
His name. Tomas you IVA
Now that it's all over. the taste CT
It Is ike sawdust In the mouth: I'll
admit that much I'm free: free among
the dead. like the slain tina lie In the
grave as David put 1t when he had
: scunded all the depths Is that being
sorry"
No don't know" she confessed.
You think 1 ought to go back to
drzt principles: get down on my knees
and agonize over IT. Sometimes I
wish I could be a boy long enough to
do just hat thing, Ardea- But I can't.
The mill won't grind with the water
that has passed"
But the stream isn't dry" The as
serted. taking up his figure. What
win you do now7 That Is the ques- |
ton: the enly one that il ever worth
asking"
They took to the woods. the waste
places, the Ce5erts-those men of old
who didn't understand Some OF them
went blind and crazy and died there:
and some OF them had their eyes OPEN
ed and came back to make the world q
little better for their having liven In
Ct I'm minded to try It"
You are going away?"
Yes: out to the beyond I'm Northern
Arizona There Is a new iron field out
there to be prospected. n Mr.. Clark
son wants NE 10 go and report on II.
: And that brings US back to business.
May I talk business-cold money buzl-
sness-to you for a minute or two Pc
If you like" she permitted. ~OnIv
! think the other kind of talk Is more
profitable"
"A curious thing has come to pass
quite q miraculous thing, In fact CHA
,3vassee viii pay the better part Of ia
7fdebts and-snd redeem its stock. ne
come of 1t. at least" He rose ana
stood beside her. isn't It a thousa :
! pities thai Colone, Duxbury couldn't
have held on to his shares Just a little
-onger?"
Yes: he Is an old man and a broken
pne. now" There var q sob In her
Foice. or he thought there was. But n
S was only the great heart of comma,
sion that missed no object Of pity
True: but the next best thing Il "a
pave the young woman who ms rrias
INTO the family bring 1t back with her
1on't you think? Here is a check for
What Mr. Fariey's stock would have
+rold for before the troubles began. re- |
made payable to you because-wel- for
obvious reasons: as ! have said, he lost
but"
You are stIl the headlong. Impul,ive |
boy. aren1 >oi,s~ sae said. not ALTO
<ether a7pfetH~t You are paying
lhis OFT . own money"
Wei. whss II an
If you are. Il IS either 4 Just ~resti-
4~<utiop. or II IS not In either case, /
@<aH not be your go-betwcen."
Now look here" ne argued: ~vou.ve
got to be sensible about this. There,u
se four of you. and at least two fncom-
: 3etents: and you've got to have money
b ike o I made Colonel Duxbury
spse IL. and"
Not another word. 4. you please.
ff7n't do your errand In this. and I
Couldn't If I could"
You think / ought to b. generous
md give It 70 him. anyway. dc your"
Il don't presume to say" was the
4ool reJoinder. When you have come
uIly to your right mind. you will know
that to do. n how to go about It"
He crumpled the check. thrusting 1t
Ito his pocket, and made two turns !
bout the room before he said:
I'll see them both hanged first"
Very well; that is your own AFFAIR"
x He fell to walking again. and for a
ell mfnut the silence vas broken only |
d " the murmur Of mems voices in the
T -brary adjoining. The Major had COM
<Aany. It seemed
This is .good-by,' Ardea: I'm going |
Tomorrow. Can't we part friends?" he |
aid, when the silence had begun to |
5hnk1e un~bearably.
81 VI v III Az 4
tag again to the window.
You've hurt me, more than once"
. retorted, raising his voice more than
3 meant to: n she faced about
uickly. holding up a warning finger.
Mr.. Hennika- and Mr.. Young-Dick-
On are In the library with grandpa.
hey will hear YOU"
IT don't care. I came here tonight
18th a heart full Of what few good
afngs there are left In me. and you
) On are so wrapped up In that begyar
! / didn't kill
~Hushi" she commanded. impera-
>ely. Grandfather has not heard:
knows nothing. and he must
The murmur Of voices In the adJoin-
z room had suddenly become a storm.
It'll the smooth tones of Mr.. Henniker
ainly trying to allay It. In the thick