The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-08-17
bearded man. Dawn was breaking.

near the table were several chairs
To one of these CroiSs+t motionad the
engineer and as Rowland sat down
the bearded man turned slowly and
passed through door. .!pan shrug
ged his shoulders as the other diSap-
paarcd
"Aion Dinu. that means that he
leaves it ali TO me-" he exclaimed y
don't wonder that il is hard for him to
talk. m'srnr Perhaps YOU have begun
to understand.
YES. a little" replied Rowland His
heart was throhbing as if ne had Just
finished climbing a long hill THAI
was the man who tried to kill me. R'lt
MpleeSe- the He could 90 no fur
Their. Scarce breathing. he waited for
Jean to speak.
ut is Pierre Thoreau." he said. "eld-
est brother TO MeleeSe 1t is he who
should say what 1 am about to tell
you. m seur. But be is too full of grief
to speak. You wonder at that? And
soul than Pierre Thoreau never lived.
though three times he has tried to kill
you. DO you remember what you
asked me short time ago. m'seur-if
! thought that you were the John
Rowland who murdered the father of
Me.eese sixteen years ago! Gods
saints. and / did until hardly more
than half an hour ago. when some one
came from the south and exploded
mine under our feet. 1t was the young
est of the three brothers. M'seur. we
have made great mistake. and we
ask your f)rgiveness."
In the silence the eyes of the two
men met across the table. To How
land it was not the thought that his
life was saved that came with the
greatest force. but the thought of Me
leese, the knowledge that in that hour
when all seemed to be lost she was
nearer to him than ever He leaned
half over the table. his hands clinched.
his eyes blazing. Jean did not under
stand. for be went on quickly.
IL know it is hard. 'seur. Perhaps
it will be impossible for you to for
give thing like this. We have tried
to kill you-kill you by slow torture.
as we thought you deserved. But
think for moment. mseur. of what
happened up here sixteen years ago
this winter. | have told you how
choked life from the man fiend. SO
had not been for Meleese. |. too. am
guilty. Only six years ago we knew
that the right John Rowland the son
of the man | Slew-was in Montreal.
and we sent to seek him this youngest
brother. for he had been long time at
school with Meleese and knew the
ways of the south better than the 9th
ers. But he failed to find him at that
time. and it was only a short while ago
that this brother located you.
LAS our Blessed Lady is my wit,
ness. m'seur. il is not strange that he
should have taken you for the man we
sought. for it is singular that you bear
him out like brother in looks. as
remember the boy. 1t Is true that
Francois made great error when he
sent word to his brothers suggesting
that if either Gregson or Thorne was
put out of the way you would proba-
bly, be sent into the north. | swear
by the Virgin that Meleese knew moth
ing Of this. m'seur. She knew nothing
of the schemes by which her brothers
the south They did not wish to kill
them. and yet it was necessary to do
something that you might replace one
of them. m'seur. They did not make
a move alone but that something hap
pened. Gregson lost finger. Thorne
was badly hurt, as you know. Bullets
came through their window at night
With Jackpine in their employ it was
easy to work on them. and it was not
long before they sent down asking for
another man to replace them"
For the first time surge of anger
swept through Rowland.
1.-The towards" be exclaimed "A
pretty pair. Croisset. to era wi out from
under trap to let another in at the
top"
Perhaps not so bad as that" said
Jean. They were given to understand
that they-and they alOne-were not
wanted in the country. 1t may be
that they did not think harm would
come to you and so Kept quiet about
what had happened. 1t may be. too
that they did not like to have it known
that they were running away from
danger. Is not that human. m'seur?
Anyway. you were detailed to come.
and not until then did Meleese know
of all that had occurred"
The Frenchman stopped for a mo-
ment. The glare had faded from
Howland's eyes, The tense lines in
his face relaxed
'I-I-believe Il understand every
thing now. JEAN" he said You
traced the wrong John Rowland.
that's all. l love Meleese. Jean.
would kill John Rowland for her. 1
want to meet her brothers and shake
their hands. don't blame them.
But somehow it hurts to think of her
of Meleese-as-as almost a MUIR
derer''
Mon Dieu. m'seur. has she not
saved your life? Listen to this. 1t
1Ixo no.