The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-01-12

questions. will make them as brIeY
as possible. How long is it since you
first knew Mr.. Imroth, and where did
you first meet him."
This reference plainly embarrassed
her. saw that she answered my
question with reluctance.
Please do not speak, OF Mr.. Imroth.
am AFRAID of him, DIR. FabOs. / do
believe that I am more afraid of him
than OF anybody l have ever known. II
evii comes to me, Mr.. .Imroth will send
it,"
"A natural antipathy. Some day,
Joan. you will look upon all this and
.naak GOD that a stranger came to
your island. | shall have done with
Mr.. Valentine Imroth then. There will
be no need at all to fear him."
she did not understand me, and piled
me with many questions, some exceed
ingly shrewd,. all directed to one end,
that she might know the best or the
worst OF the life that they had been
living, and what part the general had
Played In IT. To this I responded that
1 could by no means Judge until the
case both for and against him We're
wholly known to me.
he may be but dupe." said: time
and opportunity will tell me. You owe
received during childhood shall not
forget that when the day of reckoning
comes. Joan, l shall forget none who
has been kind to YOU"
he who puts his life against the
intelligence Of criminals must be equip
ped with many natural weapons. Moth
ing certainly Is more necessary than
the habit of observation. To watch
every straw the winds of conspiracy
may blow, to read every cryptic mes
sage the voice Of crime may utter. to
be ever alert, vigilant, resourceful, is
something more than mere equipment;
II Is very salvation to the Investigator
Trained in these qualities by long years
or patient study. there were signs and
omens or the valley for me. which an
other might have passed by without
remark. Strange footprints upon the
darkest paths, shrubs disturbed, scraps
or paper thrown down with little eau
.lon--not one or them escaped me. But
beyond them ALL the rampant of the
foaming water enchanted my attention.
and fascinated me as at some human
call ito action. Day by day the volume
OF the water in the boiling river was
growing less. 1 first remarked II on
the third day Of our Imprisonment: I
MADE sure OF 1t on the fifth day Inch
Dy inch, from ledge to ledge, it sank
IN It's channel. Another, perhaps, would
have attributed this to some natural,
phenomenon. l had too much faith i'm
the man who served me, to believe apy
such thing. Okyada was at work. I
said: The hour Of my liberty was at
hand.
You may imagine how this discovery
affected me, and how much 1t was in nv
mind when / spoke to Joan of our an
preaching days of freedom TO nv
question, whether she would visit me
again at my house in Suffolk. she re-
piled chiefly by a flushing of her clear
cheeks and quick look from those
hn en- <Ir
Your sister did not like me-" she re-
joined evasiyely; "the dear old thing. I
could"s see her watching me Just as
though had come to steal you from
her!"
Would you have felt very guilty If
you had done so. Joan?"
Yes" she said, and this so seriously
that l regretted the question-"guilty
TO my LIES end. DIR. Fabos"
l knew that she referred to the story
OF her own life and the men among
whom destiny had sent her. Here was
barrier of the past which must stand
between us to all time she would have
said. The same thought had disouiet-
ed me often, not for my sake but for
her own.
Il would to God. Joan" / said. there
were no greater guilt I'm the world than
this you speak Of You forbid me to
say SO. Shall l tell you why?"
soAS iioNNCu lleI Hcdu. looking aWAX TO
the patch of blue water revealed by the
gorge of the mountains. l lay at her
side, and had all mans impulse to
take her In my arms and tell her that
which my heart had prompted me to
say so many days. God knows / had
come to love this fragile. sweet willed
child of fortune beyond any other hone
of nv life or ambition of the wears.
Day by day her eyes looked into nv
very soul, awakening there spirit. a
of whose existence I had
been wholly Ignorant. loved her, and
thus had fallen to the snare my one
mics had set for me. How little they
me, l thought
You forbid me to say so. Joan"
ran on, because you do not trust me"
DO not trust you, DR.. Fabos ?"
Not sufficiently to say that I am
about to save you from all dangers.
even the danger OF past years"
You cannot do that--oh, you cannot
do 1t, DIR. Fabos!"
l covered her hand with my own, and
tried to compel her to look me in the
face.