The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1911-08-17

Her voice broke at the recollection;
then she hurried on
His masterfulness swept away all
my objections. | could not resist the
charm of his pleading We stopped at
the little white parsonage on our way
to the station and-were married"
Man" The man cried out sharp
ly, but she seemed not to hear.
Il was quite bewildered." she con-
tinued, when he helped me on the
train with the minister's words still
sounding in my ears. For moment
we looked into each others eyes like
two frightened children. and again
searched for him through blur Of
tears" She covered her face with her
hands. "That was ten years ago." she
whispered, land have never seen him
since"
The man Jumped to his feet and
stood looking down upon her. 81 do
not understand" he said slowly.
She smiled, and there was a strange
bitterness In Mans sweet voice. "Do
you not?' she asked at was very
clear to me when began to see things
plainly. Carried away by the impulse
of che moment, my lover regretted his
rash act; also the loss of fortune. He
knew that he could rely implicitly upon
my secrecy. for | was conscience
stricken at the tender welcome of my
father and mother as they met me at
the end of my journey and rushed to
my room TO write wild, frightened
little note: Never let any one know. l
cautioned him. It would break my par
ents' hearts to learn that | had de-
ceived them. Some day we shall be
married over again. Until then never.
oh, never let any one know
"As the days passed and no word
came from Douglas | wrote again and
still again until at last came to real
lie the truth.
Boy" she said softly, "you will
never know how much you helped me
then. Did you guess at some hidden
sorrow that you were SO kind?"
poor little girll' the man said pity
ingly. Poor little girl. And do you
intend to sacrifice your life like this
faithful to the memory Of cur and
cowardr'
"what else is there left for me to do.
Tommy she asked simply.
There must be way of escape"
he said. considering. How old were
you then. Nan?"
Seventeen"
"And her.
"Not quite twenty-one."
81 do not know much about these
things" he said, "but believe mar
rage of that kind can be annulled."
Nan shrank back into the chair. Her
eyes were wide with horror. "Oh. no."
she whispered IT could not bear the
disclosure after guarding the secret
for ten long years"
"You must let me tell one other per-
son." said the man presently. land
ask his advice. shall repeat the
story without mentioning your name
to Old John, who Is a lawyer. Ii 1t
is possible to have the marriage an
nulled with perfect secrecy he VIII
know"
II have heard you speak Of this John
before" she said YEARLY. but this
means SO very much to me. Are You
sure that you can trust himYf
"Trust Old john he exclaimed.
.why, Nan. he has been getting me out
OF troubles and scrapes since my first
college days. David and Jonathan
they called us then. | would trust
John with my very life-in fact, he
gave nc back to me one time. You re-
member the epidemic Of typhoid that
swept through our college during my
freshman year. Old John was the
first to succumb. and when he return
ed from home white and thin he found
me lying isolated and sick with no
money to pay for proper care, and he
took mo to bis own rooms and nursed
me there through delirium and con-
valescence Us tenierly and as tireless-
ly as a mother might have done Of
ten I'm the silence of the night i would
awaken TO find him bending over me.
Why, Nan, It was he who wrote the
first rambling letters to you from my
dictation, and when your answers
came he would lay them upon my pill
low and steal silently away.
''Care free and thought1ess. accept
ed all Old Johns sacrifices. The debt
has always been upon one side. but IL
ever time. comes when can make IL
up to him. He paused. and there
was look of determination upon his
face which Nan had never seen there
before. u will do It." he finished
quietly.
She went to the door with him as
hsAwas leaving.
81 viii Gull tomorrow. he said kind.
", ito let you know what John ad-
vises.v@
! When he had gone she called after
him. ''Tommyl' she cried. Tommy.
let us leave things as they are.' But
he did not hear.
She was very pale when he saw her
The next afternoon.
John says TINT he must question
you. Man," he told her. land see Che
marriage certificate before he can
form an intelligent opinion. 1t win
10 nafnfuI axnprinf,ce / know huf