The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1912-07-11

barricade easily unlocked or easily
broken protected her. Something an
tangible, yet stronger than the thick
est, the most rigid bars of steel guard
ed her; something unseen, indescrib,
able. but so unmistakable when II
throbs in the breast Of those who de-
pend on it feel that their dependence
is not in vain watched over her.
Cherishing no evil thought, the man
had power to crafty his desire which
might yet bear sinister construction
should 1t be observed. 1t was her pri-
vacy he was invading. She had trust
ed to him, she had said so, to his hon
or, and that stood her in good stead.
His honor! Not In five years had he
heard the word or thought the thing.
but he had not forgotten it. She had
not appealed to an unreal thing; upon
that her trust was based. His hand
left the latch, It fell gently, he drew
back and turned away trembling, a
conqueror who mastered himself. He
was awake to the truth again.
l
fame, unlimited, the sanctity of her
chamber, violate the hospitality Of his
own house? Even with a proper mo-
tive, imperil his self-respect, shatter
her trust, endanger that honor which
so suddenly became a part of him on
demand? She would not probably
know; she could never know unless
she awoke. What of that? That an
cient honor of his life and race rose
like a mountain whose scarped face
cannot be scaled.
He fell back with swift turn, a
feeling almost womanly; and more
men, perhaps, If they lived in fem
mime isolation, as self-centered as
women are so often by necessity.
would be as feminine as their sisters
influenced him, overcame him. HIS
hand went to his hunting shirt. Nerv-
ously he tore it open; he grasped a
bright object that hung against his
breast. AS he did go, the thought came
to him that not before in five years
had he been for moment uncon-
scious of the pressure of that locket
over his heart, but now that this 9TH
er had come. he had to seek for 1t to
! find it.
The man dragged it out, held 1t In
his hand and opened it. He held 1t so
tightly that it almost gave beneath
the strong grasp of his strong hand.
From a nearby box he drew another
object with his other hand. He took
the two to the light, the soft light OF
the candle upon the table, and stared
from one to the other with eyes brim-
ming.
Like crystal gazers, he saw other
| things than those presented to the
casual vision. He heard other sounds
than the beat of the rain upon the
roof the roar of the wind down the
canon. A voice that he had sworn
he would never forget, but which, God
forgive him, had not now the clearness
that it might have had yesterday,
whispered awful words to him.
| Anon he looked into another face,
red, too, with no hue from the hearth
or leaping flame, but red with the
blood of CHASTITY wounds. He heard
again that report, the roar louder and
more terrible than any peal Of thun-
der that rived the clouds above his
head and made the mountains quake
and tremble. He was conscious again
Of the awful stiffness of death that SUI
pervaded. He dropped on his knees.
buried his face In his hands where
they rested on picture and locket on
the rude table,
I All, the past died hard, for a mo-
ment he was the lover of old-remorse,
passionate expiation, solitude-he and
the dead together-the world and the
living forgot! He would not be
false, he would be true, there was no
power in any feeble woman's tender
hand to drive him off his course, to
shake his purpose, to make him a new,
another man. oh, Vanitas, Van
| itatum!
On the other side of the door the
unconscious woman slept quietly on.
The red freight died away, the glow
ing Goals sank into gray ash. Within
the other room the cold dawn stealing
through the unshaded window looked
upon field of battle-death, wounds,
triumphs, defeats portrayed upon one
poor human face, upturned as some
times victors and vanquished alike up
turn stark faces from the field to the
God above who may pity but who has
not interviewed.
|. So Jacob may have looked after
that awful night when he wrestled I'M
til the day broke. with the angel. and
would not let him go until he blessed
him, walking, forever after with halt
ing step as memorial, but with his
blessing earned Hath this mans bless
| ing won or not? And must he pay
for 1t if he hath achieved it?
| And all the while the woman slept
quietly upon the other side of that
door.