The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1912-07-29
CHAPTER VII.
(Continuedi.

"One for you, Phil" he said, toss
ing a letter on Philips table. Lows
as though il had been through war
Philip picked up the letter as the
sergeant left him. He dropped MS
pen with low whistle He could see
al a glance that the letter had come
an unusual journey. II was dirty
and crumpled. and ragged at the ends
and then, on the back OF II. he
found written in ink, Lac Balm. his
fingers trembled as he tore open tue
envelope Swiftly he read. MS
breath came IN gaspins cry from
between his lips, his face turned as
white as the crumpled paper ana
then, as suddenly, flush OF excite
ment leaped into his cheeks, reptsc-
ms the pallor His eyes seemed oIno'
ed before he had half finished the
letter. and his heart was pounding
with suffocating force.
This was what he read:
My Dear Philip Steele:
Your letter. and the skull, came 10
us today. | thank God that chaEoe
brought me into my lsobers room III
time. or | fear for what might nave
happened. II was terrible punish
ment. my dear steele, FOR her-anu
for me. But | deserved ii more IMAM
she. That very night-after lSoeel
left the table she insisted that | eE-
plain When | returned TO the room
below. YOU were gone | waited, anu
then went TO your cabin. You kEo"
Why did not find you. Steele $50
bel is not my wife. She is my 'daugh'
ter.
Mrs. Becker had planned TO come
with me 10 Lac Balm from fort
Churchill and we wrote the factor 10
that effect. But We changed our
plans. Mrs. Becker returned on the
London ship. and lsobel came vain
me. In a spirit of fun she suggested
that for the first few hours she De
allowed 10 pass as-wel, you unuer-
stand. The Joke was carried TOO taT'
When she met you-and Bucky Nome
lit ceased TO be a joke. and almos'
became tragedy. For those lew
minutes before the fire lsobel n5ed
her disguise as a test She came 10
me. before you Joined us, and WIS
pered TO me that Nome was a scoun'
drel. and that she would punish nm
before the evening was over. In the
short space OF that evening she knew
that she had met one Of the most
despicable OF blackguards in Nome,
and one of the noblest OF men In You
And not until she saw on YOU TIE
effect Of what she was doing aid
everything dawn fully upon her.
You know what happened. She left
the table suddenly, overcome by
shame and terror. When ! returned
later. and told her that | could hot
find you, II was impossible TO COM
fort her. She lay in her bed crying
all that night | am telling you ali
this because to me my daughter is
one OF the two most precious things
on earth. the sweetest and purest
little girl that ever breathed. ! can
not describe to you the effect upon
her OF the skull and the letter For
give us-forgive me. Some day We
may meet again.
SYLVESTER BECKER.
Like one in dream Philip pichcd
up the torn envelope. Something
dropped from IL upon the table a
tinv cluster OF violets that had been
pressed and dried between the pages
| Ol Il DOOh, anu when TIC NOOh 'ANhi -
his fingers he found that their stems
| were tied with a single thread Of gol-
| den hair.
CHAPTER TX.
Philip Takes Up the Trail
The letter-the fowers-that ore
| shining golden hair, wound in slis-
| tening thread about their shriyeitd
stems. seemed for short space to
| lift Philip Steele from out OF the
world he was in. 10 another in which
| his mind was only vaguely conscious
stunned by this letter that had come
with the unexpectedness OF tnun-
| derbolt TO change, in single instant
every current of life In his body. Tor
a few moments he. made no effort 70
grasp the individual significance OF
the letter, the flowers, the golden
hair. One thought filed his brain
one great, overpowering truth, which
excluded everything else--and this
was the realization that the woman
! he loved was not Colonel Beckers
wife. She was free. And for him
Philip Steele-there was hOpe-hope
- Suddenly 1t dawned upon him what
the flowers meant. The colonel mad
written the letter. and Isobel had
sent the faded violets. with their gol
den thread. II was her message Il
him-a message without words, and
yet with a deeper meaning for him
tthan words could have expressed. In
a flocd there rushed back upon him