Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1912-10-30

great American and took me to the
Hotel Continental and to my husband.
Madame Duroque kissed me at the
door, put my certificate OF marriage
and the wedding ring in a silk bag
and fastened II around my neck with
little gold chain Then she took me
to one side. and babe me remain with
my husband and demand hundred
thousaud francs before / would set
foot out of Paris, after which she
went back to her lodge.
The father prepared then TO return
with US to America. / refused to go,
and my husband. who was now
aroused. refused also to go unless /
accompanied him. / got finally the
one hundred thousand francs and we
arrived in New York Ny father-in-
law, who owned railroads In a west
ern state, took US there and installed
my husband as the clerk OF court in
a little town built along the size OF
a mountain above the fork of river
where three railroads Joined. He was
trying to make a man out of my hus-
band, he said. Al his urging, I in
vested the money which I had re-
eeived IN the bonds of a railroad which
he was building through the county.
I'VE lived there FIVE years in the
smoke, the mud, the unutterabie drear-
mess OF this frontier village. One
day my husband fell and broke his
wrist. He went to a hospital in a
neighbcring town to have the bone
set. and died under the influence of
ether on the operating table found
In his pocket this letter. which he had
written TO me before the operation"
She took one of her hands down
from her face, unlocked the bosom
of her dress, took out letter and
read II. II was a mesger note, a sort
Of memorandum to her, in the event
Of any serious consequence attending
the operation 1t told her briefly that
the money which she had invested
was lost, that his father had wrecked
the railroad. reorganized it and ab-
scrbed it's assets; but that there were
twenty-five thousand dollars in a tin
box n the bottom of his trunk in
her room. she should say nothing to
any one and keep that money for her
own. 1t was all the provision he could
make for her.
She TAI the paper before Randolph
Mason, then she took a newspaper
clipping out Of her purse and held it
in her hand.
Il found the money packed in big
bills in the tin box. In few days
knew where my husband had got this
money"
Then she read the clipping. 1t was
an ordinary newspaper notice, recit-
ing the death OF the clerk of the court,
and the fact that a sum of twenty-five
thousand dollars which had been paid
into his hands could not be discov-
cred anywhere on deposit in any Of
the banks This money he had re-
ceived under the following conditions:
The main line of the railroad belong
ing to the clerks father had con
demned and taken the bottom lands
Of the town for a freight yard, and,
the LAM owners refusing to take the
money allowed in the condemnation
proceedings and the circuit court not
being in session, the railroad had paid
it into the hands of the clerk OF this
court
The woman crutnpled up the piece
of paper and threw it on the floor.
set her elbow on the table. pressed
her open hand once more against her
face and hurried on with her story.
'My husbands office accounts were
gone over and this money could not
be found. He was presumed to have
spent it. said nothing. 1t was
merely my one hundred thousand
francs with its interest returned to
me, and from the very one who, in
his own fashion. had taken It, was
glad. glad of this settlement by the
good God. glad to the very bottom of
my heart. / made ready to return to
Paris. to Madame Duroque. to life.
Then I learned another thing"
She moved uneasily in her chair.
her voice sank lower. her fingers
tapped nervously on her face.
"Th ere was one honorable man in
this hideous village From>the very
day on which we arrived he did in
credible things to make life possible
for us. He got a house, servants,
everything that long patience could
secure for cur comfort. / came to re-
gard hiu. as an elder brother. My
husband would have been common
drunkgsd but for him. and | should
have been stark mad from dreariness.
wen he came to me and said that he
WIS the surety on my husbands bond
az clerk of the court, that II the
money could not be found the rail-
road would force him 20 pay 1t. he
was not rich, it would take all he had.
lie did not believe that my husband
"a used the money; ii ought to be on
deposit IN seme bank. or locked up in
lpx In some trust vault. I set my
teeth down on my tongue and made
pretense of helping in sae search.
Months passed. | remained In the
village, unable TO decide between this
mans ruin and Madame Duro1ue."
For the first time In the torrent OF
words the woman hesitated. her voice
became almost inaudible.
Il learned also in this time a thing
that I had not suspected-that the
man loved me. oh. don't mean love
as I have seen II all me- life long, the
nassion of the hunter, hunger to be
fed I mean something like religion
that carries your burdens for you and
Is glad of it. that thinks of itself last.
thing like the feeling Of that old