The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1913-04-10

Il have never told you, Clyde" he
resumed, his eyes turned on the glow.
ing tobacco ember which he had just
barred, anything about my birth or my
family. But now that you are to be-
come n of us, in a way, it's only
fair that you should know; for though
Evelyn's mother. vas but my half-sis-
ter, still the girl gets the m blood
through her grandsire."
eyes," I said, 81 know that. Evelyn
told me that much. l know, too, that
you were born in Scotland; and the
very name of Cameron is a pretty good
guarantee of family worth"
my father belonged to a rather poor
branch" he confessed, land like many
poor men he had a large number Of
children. There were ten, all told,
and when my poor mother died, 1t be-
came a serious problem how to. take
care of us little ones. l was among
the youngest, not v e. seven, and I
had a twin brother"
AS he said this Cameron, who had
been desultorily drawing figures on his
writing pad with the end Of a pen
holder, abruptly shot his gaze to mine
and caught the quick question of my
eyes.
yes" he said, without change of
tone, Eyes, you see. now, don't you?"
"McNish!" I murmured.
"McNish," he echoed. Donald Nc
Nish."
But" I began, 81 don't quite" and
l thought of the letter from McNish's
mother.
ooh, it is clear enough" he went on.
Some of the children were put out to
live amongst n%eighhors, and eventu-
ally, my father and the rest of US
came to this country. The others he
left behind, promising to send each
month the money for their keep. Dom
aid he left with a couple named Nc
,Nish, who had no BARNS of their own,
and when the boy grew to be a big
lad, and my father, who in the mean
time had been successful here and
married again, sent for him to come
to America, word came back that he
had been dead a twelvemonth."
"And your father believed it?"
ooh, yes, for they returned the back
pay he had forwarded, and sent a lock
of my brothers hair, l think, and a
trinket or two that had been his as a
kiddie."
Afterwards, though, you learned
that he was still alive?'
"No," was Cameron's answer. 1--WE
V heard. Had it not been for that
marked resemblance gathering me in
to the net spread for him, l should
probably never have known. And.
Clyde" he added, "ever since l learn.
ed of his having been there, in town, l
have been wondering. Do you think
it possible that he ever realized that
he was in his brothers. house?"
Hardly" I said. cit doesn't seem
likely, though; unless the name and
the-He must--Oh, ce%rtainly,"'I Stun
bled, che must have realized that we
mistook him for-yes, for some one
named Cameron. He answered to it
readily enough; he even insisted that
he was Cameron. And if his mind was
clear enough to put two and two to.
gether, why, knowing that he had a
twin brother in America, it would
And there l stopped my
laundering, for Cameron had risen to
his feet, and smiling, tolerantly, was
waving a hushing hand at me.
Eyes, yes" he said, Give argued 1t
all out in just the same way, dear
friend. And yet we never, can be GER
tain, ear we? Only I have thought, if
he might have realized it, and have
been able to have. played the part, and
stayed, and taken up my life and lived
it for the rest Of his, I might have
gone on and taken his punishment to
some purpose. For I have had more
than my share Of the good things.
Clyde, and maybe if poor little Donnie
had had even half my chances, it
would all have been SO very, very diff
fere.t."
He still thought of him as the child
brother he had parted froM long
years ago in Scotland, and as such he
would ever remember him. 1 was glad
then that he had stopped me when I
had tried to draw for him the differ
ence in their faces. For it was such a
difference! Looking at Cameron now
with the lamp Of true greatness alight
behind those plain features, | mar
ve1ed that I, could even have seen a
vestige of likeness in the brutal, soul,
less face of his twin brother.
And then, for the first time, too, I
really understood.
THE END.