The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1913-02-14
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Into the MaeIstrom.

~ 'B'hs ~
the maelstrom of mystery and tragedy
into which | was about to plunge. |
was worried and anxious, it is true,
but only as every young man is who
finds himself for the first time deeply
in love. There was no portent Of evil,
no foreshadoring of the terrible chain
of vents th,t all but destroyed my
belief IN my fellow-man, and left its
mark SO deef upon my memory that !
do not beli@M y time ever can wholly
efface it.
Even now hat it Is all ended, and
the shadow which hung so heavily
over the hou ehold CT my sweetheart
has been disI ,lled and the hand whose
devilish inge, uity brought shame and
grief and VIZ ok 20 SO many innocent
lives is payl & the penalty behind
prison bars even now | shudder at
the sight Of : lything yellow, A scrap
of yellow pal or wildly recalls-and |
fear always will recall-the painful
events OF the asst few weeks.
| had been Waiting ever since my re-
turn from ca irt for a telephone mes
pdoC illdL hId not tOIlt-lH6 worn
from louise which | felt would decide
my fate. | aad written to her the
night before. asking if | might go to
hey in the afternoon to speak on a sub
ject Of inspoE! ance. | knew she would
understand dhe object of my letter,
though all Il at | had asked was that
she would telephone me earlier than
four uhnfhnr cha would H., nt hpp,n
From my window | had watched the
great hand On the Metropolitan tower
clock creep slowly to twelve. AS tle
chimes began to sing the hour Of four
! felt that X could bear the
no longer. Message or no message, |
would go Tn her at once. Before the
vibrant notb of "On-n-n-n-e" had died
away | cloJ&d my desk with a lang.
AS the fourth stroke reverberatsd |
stood with hat and overcoat on, my
hand on the knob OF my office door,
hoping yet to hear my telephone ring.
lmpatiently i waited a minute and
then dashed toward the elevator. The
telephone, l learned afterward, rang
almost tho minute | was out ot the
room and LCuise's voice called fran
tically for NO.. but l was not there to
hear.
1t was oaly a short walk up Madison
avenue to the home of General Far
IRISH, the father of Louise. With the
doubt that possesses every loEer on
such a mission as this, | walked it,
now ~laggaFdly, as misgivings filed my
heart, now quickening my pace as
hope routed my fears. AS | turned
the corner irto the street where the
Parrish home is situated ny steps
were leaden. What right had | TO ask
Louise Farrifh to be my wife, The
daughter Of a man worth many mil
lions, a girl of exquisite beauty and
of many acc omplishments, one who
could choose a husband where she
willec-what right had to hope that
she would ever consent to become the
wife Of n struggling young lawyer
such as l: t. be sure, my family was
of the best. With my earnings and
the modest little fortune my father
had lett ME l would be able to provide
for her. But as yet. though my pros
poets vvera br ieht, | amounted to moth
ing in my profession. 1t would be
years before | could hope to give my
wife tie laxu les to which Louise Far
IRISH nj ID beer accustomed.
On The 9th II hand, | felt that with
Louise as m wife | could do great
things | low ID her with a great love.
felt tlat he'll affection and companion
ship a ouid b inspiration enough for
any III IN to conquer the world. |
hoped that lie loved me. | recalled
the tri lea w, lich seemed to show, at
s~ocieet tri I'd to comfort myself, too,
by reit amber ing that General Parrish
was II self-r ade man, that when he
maria he vas as poor as |, If not
poorer. ! XII ew that he liked me and
had ca lflen re in me. Was it then.
after III, J asked myself, presuming
In me 20 hclte that Louise would lis
ten to MS a I'd that her father would
conseut TO Ter becoming my wife
yet, wi y MIC she not telephoned?
AS dragged my hesitating feet
across II e street | was aroused from
my rcN 70 By the rush of an automo-
bile TIT all but knocked me over.
With ia angry imprecation at such
reckless ! u Irving l glanced up and
recogn' EeG tie man who occupied IT..
He WA, sthncing beside his chauffeur,
as II lady to leap out. 1t was Doc
tor Wilcox, p noted practitioner who
attendtd tLe Parrish family, and whom
| had met Is their home. l plunged
eorwanl In anxious dismay as / saw
the mi chAnS halt before the Parrish
door al d thu doctor jump out and run
up the steps.
Ny lrst. w only thought. was Of
Louise. What could have happened?
She mt st b M-desperately iii, as the
doctcrii hssts suggested. Did not this
Sxpl.ir h1r 70 lure to telephone? Could
& b. lit he was dead? What