The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-02-27

less DESTROYS OF Wrlnglng the truth
from Gene LIE Fevre's lips, but even
the memory Of that past can keep me
silent no longer. You are alone in the
world now, alone and in the shadow OF
disgrace-you need me-
He stopped, amazed at the boldness
Of his own words. and in the silence
of that hesitation, Molly lifted her
, eyes to his face
| Il think have always needed you, "
she said simply.
| He did not touch her, except to clasp
| the extended hands. The loneliness
of the girl, here, helpless. alone with
him in that wilderness OF snow, bore
| In upon his consciousness with a sud
| denness that robbed him of all sense
of triumph. He had spoken passion
ately, recklessly, inspired by her
nearness, her dependence upon him.
| He had faith that she cared; her eyes.
| her manner had told him this, yet
even now he could not realize all that
was meant by that quiet confession
The iron discipline Of years would not
! ness OF his utterance. he was still the
soldier, feeling the chasm Of rank.
Her very confession, so simply spoken,
tended to confuse, to mystify him.
do you mean" he asked eagerly,
that you love me?"
What else should I mean?" she
said slowly. st is not new to me. l
! have known it for long while"
That l loved ycu?"
Yes smiling now. Love is no
! mystery to woman. I do not care
because you are in the ranks; that is
only a temporary condition. L knew
you out there. at the very first, as a
gentleman. l have never doubted
you. Here, in this wilderness, l am
not afraid. 1t is not because my father
is dead or because he has been guilty
OF crime, that | say this. l would
have said it before, on the balcony
there in Dodge, had you asked me. 1t
is not the uniform love, but the man.
Can you understands
, Will you marry me-a sergeant Of
cavalry"
She was still smiling. her eyes
frankly looking into his own.
Il will marry David Hamlin," she
answered firmly, ''let him be what he
may"
The man let out his suppressed
breath in a sob OF relief. his eyes
Frightening with triumph.
oh, Molly! Molly" he cried. II
: cannot tell you what this all means to
me- There is no past now to my life,
but all future"
Am l. that to you?"
That. Yes, and a thousand times
more. / had ambition once, opportun-
ity. even wealth. They were swept
away by mans lie. woman's per-
fdy. Out of that wreck, l crawled into
the world again mere thing. lived
simply because 1 must live. skulking
+ in obscurity, my only inspiration the
hope of an honorable death or an op-
portunity for vengeance. Mine was
the life Of the ranks in the desert, as
sociating with the lowest scum, in
constant contact with sayagery.
could not speak to a decent woman.
or be man among men. There was
nothing left me but to brood over
wrongs, and plot revenge. l became
mOrOse, savage, mere creature OF
discipline, food for powder 1t was no
more when first met you. But with
that meeting the chains snapped, the
old ambitions Of life returned. You
were a mere girl from the East; you
did not understand, nor care about the
snobbery of army life. No, 1t was not
that-you were above IT, You trusted
me, treated me as friend, almost as
an equal. loved you then, when we
parted on the trail, but went back to
New Mexico to fight fate. It was such
a hopeless dream, yet all summer long
I rode with memory Juggling at my
heart. l grew to hate myself. but
could never forget you"
She drew nearer. her hand upon his
arm, her face uplifted.
"And you thought did not care?"
"How could dream you did," al
most bitterly. "You were gracious,
kind-but you were a majors daugh-
ter, as far away from me as the stars.
I never heard from you; not even
rumor of your whereabouts came to
me across the plains. / supposed you
had returned East; had passed out Of
my life forever. Then that night when
we rode into Dodge saw you again
saw you in the yellow lamp light,
watching US pass, heard you ask what
troops those were, and I knew in
stantly all my fighting out there in
the desert had been vain-that you
were forever the one one woman"
II remained for that" she confessed
softly, her lashes wet.
AT Dodge?"
Eyes, at Dodge. knew you would
come, must come. Some intuition
seemed to tell me that we should meet
again. Oh, was so happy the night
,,o,, o,vrof M opo bod told mo vo,r