Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1913-01-29


terror purpose of using him further?
AS ball strikes a wall only to re
pound to the thrower, so it was with
all these questions. There was never
any answer.
Tired out. mentally and physically,
she laid her head upon the cool top
OF the stand. And in this position her
mother, who had returned to dress
Tor tea, found her. Believing Fortune
10 be asleep, Mrs. Chedsoye dropped
a hand upon her shoulder.
fortune raised her head.
Why, child, what is the matter?"
the mother asked. The face she saw
was not tear-stained; it was as cold
and passionless as that by which sculp-
tors represent their interpretations of
Justice.
Natter" Fortune spoke, in a tone
that did not reassure the other. "In
the first place / have only one real
question to ask. 1t depends upon how
you answer it. Am I really your
daughter?"
Really my daughter?" Mrs. Ched-
soye stepped back, genuinely aston
ished. Really my daughter? The
child is mad!" as if addressing an i'm
aginary third person. "What makes
you ask such a silly question:" She
was in a hurry to change her dress,
but the new attitude of this child of
hers warranted some patience.
"That is no answer" said Fortune,
with the unmoved deliberati0n of a
prosecuting attorney.
Certainly you are my daughter"
Good If you had denied it,
should have held my peace; but since
you admit that I am of your flesh and
blood, am going to force you to rec
ognize that in such capacity have
some rights. I did not ask to come
into this world; but insomuch as ! am
here, | propose to become an indi-
vidual, not a thing to be given bread
and butter upon sufferance. / have
been talking with Horace. met him
in the bazaars this morning. He said
some things which you must answer"
Horace? And what has he said,
pray tell?" Her expression was flip
pant, but a certain inquietude pene-
trated her heart and accelerated it's
beating. What had the love-lorn fool
said to the child?
"He said that he was not a good
man, and that you tolerated him be-
cause he ran errands for you. What
kind of errands?"
Mrs. Chedsoye did not know wheth-
er to laugh or take the child by the
shoulders and shake her soundly. "He
was laughing when he said that. Err
rands? One would scarcely call it
that"
''Why did you renew the ecquaint-
ance with Mr.. Jones, when yL knew
that you never intended paying back
that loan?"
Here was a question, Mrs. Chedsoye
realized, from the look of the child,
that would not bear evasion.
What makes you think I never in
tended to repay him?"
Fortune laughed 1t did not sound
grateful in the mothers ears.
Mother, this is a crisis; it can not
be met by counter-questions nor by
f1ippancy. You know that you did
not intend to pay him. What I de-
mand to know is, why you spoke to
him again, so affably, why you seemed
so ea~er to enter into his good graces
once more Answer that"
Her mother pondered. For once she
was really at a loss. The unexpected
cess of this phase caught her off her
balance. She saw one thing wildly,
regretfully: she had missed a valuable
point in the game by not adjusting
her play to the growth of the child,
who had, with the phenomenal sud-
denness which still battles he psy-
biologists, stepped out of girlhood
into womanhoOd, all in day. What
a fool she had been not to have left
the child at Mentone!
81 am waitir, said Fortune. There
are more questions; but want this
one answered first"
"This is pure insolencel"
''Insolence of a kind, yes"
"And | refuse to answer have
some authority STILL"
ANOC 81 uluCL, uOIuSI, DIS yOu ndu
yesterday. You refuse to explain?"
Absolutely"
"Then / shall Judge you without
mercy" Fortune rose, her eyes blaz-
ing passiontely. She caught her moth
er by the wrist, and she was the
stronger of the two. "Can't you I'M
derstand? / am no longer a child, I
am woman. do not ask, demand!"
She drew the older woman toward her,
eye to eye. "You palter, you always
palter; palter and evade. You do not
know what frankness and truth are.
Is the continual evasion calculated to
still my distrust? Yes, distrust you,
you, my mother. You have made the
mistake of leaving me alone too much.
I have always distrusted you, but I
never knew why"
Mrs. Chedsoye tugged, but ineffectu-
ally. "Let go!"
GNIO& All bovo I0rn Ont nf Tho