Gunnison news-champion., 1914-10-09

epsE hands hai a. ho.a-t rehfIiee
Those aare mes un8u he said 10 me
thaf 3 asaht 10 kiE hin tor ths fh8uss
BE- hasd aune. Nsu mas uoN understand
ahaf 3 Haan when 3 say shat tas SRI
sho Heuf - BHrtnH HH Eish him
aa ma = sersiae. . eM up say that
Q couslanrua hor rail.less - thr time
0n tha conrrary. 0 isosea upou Der Ia
aaite q aerenf Way had ns nseaas
aT kuoa7if.a then thai she Nas a. paae
- auas aud that b. uoaia have de-
sEolad hgr of eVcrvthiug that Was
sUoef and sacred 3D. her she taok his
ufe IN ordar 70 save 1hat Nhieh Was
dearer 10 k1r thaH her oeu lile. and
she Nas on her Vay % pay for her
deed Nifh her HE n Necessary when
] came ugon her and nitervensd
"Yoa-yeu knoN sho she is p said
Mr. WraHaaIl. In io~. iRoredsloss
voice.
Il have known almost from the be
ginning Presently yea via hear her
story. from her own lips"
involuHtarily four pairs Of eyes shifs.
ed They looked blankly al hietty Gas
tieton.
Spsaking swiftly sara depicted the
scenes and sensations experienced dur
ing that memorable motor journey TO
New YORK city.
y could not believe that she vas a
vicious creature, even then. some.
thing told me that she was tender.
gentle thing vino had fallen into evil
hands and had STRUCK because she
was unevl ! did Hot doubt that she
had been my husbands mistress. but
] could not destroy the conviction that
somehow she had been justified in
doing the thing she had done. Ny
gravest mistake was in refusing &C
hear her story in an Of It's details
] only permitted her 60 acknowledgs
that she had killed him. no more D
did not want 10 hear the thing which
! assumed to be true. Therein lies
my deepest fault For months and
months I misiudged her in my heart
yet secretly loved her Now / under
stand why loved her. u was because
she vas innocent of the only crime |
could lay at her feet Now | come
TO the crime of which | stand self
accused. ! must have been mad all
these months. ] have no other defense
to offer. You may take it as YOU see
il for yourselves. ! do not ask for
pardon. After | deliberately had set
about to shield this unhappy girl--tc
cheat the law, il you please-to cheat
you, perhaps conceived the horrible
thought TO ayenge myself for all the
indignities | had sustained at the
hands of you Wrandalls. and at the
same time to even my account with
the one woman whom could put my
hnger upon as having robbed me OF
my husbands love You see | put il
mildly. | have hated all of YOU. Mrs
Nrandall even as you have hated me.
1oday-now-I do not feel as / dia in
other days toward YOU. | do not love
You, still | do not hate you. | do not
forgive you. and yet | think | have
come to see things from your point
OF view. ! can only repeat that ]
do not hate you as | once did"
She paused. The Wrandalls we're
too deeply submerged in horror to
speak. They merely stared at her as
II stupetied; as breathless, as notion
less as stones.
There came day when observed
that Leslie was attracted by the guest
In my house. On that day the plan
took root in my brain. ="
Good God!" fell from Leslie's lips
"lou-you had that in mind?"
1T became a fixed, infexi0le pur
pose, Leslie Not that | hated YOU
as | hated the rest, for you tried to
be considerate. The one grudge held
against you was that in seeking to sus.
tain me you DETAINED your own brother.
You came to me with stories of his
misdeeds, you said that he was a
scoundrel and that you would not
blame me for showing him up Do
you not remember? And so my plot
involved you; you we're the only one
through whom | could strike. There
were times when ! faltered I could
not bear the thought of sacrificing
Hetty Castleton, nor was it easy to
thoroughly appease my conscience in
respect to you. Stin, II | could have
had my way a few months ago. if
coercion had been Of any avail. you
would now be the husband of your
brothers slayer Then / came to
know that she was not what / had
thought she was. She was honest
My bubble burst. l came out Of the
maze in which | had been living and
saw clearly that what | had contem-
plated was the most atrocious-"
"AtrociOus?" cried Mrs. Redmond
Wrandall between her set teeth "Dia-
bolical! Diabolical My God. Sara,
what devil you" She did not com
plete the sentence, but sank back in
her chair and stared with wide, horror
struck eyes at her rigid daughterin-
law.
Her husband, his hand shaking as
II with palsy, pointed a finger at Het-
ty. "And so you are the one we have
been hunting for all these months.
Miss Castletont You are the one we