The Washington herald., 1914-11-15
18th InStaIIment.
THE LAST TRUMP


THE LAST TRUMP
syNoPsIs-The S-Of-Hearts is the "death-sgn" en-
in tho priTatc war Of vengeance which against
rssponsIbis which rendered TTine help
less invalid Cor te Ian falls in love & With Re- IrtnS ines
double but woman OF violent passions and erratic
Alan her life and
ang %Rs s ppS.e his eorts to Cause Alan
@ be Sg his Ro. sdI judith hPS Rna BarS &
hest friend escape to the mountain country o. Guthern
through causing the death Gin seifdefense) his two
neutenants-
THE NEW JUDITH,
From sleep as from drugged stupor Judith Trine
awakened, struggling back to consciousness like
exhausted diver from the black depths to the
star-smitten surface of nightbound pool.
And 70. a little she lay unstirring, her halfnumb
wits fumbling with their business of renewing ac-
7uaintance with the world
At first she could by means recognize her sur
roundngs. This rude chamber of rough plank
walls and primitive furnishings; this wide hard
couch she shared with her still slumbering sister,
Rose: the view revealed by an open window at the
bedside: a fair perspective of treeclad mountains
through which a wide-bosomed canyon rolled down
to emerald plain, conveyed nothing to her in
tegence
A formless sense OF some epochal change in the
habits and mental processes Of a young lifetime,
added to her confusion.
Who was she herself. this strange creature who
rested here calmly by the side OF Rose? If she
Judith Trine, how came she to be there? Ir-
reconcilable opposes in every phase of character,
he sisters had sedulously avoided association with
each other since childhood: they had not
shared the shelter of four walls overnight since
time beyond the bounds of Judith's memory. What,
then had so changed them both that they should
be found in such close company? Where was the
Judith Of yesterday-high-sprited, fearless, proud
- tho - Ror7- he
an who had been able to contemplate without
Qualm committing with her own hand murder
that her fathers mind might be eased, his last
days soothcd with the sense of wrong repaid in
brimmng measure?
What, indeed had become of that wild thing,
Judith Trine of yesterday? Surely she had little
enough in common with this Judith Of today in
whose heart no more room for envy, hatred,
malice or any uncharitableness, so full it OF
love which, though it was focused upon the person
Of one man, none the less embraced all the world
even her sister and successful rival in that
mans affections.
And this was the work Of Love!
She sighed, but sighed softly, that she might not
disturb her sister, and in this very act Of consid-
Grafton emphasized the vastness of the change that
had come over her. For a week ago to have reused
Rose needlessly would have afforded Judith mali
Cious delight: while today Judith not only
thoughtful of her sisters minor comforts, but stood
prepared to sacrifice herself, to break her own
heart with her own two hands, that Roses happi-
ness might be assured .
Now the chain of memories quite complete,
link lacking in its continuity. She recalled
clearly every incident that had marked the slow
growth of this great love she had for Alan Law,
from that first day, not yet month old, when he
had escaped the fiery deathtrap she had set for
him and repaid her only by risking his life anew
TO save her from destruction, down to this very
morning when the stream from a hydraulic nozzle
had swept over the brink Of three hundredfoot
precipce a crimson racing automobile containing
two desperate men bent upon comprising the death
of her beloved.
BY that act of sheer sefdefense the world was
richer for the loss Of two blaCk-hearted black
guards, and Alan Law might now be considered
safe from further persecution-since there now
remained not soul loyal enough to Seneca
Urine to prosecute his private of vengeance
against Alan. And though that aged monomanac
had means whereby he might purchase other scoun-
drels and corrupt them to his hideous purposes,
Judith was determined that he should never again
have any opportunity to do. Though Alan, she
knew. would never lift his hand to hinder her
fathers freedom of action, she. Judith, meant to
take such steps as his persecution called for. II
there were any justice in the land-if there
any aenists capable of discriminating between
Trine's apparent sanity and his deep-rooted mania
then surely not many days more should pass into
history without witnessing his consignment to an
institution for the criminally insane.
She Judith, would see to that and then E.
The woman sighed once more.
Then Rose and Alan would marry and live
happily ever afterward.
But what OF Judith?
She made small gesture of resignation to her
destiny. What became of her no longer mattered.
sc that Alan were made happy in such happiness
as he coveted.
And the thought stirred her sharply that
what to be done must be done quickly, IL
at all
And the almost level rays of the declining sun,
striking in through the open window. counseled
Taste if Judith were to accomplish her intention
Of leaving this place and finding her father again
before nightfan.
With the utmost care she rose from the bed,
crept to the door of the room Cnow recognized as
the quarters of the foreman of the hydraulic min
ing outfit and out into the room adjoining
And there, pulling the door to gently behind her,
she paused and for many minutes stood in tense
strung contemplation of the she loved-Alan
Law asleep in chair beside table, his head pill
lowed his folded arms
This leave-takng between tbem-and he
S$ S--~r know.