Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1914-06-18

| HIS ulOTHlHS L Suouiu AdFC ASf~
a sword over your head"
1T is very difficult for me to realize
all that has happened"
| "You are free to depart. You are
free In every sense Of the word. Your
| future rests with yourself, my dear.
| ct hurts me more than ! can tell
to feel that you have been hating me
| all these months"
1T hurts me-now."
Hetty walked to the window AND
/ looked out.
What are your pIansr' Sara in
| quired, after an interval
Il shall seek employment-and wait
for you to act"
II? You mean?"
Il shall not run away, Sara Nor do
| intend to reveal myself to the au-
4 thorities. am not morally guilty OF
crime. A year ago feared the con-
sequences OF my deed, but ] have
learned much since then. / was q
stranger in a new world. In England
we have been led to believe that you
| lynch women here as readily as You
lynch men. / now know better than
that From you alone / learned my
greatest lesson. You revealed to me
the true meaning of human kindness
You shielded me who should not
Even now believe that your first
impulse was a tender one shall
not forget it, Sara. You will live to
regret the baser thought that came
later on. have loved you-yes, al
most as good dog loves his master
that night and all these months to
the world. / would not be betraying
myself, but you You would be called
upon to explain, not l. And you would
be the one to suffer. When you met
me on the road that night was on
my way back to the inn to give my
self into custody. You have made 1t
impossible for me to do so now. My
lips are sealed. 1t rests with you.
Sara"
Sara joined her in the broad win
dow. There was a strangely exalted
look In her face. A gilded birdcage
hung suspended in the easement. With
out word. she threw open the win
dow screen. The gay little canary In
the gilded cage cooked his head and
watched her with alert eyes, Then
she reached up and gently removed
the cage from it's fastenings. Putting
1t down upon the window sill, she
opened the tiny door. The bird hoped
about his prison In state OF great
excitement
Hetty looked on. fascinated
At last a yellow streak shot out
| through the open door and an instant
later resolved itself into the bobbing,
futtering dicky-bird that had lived
in cage all its life without an hour
of freedom. For few seconds 1t
circled over the tree tops and then
| alighted on one Of the branches. One
might we'll have imagined that he
could hear its tiny heart beating with
terror. Its wings we're half-raised and
huttering, its head jerking from side
to side in wild perturbation. Taking
courage. Master Dicky hoped timo-
rously to nearby twig, and then ven
tured fight to tree top nearer the
window easement. Perched in it's top
most branches he cheeped shrilly, as
If there was fear in his little breast.
In silence the two women in the
window watched the agitated move
ments of the bird. The same thought
was in the mind Of each, the saSss
question, the same intense wish.
A brown thrush sped through the
air, close by the timid canary. Like
flash it dropped to the twigs lower
down, it's wings palpitating in violent
alarm.
"Dicky!' called Sara Wrandall, ANDY
then cheeped between her teeth
A moment later Dicky was 1utter:ak
about the caves; his circles grew
smaller, his winging less rhythmical.
I'll at last with nervous little fiutter
ne perched on the top of the window
shutter, so near that they might have
rea1aed to him with lhslr hands. He
sat there with his head cooked to one
side
"Dicky!" called Sara again. This
time she held out her finger. For some
time he regarded it with indifference.
not to say disfayor Then he took one
more fight, but much shorter than the
nrst, bringing up again at the shutter.
TOP. a second later he hoped down
and his little talons gripped Sara's
niger with an earnestness that left
no room for doubt.
she lowered her hand until it was
even with the open door OF the gildad
cage. He shot inside with a whir that
suggested a scramble. With his wings
foided, he sat on his little trapeze
and cheeped. She closed and fastened
tne door. and then turned to Hetty.
MY symbol she said softly
There were tears in Heftv,a av..