The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1914-04-27


be had taken. whore Wa were to liVy
3. ter -, acre married. I went with
hin. e ssii that If ESed il. eo-ll
l'eSse il Z. 0nc-. tux would NOT cen
seat 70 saeh IN arrangement. Fer IL
r.st tliie ! began 10 feel that every
hing Was not at II should ho /
rsinainee Ia the apartment Ia. few
minutes The next day he Ca1le n
me. greatly excited and more demon.
sIrat.se than ever before, 10 gay TIA,
he had arranged fer quiet Jolly
little wedding up in the country
Strangely enough. | experienced a
queer feeling that al WAS not as il
should be, but his eageraess, his per.
sistence' dispelled the small doubt
that had begun even then To shana
itself. consented to so with him on
the next night TO an inn out In the
country, where college friend who
was minister OF the gospel would
meet US. driving over from his parish
few miles away. / said that | pre-,
ferred to be married in a church. He
laughed and said it could be arranged
when we got TO the inn and had talked
il over with the minister. Still nm.
easy, ! asked why it was necessary
to employ secrecy. He told me that
his family were In Europe and that he
wanted TO surprise them BY giving
them Z daughter who was actually re.
lated to an English nobleman. The
family had been urging him to marry
q stupid bit rich New York girl and
he-ol yell he uttered great deal
Of nonsense about my beauty. nv
charm, and all that sort of thing"
She paused for moment. No one
spoke. Her audience of judges. with
the exception of, the elder Mrs Wran.
dali, watched her as If fascinated
Their faces were almost expression.
less. With a perceptible effort. she
resumed her story. narrating events
that carried it up to the hour when
she walked into the little upstans
room at BIrton's inn with the man
who was 20 be her husband.
j did not see the register at the
inn. did not know till afterwards
that we were not booked. Once I'D.
stairs, / refused to remove my hat or
my veil or my coat until he brought
his friend to me. He pretended To be
very angry over his friends failure
to be there beforehand, as he had
promised. He ordered supper
served In the room. did not eat any
thing. Somehow | was beginning to
understand, vaguely of course, but
surely--and bitterly, Mr. Wrandall.
Suddenly he threw off the mask.
He coolly informed me that he
knew the kind of a girl | was. ! had
been on the stage. He said it was no
use trying to- work the marriage game
on him. He was too old bird and
too wise to fall for that. Those were
When began to cry out in my fury,
he laughed at me but swore he would
marry me even at that II it were not
for the fact that he was already mar
ried l tried to leave the room.
He held me. He kissed me hundred
times before l could break away. l.
| tried to scream. a. little
later ON, when | was absolutely des-
perate, IL snatched up the knife.
There was nothing else left for me
to do. | struck at him. He fell back
on the bed. &c.. | stole out of the
house-oh, hours and hours afterward
it seemed to me- | cannot tell you
how long stood there watching him.
was crazed by fear. II"
Redmond Wrandall held up his
hand.
Eve will spare you the rest. Miss
Castleton," he said, his voice hoarse
and unnatural. There is no need to
say more"
"You--you understand? You do be-
lieve me? she cried.
! He looked down at his wife's bowed
head, and received no Sign from her;
then Mt the white, drawn faces OF his
children They met his gaze and he
read something In their eyes.
Il think your story is so convinc-
ing that we've could not endure the
shame of having 1t repeated to the
world"
IL cannot ask you to forgive me,
sir. i only ask you to believe me-"
she murmured brokenly. Il am
sorry it had to be. God is my witness
that there was no other way"
Mr. Carroll came to his feet. There
were tears in his eyes.
81 think, Mr.. Wrandall. you will now
appreciate my motives in"
Pardon me. Mr.. Carroll, If I sug-
gest that Miss Castleton does not re-
Qpire any defense at present." said
Mr. Wrandall stiffly "Your motives
were doubtless good. VIII you be so
good as to conduct us to room where
we may-may be alone for a short
whne"
There was something tragic In the
mans face His son and daughter
arose as If moved by an instructive
realization of a duty. and perhaps for
the first time in their lives were sub
missiye 10 an influence they had never
quite recognized before-a fathers
unalterable right to command. For
once In their lives they were meek
in his presence. They stepped TO his
side and stood waiting, and neither
of fhor1 smoke