The Forrest City times., 1914-07-10

could lay at her feet NOW l CoHe to the crime of which l stand self accused. I must have been mad all these months. have no other defense to offer. You may take it as you see it for yourselves l do not ask for pardon. After I deliberately had set about to shield this unhappy girl-to cheat the law, If you please-to cheat you, perhaps-I conceived the horrible thought to avenge myself for all the indignities I had sustained at the hands of you Wrandalls, and at the same time to even my account with the one woman whom l could put my finger upon as having robbed me of my husbands love You see l put it mildly. l have hated all of you, Mrs Wrandall, even as you have hated me Today-now-I do not feel as 1 did in other days toward you. l do not love you, still l do not hate you. do not forgive you, and yet l think l have come to see things from your point of view. I can only repeat that l do not hate you as l once did"
 She paused. The Wrandalls were too deeply submerged in horror to speak. They merely stared at her as if stupefed; as breathless. as motion less as stones.
 There came day when l observed that Leslie was attracted by the guest in my house. On that day the plan took root in my brain. l."
 Good God!" fell from Leslie's lips. "You-you had that in mind?"
 Tt became a fixed, infexible pur- pose, Leslie. Not that l hated you as l hated the rest. for you tried to be considerate. The one grudge I held against you was that in seeking to sus- tain me you defamed 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 were the only one through whom I could strike There were times when I faltered l could not bear the thought of sacrificing Hetty Castleton, nor was it easy to thoroughly appease my conscience in respect to you. Still, if I could have had my way few months ago, if coercion had been of any avail you would now be the husband of your brothers slayer Then I came to know that she was not what I had thought she was. She was honest. My bubble burst l came out of the maze in which I had been living and saw clearly that what I 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 daughter-in- law.
 Her husband, his hand shaking as if with palsy, pointed finger at Het- ty. And so you are the one We have been hunting for all these months, Miss Castleton! You are the one we want, You who have sat at our table. you who have smiled in our faces"
 Stop, Mir. Wrandall!" commanded Sara, noting the ashen face of the girl Don't let the fact escape you that am the guilty person. Don't forget that she owed her freedom. if not her life to me. l alone kept her from giving herself up to the law All that has transpired since that night in March must be placed to my account Hetty Castleton has been my prisoner She has rebelled thousand times and l have conquered-not by threats but by love! Do you understand? Be cause of her love for me, and because she believed that loved her. she sub mitted. You are not to accuse her. MT. Wrandall. Accuse me! l am on trial here. Hetty Castleton is a wit ness against me, if you choose to call upon her as such. If not, l shall ask her to srAk in my defence, if she can do so'
 This is lunacy!" cried Mir. Wran. dall. coming to his feet q don't care what your motives may have been They do not make her any less a mur. deress. She"
 We must give her over to the po- lice" began his wife, struggling to her feet She staggered. It was Booth who stepped quickly to her side to support her Leslie was staring at Hetty.
 Vivian touched her fathers arm. She was very pale but vastly more composed than the others.
 Father, listen to me" she said. Her voice trembled in spite of her effort to control it. We are cond6mning Miss Castletou unheard. Let us hear everything before We"
 Good God, Vivian! Do you mean to-"
 How can we place any reliance on what she may say?" cried Mrs. Wran- dall
 Nevertheless" said Vivian firmly. I for one shall not condemn her un. heard mean to be as fair to her as Sara has been. It shall not be said that all the Wrandalls are smaller than Sara Goochi"
 My child" began her father in
 Nl