The Washington herald., 1914-08-16

and not conventionaIities. And did any
harm ever come of it?''
His DeHrcst Friend.
that he was about 10 marry ''an angel"
Sarah Brandon.
That evening. when Henrietta told Dan
lei that she was about 10 be presented
with a stepmother whose name was Sa-
rah Brandon. Daniel started and said
Good heaven, IL Maxine de Brevan is
not mistaken, then this is worse than
anything we could have anticipated"
Maxine was Daniels dearest friend.
They had no secrets from each other.
The well-born young heir of the an
cient family of the De Brevans. who
moved in the most exclusive circles and
would not make a companion and friend
OF everybody-he and the young naval
officer, Of Ia:e, become inseparable.
And Daniel had profited much by the
sage counsel Of De Brevan and by the
knowledge which he had impaired con-
cerning who's who in Paris.
Daniel sought Maxine and told his
story. adding Now what do you really
know concerning Sarah Brandon?"
Spreading Her Net.
Nothing. positively" replied Maxine
She is one OF those cosmopolitan ad-
venturesses whom the railways are con-
tinually depositing in Paris from tho
four quarters OF the globe She came to
our capital TO spread her net and catch
her birds.
However, she IS more intelligent and
ambitious than most Of her kind She
possesses > real genius for intrigue She
means to have a fortune and is not
scrupulous as to how she gets it
She speaks English perfectly, calls
herself an American and certainly knows
more about America than you do of
Paris. She claims to be very wealthy.
and have heard her relate family his
tory to an admiring audience-though I
won't say l believed her.
She came to Paris possessed Of let
ters of introduction to the best families
of the American colony Heaven only
knows how she got them.
Many have fallen in love with her. 1
confess that at one time l myself fell
under her fascination But the affair
of poor Kergrist disillusioned me.
The KergrIst Affair.
Something over a year ago a young
fellow named Charles De Kergrist ar
rived in Paris He had lost none of his
illusions and had a fortune. He fell
desperately in love with Sarah Bran
don.
Some eight months after his arrival
when Miss Brandon's neighbors opened
their shutters one morning they saw
corpse dangling a few feet from the
ground and hanging from the fastcn-
ings of the young lady's window. 1t
was Kergrist
"A letter was found IN his coat in
which he declared that he had COM
mitted suicide beccdke an unreauited
affection had made life uncomfortable.
The Kergrist family took the matter up,
but could prove nothing.
The partisans Of Sarah arose to ex-
tol her. She really gained reputation.
Had she been weak Kergrist never would
have died, they said.
The 10000 francs. which the youth
was known to have had when he came
to Paris was missing. But he was a
great gambler. and II was proved that
he had lost heavily-probably everything
at the gaming table.
Sir Thomas produced a letter from
Kergrist in which the young man said
that he had lost all his money by gam
! bling acknowledged that Sir Thomas
had advanced him considerable sums
and begged for more TO try again his
luck All seemed fair on the surface OF
| Sarah's defense.
MaIgat'E Confession.
But people whispered. 1t was said
| that, on the evening before his death.
Eergrist had come to SaTah's house and
was refused admittance. He, like tooi.
knelt and wept on the doorsteps and
threatened TO kill hSrnself-which he did.
Sarah watching him behind the blinds
"As soon as he was dead she slipped
down, searched the body. took out OF
his coat pocket his last letter. went
with II 10 her room. returned again and
slipped another letter into the coat thar
was the letter found. And 1t was appar-