Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1914-07-30

n mn w. So
/ If could only induce you to for
i give her" began Hetty, throwing out
her hands to the Wrandalls. only to be
met by gesture of repugnance from
the grim old man.
Your story. Miss Castleton." he
said hoarsely.
From the beginning, il you please"
added the lawyer quietly. Leave out
nothing"
| Clearly, steadily and with the ut
most sincerity In her voice and man
ner, the girl began the story Of her
life. She passed hastily over the ear
/ Her periods, frankly. exposing the wn-
happy conditions attending her home
life, her subsequent activities as
| performer on the London stage after
Colonel Castleton's detection: the few
months devoted to posing for Hawk
right. the painter, and later on her
engagement as governess In the
wealthy Budlong family. She devoted
| some time and definiteness to her first
encounter with Challis WrandaIl on
board the west-bound steamer, an in
! cident that came to pass In a perfectly
| natural way. Her deck chair stood
next to his, and he was not slow in
making himself agreeable. 1t did not
occur to her till long afterwards that
he deliberately had traded positions
| with an elderly gentleman who occu-
pied the chair on the first day out.
Before the end of the voyage they
were very good friends.
when we landed in New York, he
assisted me in many ways, After
wards, on learning that l was not to
| go to California, | called him up on
| the telephone to explain my predica-
ment He urged me to stay in New
| York; he guaranteed that there would
be no difficulty in securing splendid
! position in the east | had no means
of knowing that he was married.
accepted him for what l thought him
to be: genuine American gentleman.
They are supposed to be particularly
confederate with women. His conduct
toward me was beyond reproach
have never known a man who was so
courteous, SO gentle. To me, he was
| the most fascinating man in the world.
No woman could have resisted him,
| am sure of that
She shot quick, appealing glance
| at Booths hard-set face. Her lip
trembled for second.
| Il fell madly in love with him." she
went ON resolutely. Il dreamed of
him, / could hardly wait for the time
| to come when | was to see him! He
never came to the wretched little lodgr
ing house l have told you about. IL
met him outside. One night he told
me that he loved me, loved me pas
| sionately. Il said that / would be
| his wife. Somehow it seemed to me
| that he regarded me very curiously
for a moment or two. He seemed to
be surprised, uncertain. l remember
| that he laughed rather queerly. 1t
| did not occur to me to doubt him. One
| day he came for me, saying that he
| wanted me to see the little apartment
he had taken, where we were to live
| after we were married. | went with
him. He said that If liked it, l could
! move in at once, but l would not con-
| sent to such an arrangement. For the
| first time ! began to feel that every
| thing was not as it should be- IL
remained in the apartment but few
| minutes. The next day he came to
me, greatly excited and more demon
| strative than ever before, to say that
he had arranged for quiet, jolly
little wedding up in the country
Strangely enough, experienced
| queer feeling that all was not as it
| should be, but his eagerness, his per
sistence dispelled the small doubt
! that had begun even then to shape
! itself. / consented to go with him on
| the next night to an inn out in the
! country, where a college friend who
| was a minister of the gospel would
| meet us, driving over from his parish
a few miles away. l said that pre-
ferred to be married in a church He
| laughed and said 1t could be arranged
when we got to the inn and had talked
| 1t over with the minister. Still I'M
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 daughter who was actually re-
lated to an English nohieman. The
family had been urging MIN to marry
a stupid but rich New York girl and
he-oh, well he uttered great deal
| Of nonsense about my beauty, my
charm, and all that sort of thing
She paused for a moment No one
spoke. Her audience Of Judges, with
the exception of the elder Mrs. Wran-
dali, watched her as il fascinated.
Their faces were almost expressions
less. With perceptible effort. she
resumed her story, narrating events
that carried it UP to the hour when
she walked into the little upstairs
room at Burton's inn with the man
/ who was to be her husband
tTo BE CONTINUED
Poets Put to Hard | ahor