Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-12-31

ibleness of grim reality. and he forgot
all else.
Dead! Belall Dead and lying in
his blood. The rest may have been
no dream, but this was surely one, or
his eyes, used to inner visions, were
playing him false.
Grasping the table at his side to
steady his falling limbs, he pulled him
self along by its curving edge till ne
came almost abreast of the helpless
figure which for SO many years had
been the embodiment of faithful and
unwearied service.
Then and then only did the truth of
his great misfortune burst upon his
bewildered soul; and with a cry which
tore the ears of all hearers and was
never forgotten by anyone there, he
flung himself down beside the dead
negro, and, turning him hastily over,
gazed in his face.
And where was /, when all this
~happened?" he demanded in a voice
made low by awe and dread of its W
sound. l
You? You were seated here" muir
INJURED the little woman, pointing at
the great chair. "You were not
quite-quite yourself" she softly ex-
planned, wondering at her own COM
posture. Then quickly, as she saw his
thoughts revert to the dead friend at
his feet, Bella was not hurt here. He
was downtown when it happened; but
he managed to struggle home and gain
this place, which he tried to hold
against the men who followed him.
He thought you were dead, you sat
there so rigid and so white, and, be-
fore he quite gave up, he asked us all
to promise not to let anyone enter this
room till your son Oliver came"
Understanding partly, but not yet
quite clear in his mind, the Judge
sighed, and, STOPPING again, straight
ened the faithful negro's limbs. Then,
with a sidelong look in her direction,
he felt in n Of the pockets of the
dead Negroes coat and, drawing out a
small key, held it in one hand while
he fumbled in his own for another,
which found, he BECAME on the instant
his own man again.
Miss Weeks, seeing the difference in
him, and seeing, too, that the doorway
was now clear of the wondering, ave-
struck group which had previously
blocked it, bowed her slight body and
proceeded to withdraw; but the Judge,
staying her by a gesture, she waited
patiently nea one of the bookracks
against which she had stumbled, to
hear what he had to say.
Il must have had an attack of some
kind" he calmly remarked. "Will you
be good enough to explain exactly
what occurred here that | may more
fully comprehend my own misfortune
and the death Of this faithful friend"
Then she saw that his faculties were
now fully restored, and came a step
forward. But before she could begin
her story he added this searching ques-
ton:
Was 1t he who let you in-you and
the others-I think you said others?
Was it he who unlocked my gates?"
Miss Weeks sighed and betrayed
fluster. 1t was not easy to relate her
story; besides 1t was woefully incom-
plete. She knew nothing of what had
happened downtown, she could only
tell what had passed before her eyes.
But there was n thing she could
make clear to him, and that was how
the seemingly impossible gates had
been made ready for the woman's en-
trance and afterwards taken such ad-
vantage of by herself and others. A
pebble had done it ala pebble placed
in the gateway by Rela's hands.
AS she described this and insisted
upon the fact in face of the judges
almost frenzied disclaimer, she thought
she saw the hair move on his forehead.
Bella a traitor, and in the interests of
the woman who had fronted him from
the other end Of the room at the mo-
ment consciousness had left him! Evil
IDENTIFY this intrusive little body did
not know Bella or his story, or
Why should interruption come then?
Why was he stopped, when in the pas.
sion of the moment he might have
let fall some word of enlightenment
which would have eased the agitated
curiosity Of the whole town. Miss
Weeks often asked herself this cues
tion and bewailed the sudden access
of sounds in the rooms without, which
proclaimed the entrance of the police
and put a new strain upon the judges
faculty Of ~self-control and attention
to the one matter in hand.
The commonplaces Of an official in.
quiry were about to supersede the play
Of a startled spirit struggling with a
problem Of whose complexities he had
received but a glimpse.
y y 4
The library again! but how changed!
Evening light now instead of blazing
sunshine; and evening light SO shaded
that the corners seemed far and the
many articles of furniture, numbering
the spaces between, larger for the
shadows in which they stood hidden.
Perhaps the man who sat there in
company with the Judge would have
preferred to see more perfectly that
DELUGE BEFORE MANS FALL