Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1914-08-29


IF could only induce you to for
give her. began Hetty, throwing out
her hands to the wrandalls. only to be
met by a gesture of repugnance from
the grim old man.
Your story. Miss Castleton.'' he
said hoarsely
From the beginning, if 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
hfe- She passed hastily over the ear
her periods, frankly exposing the UNI
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 Wrandan on
board the west-bound steamer, an in
cident that came to pass in perfectly
natural way. Her deck chair stood
next to his, and he was not slow in
making himself agreeable. 1t did not
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 1 was not to
so to California, l 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 a splendid
position in the east. 1 had no means
of knowing that he was married. L
accepted him for what thought him
to be: genuine American gentleman.
They are supposed to be particularly
considerate with women. His conduct
toward me was beyond reDroach. l
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, l
| am sure of that
She shot a quick, appealing glance
at Booths hard-set face. Her lip
| trembled for second.
Il fell madly in love with him., she
went on resolutely. 81 dreamed of
| him, 1 could hardly wait for the time
| to come when 1 was to see him. He
never came to the wretched little lodg-
| ing house 1 have told you about. IL
| met him outside. One night he told
me that he loved me, loved me pas
| sionately. Il said that 1 would be
his wife. Somehow 1t 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. l went with
him. He said that II liked it, 1 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. II
| remained in the apartment but a 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 a quiet, jolly
| little wedding up in the country.
| Strangely enough, l experienced a
| queer feeling that all was not as it
| should be, but his eagerness, his per
1
/ that had begun even then to shape
| itself. l consented to go 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. l said that l 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
| it 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 a daughter who was actually re-
| lated to an English nobfeman. The
| family had been urging him to marry
a stupid but rich New York girl and
| he-oh, well he uttered a 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 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 upstairs
room at Burton's inn with the man
4 who was to be her husband