The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1915-07-15

what VIII the harvest be, the harvest Is
close at hand. Fate, weaver of desti-
MES, in the shape Of Hagar comes
upon the scene.
If the doctor has wondered If In his
hate Of one dead man and his love for
another he has not done wrong Hagar,
queen of the gypsies, wonders, too, II
>her vengeance has not gone all awry.
AEsther Stanley, or, as she is known,
Esther Harding, is a beautiful and
sweetly dfspositioned young woman
now. The wild mother love Hagar
bore for the son that was sold from her
has passed to sweet Esther. So it Is
that Hagar returns to Virginia, re-
solved again to sacrifice her very heart.
A wild gypsy camp is no abiding place
for fair young girl Of gentle blood.
Hagar knows all the documents she
took from Stanley hall when she alb
Quoted Esther, knows them by heart,
as she knows every facet on the dia-
mond from the sky, which she wrung
that night from the dead hand Of Colo
mel Stanley. She would see her boy
again in his manhood. The wild hope
possesses her that he may fall in love
with Esther and that the secret that
only two living people know shall rest
lightly with the dead when Esther is
mistress by marriage, If not by right,
of Stanley hall.
Her message for DR.. Lee is a written
one. 1t reads:
have come back after eighteen years.
[ have had my revenge, but I love the
girl. What shall be done with her?
EAGAR HARDING.
Esther only learns from the kindly
lips of the doctor and the tremulous
ones Of her supposed mother that
new life has opened for her; that she
must take her place in the society Of
the countryside as the adopted daugh-
ter Of Dr.. Lee. as long arranged. This
IS all she knows; this is all she Is told,
rs with her belongings she bids a
weeping adieu to the stern but kindly
gypsy woman she has known as moth
er all her conscious years. And she
rides away as the doctors daughter
from the gypsy camp. With Esther
the doctor takes the diamond from the
sky, demanded Of Hagar as part of Es-
theirs Inheritance.
Hardly has the doctors carriage de-
parted than Luke Lowell, Hagar's head
man, IS given command to strike camp.
In an instant all is hustle and confu-
sion. Within an hour Eagar and her
tribe are on their way.
In three months, though the proud
women Of the neighborhood look
askance, Esther is the belle of the
countryside. The vine clad porch Of
the doctors old house SECS nightly
gathered there the young sparks of
Fairfax
Then comes a night in June, and in
the moonlight are four young men, all
paying court to the happy Esther.
Chief among them are the Stanley
cousins, Arthur and Blair Some slight
attention to his cousin, Blair, rouses
Arthur to temper of jealousy. Pref
lilly rebuked by Esther, Arthur leaves
III huff. Then Esther vents her CO.
Quett1sh displeasure upon the till then
triumphant Blair, and he, now angry
also, arises and departs, leaving the
field to two SWANS.
In his study that overlooks the gar
dens at the side the old doctor is gaz-
ing wonderinsly in the light of the
study lamp at the great diamond.
Sulkily straying by the house, IN his
Jealousy and anger, Blair Stanley sees
the light cleaning from the study.
Curious and not overnice in his curios-
ity, he peers through the window He
STARTS II
remembers now the oft whispered sus
picions Of his mother: cdr Lee was
alone with Colonel Stanley when he
died. Who else but he has taken and
hidden away the Stanley heirloomT'
The obsesston Of the desire for this
priceless Stanley heirloom has been
born and bred in Blair Stanley. He
HES away, but that night, when the
SWANS have long departed and the
good doctor and the fair Esther have
long retired to slumber, Blair Stanley
returns prepared to break in and bear
away the diamond from the sky.
In the library at Stanley hall the
young heir Of Stanley muses. and
dreams in softened mood of Esther
HIS guitar lies near him, and he picks
1t Up and gently strums it. In his
minds eye he sees himself serenading
sweet Esther Lee, as she is now called,
and begging her gentle pardon in the
moonlight should she come to her win
dow to listen. The romantic idea suits
MS mood. He takes the guitar and
hastens again to the doctors house.
blair Stanley has clambered through
the study window, closed if and drawn
the shade. He has SOFTLY lit tho doc
TORS study lamp and rifled the drawer
Oh the Old secretary and the cash box
It holds. He has seized the diamond
from the Sky and clasped it in agitat-