The Lemmon herald. (Lemmon, Perkins County, S.D.) 1912-1917, 1915-09-01
CHAPTER XIX.


Hours attogward Brood sat alone I'm
the room whore the tragedy. occurred
Much had transpired In the tfterim To
make those hours seem like separate
and distinct years 10 him. each hour
an epoch in which vital and mcnor.
able incident had been added 10 his
already overfull measure OF expert
ence. Underneath all was an ever
present sense of insecurity. as If the
"hoie order of life had been suddenly
deprived Of foundation or support. No
matter where he looked. there was not
the slightest ray Of light in the dark.
ness that cnveloped his understand,
ing. Something tremendous had han.
pened, aside from the Visible. phys
zeal incident that had stunned him
temporarily at the outset Of the tragic
era. something that vas beyond com.
prehedsion and intangible and which
continually loomed up before him az a
specter that had neither shape nor
substance anG yet was as completely
positive as anything else that had
transpired. He could account for the
shooting, the emotions preceding that
unhappy Cu"rence, the Intervention
Of fate that saved Yvonne from death
and laid low the substitute. the sense
Of horror that ensued the sudden rev
"jation that came to him as he looked
into Fredcric's face with its closed
eyes, and the agony Of suspense that
now consumed him, but a cloud sttl
hung over him that his intellgcnce
could not penetrate nor his physical
being dispel, no matter how hard he
struggled TO clear way to the open
lie had seen vision. It's effect on |
him had been OVerpoWerng The for |
titude Of a lifetime had been shattered |
in a single instant Of contact with tho |
influence that had at last made itself .
felt in physical manifestation after all |
these years of spiritual attendance. He
had never been completely free from
the vague notion that Matildc was
near him In spirit, that there was an
actual identity to the presence that
filled his dreams and denied him tho
boon OF forgetfulnesB for a single In
stant Of the hours when he was awake
He had never tried to Danish her from
his memory. He wanted to forget her
to put her out Of his thoughts alto
fether, for obvious reasons. but the
TACT that she remained the dominant
flgure in his present despite the past
was proof, even to him, that she was
ana always would be the controlling
orce in his mind if not In his heart.
Now he was ordering himself to face
re" complexities. He was confronted
~ the most improbable Of hallucina-
IONS. 1t was not an intangible shadow
nat ne now had to contend with but
definite, something that
ook shape and mocked him. In his
inter indictment against circum-
tances, he argued that his brain was
aomentarily unbalanced following the
mock caused by the shooting, and that
us dlsnrdered state he had pictured
hings that did not exist IL was only
eaSOnable To assume that he had suf.
cred from the effect OF startling, I
iYid halluclnation, and yet there was
strange, insistent voice somewhere
his clearing mind that persuaded =
i'm against his viii that he had actual
seen the face Of Matilde. ;,
Admitting that he had been deceived y
a trick Of the Imagination, there :,
Ill remained certain indisputable =
cts to cOnfound him. First Of all.
le absolute conviction that Yvonne "
40 the power to preserve the life that -,
ing so precariou1iy in the balance. y
G could not overcome the amazing &c
,lief that she, and not the skilled
rgeon, would check the sure progress ~
death. Something told him that she al
presented force even mightier
an death and that she would prevail, vC
matter what betide. -
He had refused to see the newspa 10
r men who came Doctor Holder m
sely had protested against secrecy
lurder will out" he had said fret Sc
Ily, little realizing how closely the vi
te old saying applied to the situa-
N. He had accepted the statements in
Yvonne and Ranjab as to the acct nu
ntal discharge OF the weapon, but I'd
fffr1flu if1a6a11 ~ III fn nf161lnnuk 6oo1Il