The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1915-07-10

thC "ouhucu uldu Out on tnOSe Wn(
}. attended him. Doctor Holder and tn.
U nurses were not slow to admit tina
her magnificent courage, her almos
scornful self-assrrance. supplied then
J, with an incentive that otherwise might
j never have got beyond the form OF 6
l mere hope. There was something pos
3 itively startling in her serene convic
ton that Frederic was not to die Nc
l less skeptic than the renowned
Doctor Holder confided to Lydia and
} her mother that he now believed In
the supernatural and never again
would say there is no God" With
the dampness of death on the young
mans brow. remarkable change had
occurred even as he watched for the
last feeting breath. 1t was as if some
secret. unconquerable force had sud-
denly interviewed to take the whole
matter out of natures hands. II was
not in the books that he should get
well; 1t was against every rule of ma.
ture that he should have survived that
nrst days struggle. He was marked
Tor death and there was no alternative.
Then came the bewildering, mystify-
ing change. Life did not take its ex.
pected flight; instead ii chung, flicker.
ing but indestructible, to its clay and
would not obey the laws of nature.
For days and days life hung by what
we are pleased TO call a thread: the
great shears of death could not sever
the tiny thing that held Frederic's
| soul to earth. There was no hour in
any OF those days in which the be-
wildered scientist and his assistants
did not proclaim that it would be his
last, and yet he gave the lie to them.
Holder had gone to James Brood at
the end of the third day. and with the
sweat Of the haunted on his brow had
whispered hoarsely that the case was
out of his hands! He was no longer
the doctor but an agent governed by a
spirit that would not permit death to
claim its own! And somehow Brood
understood far better than the man of
science.
The true story of the shooting had
long been known to Lydia and her
mother. Brood confessed everything
to them. He assumed all of the blame
for what had transpired on that tragic
morning. He humbled himself before
them, and when they shook their
heads and turned their backs upon
him he was not surprised, for he knew
they were not convicting him of as
sault with a deadly firearm Later
on the story Of Therese was told by
him to Frederic and the girl. He did
his wife no injustice in the recital.
Frederic laid his hand upon the soft
brown head at his knee and voiced the
thought that was in his mind
you are wondering, as | am, too,
what is to become of Yvonne after to-
day." he said. There must be an
end, and II 1t doesn't come now, when
Will 1t come? Tomorrow we sail. 1t
Is certain that she is not to accom-
pany us. She has said so herself, and
rather has said so. He will not take
her with him. So today must see the
end of things"
Frederic, / want you to do some
thing for me-" said Lydia, earnestly.
There was a time when could not
have asked this Of you, but now l
mplore you to speak to your father
n her behalf. love her. Freddy, dear
cannot help it. She asks nothing of
my OF US. she expects nothing, and
yet she loves all of us-yes, all of us.
she Will never. by word or look, make
single plea for herself. have watched
Ter closely all these weeks. There ,
vas never an instant when she re-
'ealed the slightest sign of an appeal. :
'he takes it for granted that she has I
10 place in our lives. In our memory,
'es, but that is all. think she Is
econciled to what she considers her
ate and 1t has not entered her mind
protest against 1t. Perhaps 1t is
atural that she should feel that way
bout 1t. But 1t is-oh. Freddy, it is
errible! II he would-would only un.
end little toward her. II he"
Listen, Lyddy, dear. / don't be-
eve it's altogether up to him. There
barrier that we can't see, but they
o-both Of them. My mother stands
etween them. You see, I've come to
now my father lately, dear. He's not
stranger to me any longer l know
hat sort Of a heart he's got. He
ever got over loving my mother, and
ell never get over knowing that
vonne knows that she loved him to
lie day she died. We know what IL
as in Yvonne that attracted him from
lie first. and she knows. He's not
kelly to forgive himself so easily. He II
ldnt play fair with either of them. o
lat's what I'm trying to get at s
ont believe he can forgive himself "
ny more than he can forgive Yvonne
n the thing she set about to do. You 8
Re, Lyddy. she married him without n
We. She debased herself. even "
lough she can't admit it even now. IL
love her. too. She's the most won. s.
erful woman in the world. She's got g
10 finest instincts a woman ever u
assessed. But she did give herself
the man she hated with all her soul. Of
there you are. He can't for. W
It that, you know-and she can't. p'
eaving me out of the question alto 81
'ther-and you, too-there still re- pl
aims the sorry fact that she has be- Is
aged her sisters love. She loves sc
m for herself now. and-that's what oil
lrts both of them. It hurts because 10
ey both know that he still loves