The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1915-12-10

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the wounded man but on those
attended him. Doctor Holder and !
nurses we're not slow TO admit thu
her magnificent courage. her almOsN
sCornful 8elf-assVranCe, supplied them
with an incentive that otherwise might ;
never have got beyond the form of
mere hope There was something pos
itively startling in her serene COnvic
ton that Frederic was not to die No
less a skeptic than the renowned
Doctor Holder confded 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, a remarkable change had
last feeting breath. 1t was as if some
secret, unconQuerable force had sud-
denly interviewed to take the whole
matter out of natures hands 1t was
not in the books that he should get
we'll it was against every rule of ma
ture that he should have survived that
first days struggle. He was marked
for death and there was no alternative.
Then came the bewiidering mystify-
ing change Life did not take its eX.
pected flight; instead it 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 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
l. to them. He assumed all of the blame
i for what had transpired on that tragic
{ morning. He humbled himself before
them, and when they shook their
heads and turned their backs upon
l. him he was not surprised, for he knew
e. they were not convicting him of as
sault with a deadly firearm. Later
II on the story of Therese was told by
y him to Frederic and the girl He did
j. his wife no injustice in the recital.
~ Frederic laid his hand upon the soft
4, brown head at his knee and voiced the
~ thought that was in his mind.
~ "You are wondering, as | am, too,
IN what is to become of Yvonne after to-
day." he said. There must be an
III end, and if 1t doesn't come now, when
81 will it come? Tomorrow we sail. II
~ is certain that she is not to accom-
81 pany us. She has said so herself, and
he father has said so. He will not take
II 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 moi
have asked this of you, but now
implore you to speak to your fathel
In her behalf. l love her, Freddy, dear
| cannot help 1t. She asks nothing Of
any of us, she expects nothing, anC
ne yet she loves all of us-yes, all of US
TIC She will never by word or look, make
'n- a single plea for herself. l have watched
de her closely all these weeks. There
Lly was never an instant when she re
ou- vealed the slightest sign of an appeal
yet She takes it for granted that she ha
al no place in our lives. In our memory
o. yes, but that is all. I think she i
OF reconciled to what she considers he
ng fate and 1t has not entered her MINI
me to protest against it. Perhaps it l
ad natural that she should feel that wa
he about it. But 1t is-oh, Freddy, 1t
oW terrible! If he would-would only III
ur- bend a little toward her. II he"
on Listen, Lyddy, dear. | don't bt
o" lieve it's altogether up to him. Their
Inc is barrier that we can't see, but the
zen do-both of them. My mother stand
Ihu between them. You see, I've come
Inc know my father lately, dear. He's nc
III a stranger to me any longer. l kno'
MS what sort Of heart he's got Il
lch never got over loving my mother, an
he'll never get over knowing thu
Yvonne knows that she loved him
18th the day she died We know what
'er, was In Yvonne that attracted him fro
ign the first, and she knows. He's M
ing likely to forgive himself so easily. +
in didn't play fair with either of ther
led that's what Pm trying to get at.
yer don't believe he can forgive himse
1t any more than he can forgive YvonI
the for the thing she set about to do "
'us- see, Lyddy. she married him witho
pite love. She debased herself, eV'
laid though she can't admit 1t even no