The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1915-12-09
CHAPTER v-(continued.)

tktc l0IlGT. sES2E SHF4g8 #JsSt4 49,
I turne the situation over in my
mind. Evidently Miss Vaughan thougnt
she had a cause for alarm, and yet
1t was quite possible she might be mis-
taken. She vas being urged to consent
70 something against her will, but per
haps it was for her w good. In any
event. I had seer no indication that
her consent was being sought by vio-
fence. There must be no interference
ON our part until we were surer of our
ground.
We'll. SWAIN" I said, at last. " I will
help you on n condition"
What is that?"
You will meet Miss Vaughan to-
night n hear her story, but o will
take no action until you n / have
says that she has three days." I went
on, as he started to protest, $50 there
Is no necessity for leapfng in the dark.
And | would point out to you that she
Is not yet of age but is still under her
fathers control"
@She is 49," he protested.
I'm this state. the legal age for wona-
en-, as for men, Is 81. The law requires
q very serious reason for interfering
between a child and its. father. More
over" / added, "she must mot be COM
promised. IL you persuade her to ac-
company you tonight, where would you
take her? In no case. will / be a party
to an elopement-I will do aud I can
to prevent it,
He took a short turn up and down
the room. his hands clenched behind
him.
Mr.. Lester he said, at last, stop
ping before me. Il want You to believe
that I have not even thought of an
unfair to her. But I see that you are
tight. She must not be compromised"
Amid You promise ITO ask my ad-
viceg'
Suppose i make such a promise.
IF you make such a promise, and I
agree with You as to the necessity for
Miss Vaughan to leave her father, I
think / can arrange for her to stay
with MIR. and Mrs. Royce for a time.
proceedings become necessary. our
firm can help you. 1 want to help you,
SWAIN" l added, warmly, but I must
be convinced that you deserve help.
That's reasonable, isn't it?"
Yes" he agreed, and held out his
hand. "and I PROMISE"
Good. And now for the arrange
ments."
Two d2 foot ladders were necessary,
one for either side of the wall; but, be-
yond a short step ladder, the place pos
sessed none except the long one by
which Godfrey and I had mounte into
the tree. Swain suggested thai this
might do for one. but / felt that 1t
would be better stay where it was, and
sent Hargis Over to Yonkers to buy
two new Ones, i~nstructing him to bring
them back with him.
Then Swain and I accommodated the
WALL, and chose for the crossing a spot
where the glass escarpment seemed a
little less formidable than elsewhere.
You can step from one ladder to
the other / pointed out" without
touching the top of the wall. A mere
touch would be dangerous In the dark -
He nodded his agreement, and finally
we went back to the house. Getting
there, we found suddenly that we had
nothing more to say. Swain was soon
deep in his own Thoughts; and, I must
confess, that. after the first excitement,
/! began to find the affair a little weary
which I had caught of Marjorie Vaug-
han made me think that she was
worthy of a bigger fish than Swain,
would ever be. He was right in a
ing that there were thousands of men
VINO mad more to give her, and who
would be age to give.
examined Swain as he sat tbore
staring at
nothing. with eyes not wholly
rlendly He was handsome enough.
put in a stereotyped way. And he was
only an insignificant clerk, with small
prospect of ever being anything much
better. for he had started the battle of
life too late. Honest, OF course. hon
orable, clean hearted, but common
pace win a depth Of soul easily faith
omed. know now that I was unjust
to Swain, but, at the moment nv
scrutiny Of him left me strangely de-
pressed.
A rattle Of wheels on the drive
rough us both out Of our thoughts.
1t was Hargis returning with the lad
ders. L had him hang them up against
the shed where he kept his gardening
implements, for ! did not wish him to
Suspect the invasion we had planned;
then, just to kill time and get away
from Swain, I spent an hour with Har-
gls in his garden; and finally came the
summons to dinner. An hour later. as
we sat on the front porch smoking, and
still finding little or nothing to say
Mrs. HargiS came out to bid us good
night.
Mr.. Swain can use the bedroom next
to yours, Mr.. Lester" she said.
Perhaps he won't stay all night" I
said. If he does, I'll show him the
way to it. And thank you very much.
Mrs. Hargis."
sir?"
NO, thank you"
"Mr. Godfrey will be here a little be-
fore midnight-at least, that's his usual
time"
Wen wait up for him. I said.
Good night, Mrs. Hargis."
Good night, sir" and she went back
I have never passed through a longer
or more trying hour han the next one
was, and I could tell by the way Swain
twitched about in his chair that he
felt h tedium as much as I. Once or
twice I tried to start a conversation.
but 1t soon trickled dry: and we ended
by smoking away modify and staring
out into the darkness. &
At last Swain sprang to his feet.
Il can't stand this any longer he
said. I'm going over the wall"
struck a match n looked at my
watch.
1T isn't IL o'clock yet" I warned
Kim.
." don't care. Perhaps she's be
ahead of time Anyway, I might as
well wait there as here"
Come on, them I agreed, for I felt
myself that another UGH hour would
be uncomfortable.
Together we made our way back to