Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-03-03
CHAPTER I.-(Continued)

marriage to the handsome. whilom
Midthorne. The young man once had
been a visitor in Corinth, coming from
Harvard with college mates for the
quite thoroughly ~scandalised the stald,
ouritanical element in the town, al
though affording great delight and en-
c-ouragemcnt to the youth of the place.
1t is said that the spirit of emulation
which thrived In Corinth long after he
went mis- joyous way, following that
first and only visit. was such that il
had been as vigorously directed in an
other cause might have produced moth
ing but saints among the young mel of
Corinth. But 1t took a different di-
rection altogether. For a time it was
feared that there would be no stopping
the lads. They vent a dreadful pace
and seemed proud of it. Old Mr.. Blagden
took hold up Horace in good time. He
commanded him to have nothing in
claiming him to be an imp of peydition.
The young men had been friends.
Horace made the fatal mistake of snub-
bling The Georgian on the street Die
day. %whereupon Midthorne. after de-
manding an explanation and getting it,
proceeded to thrash his future brother
inlaw. 1t is needless to say that
Horace despised him from that day
forth. If Mary Blagden was not easily
managed by her father, Midthorne found
the task by no means difficult. She
was in love with hinl-as were all the
girls in Corinth, for that matter-and
his belaboring of Horace increased
rather than checked her interest.
She got on we'll with her
brother. He bullied her after a polite
fashion. all his own, and. as she
couldn't retaliate SO politely, he had
w intense anazement, fell desperately
in o with the girl. But he had to
thrash Horace. just the same. You can
we'll imagine his qualification when he
found, almost at once, that he went up
considerably in the girls estimation at
ter that disgraceful encounter. She
experienced a malicious delight in
standing up for him against Horace,
not only in public, but in the
bosom of her own family. h
ended up" by marrying the family
bug bear-for that is what Midthorne
grew to be-and promptly abandoned
Corinth forever Horace never quite
got it out of his head that she married
Phil in order to annoy the family.
Be that as it may. they made a sorry
failure of 1t. those Midthornes. Phil
twas not heavily endowed with this
worlds goods, nor was he likely to
acquire anything. He was a good fell
low, a favorite, and it was his secret
belief that the world owed a living to
all good fellows.
together Luey llNeO FaLNer a IQC1tt-
less life in The Georgia town, neither Of
them caring much whence sustenance
came. just so long as it came. His
people were poor. He had but little nelp
from them. Mary's were rich, but she
would not have accepted aid from them
II she had been starving. BE it re-
corded. to PhiIs credit, he would no
more have taken from them than she.
She vas the XII of woman who
thrives on the attention of other men.
! There was a-plenty of them in their
wide circle of friends who were ready
and willing to give 1t to her. for she
was beautiful. she was gay she was
witty. 1t was not long before gossip
attached itself to her. Soon after the
second child vas born, Mary Midthorne
began to chafe restlessly under the re-
straint Of a quiet home life in the
southern town.
Phil had grown tiresome, commonplace
In the extreme. He was no longer the
dashing beau of her ante-nuptial days.
Instead. he was slowly drifting into a
disgusting state of COMPLEMENTARY
complacency was the condition that
! Mary despised more than all others. He
loved his home and his children: hi
was getting over his love for the world.
They Quarreled less than had been
their won't. He was getting SO that he
would not ever take the trouble to
quarrel with her over the attention
4 IA AAO ARAN 14SI PCAe
mission. She vent farther and farther
in a spirit of defiance to him-and his
complacency. She got over her love
for him. but 1t was like gall and worm
wood to feel that he did not love her
at least. In the old, impassioned way.
She a still young, still pretty, still
worth while: h could feel.
One day Phil found her lunching with
q man he had particularly advised her
to avoid. as there had already been
talk about them. He upbraided her,
in the presence of the man. That night
her to New Orleans, and from that city
to Pass Christian. Out On the famous
Shell road he came upon her and the
man.
He took her to the county seat with
him. but he left the man lying by the
roadside. q bullet through his heart.
The unwritten law! He was discharged
by a chivalrous Mississippi jury, and
Journeyed amiably Jack to his home
and his babies. but without the wife
mother. 1t was q part of his ui,-
written law that she should keep 20
the path h had chosen.
u course. in this grave emergency.
Horace Blagden and his father might
nave been expected to come forward
With a helping hand Outstretched to
the hayward outcast. But not they!
They were Of Coripth and they were
great men and impeccable. They closed
their hearts and their hands against
her. She wore q scarlet letter.
Mary was not Of the kind that goes
to the gutter. The gutter IL not COM
Portable abiding place. nor Is 1t one Ut
luxury. She liked comfort ana luxury.
She . to Paris instead. Two years
after the tragedy on tho Shell road
she came 70 q sudden ana perhaps
timely end through IN attack Of fever
while acting IN the capacity Of govern
60 In the honO Of . wealthy expatff-
] oted New Y0ffAf WNnAA wife f0T rAa.