Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1915-05-14

dropping suddenly into a chair and
burying his face in his shaking hands.
What will this mean to Lyd'1-what
will she do-what will become of herr"
A culver of pain crossed the wom-
ans face, her eyelids fell as If to shut
out something that shamed her in
spite of all her vainglorious protesta-
tons. Then the spirit of exaltation re-
sumed its sway.
You annot marry Lydia now" she
said, affecting a sharpness of one that
caused him to shrink involuntarily. 1T
Is you duty to write her a letter to-
night, explaining all hat has hap
pened today. She would sacrifice her
self for you today, but there is-to-
morrow! A thousand tomorrows. Fred
eric. Don't forget them, my dear.
They would be ugly after all, and she
is too good, toe fine to be dragged
into"
You are right" he exclaimed, leap
ing to his feet. at would be the vilest
act that a man could perpetrate.
Why-why it would be proof of what
he says Of met would stamp me
forever the bastard he-No, no, / could
never lift my head again if | were to
do this utterly vile thing to Lydia. He
said to me here-not an hour ago
that he expected me to go ahead and
blight that loyal girls life, hat |
would consider it a noble means of
self-justifcation! What do you think
of that? He But wait! What is
this that we are proposing to do?
Give me time to think! Why-why,
I can't take o away from him,
Tvonne! God in heaven, what am /
thinking of? Have l no sense OF
honor? Am i
You are not his son." she said,
significantly.
But that is no reason why / should
stoop to a foul trick like this. Do
do you know what you are suggest
ing?" He drew back from her with a
look of disgust in his eyes. mo! I'm
not that vile! L"
~"Frederic, you must let me-"
II don't want to hear anything
more, Yvonne. What manner of wom-
I'm are you? He is your husband, he
loves you, he trusts you-oh, yes, he
does! And you would leave him like
this? You would
Hush! Not so loud!" she cried. in
great agitation.
And let me tell you something
more. Although I can never marry
Lydia, by heaven, I shall love her to
the end of my life. l will not betray
that love. To the end of time she shall
know that my love for her is real and
true and"
Wait! Give me time to think" she
pleaded. He shook his head reso-
lutely. do not judge me too harshly.
Hear what I have to say before you
condemn me. ! am not the vile crea-
ture you think, Frederic. Wait! Let
me Think"
He stared at her for a moment in
near. 81 do not believe you mean to
do wrong-I do not believe it of you.
You have been carried away by some
horrible"
Listen to me-" she broke in, fierce
ly. 81 would have sacrificed you-ay,
sacrificed you, poor boy-for the joy
it would give me to see James Brood
grovel in misery for the rest of his
life. OH" She uttered a groan of
despair and s~elf-loathing SO deep and
full of pain that his heart was chilled.
Good Lord, Yvonne!" he gasped.
dumfounded..
DO not come near me-" she cried
out. covering her face with her hands.
For a full minute she stood before him,
straight and rigid as a statue, a tragic
figure he was never to forget. Sud
denly she lowered her hands. To his
surprise, a smile was on her lips. You
would never have gone away with me.
I know it now. All these months l
have been counting on you for this
very hour-this eliminating hour-and
now l realize how little hope l have
really had, even from the beginning
You are honorable. There have been
times when my influence over you was
such that you resisted only because
you were loyal to yourself-not to
Lydia, not to my husband-but to
yourself. l came to this house with
but one purpose in mind. l came here
to take you away from the man who
has always stood as your father.
would not have become your mistress
-pah! how loathsome it sounds! But
I would have enticed you away, be-
lieving myself to be justified. 1 would
nave struck James Brood that blow.
He would have gone to his grave be-
lieving himself to have been paid in
full by the son of the woman he had
degraded, by the boy he had reared
for the slaughter, by the blood"
I'm Gods name, Yvonne, what is
this o are saying? What have you
against my-against him."
What! 1 shall come 10 that. /
did not stop to consider all that l
should have to overcome. First, there
was your soul, your honor, your in
tegrity to consider. I could see moth.
ing else but triumph. over James
Brood. To gain my end it a neces-
sary that l should be his wife. ] he
came his wife-I deliberately took that
step in order to make complete my
triumph over him. l became the wife
of the a l hated with all my soul,
Frederic. So you can see how far
was willing to go to-ah, it was a hard
thing to do! But I did not shrink.
went into it without faltering, without
a single thought of the cost to myself.
He was to pay for all that, too, in the
end. Look into my eyes,, Frederic. l
want to ask you a question. Will you