Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-07-10

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The Disappointed Lover Chokes
the Yellow-Blooded Husband.
knows but I was blinded by the light
of his ancestry-duped by the fancied
qualities of blue blood' '"-contempt-
uously-. "I see 1t all now. He had
planned his ourtship-SCHEME it
relied on the reputation of his name
and my weakness for good breeding
so as to pay his debts; went about tell
ing tradespeople to wait yet a little
wait until he had married me, when
his debts would all be paid. God!
Think of it! 1 have been a fool!
should nave announced my marriage
and foiAited my fortune for my nap
piness had he not persuaded me to be
quiet-for MY sake. Then, after our
marriage and his knowledge that
was bound to secrecy, he took advan-
tage of his apparent freedom and
toyed with you. He thought I was
helpless. But I'll be helpless no long
er!" Her eyes flashed with the spirit
of her utterance. and the determine
ton she felt. ct shall go down to
Rodgers immediataly-forfeit my for
tune by announcing my marriage, and
blue blood How I loathe myself that
I should be attractsd-that 1 should
have been led to believe I loved him!"
You might have done worse, you
know" Scott sneered There weren't
many opportunities left, you know,
after your well-known INTIMACY
with"-here he looked toward Paul
"the bricklayers SON."
Paul had been standing silently oy,
his face heavy and dull with despair.
his heart unutterably sad within him,
as the "queerness" of all the last few
days became understandable. When
she spoke of her marriage with Scott,
everything-his knowledge. ambition
desires seemed suddenly to become
tinsel and dross and the world a weary
place to live in; but at Scott's vile inn
putation of his relations with Ann his
frame stiffened, tense, a desire to
murder this vile hound took posses
sion of him--everything swan and be-
came misty before his eyes, and he
knew of nothing--felt nothing but the
desire to crush, to tear, to destroy ut
terly the man before him.
He sprang at Scott, his face distort-
ed horribly, his teeth barred, a low
animal sound coming from his throat,
and his hands shaking fearfully as
they found their way to the others
throat. For the length of half a
minute he held him thus-then, a
sudden loathing for the resistless crea-
Iture before him took the place of his
fury. and he flung him, choking, to
the ground.
When Scott recovered, a few min
utes after he learned, from the hotel
proprietor, that Ann, Bess and Paul
had hastily left for town. He started
Immediately in pursuit, sure that Ann
had for her destination the office of
her attorney, Henry Rodgers. He
q1a Iunre act without
his being present, it would mean, for
him, a future of poverty-and, most
frightful of all-of work. The thought
iof going through another thrashing
at the hands of Paul Reed was moth
ing to being on the spot when she dis
closed her marriage to her lawyer;-
nothing to being on the spot, and
playing the last card he had to play.
He arrived at Rodgers office just
in time to hear Ann, through the
closed door OF the private office, fin
ishing her story to the astounded at
torney.
my fortune is Sone. Now
I want a divorce from that yellow
thing called a blue blood"
Scott came in as she finished.
Zone moment, please, he said. You
travel fast. Too fast. True, your
declaration of our marriage, has for
feited your part of the fortune, here
cunning, insolent smile shaped his
mouth-"but If you dare to push this
divorce sut"-his voice became en-
phatically slow and intense-"I'n drag
In your sisters name, and blacken 1t
In the eyes of the whole world-ut-
terly Do you understand? Utterly!
Yes, I know that your fortune has
been forfeited; rather stupid of you,
don't you think? But we'll manage.
I know your sister will gladly share
her part with us"-he accentuated
the word hideously-"if she would
protect her reputation"
Ann stood back, appalled,, unable
to conceal her knowledge that she
was powerless. She knew he would
go to any lengths to compromise Bess,
innocent as she was, in the eyes of
the world, and realized how easy that
would be. She would rather have
suffered anything than have exposed
Bess' fair name to this Jlander, and
the worlds contempt, and realized
with resigned despair that he was
aware of her nature, and was playing
on it-realized that she must live out
her days with a man she loathed;-
realized 1t and was helpless to
avoid It.
she mad payed dearly Tor her wor-
ship of Glass" and would pay and
pay and pay-endlessly.
Bess' young dream of love had de-
generated to a hideous nightmare.
Paul stood by, the bright air castles
of his youth burying in their tumbled
debris his aspiring soul.
The Family Tree had borne its fruit.
WHO PAYS?
The next story in the WHO PAYS?
series will begin in our next number.
It Is entitled, To-day and Tomorrow"