Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-08-05
CHAPTER XIV
THE PRoD1GAL SISTER RETURNS.

Eric j%ourneyed to New York by tho
. O'Clock express that evening, in a
fever OF anxiety not unmiNed with de-
spair. He had had a long afternoon in
which to think over the situation. The
rear mad ken possession of him hat
Mary would not be.as tractable as he
had fohdlY hoped. He found himself,
unWillingly, 1t is true. considering the
manly charm, the attractive masculin-
lty of John Payson. = 1t was not diff
ficult, now that he was able to picture
Mary as something more than the SLIM,
brown eyed girl he had condemned, In
his ~brotherly Ignorance, To a state of
eternal lmmaturity,-it IA not diff
flcult, repeat, for him to understand
how she might have fallen in love with
the fellow. 1t was hard to believe, of
course. that she was a wonlan and n
woman with a mind of her own. She
mad always been a little girl to him.
Somehow he had felt that she always
would be. There was a distinct shock
at the awakening. Why, she was 21.
Ills little sister was 21i
Joan Bright was nearing %, ant he
had thought of her as q woman for
five years or more. She had been his
sWeetheart-his real sweetheart for
ages, it seemed to him. She had known
what it was to love and be loved since
the days when her frocks came down
to her shoe tops. And she had known,
iroh - lloil Inc IlISl, HOW 10
meet his love, his passion half way.
1t was the woman in her, just as it
had been the man in him. Then, why
not Mary?
But Jack Payson. Why had fate
led him across his sisters path? Why
should he have been the one?
Out of all this, however, grew the
sober reflection that he had not dis
credited Payson until his uncle's let
ter appraised him of the fact that he
was interested in Mary. In fact, he
had looked upon the ex-teller as a
much abused hero in whose footsteps
IT We're a credit and an honor to tread.
Secretly, with all Corinth, in those 9TH
er days, he had r%ejoiced in the vindi-
cation of Jack Payson.
But that was before his uncle's
vague indictment had been sustained
by personal observation. With his own
eyes he had discovered the bar sin
lister. The man was marked. He could
not change his spots. There was no
question in Eric's mind as to the real
truth. He had been born in sin and
Adam'Carr was father to him.
No small amount of bitterness was
added to his cup before he left Corinth.
HIS uncle, with more cruelty than he
intended, had compared Eric in his
present position to himself under sim
liar conditions many years before.
1T is working around in a circle,
ERIC" he said, while they We're dis
GUESSING the best means of inducing
Mary to return to the house on the
hill. You stand just where l did &c
Years ago. The situation is identical.
Then it was l who suffered the loss of
a sister, now it is you. Mary will have
ner a just as her mother did be-
tore her. She will not be turne back.
have you in yours? All, my boy, we are
Blagdons, you n I. Time is prov
ing us to be alike in every respect,
even to our heartaches and disappoint-
n
ON the other hand, Adam Carr, down
IN the gate keepers cottage. had grim
ly said, in reply to the young mans
bitter lament: You can't regulate tn
heart beats OF a young woman. Eric.
They either beat for you or against
you, and they'll beat in spite of you.
Ihats Why men sometimes have such
a hard time getting rid of women
they're tired of. Can you honestly
with Jack? Now, take you Aunt
Rena's case. She had brothers, a cou-
pie of 'em. fine chaps and good
sportsmen. What do you suppose they
said when they heard she was going
to marry a narrow minded Miss Nancy
like Horace Blagden? Why, they SIM ,
ply roared like a couple OF wounded
lions. But did it do them any good?
No, sir. She la set her heart on mar !
rylng him., and that settled it. I've
often wondered what kind of a woman
she might have been if she'd married !
one of those scanps of New Workers |
your uncle holds so cheaply. She
might have been hobnobbing with the |
Astors and Vanderbilts at this very
mlnute. But she was bound to have |
Horace. No, my boy, there's no ac- |
counting for taste when a woman's
heart is concerned, especially if it's |
set"
Payson went to New York with Eric, |
but they saw nothing of each other |
after a single, unfriendly glance at the |
Corinth depot.
The neN morning Eric presented
himself at Mrs. Kendrick's. He knew |
the lady by reputation, Us one knows |
of people whose names are to be seen |
In the society columns of the great
newspapers and periodicals. He could |
not help wondering how Jack Payson.
a sailing masters SOL, came to know
the rather exclusive Mrs. Kendrick.
Mary's first words, after their mu-
tual embraces and her own hysteric
sniffies of joy, were these:
Now, Eric, you are not to scold me. |
l can't bear it,"
Whereupon she proceeded to cry
very heartily to his sad undoing.
(Cortinued next weekly