The Dickson County herald. (Dickson, Tenn.) 1907-1979, 1916-07-07


her. n followed ber ks England whsln
the glory Of II all VAS stu strong In
her imagination. INSIDE her tirpw
over the nan TO whom sac wRs virtual
~ b0uEd--"
THE IMAM whom ron tried to nassr-
der iils; aightY4I
You're right-yoa guessed right,
That was the man. I made her break
with him. " would have been .
dansnalae thing to bare done II l had
known--bnt | never knew for certain,
I refused to sae Tor myself, and she
never told nie. Perhaps, anyhow, II
wouldn't have mAttsresi. AIRS fair 10
love, aud I didn't care who suffered.
But that wasn't all. was In debt An
international SPY had got bold Of
and brfbed and threatened me a.
ternateiy. To get out OF his clutches,
\ gambled like q fool aud lost--l0St al
the time. At last | yieldsd- l made
use OF my friendship with an English
officer 10 get hold Of what ! believed
10 be valuable information. Oh, | did
II badly enough. They found me out
and there wasn't an Inch between mo
and ruin. God knows what would
have been the end. I Just sat there
and waited for them TO make mp their
minds. The man ! bad ousted was OPP
posite me, and I waited for him TO
laugh. He came forward and accepted
the responsibility. You understand
he was one Of them, and be tied their
hands. HIS friend held the door open
for him and be went out, II was al
done In a minute. was saved.
II paid. II was true--my wife's ideal
had been saved-but only for the time.
Little by little she got to know me-
and TO compare, Oh. she said nothing;
but I saw II, heard II. felt II In every
movement. every look. every tone. The
man she had cast of became the hero,
the realization VI her dreams. and l
was what | had been from the begin
nins--A ..nearotie wsakling In a uni
form. a rouc who bad kept clean for
her sake. She shrank from me and !
knew she hated me, And he was In
my power. | don't know whether l
meant TO kill him or not. ! had ceased
to think. Last night chance had
the reins. Perhaps at the last mo-
ment | might have held back, for tho
thing sIckened me--but | saw her. Sho
stood opposite him In the moonlight
and she was smiling. heard him call
her name-and then-it was all done
In a fash--I shot him down"
The dry cracked voice broke on.
Arnaud staggered to his feet, his hands
outstretched In a movement OF tragic
resignation. THAT Is my explanation.
Make an end" be said.
Colonel Destinn did not move. Ia
the yellow sun-scorchtd atmosphere his
own face looked llvid. and there were
fresh lines about the mouth which gave
II a deeper, more ruthless power and
concentration. The pencil with which
he had been playing lay snapped In
half In the middle Of the table.
'Your ten minutes are over, aud you
have justified yourself" he said. "You
are free"
You are libcrating a mailman. What
| have done | shall do again"
what is that 10 mel" said Colonel
Destlnn. smiling.
They watched each other In silence.
In Arnaud's eyes there were fear and
incredulous question. He made a vague
uncertain movement as though cropping
through darkness. Then came the sud
den inevitable collapse OF an exhausted
personality and the man was once more
the automaton, the instrument OF a pre-
dominating will. Without a word be
saluted and turned aud staggered from
the room,