The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1916-01-22

!
ests seeking to dispose of Anse Havey
so that they may plumber his people"
The lawyer wheeled on the judge
Il must ask your honor to admon-
ISL this witness against such false and
improper charges-or TO punish her
for contempt" he blazed furiousIy.
But the Judge spoke without great
severity as he cautioned: Yes, the
witness must not seek to imply mo-
tiVes to the prosecution"
The attorney took another step for
ward with a malicious smile He
paused that the next question and its
answer might fall on the emphasis OF
a monetary silence Then he point
ed a finger toward the girl, with the
manner of one branding a false wit
ness. and demanded:
rs there any sentimental attach
ment between you and this defendant.
Anse Havey?"
There was a moments dead silence
| in the courtroom. and Anse saw Jua-
nita's face go white Then ne saw her
! finger nails whiten as they lay in her
! lap and a sudden flush spread to her
face.
She looked toward the Judge. and at
once the lawyer for the defense was
on his feet with the old objection:
THE question is irrelevant"
Then, while counsel tilted with each
other, the girl drew a long breath,
and the man whose life was in the
balance turned pale, too, not because
of this, but becSuse the woman he
loved had been asked the question
which was more to him than life and
death-a question he had never dared
to ask himself.
Il think, ruled the court. the ques-
ton is relevant as going to prove the
credibility OF the witness"
So she must answer.
The prisoners finger nails bit into
his palms and he smothered a low
oath between his clenched teeth, but
Juanita Holland only looked at the
cross-examiner with a clear-eyed and
serene glance of scorn under which he
seemed to shrivel. She replied with
the dignity of young queen who can
afford to ignore insults from the gut
| ter.
None whatever"
The defendant sat back in his chair
he had been struck by a thunderbolt.
! He knew that his case was won, and
yet as he saw her leave the witness
stand and the courtroom. he felt sicker
at heart than he had felt since he
| could remember. He would almost
have preferred condemnation with the
hope against hope left somewhere
deep in his heart that there slept in
hers an echo to his unuttered love.
The question he had never dared to
ask she had answered-answered IN
der oath. and liberty seemed now a
very barren gift
When he had been acquitted and
was going out he saw figure in con-
sultation with the prosecutor figure
which had not been inside the doors
during the trial 1t was Mr.. Trevor of
| Louisville and he was testify saying:
"Oh, well, there are more ways OF
killing a cat than by choking it with
butter"
Anse Havey did not require the in.
depreciation Of an oracle for that
cryptic comment He knew that the
effort to dispose of him would not
end with his acquittal.
Juanita was going away to enlist
her staff OF teachers and arrange for
the equipment of the little hospital
and Anse did not tell her of his inse
cGrity.
You'll promise to be very careful,
while I'm gone, won't your she de
manded, as they sat together the night
before she left
I'll try to last till you get back he
smiled. He was sitting with a pipe in
his hand-a pipe which had gone out
and been forgotten.
J In the darkness of the porch every
thing was vague but herself. She
seemed to him to be luminous by some
light of her own. She was a very
wonderful and desirable star shining
far out of reach of his world
Suddenly she laughed. and he
: asked:
What is tt?"
Il was just thinking what a fool
was when l came here" she answered
Did you know that brought a piano
with me as far as Peril? It's been
there over year"
"A piano!" he echoed. then they
| both laughed.
81 might as well have tried to bring
along the Philadelphia city hail. she
admitted. Just the same. there have
; been times when it would have meant
a lot to me, an awful lot, if l could
have had that piano. l don't know
whether music means so much to you
but to me"
81 know" he broke in. 81 some
times low that life amt much else ex
cept the summin' up of the things a
Teller dreams. Music is like dreams
it makes dreams. Yes. know some
thin about that"
She went away and. though she was
not long gone. her absence seemed in
terminabIe to Anse Havey. He met
her at the train on her return with a
starved idolatry in his eyes. and to
gether they rode back across the
ridge.
But when she entered the building
which had been the first schoolhouse