The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-10-27

| tFtlS buI gbu Htttli
look ~ Mortified. You're not dead
you know; and there were no obitu
aries in the newspapers, or anythin!
like that"
The man got upon his feet rather
uns$eadly.
That's the limit" he said defini
lively. I'm man now. Corona; too
much Of q man, hope, to hide behint
another mans grave. I'm going back
to Brewster, today"
The young woman made a quaint
little grimace at him. How are yoU
! going to get theref' she asked. Its
twenty miles. and the walking Is aw
| fully bad-in spots"
"But | must 80. Can't you see
what everybody will say of me?-that
| was too cOwardly to face the music
when my time came? Nobody will be-
lieve that I wasn't consenting party
| TO this hide-away,"
"Sit down." she commanded calmly
and when he obeyed: From day to
day. since l began coming out here,
John, I've been trying to rediscover
the man whom / met just once, one
evening over year ago, at Cousin
Adda's house in Guthrieville: l can't
find him-he's gone"
Corona !" he said. "Then you rec
ognized me?''
"Not ut first. But after while
hiv1O IN nd 70
you told me-about Miss Richlander.
you know, and the hint you gave me
of your trouble-dld the rest"
"Then you knew-or you thought
I was q criminal?"
She nodded, and her gaze was rest
ing upon the nearby gravel heaps.
Cousin AIDA wrote me. But that
made no difference. I didn't know
whether you had done the things they
said you had, or not. What I did
know was that you had broken your
shackles In some way and were try
ing to get free. You were, weren't
you"
II suppose so; in some blind fash
ion. But it is you who have set me
free, Corona. 1t began that night In
Guthrieville when I stole one of your
gloves; 1t wasn't anything you said |;
1t was what you SO evidently believed
and lived. And out here: was sim
ply a raw savage when you first saw
me. I had tumbled headlong into the
abyss Of the new and the elemental,
and IL I am trying to scramble out
now on the side Of honor and clean
manhood. it is chiefly because you
have shown me the way"
"When did I ever, Johny'-with an
up-glance Of the gray eyes that was
almost wistful.
always, and with q wisdom that
makes me almost afraid of you. For
example, there was the night when I
was fairly on the edge Of letting Jib-
hey stay in the mine and go mad If
he wanted to: you dashed me with the
one word that made me save his life
instead of taking 1t. How did you
know that was the one word to say?"
SLOW do we know anything" she
inquired softly. "The moment brings
it's own inspiration. It broke my
heart to see what you could be. and
to think that you might not be 1t,
after all. But came out here this
morning to talk about something else.
What are you going to do when you
are able to leave Sunrise Gulch?"
'The one straightforward thing
there Is for me to do. shall go back
to Lawrenceville and take my medi-
cine"
Sand after that?'
"That is for you to say. Corona.
Would you marry a convict?"
"You are not guilty.
THAT Is neither here nor there. They
will probably send me to prison. just
the same, and the stigma will be mine
to wear for the remainder of my life.
I can wear it now, thank God! But to
pass it on to you-and to your chill
dren, Corona II could get
my own consent to that, you couldn't
get yours"
"Yes, could, John: got 1t the first
time colonel-daddy brought me out
here and let me see you. You were
out Of your head. and you thought you
were talking to Billy Starbuck-in the
automobile on the night when you were
going with him to the fight at the dam.
It made me 60 down on my two knees,
John, and kiss your poor, hot hands"
He slipped his one good arm around
her and drew her close.
"Now I can go back like man and
Eight 1t through to the end" he exulted
soberly. "Jibbey will take me know
he is wearing himself out trying to
make me believe that he can wait, and
that Verda understands, though he
won't admit it. And when it Is all
over, when they have done their worst |
70 me"
With a quick little twist she broke |
away from the encircling arm.
John, dear" she said, and her voice |
vas trembling between a laugh and a |
sob, I'm the wickedest, wickedest |
that ever lived and breathed-
md the happiest! I knew what you
would do, but I couldn't resist the
emptation to make you say it. Lis
en-: this morning cotcnel-daddy got a
light-letter from Billy Starbuck. You
lave been wondering why Billy never
.ame out mere to see you-it was be-