Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-06-03

he groaned to himself in anguish. Con-
fession, restitution, repentance - of
what avail would these be?
Stella Dysart might forgive. but
could she forget? Never would she take
to her bosom her brothers slayer of
that he felt assured. And. to do the
man justice, that innate sense of right
and wrong which is implanted in the
worst of our race made him recoil with
horror from the consequences of such
a union.
And yet he loved her-how deeply.
how sincerely, he began to realize now
that this bloody barrier was set be-
tween them. Could he give her up?
Never.
So he began to temporiZe. Nothing
was known. His crime could never he
discovered. Richard Dysart was long
ago food for the asvogels. Stella need
never learn the truth unless he chose
to tell 1t. Let her Rick be forgotten. as
he would be in time, swiftly sinking
out of sight In the maelstrom of life,
merely another name added to the long
roll of the missing.
Tossed and torn by such conflicting
agonies of thought. the lurid hours went
by for Rossiter Kane until 1T wanted
but two days of the climax of the fes-
ttvitieS He had seen Stella but once
since his declaration. and then she was
not alone, but he knew that she would
think it strange If he did not call,
Then arose another dilemma She
ards picture. and what could he say?
His soul shrank from the thought of
more deceit; he had meant that their
page Of life should be henceforth white
and unsullied by falsehood or guile.
So he spared for time. and wrote her
daily. urging his duties as host in ex-
cuse for not being where his heart was,
and telling her also that, in fulfllment
of his promise, he was going to Lon
don for a. few hours to set on foot in
QuirieS about her brother.
Not that he expected any news-the
dead do not come back-but the mans
death might possibly have been bruited
at the Cape. in which case 1t would be
well for him to know the precise ma
ture of the reports. Then. too. he want
ed to be able to say truthfuay that he
had actually set the sleuths at work.
Arrived In the city, he went first of
all to Lloyds, where he spent a morn
ing porting over the files of all the
South African papers. Not syllable.
not line. could he find bearing upon
the disappearance of Richard Dysart.
One solitary Item alone rewarded his
close and anxious scrutiny. and that re-
ported the locating OF a new diamond
field on the Moot river
"Ah," he said to himself, then 1t has
leaked outu He knew the hateful spot
only too we'll
Then he visited we'll known private
inquiry Office in a street off the Strand.
where he left minute instructions for
prosecuting the search at the Cape.
Spare no expense; use the cable
freely: send your best detectives; find
the young man. alive or dead, and send
me the smallest item of news"
Such a commission. from a man of
such social and commercial prominence.
was safe to be worked up quickly and
thoroughly. Kane felt that he ran no
risk in thus displaying his personal in
terest in what was. after ALL very
natural manner.
The mere act of being busy. even on
this partially fictitious errand. served
to steady his nerves, and he returned
to the Cedars fortified for his inter
view with his affianced. With sort
of blind defiance of fate he determined
to let matters drift for few days.
Stella he saw on the morning after
his return. and was lavishly rewarded
for his quick compliance with her
maiden request.
How good and thoughtful you are"
she exclaimed. the lovelight in her
eyes. IF you were one of us--if you
were Kicks own brother-you could
not do more"
The bitter-sweet of her praises moved
and thrilled him more deeply than he
would have believed possible one short
year ago. and again his conscience
smote him. But he was none the less
alert to seize the opening thus afforded
him.
Remember. you have yourself given