The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1917-12-06
A LOYAL LOVE.
BY EDNA LEE WATSON.

| copyright, 1911 Western Newspaper Unioni
They are yours, believer
"They are nine"
The man spoke with steely cold pre-
clsion. There was sneer In his tones
D menace In his evil eyes. She mel
his fierce glance with unwsverint
mien, with dlffidence and contempt
that stung him to the quick-and sh(
the bride of a month!
II congratulate you on your Iowerj
Of deceit" he almost Kissed.
| Adrlenne Mercer raised herself 4
her full height. Unhinching1y she con
fronted him, chilling scorn In her beau
hful face.
IF you have discovered what yot
might have known, what the worlt
could have told you long ago, that \
loved the man who gave me these tri
fes before / met you, It is no revela
ton Of deceit. I know not what bale
full power you held over my poor IA
ther, dead but week, that he drov(
me to wed you, because you forced hin
TO do so. / never felgned to even re-
Bpect you. do so less than ever, now
that you have dared to profane thes(
sacred relies by striving to humiliatt
me with their abstraction"
A model wife, truly" grated Judge
Rolfe Mercer harshly.
II am not that to you; never VIII
be-" she returned clearly. "You tool
me from my happiness to cater to youi
pride or vanity, I know not what.
have never hidden from you that I wal
IN unwilling sacrifice"
He could have struck that fair face
In his mad rage. He could have killed
Vance Orton, had he stood before him
All impotent, in her case. was the rd
sistless force that had crushed polit
Ical foes, that humbled his friends and
destroyed those who blocked his path
"Have carew he uttered through
his set teeth. 81 shall remember thi(
fond lover Of yours"
"IIe never was that. No word save
Of friendship ever passed between us
yet glory in saying that he had mi
whole heart, and never knew. w
two shall never meet again, but az
you may say or do will not Danish (
memory that Is the one solace OF m1
wretchedness."
She replaced the pretty fan, little
cluster Of shriveled roses, photol
graph, some invitation notes, the dead
record Of the one bright passage In hel
girlhood life. in her writing desk
whence the probing hand Of her hus
band had unearthed them.
He came home n day later, flushed
with drink and triumph.
"When you read the evening paper,1
he pronounced In even. but mallcd
freighted tones, "and recognize thu
sudden downfall of your idol and sol(
pattern of perfect manhood, Vance On
ton, you will perhaps comprehend thai
I have not boasted vainly of my pow
er."
Adrlenne read the account Of the de-
scent on a gambling house while III
Inmates We're engaged In n riotous frni
cas. There was the name Of the mad
she loved. The judge before whom
he and others had been brought had
sentenced three OF them. including Or
ton, to six months In the city brlde
well.
Adrlenne then comprehended tho
full, despicable meanness of the mad
she had welded. Before the weel
was out she had summarily left him
She had means of her own and sought
distant seclusion. Then began th(
downward descent of Rolfe Merce1
mercenary judge and crooked polltR
clan. He was ousted from his Judi
rial position for accepting briba
Lower and lower he sank fortune and
! Influence gone, until he became com
mon drunkard and vagabond.
Vance Orton, after his unjust sem
tence, left the city and began new
life in border town In Utah. He wat
D natural leader among men. and be-
came such in the community. He wa,
mayor, judge, and friend of everybody
md idolized by the rough miners oi
the district for his fairness"
One day a ragged, bloated terrified
wretch was brought before him, pro-
tected from the vengeance of half 4
dozen halfbreeds who sought to get a,
him as he was brought into the court
room. At once 0rton recognized him
One of the Indians was shouting on,
the cause of the arrest. Rolfe Mercet
had become a common thief and tramp
had visited the hut where his mothei
lived, had nearly choked her to death
forcing from her the few coins she
possessed. The prisoner covered like
the craven he was, as he recognized
the man who had the power to retalR
nte in full for past injustice.
Suddenly. however, the son OF th(
Indian woman leaped forward, q naked
blade In his hand. Before the officert
could prevent him he had plunged thu
knife into the side Of Mercer, had
leaped through an open window and
was gone.
Care for the man In every way you
can," ordered Orton. "His wife was q
friend Of my friends In the long ago.1
But Mercer was beyond the power Of
human aid.
1t was when he was dead that an Of,
fcer brought to 0rton some papers
found in his clothing. One of thes(
was of peculiar interest to Orton. Foi
the first time he knew that husband
and wife had been parted for years,
The document found was letter adj
dressed to lawyer In distant cityl
It told him that the writer, Mercer,