The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1917-01-04

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His arms went. around her hungrily.
as III he would draw her to him in spite
OF everything; yet he kept them so en-
circling, without touching her. like a
benediction that would enwrap the very
soul Of his beloved. Looking down In
to her face he breathed softly:
"Oh, my dear, IL seems as IL l must
hold you close and kiss you'll"
She looked up with bated breath, and
thought she understood. Then, with q
lovely gesture of surrender, she whis-
pered: Il can trust you" Her lashes
were dropping now over her eyes.
Not until you know ALL" he said,
and put her gently from him into the
great arm chair, with a look of rever-
ence and self ~abnegation she felt she
never would forget.
Then tell me quickly" she said, a
swift fear making her weak from head
to foot She laid her hand across her
heart, as IL to help steady its beating.
He wheeled forward the leather
couch opposite her chair. and sat down.
his head dropping, his eyes down. He
dreaded to begin.
She waited for the revelation, her
eyes upon his bowed head.
Finally he lifted his eyes and saw her
look, and a tender light came into his
face.
1T is q strange story he said. Il
don't know what o will think of me
after it is told, but / want you to know
that, laundering, stupid, even criminal,
though you may think me, / would
sooner die this minute than cause you
one more breath of suffering"
Her eye lit up with a wonderful
light, and the ready tears sprang into
them, tears that sparkled through the
sunshine of a great joy that Illuminated
her whole face.
please go on" she said softly, and
added very gently, Il believe YOU"
But even with those words in his
ears the beginning was not easy. Cor
don drew a deep breath and launched
forth.
II am not the man you think" he
said, and looked at her to see how she
would take it. My name is notiGeorge
Hayne. My name Is Cyril Gordon"
AS one might launch an arrow at a
beloved victim and long that 1t may
not strike the. mark, so he sent his
truth home to her understanding, and
waited in breathless silence, hoping
against hope that this might not turn
her against him
OH" she breathed softly, as if some
puzzle We're solving itself. Obi
this time not altogether in surprise, nor
as IL the fact were displeasing. She
looked at him expectantly for further
revelation, and he plunged into his
story headlong.
I'm a member of the secret service,
Headquarters here in Washington
and day before yesterday Twas sent to
New York on an important errand. A
message of great import written in a
private code had been stolen from one
OF u men. l was sent to get it be-
fore they could decipher ii. The mes
sage involved matters. of such tremen-
dous significance that l was ordered to
go under an assumed name, n on no
account to let any know Of my
mission. My orders were to get the
bringing 1t with all haste to Washing
ton. / went with the full understand
ing that | might even be called upon to
risk my life"
He looked up. The girl sat wide
eyed, with hands clasped together at
her throat.
He hurried on, not to cause her any
needless anxiety.
II won't weary you with details.
There We're, a good many annoying
~hindrances on the way, which served to
make me nervous, but / carried out the
program laid down by the chief and
succeeded in getting possession of the
message and making my escape from
the house Of the man who had stolen
1t. AS / closed the door behind me,
knowing that it could be but a matter
Of a few seconds at longest before six
furious men would be on my track,
who would stop at nothing to get back
what / had taken from them, / saw a
carriage standing almost before the
house. The driver took me for the man
he awaited, and | lost no time in taking
advantage of his mistake. / jumped in,
telling him to- drive as fast as he could.
Il intended to give him further direc-
tions, but he had evidently had them
from another quarter, n / thought j
could call to him as soon as we were
out of the dangerous neighborhood. To
add to my situation 1 soon became
sure that In automobile and a motor
cycle were following me. l recognized
one of the men in the car as the man
who sat opposite to me at the table a
few minutes before. My coachman
drove like mad, while l hurried to Sc
cure the message so that if / We're
caught it would not be found, and to
put on a slight disguise-some eye
brows and things the chief had given
ua Before l knew whero l was, the
carriage had stopped before a build
ing. At first l thought it was a prison
and the car n motor cycle came to
a halt just behind me. / felt that L was
pretty well trapped"
The girl gave a low moan, and Cora
don, not daring to vol up, hurried on
with his story.
There isn't much more to tell that
you do not already know. l soon dis
covered the building was a church, not
a prison. What happened afterward
was the result of my extreme pertur-
baton of mind, | suppose. l cannon ac-
count for my stupidity and subsequent
cowardice in any other way. Neither
was it possible for, me to explain mat
ters satisfactorily at any time during
the whole mixup, on account of the
trust which ! carried, and which l
could on no account reveal even in con-
fidence, or put in jeopardy in the
slightest degree. Naturally at first my
commission and how to get safely
through it all was the only thing Of
importance to me. If you keep his
in mind perhaps you will be able to
Judge me less harshly. My only thought
when the carriage came to a halt was
how to escape from those two pur-
suers, and that more or less pervaded
my mind during what followed so that
ordinary matters = which at another
time would have been at once clear to
me, meant nothing at all. You see,
the instant that carriage came to q