Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1918-02-01
ALOYAL LOVE.
BY EDNA LEE WATSON.


his fierce glance with unwavering
mien. with diffidence and contempt
that stung him to the auckland she
the bride of month!
II congratulate you on your powers
OF deceit" he almost Kissed.
Adrienne Mercer raised herself to
her full height. Unflinchingly she con-
frOnted him, chilling scOrn in her beau
tiful face.
IF you have discovered what you
might have known. what the world
could have told you long ago, that
loved the man who gave me these tri-
hes before l met you, 1t 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 drove
me to wed you, because you forced him
to do so. / never feigned to even re-
spect you. do so less than ever, now
that you have dared to profane these
sacred relics by striving to humiliate
me with their abstraction"
A model wife. truly" grated Judge
ROlfe Mercer harshly.
Il am not that to you; never will
be-" she returned clearly. "YOu took
me from my happiness to cater to your
pride or vanity, / know not what.
have never hidden from you that was
an unwilling sacrifice"
He could have struck that fair face
In his mad rage. He could have killed
Vance Orion. had he stood before him.
All impotent, In her case. was the re-
sistless force that had crushed pOlit-
ical foes, that humbled his friends and
destroyed those who blocked his path.
"Have a care!" he uttered through
his set teeth. II shall remember this
fond lover Of yours! !"
"He never was that. No word save
Of friendship ever passed between us,
yet / glory in saying that he had my
whole heart. and never knew. We
two shall never meet again, but all
you may say or do will not Danish a
memory that Is the one sOlace Of my
wretchedness."
She replaced the pretty fan. little
cluster of shriveled roses, a photo
graph, some invitation notes, the dead
record Of the one bright passage In her
gfrlhoOd life, In her writing desk,
whence the probing hand Of her hus-
band had unearthed them.
He came home day later, flushed
with drink and triumph.
"When you read the evening paper"
he pronounced in even, but malice
freighted tones. land recognize the
sudden downfall Of your idol and sole
pattern Of perfect manhood, Vance Or |
ton. you will perhaps comprehend that |
have not boosted vainly of my pow
|, Adrienne' read the account Of the de-
scent on a gambling house while its
inmates wereV <aged In a riotous fra
cas-. There was the name of the man
she loved. The judge before whom
he and others had been brought had
three Of them. including Or
ton, to six months in the city bride
well.
Adrienne then cOmprehended the
full, despicable meanness Of the man
she had welded. Before the week
was out she had summarily left him.
She had means of her own and sought
downward descent of Rolfe Mercer,
judge and crooked pOliti-
clan. He was Ousted from his judi
cial position for accepting a bribe.
Lower and lower he sank, fortune and
Influence gone, until he became COM
mon drunkard and vagabOnd.
Vance Orton, after his unjust SEN
tence, left the city and began a new
life In a border town in Utah. He was
q natural leader among men, and be-
came such in the community. He was
mayor. Judge, and friend of everybody.
md idolized by the rough miners of
the district for his fairness"
One day ragged. bloated. terrified
wretch was brought before him, pro-
tected from the vengeance Of half a
dozen halfbreeds who sought to get at
him as he was brought into the court
room. At once Orion recognized him.
One of the Indians was shouting out
the cause of the arrest. ROlfe Mercer
had become a common thief and tramp,
had visited the hut where his mother
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 retail
ate in full for past injustice.
Suddenly, however. the son of the
Indian woman leaped forward, q naked
blade in his hand. Before the officers
could prevent him he had plunged the
knife into the side of Mercer, had
eaped through an open window and
vas gone.
Care for the man in every way you
,an." ordered Orton. His wife was a
friend of my friends I'm the long ago"
But Mercer was beyond the power Of
human aid.
1t was when he was dead that an Of
icer brought to Orion some papers
found in his clothing. One Of these
vas of peculiar interest to Orion. For
he first time he knew that husband
md wife had been parted for years.
The document found was letter ad-
dressed TO lawyer In distant city.
/ told him that the writer, Mercer,
vas destitute and Ill. The unseen mis-
i've pleaded with the lawyer to influ-
nee his client. his wife, to assist him