The Dolores star., 1920-08-13
of furious helplessness. and brought

to be sorry for, and he was. or his
troubles here. I'm not capable of sit
ting as Judge. Instead. sat as con-
ested In that part of his life which
you evidently haven't known about.
and l have. He left here, / think In
December. He hadn't any fixed pur-
pose; all he wanted was to find
place where he could begin over again
on fresh basis, and make n man OF
himself. For that much, at
least. you can give him credit"
And do" said Cullen, approvingly.
Hilliard, swept again by the near
ness of dellverance from his deceits
leaned forward. A strong Endorsement
Of Morgan's ambition ut this juncture
might yet have brought about a re-
cantation.
I'm glad you do. Mr.. Cullen.
think myself it was the only course
he could have taken" He hung peril
ousiy upon the response; it would ell
ther Justify or condemn his present
attitude.
That's probably why he took it."
said Mr.. Cullen. "Oh. I'm fair enough
to him, Mr.. Hilliard but as for judg-
ment-" He shook his head firmly.
What made him 20 to France?"
Hilliard sat back. The gates of
truth changed shut.
That came to him as the logical
course" he said shortly. He'd met
with some brother Adventures In New
York. and they put the Idea into his
head. He had no money. so that he
worked his passage across on the
Mouette, French tramp, In January.
1915. On the other side. he met
lieutenant Of artillery who took
fancy to him. As you undoubtedly
know, he spoke French like a native.
and that made 1t easy for him. France
Is land Of papers. and Of records: !:
and papers and records can be Great
ed. shuffled-when there's a reason.
The reason was that republic need
| ed men-and the lieutenant was will
ing to be a forger II that were a con-
dition to his being patriot. His con-
ception of patriotism was to enlist ev-
cry able-bodied man IN the service Of
| France. But at that time. the war
was still rather exclusive as far as
Americans were concerned. So that
Dicky Morgan disappeared from earth
and there was n new soldier of the
sixty-ninth Territorals by the name
of Pierre Dutout Peter No
body"
What" said Mr.. Cullen
Hilliard shrugged his shoulders.
81 said he told me much about him
self. He sailed under his own name,
and I dare say you can verify that
in New York. But when he landed,
he took an alias. He had wanted to
start over again, unhampered. Moth
ing could have been more opportune
than this chance See what 1t gave
him! He simply dropped out of the
world. 1t was the possibility
Of losing himself utterly that first ap-
pealed to him. And there must have
been good cause"
Yes" said Mr.. Cullen absently,
There was. But always the
atrical, Dick was. That was SO like
him-to do just that sort of thing. and
to do 1t just that way"
"As nearly as I could gather" said
Hilliard, "he had been practically
f.. er ostracized here. Is
that correct?" He noted that Angela
fiinched at the suggestion. and that
her head was dropping very low.
"Y-e-e-s. but there was a good rea
son for it."
"Oh! dad" said Angela. pleadingly
below her breath. "Please don't say
things Like that-I can't stand any
more"
what his offense may have been
don't know" said Hilliard. plung
ing doggedly into his narrative. "But
he left town, so he told me. in 8
tremendous revulsion of feeling. His
one ambition was to make something
of himself to wash out the paste
justify his existence. And he wen,
overseas with the Idea Of genuine
service and sacrifice. And very soon
terribly soon during nigh
attack they got him." Hill
lard paused effectively. "There
| wasn't chance in hundred for hin
to recover, and he knew it. And ther
1t came to him. blindingly and desper
ately, that the word-that is. the
world which had known him in his
failures-would never hear what ht
had done. He had made his sacri
flee, and II was useless. In hospital
he was Pierre Dutout, you see
and between that character. and hi.
own. was the barrier of the subter
fuge he had grasped so eagerly-hi:
alias. and his false record. No on,
would have any reason to doubt tina
he wasn't what he purported to be
He craved to tell someone; to sent
back message to his old friends
and I happened to be there-and h,
confided in me. And here I am. Mr.
Cullen. Bringing credentials. Now
In the first place. have u photograph
of him. taken from his original pass
port" He produced 1t from his pock