The Irish standard., 1920-04-17

VI MOCkduS 0mUlClOU Ut LnlS JuuCLuTS
might yet have brought about q re-
cantation.
"Tm glad you do, Mr.. Cullen.
I think myself It was the only course
he could have taken" He hung peril
eusly upon the response; It would ei.
theF Justify or condemn his present
attitude.
"That's probably why he took it."
said Mr.. Cullen. "Oh, I'm fair enough
- him. Mr.. Hilliard. but as for judg-
nsnt-" He shook his head firmly.
what made him go to Francef"
Hilliard sat back. The gates Of
truth Changed shut.
'sThat came to him az the logical
course" he said shortly. He'd met
with some brother adventurers 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 a
fancy to him. As you undoubtedly
know, he spoke French like a native,
and that made 1t easy for him. France
10 land Of papers, and Of records;
and papers and records can be Great
cd, shufaed-when there's a reason.
The reason was that republic need
ed men-and the lieutenant was will
ing to be forger If that were a con-
dition to his being patriot. His con-
ne <s,fo oft ko eok
cry able-bodied man IN the service Of
France. But at that time, the war
was still rather exclusive az far as
Americans were concerned. So that
Dicky Morgan disappeared from earth
and there was a new soldier Of the
sixty-ninth Territorials by the name
Of Pierre Dut0ut Peter No
body"
"What!" said Mr.. Cullen.
Hilliard shrugged his shoulders.
II said he told me much about him
self. He sailed under his own name.
and 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. It was the possibility
Of losing himself utterly that first ap-
pealed to him. And there must have
been a good cause"
"Yes," said Mr.. Cullen absently.
'sThere 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 could gather" said
Hilliard, "he had been practically
er ostracized here. Is
that correct?" He noted that Angela
hinched 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! dadi" 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 billiard, plung-
ing doggedly into his narrative. "But
he left town, so he told me, in a
tremendous revulsiop Of feeling. His
one ambition was to make something
Of himself, to wash out the past-to
Justify his existence. And he went
overseas with tile idea Of genuine
service and sacrifice. And very soon.
terribly Soon during night
attack they got him." Hill
lard paused effectively. '"There
wasn't chance in a hundred for him
, to recover, and he knew 1t. And then
It came to him, blindingly and desper-
ately, that the wOrld-that is, the
world which had known him in his
1ailures-w0uld never hear what he
had done. He had made his sacri-
6ce, and It was useless. In hospital,
he was Pierre DutOut, you see .
and between that character, and his
own, was the barrier Of the subter-
fuge he had grasped 30 eagerly-his
alias, and his false record. No one
would have any reason to doubt that
b wasn't what he purported to be.
He craved to tell someone; to send
back q message to his old friends
and I happened to be there-and he
eondded In me. And here I am, Mr..
Cullen. Bringing credentials. Now,
n the drst place. have Q photograph
q him. taken from his original pass
port" He produced 1t from his pock.
o. and offered 1t to Mr.. Cullen. 'Is
there any mistake. sir7 Or 10 It the
Dick Morgan you known
NJ. Cullen switched on . standing
lamp; Angela hid her face. and shrank
back from the white electric glare.
"Yes-yes." He gave the tiny pic.
ture to his daughter. There's no 4ues.
| don about It, 3ir. Hilliard."
THAT'S Dick" said Angela agon.
isedly.
with his signature. Of course-you
recognize 1t, do your
TITS his handwriting fast enough, y
| conceded Mr.. Cullen. He looked up al
| Hilliard, and his brows were furrow.