The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1920-05-14

to be sorry for. and he was. or his
troubles here. I'm not capable ut sit
ting as judge. Instead. sat as con-
fessor. SO that you'll be more inter-
ested in that part of his life which
you evidently haven't known about,
hand l have. lie left here, ] think, In
December. He hadn't any fixed pur-
pose; all ne wanted was to find a
place where he could begin over again
on fresh basis, and make man OF
himself. For that much, at
least, you can give him credit"
"And do" said Cullen, approyingly.
billiard, swept again by the near
ness Of deliverance from his deceits,
| leaned forward. A strong Endorsement
of Morgan's ambition at this Juncture
might yet have brought about a re-
cantatlon.
"I'm glad you do. Mr.. Cullen. /.
I think myself 1t was the only course
| he could have taken" He hung peril
ously upon the response; 1t would ell
Their Justify or condemn his present
attitude.
that's probably why he took IT,"
said Mr.. Cullen. "Oh, I'm fair enough
to him, Mr.. billiard, but as for judy
ment-" He shook his head firmly.
"What made him go 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 a
! lieutenant Of artillery who took a
fancy to him. AS you undoubtedly
know, he spoke French like native,
and that made 1t easy for him. France
is a land of papers, and of records !;
and papers and records can be Great
| ed, shuffled-when there's reason.
The reason was that a republic need
ed men-and the lieutenant was will
ing to be forger IL that were 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
sjxty-ninth Territorials by the name
| Of Pierre Dutout 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 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 it 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 a good cause"
"Yes," said Mr.. Cullen absently
"There was. But always the
|
him-to do just that sort of thing, ant
to do 1t just that way"
"As nearly as l could gather" said
billiard, she had been practically
/. er ostraciZed here. l.
that correct?" lie noted that Angela
finched at the suggestion, and thai
her head was dropping very low.
"Y-e-e-s, but there was 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 billiard, plung
ing doggedly into his narrative. "Bu
he left town, so he told me, In Q
tremendous revulsion of feeling. HI:
one ambition was to make something
of himself, to wash out the paste
justify his existence. And he went
overseas with the idea of genuine
service and sacrifice. And very soon
terribly soon during night
attack -. they got him." Hill
lard paused effectively. "Thers
wasn't chance In hundred for him
to recover, and he knew 1t. And ther
1t came to him, blindingly and desper
ately, that the world-that is. the
world which had known him in his
failures--would never hear what he
had done. He had made his lsacri
fee, and II 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 so eagerly-his
alias, and his false record. No one
would have any reason to doubt tina,
he wasn't what he purported to be
He craved to tell someone; to send
back a message to his old friends
and happened to be there-and he
confided in me. And here am, Mr.
Cullen. Bringing credentials. Now
In the first place, have photograph
Of him, taken from his original pass
port" He produced 1t from his peck
ct. and offered 1t to Mr.. Cullen. 'Ii
there any mistake. sir? Or Is IL the