The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1922-03-24

Il -s44f
G; When would it be, he demanded
then: before spring, she promised at
last. But that was all .he<could make
her say. And SO he let her 50.
The next evening, in the moonlight,
she drove him to lPetoskey. he had
messages to send and preferred TO
trust the telegraph office in the larger
town. - :..a.. : tszs. j.
~ . - Is II
Alan was driving northward along
the long, sandy peninsula which sep
arates the blue waters Of Grand Trav-
erse from Lake Michigan; and, think
ing of Constance, he knew that she
was near. He not only had remem-
bered that she would be north at Har-
Dor Point this month; he had seen In
one of the Petoskey papers that she
and her mother were at the Sheriff.
summer home. His business now was
taking him nearer them than he had
been at any time before; and. il he
wished to weaken, he might convince
himself that lie might learn from her
circumstances which would aid him In
his task, But he was not going to her
for help; that was following in his ia
Tiers footsteps. When he knew every
thing, then-not till then-he could 60
to her; for then he would know exact
w what was upon him and what he
should do. ~: A.. H..
i His visits to the people named ON
those sheets written by his father had
been confusing at first; he had had
great difficulty in tracing some OF
them at all; and, afterward, he could
uncover no certain connection either
between them and Benjamin Corvet or
between themselves. But recently, he
had been succeeding better in this lat
ter l.. -"
He had seen-he reckoned them over
again-fourteen Of the twenty-one
named originally on Benjamin Cor
vets lists; that is, he had seen either
the individual originally named, or the
surviving relative written in below the
name crossed off. He had found that
the crossing out Of the name meant
that the person was dead, except In
the case Of two who had left the coun-
try and whose whereabouts were as
unknown to their present relatives as
they had been to Benjamin Corvet,
and the case Of one other, who was
in an insane asylum. ;..st. . = : = 4. - =,
He had found that no one OF the
persons whom lie saw had known Ben
jamin C0rvet personally; many OF
them did not know him at all, the
others knew him only as a name.
But. when Alan proceeded, always
there was one connotation with, each
Of the original names; always one cir
cumstance bound all together. When
he had established that circumstance
as influencing the fortunes Of the first
i: two on his lists, he had said to him
self, as the blood pricked queerly I'M
der the skin, that the fact might be
mere coincidence. When he .estab
lished it also as affecting the fate OF
the third and of the fourth and OF
the fifth, such explanation no lo4gel
sufficed; and he found it in common
3 to all fourteen, sometimes as the de-
Gliding factor Of their fate, sometimes
as only slightly affecting them, but
always It was there. - g.
In how many different ways, in what
strange, diverse manifestations that
single circumstance had spread t.
these people whom Alan had inter
viewed! No two Of them had been
affected alike, lie reckoned, as he went
over his notes of them. Now he was
going to trace those consequences to
another. TO what sort Of place would
it bring him today and what would
he find there? He knew only that #
; would be quite distinct from the rest
The driver turned aside from the
road across a cleared field where ruts
showed the passing Of many previous
vehicles; crossing this, they entered
the woods. Little fires for cooking
burned all about them, and nearer
were parked an immense number. OF
farm wagons and buggies, with horses
embarrassed and munching grain. Al
ans guide found a place among these
for his automobile, and they got out
and went forward on foot. All about
them, seated upon the moss or walk.
ing about, were Indians, family
groups among which children played
q Alan saw among these looking on,
the bright dresses and sport coats OF
summer visitors who had come tn
watch. The figure Of girl among
these caught his attention, and he
started; then swiftly he told himself
that it was only his thinking Of Con.
stance Sheriff. that made him believe
this was she. But now she had seen
him; she paled, then as quickly
flushed, and leaving the group she had
been with, came toward him. y,
He had no choice now whether he
would avoid her or not; aud his hap.
piness at seeing her held him stupid,
watching her. Her eyes were very
bright and with something more than
friendly greeting; there was happi.
ness in them too. His throat shut
together as he recognized this, and his
hand closed warmly. over the small,
trembling hand which. she put, out
to him. All his conscious thought
was lost for the moment in the mere
realization Of her presence; he stood,
holding her hand. oblivious that there