Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1925-01-30
ROCKVILLE MARYLAND. FRIDAY MORNING.

sand dollars in notes This he mailf1
to himself at post office In the West
Nobody at Shoshone station knew any
thing of John Phayre's eastern con
nections.
Then John went back TO the hotel.
Are you going fishing again, John?"
inquired Dorothy affectiOnately, putting
her arms round him. 81 wish you
wouldn't fish above the weir, John.
You know guide was killed there
last fall, when his boat drifted over
the rapids"
"Oh, can take care Of myself, Dor
othy," answered John, smiling. 81
wish you cared for fishing, Dorothy,
After we are married l shall initiate
you into the joys of fly fishing"
1t was something of an effort to
John to play the game. And the real
lzatlon that the girls affection for him
was simulated one made it doubly
hard. But at last he was gone, and,
half an hour later, he sat in his boat
above the weir, casting his line.
He fshed for about two hours,
thinking hard. AS every fly fisherman
knows, the sport is conducive to men
tai exercise. He had fully made up
his mind when the two hours were
ended and Ave large trout lay In the
boat, He would go back to Shoshone
Station.
The thought of Inez was curlously
inslstent with him that day. Igno-
rant? Unlettered? At least she was
the type Of woman who would always
be true to her chosen mate. And he
must give Dorothy to the man she
loved. Poor little Dorothyi He was
able to think of her now without n
shadow Of regret. He had loved her,
but the discovery of her love for Ar
mold had shown him that his heart lay
westward, where he had once thought
II lay. The faces Of lnez and Dorothy
rose up before his mental eye, as in II
picture. He scanned them carefully
He saw himself and Dorothy, he grow
ing old, she approaching the mature
beauty Of middle life, discontinued
trying to fight down her dissatisfaction
with llfe-then Inez and the placid
current Of their life together on the
great plains.
He threw his hat into the boat and
put on cap which he had brought in
his pocket He put his fishing tackle
into the boat also. Then, with his
knife, he cut the rope that tied the
craft to the tree trunk. Afterward,
holding the severed end In his hands,
he frayed the strands, 50 that the rope
should seem to have snapped rather
than to have been cut.
Having done this, he released 1t and
let II glide down the stream, and stood
watching It.
It drifted slowly, gathering impetus.
Then the river bore 1t faster upon Its
breast, and 1t spun no more, but head
ed straight forward toward the treach-
erous rapids beneath him Faster and
faster; now It was going full speed
toward the rocks. How like his life !
How like Johns lifel
1t shot forward as swiftly as an
arrow, stopped for a moment, spun
broadside on, and then, poislng Itself
upon the brink, 1t leaped down among
the foamy boulders to the placid lake
below.
John stood and looked after It. The
irrevOcable act was done. There was
no going back now.
And he did not want to go back. He
had set Dorothy free. After a decent
interval OF mourning she would marry
Arnold. The hundred thousand dol
lars that he had settled upon her
would be quite secure II would afford
the lovers comfortable income, and
leave something over for old Baird.
John Phayre smiled cOntentedly as
he sat upon the banks and let the
warm sun stream on his face.
An hour later he rose to his feet and
made his way across country five
miles, to where the Transcontinental
halted to take on water As he reached
the place the train was already ap-
pearing In the distance. II slowed up,
and John sprang aboard
Four days later John Phayre de-
scended at Shoshone Station. buck
board, driven by a woman, was walt
Ing there John looked into the face
Of IneZ.
Have you come back to stay. John1"
she whispered.
For ever and ever, Inez," answered
John, kissing her.
And as they drove Off over the al
kali plains no thought OF the past dis
turbed him, or Inez, either, for each
was lmmeasurably happy In the knOwl-
edge of the others love.