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Show Townsend Cyrus V Brady y LLUSTPATOfiS $Y fxvfoRf ftY(triwir Aicwimu nmutHim ctfAT oxiiah SYNOPSIS. A young woman cast ashore on a loneinhabitant, a ly island, finds a solitary like a savage young white toman, dressed and unable speak in any known language. She decides to educate him and She mold his mind to her own ideals. finds evidence that leads her to believe of Charnock Revell man is John that the and that he was cast ashore Virginia, child. a was Brenton Katharine when a highly specialized productonofthe asexleading probuniversity. Her writings lem attracted wide attention. The son of becomes infatuated a with her and they decide to put her theories into practice. With no other cerego away mony than A a handshake,on they his yacht refew days together. professed lofty veals to her that lie only he atIdeals to possess her. While drunk her. She knocks him down tempts to kiss and leaves him unconscious,launch. escaping in the darkness in a gasoline on an During island. a storm she is cast ashore a Three years teaching gives the man Their love for each splendid education.when rescues her he other is revealed from a cave where she had been imprisoned by an earthquake. A ship is sighted it. and they light a beacon to summon the beacon Langford, onhishis yacht, sights woman The in. and orders yacht put tells her comyacht and recognizes the that a man on board had injured panion recogher in the greatest way. Langford nizes Katharine. He tells the man that and his been narrowly she had mistress, scapes being killed. multi-millionai- re CHAPTER XVI. (Continued.) not entered into his mind the faintest possibility that she could ever be or ever have been other than what she seemed, a daughter of the gods in truth, in sweetness and in purity. And this strange man had come from out the world and proclaimed her his misabandoned mistress. tress, his cast-ofOnce the clew was given he found more hideous depths of infamy in that word than would have appeared had his been a wiser and more experienced vision. Indeed, so clear and pure was the soul of this woman that a man of the world would have known instantly that there was an explanation, which the child of nature could not see forthcoming. He wanted to be away from her and alone, and he turned as if to plunge into the depths of the forest, but with gentle force she restrained him. You are a man, with a mans power and a mans soul and a mans heart, you cannot fly now. You must stay The question and face the problem. must be pursued to the bitter end. My life and your life depends upon what we do now, perhaps his life, too. O, God, cried the man, recurring I had again to that bitter thought, him in my hands and spared him! But you spared him for my sake, said the woman; think of that. For your sake, declared the man, I would and should have pointedly. f, simple, natural and primitive. Whit- he would have been glad to hurt him per- until he killed him. taker's glance fell upon a well-nigWe went on my yacht yonder three fect woman. The constraining influences of civilization had been so long years ago. I in short I behaved absent that nature had time and op- 'like a brute on it, I will admit. I discovered that he was a mar- portunity to reassert its claim. She modeled. Her ried man, said the woman swiftly at was tall, exquisitely bare arms might have supplied those missing from the Venus of Milo; her He had prolimbs, which the short tunic to her jlficer should hear all. knees left exposed, were perfect in fessed his belief in those views, which, their symmetry and strength; her feet if you have read 'Fate and Destiny, were such as those to which ancient you realize that I entertained. Greece had bowed; her hands were The officer bowed. shapely, graceful, y t strong; her dark And have you abandoned them eyes looked at him fearlessly; her now? he asked. dark hair rose like a somber, cloudy was the firm answer. "Absolutely, crown above her brow. The fierce sun, I am a Christian woman, thank God! the open air, the wild wind had not Thank God, say I, too, continued materially altered the clear, slightly Langford. Yet I was not altogether olive pallor of her face. The woman a sham or a lie. It was true that I had been beautiful before. Now that was a married man. nature had had free sway, she was The lieutenant commander flashed a in a little stood had She nobly lovely. look at him at which the rear of the man at first and the contemptuous he went on. He winced, Langford lieutenant commander had not partic- was determined tobutmake an absoluteshe When her. observed spoke, ularly of the whole affair. . clean breast ly stared He she stepped into the open. It Is true I was a married man, and stared amazed. I was under the spell of Miss hut his of direct intensity Indeed, the Brenton's and of her eloquence glance added a sudden new perception to the woman's faculties and for beauty." I can well understand that, said the first time in years she realized the officer, gravely, as a matter of felthat she was standing before her lows half naked. In one swift mo- course. I thought that marriage meant nothment convention leaped across the and that the old tie might be dising, missing years and caught her in its who arm. The red flashed into her cheek; regarded. I hated the woman Bren-tons Miss so as and bore name, rose my bosom vest her beneath her rude I for as her devotee, disciple, and fell. Her instinct for the moment was to fly. She wished that she had loved her, I will admit, she smiled more than her philosophy, I put on those treasured garments which drearily, she had kept for a scene like this in proposed that we should trample upon that cave all those years, It was too the conventions she had taught me to killed him. Thou shalt not kill! said the womI appeal to you, said the woman, an, softly. turning to Langford, send back the An eye for an eye, and a tooth men. A moment since 1 saved your for a tooth, returned the man. He life. At a word from me he would have and you between you slew my heart. thrown you from him and broken your His death would be no murder, hut back. Be generous. You must. And retribution. this man shall give me a hearing. But it was in part my fault, reYou are safe from him, I promise turned the woman, bravely making her you. confession. What might have been the result of I will never believe it. It cannot this appeal can never be determined, be. for at that moment a new factor enAnd yet it was, but you shall have tered upon the scene, a factor whose the whole wretched story and presence was as surprising and unex- you shall judge. This much I will pected as it was determinative. From say, that though all that he said was out to sea, yet near at hand, came a true, yet I hold myself blameless and muffled detonation, the roar of a innocent. The world judges me heavy gun. Around one of the head harshly, and it may be that you will lands that rose on that side of the is- find its judgment just. Yet I do not land there swept the white sides of hold myself as on trial at this moment, another great ship beside which the but you. I do not understand. yacht, imposing though she was, was a toy. It was the woman who saw it There are many things that you do first. not understand, my friend. Look! she cried. A ship of war, I would that I had been left in iga cruiser. See, from her staff the flag norance. This land is Of the United States. Nay, that is not a mans wish, but a child's. American. I claim it by right of Of one thing I am certain. Lay but a hand upon this And what is that? man, and I will have you hanged for That I should have killed him! murder, Langford. They see us there. Their glasses have searched the shore. Nay, said the woman again, that They have seen this encounter. That is not a childs wish, hut a brutes. gun was a warning. A boat puts off. You said yourself, he flashed at Thank God, we ai saved from you! her, that there were some things a Things had transpired even as she woman could not forgive, and this said. What the cruiser was doing in is one that a man puts in the same those seas, how happened she to be class. there were things as yet unknown, The woman sighed. There occurred but that she was there was apparent. to her at the moment no answer which She had approached the island from was to the stark realism of adequate the other .'de, and had sailed around this fact. The conversation had reached It. Her men nad observed the encoun- an impasse beyond which it could not ter on the shore, which seemed to progress without the full and com' be between natives and persons from plete explanation which now there was a view was in the yacht, which plain to give neither time nor little farther out to sea, and the gun for the boat from opportunity was the had been fired to call attention to the approaching the shore. The woman power of the United States. stepped resolutely down the strand to This put an entirely new face on meet it, and the man, after a slight the whole affair. Matters were taken hesitation, followed her. out of the hands of the parties to the So soon as the boats keel grated on quarrel. The law had come to the is- the bottom in the shallow water land. The islander did not, could not middle-ageofficer rose from the stern know it, but his baffled antagonist sheets and stepped ashore followed realized it immediately. So did the by a younger companion in the uniwoman. At Langfords command, his form of a sergeant of marines. A men, much bewildered at the scene little squad of privates in the bows they had witnessed, went back to landed and fell in line with martial their boat. He himself presently fol- celerity and precision. The officer in lowed after, and stood upon the charge, who wore the white tropic unistrand awaiting the approach of the form of a lieutenant commander, now r cutter which had faced the people on the island who heavy been put away from the white crui- had instinctively divided into two sers side. groups, one on either side of him. Man, she said, softly, this is To the right stood the man and bewhat I had to tell you. hind him the woman, to the left LangHe nodded. A hollow groan burst ford, back of him his crew. It was from his lips. to the latter that the officer first adhe muttered, bro- dressed himself. His mistress, Sir, he began, I am the execukenly. I would not have had you learn tive officer of the United States In this way, and now that you have cruiser Cheyenne, detached on special heard so much, you must hear more, service. We raised this island this she went on, not sparing herself, morning, ran it down, circled it, saw though she might have justly resent- the yacht yonder He paused. ed the word. She was dealing with It is my yacht, sir, the Southern more serious things than words now, That Cross, answered the other. "My hitter though they might be. ship, which is the ship of our country, name is Langford. Glad to meet you, Mr. Langford. stands for law as his for license. I was more sinned against than sin- Mine is Whittaker. The lieutenant commander touched ning. When you have heard all, then his cap as he spoke. Langford lifted you shall judge. This is the test." Would God that it had never been his, and the two shook hands. We saw, continued the lieutenant laid upon me, said the man, hoarsewhat appeared to he had beacon Would commander, the God that ly. some sort of a fracas with the natives, not been lighted on the hill! Nay," returned the woman, gently, and fired a gun to attract attention, thats past praying for. Decision and Capt. Ashby sent this boat party rests with you, but you must not pass ashore under my charge to do whatit until you have heard the whole ever was necessary. Perhaps you can The world holds me stained, explain how you came to be emstory. polluted, it may he said, but I broiled with the natives. And the am not the sinner that it thinks me or Sir, said the woman. he portrays." fact that she addressed him in his own You said it was true," doggedly language, and with the cultured accents of the well-breand the cried the man. caused the officer to start Yes, but not all true. And I had him in my hands, and violently the island is mine. Mr. Whittaker turned and looked still he lives. "Wont you hear me? pleaded the deliberately at her, his surprise only woman. equaled by his admiration. The tunic The man shook her off and turned that she wore was a rough garment, away. The very innocence which had and shapeless, but few vestments were exprevented his understanding at first better calculated to set off her The grace and the charge made it the more hideous quisite proportions. when comprehension came. He had beauty of her figure, the nobility and loved this woman with a love that intelligence of her face took added passed the love of man, for there had luster from the contrast of the utterly h the woman. Believing that I was right, believing that the education and training which had made me what I was were sound, believing that I this man was as free as I to choose his course and order his life, knowing nothing of his wife, I yielded to his pleadings. I thought it was a noble and splendid opportunity vouchsafed me and, in a measure, vouchsafed him to show the world that we did really believe what we said. Had I believed in God then I should have said his meeting with me, his conversion to my theories, his passion for me, his willingness to abide by my decision were Providental. I was glad to consecrate my life to the truth, with his aid to take the final step in attestation of my belief, to convince the world that one woman at least had the courage of her convictions. It was a mistake, a frightful mistake, an irreparable mistake, for which I suppose that I must suffer to the end of time. No, cried Langford, I am here to repair the blunder. There is no power on earth," said the woman, passionately, that can put me where I was; that can give me back that I have lost. Kate, Kate! cried Langford, you i to-da- . should I have loved her then; have hunted these seas for her without ceasing since she left me in a drunken stupor one night. Left you how? asked the lieutenant commander. I am not quite clear. I must have descended very low," said Langford. I remember some sort of a scene at supper, and when I awoke In the morning, or I didnt wake for six months, they found me in the morning with a fractured skull on the cabin floor, and they took me back to the United States. It was a year or more before I could begin the search for that I her. d d understand! I understand too well. Why continue the sorry story? Mr. Whittaker, and you that are men beyond, that have wives and children and sweethearts, that have been taught to love God, to believe in him, and to observe his laws, that have submitted yourselves gladly to the conventions of society or if any be among you who have outraged these and gone against them, taken the law into your own hands you will understand sooner or later what came to me. I discovered that there was nothing high or holy in this mans regard for me; that he persuaded himself that he believed as I simply to get possession of me. I awoke to a dreaded realization, alone with him on that yacht. lie was not kind to me. He acted according to his lights. I will confess it," said Langford. I was a brute to her. I drank; I acknowledged that I had a wife; I said she was in my power; I called her vile names. There was a low growl, a muttered roar from the men behind Whittaker. Even Langfords own men, in his own pay, shrank back from him. The man was frightfully pale, yet he went on resolutely, Whittaker stilling the tumult with upraised hand. No one, he cried, can think more hatefully of a human being than I think of myself now. I have not learned her philosophy; I have learned another and a better. In some sort of a way at least I know that I can never be happy until I have made her happy. I know that I love her now as man-of-w- man-of-wa- dont I Know That Love Her I Now. late now. She summoned her cour believe she despised, and go away toage, and realizing that dignity, aftei gether. But you were not free, said the all, is not made of clothes or conven woman, "to enter upon such an undertions, once more addressed him. Sir, she said, my name is Katli taking. cried Whittaker. No, by heaven! arine Brenton. I am not, as you migh well think, a savage, but a castaway.' Now, this conversation had been said the off! carried on with three auditors, or I beg your pardon, cer, a man of wide reading and cul groups of auditors, besides those parture; is it possible that you are th' ticipating; Langfords yachtsmen, the Katharine Brenton who wrote 'Fat marines and seamen from the Cheyand Destiny? enne, for the boat was against the 1 am that unhappy woman. shore, and the man of the island. Whittaker first awoke to the situaUnhappy? tion. Yes, returned the other. I I beg your pardon, he said, but Madam, said the lieutenant con mander, flushing deeply and bowing i would it not be better to continue this his turn. He had taken off his ca1 conversation privately? at her first word. I beg your pardoi, I think so, returned Langford. I have heard something of your story.' No," said the man of the island, He was very much embarrassed. ; addressing the lieutenant commander was Langford who took up the tale. for the first time, you and these men Since you know so much, Mr. Wh- are the world. I want the story told itaker, you may as well hear the res. where all the world may hear. Indeed, I am anxious that the worl Whittakers surprise at this remark should hear it. Miss Brenton and was scarcely less than he had expein not believe we er did marriag, rienced when the woman addressed and we went away together. him. Who was this splendid, godlike Every word was agony to Langfor, form of man standing glooming by the was wore who was a proud man; it woman's side, a silent, eager listener than agony to Katharine Brenton, wX) to all that transpired? What had he was a proud woman; and it was wort to do with the question that he asagony of all to the man of the sumed this tone and manner of auland. But Langford persisted. He dl thority? The officer turned toward the not care how he hurt himself. Inded, woman. conscioP-neshe rather luxuriated in the 1 think, said he quietly, that the of his own pain. It was part f should be allowed to decide. lady e that his expiation. He realized wish is my friend's wish, said "My would have to hurt Katharine, but woman laying her hand softly (he of her pan keenness the very the man's arm. would make her realize her positiA. upon Whittaker observed that the man and he wanted to win her, now tbt off nervously, but the point he had found her and seen her, mce shook it was no further apthaD ever. Nor was his passion a being settled, there s pP-ha- base one. Again he was ashamed f peal. Pray proceed with your story, Mr. what he had already said, so he spo the more frankly. lie gave no thougt Langlord he continued. No, let me take up the tale, cried at all to the other man, but if ty. I He said things to me that night, said the woman, that no woman could endure or forgive. He came toward me. I threw him from me with such force and violence I am a strong woman that he lay Benseless in the cabin. The motor launch had been got overboard for a trial and was trailing astern. I got in it, drifted away, started the motor and ran it until the gasoline was gone. I brought food and water from the cabin table. I lived a week in the boat, bearing southward all the time by means of a sail which I improvised from a boat was One cloak. night there a storm. At the height of it I was thrown upon this island. The "I hoped, said Langford, taking up the tale, that that might be the case, and with that end in view I have searched the Pacific. I have landed upon many uncharted islands. I have explored others little, if ever, visited, praying to God that she might be alive, that I might find her and make reparation, and now I have found her at last when I had given up all hope, abandoned all expectation. And I stand here confessing my fault before men, ready to do anything and everything that a man can do to make amends for the past. But you have a wife, said Whittaker, coldly. No, she's dead these two years, I never loved her. thank God. It was a boyish infatuation for a designing adventuress who wanted a hold upon my father's money. I am free, free to make her my wife. I ask her, I beg her to take me, to give me a chance to show that I feel what I have done, to devote my life to expiation. He stopped, wiped the moisture from his forehead, stood for a moment in the silence that followed his words, his face downcast. Then he lifted it haggard, worn, sad, the humiliation of the last few moments having entered into bis soul. Kate," he said, softly; your CHAPTER XVII. The Womans Plea. said Whittaker, Brenton, with the deepest gravity he could infuse in voice and manner, you have been a most unfortunate, a most unhappy woman. Allow me to assure you of my sincerest commiseration, my deepest respect, my most profound You have suffered, but admiration. innocently. If I may speak the voice of society, if I may stand for the world as your companion has said, I can only express my reverence for you and my homage to you In this way." He stepped nearer to her, he seized her hand. He was an humble-minded- , quixotic sort of ft sailor, if you will, for before anybody realized what he was about, he bent his head low over it and kissed it. And the sailors behind him and the marines jn rank broke into a hearty cheer. There, madam," said Whittaker, you have the approbation of society for my act. As for you, sir, he turned toward Langford, I should be untrue to manhood if I did not say what you yourself have said; that you acted not only like a brute and a coward, but, sir, when I look at the lady, I am constrained to add like a Miss fool. Langford started forward, but the lieutenant checked him. Having said all that, I must admit that you have conducted yourself since that time as a man of honor and as a I have no doubt that gentleman. your offer will be accepted; that the world will forgive you as it will admire and respect your wife. No!" cried the man of the island, suddenly. He had kept silence, resolved to hear it all out without interruption. He had suffered as the miserable story had been unfolded to such an extent that all that he had gone through with before seemed like childs play. He had heard Langfords noble confession, his generous offer to repair his wrong, but without the appreciation of it which the circumstances and its intrinsic quality might have evoked. He had heard the womans defense, her splendid justification ofhcT cemi'seythAMt- ter repentance that had followed it,4 but without that appreciation of what Justification there was for her and the value of her remorse which the account should have brought to him. He had observed Whittakers prompt and touching expression of confidence and reverence, but without understanding its force and power. Indeed, he had instinctive shrewdness enough to realize that even though the sailors, touched by the act of gallantry and moved with pity for the young woman who stood there lovely in her sadness, had cheered, yet the world would be very slow to the same expression, lie Baw that the woman was face to face with a crisis; that she would either have to accept or decline Langford's offer to marry her at once. His heart was filled with bitter rage. He knew that he loved the woman; that he never would love any person but the woman, but nevertheless the resentment against fate which had placed him in so awful a position, of whose malign purposes he had been the blind. Ignoble victim, was so great that for the time being his love was in abeyance. He pitied himself, he loathed Langford, he was contemptuously Indifferent to the world, and for the moment he almost hated the woman. The that he had that this was as ungrateful as it was unwarranted added to his wretchedness and misery. No, he cried, before any answer is made, let me speak! Your said Whittaker, pardon, may I ask who you are? "Sir, returned the man, "as to who I am and what I am, I do not know, nor does it greatly matter. Your pardon again, retorted the lieutenant commander, coolly, but it matters very much. Unless you have some right to interfere, I do not concede that any suggestion from you in this crisis which seems to concern these two people, this lady and this gentleman, is at all in order. But it does concern me, returned the man, impatient of this checking, for I love this woman myself, and she has done me the honor to say that she loved me. I had intended to make her my wife should Providence ever bring us to civilization again. Had intended! exclaimed the woman, under her breath, but no one noticed her words, and the lieutenant spoke again. That being the case, some ln formation as to who you are and how you came here is the more evidently in order. (TO EE CONTINUED.) I A Call for Live Ones. We will pay good wages to first-clas- live stenographers who will allow our business to come before their theaters and pleasure sweethearts, parties; our hours are from 9 a. m. to 6 p. m., but sometimes we work later; clock watchers are useless to us. This original announcement appeared in the London newspapers the other day. |