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Show " WWW ff9&! FWW Wf (5 I AUTHOR OF "THE SILVER A mWMnT I ! f I 17 i 1 If? M BUTTERFLY," "SALLY SALT," V V 'SZS"- i-XXly li 11 "THE BLACK PEARL," ETC. 0fT iTRS. WILSON WOODR OW ? ? ? ? o ' TENTH STORY The Trail of Souls. Senator Mnson, for more years than most people cared to remember, had held the thriving little upstate up-state city of Masonburg in his vest pocket. He was the city's richest man, the county's political po-litical boss and its leading corporation lawyer. . Though a decade had passed since his single term in the senate he still bore the proud courtesy-title of "senator." In Masonburg and in Somers county his will was supreme. And now, after a quarter century of such unas-sailed unas-sailed czardom as only a small-city magnate can exercise his sway was contested. It was not a fellow millionaire or another politician poli-tician who challenged his rule. No, his enemy was no greater personage than Stephen Fletcher, owner and editor of the local newspaper. Fletcher had recently begun a campaign of news stories and editorials attacking the senator in person per-son ; and his financial and political methods nud his sources of wealth. It was very irritating. Doubly so, because all that Fletcher said about Mason was ' true. Little by little, Senator Mason had worked himself him-self into a homicidal rage against his foe, who would neither be bribed nor bluffed Into submission. The climax came one day when, opening his morning morn-ing paper, The Masonburg Daily . Appeal, Mason read these two-column headlines on the front page: MASON CHARGED WITH CONTRACT FRAUDS. Millionaire Statesman Fails to Explain Discrep- ancy in Electric-Lighting Bills and Bill Rendered to City. The senator read the headlines six times. Then, fuming and muttering, he read the news story beneath be-neath them. Turning to the editorial page, his eyes fell on a "leader" entitled, "Mason's Rawest Deal, Vet." With a snort like a baited bull's, the senator snatched up his hat and his heavy walking stick and stumped out of his office. Five minutes later he stormed Into the city room of the Daily Appeal and, brushing aside an office boy who tried to bar his way, burst unannounced into Stephen Fletcher's private sanctum. The editor was glancing over a sheaf of smudged proof sheets. He looked up, with no great show of Interest, as his visitor entered. Fletcher was not ( . surprised by the call. He had been expecting something some-thing of the sort for a long time. "Well, Senator Mason," he said curtly to the purple-faced millionaire who was bearing wrathfully down upon him, "what can I do for you?" "I came here," thundered the senator, "to order you to cease these unwarranted assaults upon my character, and to retract this vile" "The moment the 'assaults' become 'unwarranted,' 'unwarrant-ed,' " returned Fletcher, "they will cease. Until then, they shall continue until I have broken up the political crookedness that is wrecking our city and county. I " He got no further. Mason's rage burst all bounds of self-control and sanity. With a wordless bellow, the senator swung his heavy cane aloft and brought li whizzing down on Fletcher's unprotected head. But the more fragile editor was as nimble of body as of mind. He leaped sideways from his chair as I he murderous blow descended, and ducked away from it, seizing his assailant's arm. The two grappled. Up and down aqd across the tiny office, they pummeled and wrestled aud butted their way, clinging together in a right unloving em-. em-. v brace, as they fought. As the office force, aroused by the turmoil, ran pell-mell into the room, Mason struck his opponent a chance blow in the face that sent Fletcher clean off his feet. The editor fell, hitting his head heavily against the corner of his desk. Before Mason could pursue his advantage, half a dozen men had seized him and forced him, kicking and snarling, Into a corner, where they held him pinioned. , "Take him out, boys," ordered Fletcher, "and turn him over to a policeman. As soon as I can get my head tied up, I'll come around to the stution and make the formal charge." Tn the Mnsonburg police court, an hour later, Fletcher's testimony (hacked by that of his office boy, who had seen the whole tight,) proved clearly ' that Mason had been the aggressor. Even the magistrate who owed his appointment to the senator had no option but to believe the story. He made the penalty as light as possible. Imposing upon Mason merely a fine of ten dollars and An almost respectful command to keep the pence in the future. Somerston is fifty miles, by rail, from Masonburg. It is a fairly pretty village, noted chielly for two institutions in-stitutions that honor it by their presence. One o these Is the Somerston Military academy. The other oth-er Is the Somerston Seminary for Young Ladies. Stephen Fletcher's only son, Tom, was a endet captain cap-tain In the former. Senator Mason's only daughter, Hose, was one of the senior class In the latter. Between the academy nud seminary there is supposedly sup-posedly no communication whatever. Everything that professorial minds can devise to keep the girls and the cadets from seeing anything of each other is most rigidly enforced. AniV in most instances the rigid effort is completely wasted. One elopement would be enough to ruin the prestige of both Institutions. Yet, such an elopement occurred, In spite of all the care taken by the principals and the faculties to prevent such a tragedy. Here aro the brief details of the romance: From earliest childhood Tom Fletcher nnd Rose Mason had been sweethearts. And even after their respective fathers had locked horns the two young people had gravely agreed that their own affair need not bo marred by parental differences dif-ferences in which neither of them sympathized. One day Tom received a letter which read: "Dear Heart: There is trouble terrible trouble. trou-ble. Old Mother Hinkle (the girl's nickname for the seminary principal), was nosing around In my room this morning, and, when I wasn't looking, she opened my inner desk drawer and found a whole handful of your letters.' Before I could stop her she read them. She was horrible about it. She says she is going to write home to father, asking him to take me away in disgrace. And she Is writing to the principal of the academy, telling him all about it, and she says you will be expelled. Oh, Tom, WHAT are'we to do? If you can come to the corner of the wall at ten o'clock tonight, to-night, I'll try to steal out there for a talk with you, and then we can decide. I am hearbroken. And I'm scared to death. ROSE. A little before ten that night Tom sat astride the wall top, looking down into the dark seminary garden gar-den below him. Presently a white and slender figure emerged cautiously from among the shadows that lay between be-tween the wall and the seminary dormitories. Tom dropped lightly to the ground and ran forward to meet the newcomer. "Oh, Tom 1" she whispered agitatedly, as their hands met in the dark, "I had such an awful time getting here! Mother Hinkle seemed to suspect something. Her room's at the head of the dormitory stairs. And she sat there all evening wth the door wide open and the hall lights turned 'up. She's there yet for all I know. I couldn't go past her. So I found a rope and let myself down from my window. win-dow. It hurt my hands awfully !" "Poor little hands!" murmured Tom, stopping to kiss each of her smarting pink palms in turn, "it's a shame ! But " ' But what are we going to do about being expelled?" ex-pelled?" she broke in. "Father will be so crazy, mad at me. All the more because it's you. He hates your father so !" "I've thought it all out very carefully," Tom told her, "aud I've hit on the only solution. It's a daring sort of solution and it will take lots of pluck. But It'll mean a whole lot of happiness for us. Will you do it?" "Yes. Of course. What is it?" "We must get married." "Married?" she echoed, amazed. "But " "We must get married right away," he insisted. 1 The Senator Discovers the Newspaper Attack on Him. 2 "I Demand a Retraction." 3 "Don't Be Angry at Us. Dad." 1 "Let's Tell Them We're Married." ' Then we 11 go back to our parents and tell them, and it'll be too late for them to make any kick." But but. Tom!" she stammered, "we cant. We can t ! " "Why not?" "We aren't of age or anything, and we " "I'm twenty," he answered sturdily. "In this state a man can marry at twenty, nnd a girl can marry at eighteen. Those are the legal ages. So you see " "But I won't be eighteen for three months," she objected. "I'm only seventeen." "H'm !" he mused unhappily, "that's so. I'd forgotten. for-gotten. But," he went on, brightening, "that needn't bother us. All you need to do is to write down your age as eighteen on the marriage license blank. No one will know. You look eighteen, all right." He kissed her. .And she clung to him, weeping a little. Presently he said: "We'll catch the 5:18 milk train to Masonburg and go straight to the city hall, there, for a license. Then we'll get that new Presbyterian minister up on Avon place to marry us." And so they parted for the night. Senator Mason sat In the library of his big house on Masonburg's widest resilience street. He had just finished reading The Appeal's trenchant, account ac-count of the preceding day's fight in the newspaper office, and a 4hree-column report of certain recent franchise deals wherein the senator was alleged to have played a somewhat doubtful role. Mason waxed apoplectic with indignation as he read. Nor was his wrath lessened by a front-page cartoon of himself, in guise of a hold-up man, shouting, shout-ing, "Your Franchise or Your Life!" to a group of trembling city fathers. His wife a sallow, perpetually timid woman sat nt his side, trying in vein to assuage his wrath. Her well-meant condolences served only to make him the angrier. "I'm going to shut up that newspaper," he growled, "if it takes every cent I have. And I'm going go-ing to get back at Stephen Fletcher if " He stopped short with a grunt. Two people a man nnd a girl had entered the room. The man paused near the door. In the dim light Mason did not nt once recognize him. The girl came shyly forward. At sieht of her the glower vanished from Mason's face. He and his wife jumped to their feet in happy excitement. "Hose !" they cried in unison. "Dad! mother!" said Rose, nervously, kissing them one after the other. "I've some news for you. Some tremendous news. Promise not to be angry." "Angry with you, you precious little girl?" laughed Mason indulgently, "not much! What Is this 'tremendous 'tre-mendous news?' " Drawing Tom forward from the curtained gloom of the doorway, Rose summoned all her courage and answered : "We were married this morning, Tom and I. Just a h:i!f an hour ago. We '' An inarticulate roar of truly dreadful ferocity from the senator interrupted her faltering confession. "Married?" he sputtered, his bull-voice drowning a lesser cry of dismay from Ids wife. "Married to to Stephen Fletcher's son? You're you're not!" "But I am, dad," Pose insisted, very pale, but with a resolve to stand her ground. "And won't you forgive for-give us, please? We love each other, so! Please, dad, dear! Please!" Of a sudden he whirled to face the bride and groom. "Clear out of here, both of you !" he shouted. "Clear out and keep out! Rose, you hnve married a scoundrel's son and you've disgraced me by doing it. After this your ways are his, uot ours. I wash my hands of you !" Taking Hose's ice-chilled hand in his, Tom led the sobbing girl out of the house. "We're well rid of her!" scoffed Mason. He left the house and went to the office of his lawyers, thence to the district attorney's office, and back to his own home two hours later. He entered the house with a look of grim triumph on his heavy face. (Well !" he grunted, as his wife came to meet him, "I fancy young Fletcher is settled pretty satisfactorily satisfac-torily at last. And his father, too." "Oh !" interposed Mrs. Mason, "you've heard, then? I'm so glad !" "Heard?" he queried. "Heard what?" "I I thought you had, by the way you spoke," she . replied. "Rose called me up fifteen minutes ago. She's at the Fletchers. She says Tom's father fa-ther and mother behaved beautifully about the marriage mar-riage and that they're ever so nice to Rose. She and Tom are to live there for the present, and Mr. Fletcher is going to give Tom a job at "You ought to be more careful not to make misstatements, mis-statements, my dear," chuckled the senator. "You've just made two in one sentence. Tom is not going to live with the Fletchers for the present, but at the county jail. And a little later at the state's prison for about seven years or more. Also Mr. Stephen Fletcher is not, going to give him a job. A nice, cozy job nt making cane-seated chairs or pegging peg-ging shoes or " "What do you mean?" gasped the wife; "what do you mean?" "I menu what I started to say when I told you Tom Fletcher was 'settled pretty satisfactorily.' I've just come from the district attorney, and the officers must be at Fletcher's house by this time, with the warrant." "The warrant?" she repeated dully. "For Tom Fletcher's arrest on a charge of abduction. abduc-tion. Perhaps you don't know It. Martha, but in this state the 'age of consent' is cighieen years. Hose won't 1)0 eighteen for several months. The man who marries a girl under eighteen, without her parents' par-ents' consent is liable to prosecution for the crime of abducting her. The trial of Tom Fletcher for abducting and marrying mar-rying Rose Mason was Masonburg's most sensational sensa-tional law procedure of the yar. The district attorney set forth the state's case, and prepared to establish it. Davenport, Tom's attorney, at-torney, fought him every step of the way. But it was a losing fight. The law was clear, the facts were evident. Senator and Mrs. Mason were called to the stand, one after the other, to testify that she was not, yet eighteen. At the senator's own siiL'L'estion, the Masons' Ma-sons' family Bible was introduced as evidence. The last entry was in Mrs. Mason's own old-fashioned hand. It read : Rose, daughter of Hiram and Martha Mason, born September 3. 18S8. "Gentlemen of the jury," said the district attorney, attor-ney, after Mrs. Mason had tearfully verified the entry, en-try, "you observe that Rose Mason was born on September Sep-tember 3, 1S0S. The date of her marriage to Thomas Fletcher as attested in the city records, which you have seen was July 2. 191G. Therefore, it is proven that Thomas Fletcher married her when she was one day under the age of seventeen years and nine months. I have shown you the section of the penal code which declares that marriage to a girl under the age of eighteen years, without the consent of her parents, constitutes the crime of abduction. It has been shown that Rose Mason's parents did not give their consent to this marriage. The state's'case is proven as It stands. We rest." Davenport knew how desperately hopeless was his young client's plight. For, being versed in every phase of the law, he saw the absolute perfection of the district attorney's case. There was not a loophole, there was not a legal technicality, not n flaw, of which the defense could take advantage or whereby a motion could be made for a new trial. But, being of the bulldog breed, Davenport would not yield. A lesser advocate would have been content con-tent to make a pathetic plea for mercy, to point out the youth and mutual love and innocence of ill-intent on the part of the young couple hoping thus to soften the jury's verdict or to shorten the ensuing en-suing sentence. But that was not Davenport's way. In front of him arose the towering wall of evidence against Tom a wall that he believed was absolutely impregnable. im-pregnable. Yet against the wall Davenport hurled himself, seeking to hammer in it some breach through which he could drag his client to safety. One odd feature in the prosecution's case had impressed im-pressed him, and while he set no especial value on $ I, r" IV v nswsC !r - I' w 1 it III ' Vl crvx ; UJsjin i t - y V;v r :., -a .wr.. 1 The Senator Discovers the Newspaper Attack &,ss:x: -.: rv fs&.m'i ";rf;X& jjMj It, yet it was against this that he began his ns-on ns-on Him h J s.X ' ' ' 1 sm,lt 2 "I Demand a Retraction" f i , s , y i . i IIe recn"p,1 ifs Mason to the stand and made 3 "Don't Be Angry at Us Dad" JL S y , I nel lepeat hir former testimony of lniing entered 1 "Let's Tell Them We're Married " ? '"V k jtV ' J x i the d tte of Rose s birth in the family Bible Mis X'.. ' V : '"' ' ' f" . ; j Mason was in a wretched condition of nervousness, ' Then we 11 go back to our parents and tell them. jv-j-iKiXf and bordering upon breakdown. But she gave her and it'll be too late for them to make any kick." & $f w-mt-m.X'nSsm.B. s evidence without a flaw, and all could see It was "But but. Tom!" she stammered, "we can't. We fe""1 tamMmimmHf the truth, cant! r- J$ 'Mrs. Mason, went on Davenport, "you have tes- "Why not?" W ' tifted that you wrote this entry in the Bible, and "We aren't of age or anything, and we " ' Jv. fj ntv' ou tlic s0 witmn three weeks after Rose Ma- "I'm twenty," he answered sturdily. "In this A t't ' ' H son wns I30' How did it happen that her father state a man can marry at twenty, nnd a girl can g -A did not write it?" marry at eighteen. Those are the legal ages. So h ' Jj s "Ho was not at home," said Mrs. Mason. "He wns you see " B y1 , in Europe. He had gone to Moscow on legal busi- "But I won't be eighteen for three months," she ' it S( J 1 ness for the government. Fie was absent from this objected. "I'm only seventeen." j W I "( ,J 1 country for ten months. He did not return until "H'm!" he mused unhappily, "that's so. I'd for- s , ' Rose was nearly four months old." gotten. But," he went on, brightening, "that needn't 9 V v f "I see. We will go Into that later. Mrs. Mason, bother us. All you need to do is to write down g S"V I do you know the law requires that a record be made your age as eighteen on the marriage license blank. v 1 of every birth, marriage or death?" No one will know. Y'ou look eighteen, all right." S C)K''' - i "I did not know." He kissed her. And she clung to him, weeping I s -t" s "Do you know that there is absolutely no record a little. Presently he said: M I ' '1 in tlle board of health archives of Rose Mason's "We'll catch the 5:18 milk train to Masonburg j i birth?" and go straight to the city hall, there, for a license. ' , 1 1 j "No." Then we'll get that new Presbyterian minister up ' s f v J I "There Is not. I examined the archives while I on Avon place to marry us." t 1 i , J was preparing ms case. Thpre is no record there And so they parted for the night. j F ' M n birth. Yet you have said she was born in v Li-M i ,his ci,y on September 3, 1S0S." Senator Mason sat In the library of his big house fr T , fA -Your honor," spoke up (he district attorney, on Masonburg's widest residence street. lie had lyyiqN j 3 "that is readily explained. Mrs. Mason has said she just finished reading The Appeal's trenchant, ac- f sK S v -- --gj . A sK Jk knew of no such law. Senator Mason was absent count of the nrecedinir dnv's fiirht in the newsnanor it, yet it was against this that he began his ns-sault. ns-sault. He recalled Mrs. Mason to the stand and made her repeat her former testimony of having entered the date of Rose's birth in the family Bible. Mrs. Mason was in a wretched condition of nervousness, and bordering upon breakdown. But she gave her evidence without a flaw, and all could see it was the truth. ' Mrs. Mason, went on Davenport, "you have testified tes-tified that you wrote this entry in the Bible, and thnt you did so within three weeks after Rose Mason Ma-son wns born. How did it happen that her father did not write it?" "Ho was not at home," said Mrs. Mason. "He wns in Europe. He had gone to Moscow on legal business busi-ness for the government. Fie was absent from this country for ten months. He did not return until Rose was nearly four months old." "I see. We will go Into that later. Mrs. Mason, do you know the law requires that a record be made of every birth, marriage or death?" "I did not know." "Do you know that there is absolutely no record in the board of health archives of Rose Mason's birth?" "No." "There Is not. I examined the archives while I was preparing this case. There is no record there of her birth. Y'et you have said she was born in this city on September 3, 1S9S." "Y'our honor," spoke up the district attorney, "that is readily explained. Mrs. Mason has said she knew of no such law. Senator Mason was absent from home " "If your honor plenses," said Davenport, "that is no excuse. The law does not require the parents to make such entry. It is the province of the attending attend-ing physician whether in the case of birth or dentil nnd of the clergyman and the license clerks in the case of marriage. Mrs. Mason," he resumed, turning turn-ing again to the witness, "what physician was in attendance when ynur daughter. Rose, was born?" "I I don't remember." faltered Mrs. Mason. "You don't remember the physician who attended you when your only child was born?" exclaimed Llavonporf, astonished. "No." "Then what nurse did you have?" "Sarah Walters," said Mrs. Mason. "She was with me from the year of my marriage until five years ago." "I know the Walters woman," nnswered Davenport, Daven-port, "she is now acting as lKiiisokr-ppr in my sister's sis-ter's family. With the court's permission I shall send for her to " "No:" intervened Mrs. Mason fiurriediy. "Now that I come to think of it. Sarah was not with me when Rose was born. I renvinlier now. She was thronlenrd with consumption tulit-roulosis and I sent hr to Sarannc for nearly a year. She returned to us just before Senator Mason got back from Europe." Eu-rope." "Then who did a't as your nurso at that time?" "I I don't recall." "Mrs. Mason!" exclaimed Ilavenport, "do you mean to toll the court that any inotbor can forget such important, circumstances attending the birth of her only child? You cannot remember the name of the doctor or the nurse? Who is your family physician?" physi-cian?" ; "Doctor Colfax." "How loujj um he attended your family?" "I I don't know. Since my marriage. I think." "Then he must have attended you when Rose W-.13 born ami lie must have some record of her birth, even though he seems to have neglected to make mention of it in the way prescribed by law. I will ask leave to call Doctor Colfax. He is " "No !" again broke In Mrs. Mason, with visibly increasing in-creasing nervousness. "I remember now that he was not in attendance." "You did not call In your own family doctor then? And you cannot remember who was called in? There have never been more than four physicians at a time In Masonburg. It will be an easy matter to find trace of the three others. In the meantime mean-time " "Your honor!" cried the district attorney, noting Mrs. Mason's aspect of panic terror, "I have listened patiently to tls lino of irrelevant, incompetent, nnd immaterial questioning, because I know my learned opponent has a hopeless case. But the time of the court Is being tampered with. I request to know what the name of any physician has to do with the fact that Thomas Fletcher is guilty of abduction, and" "ThomnsxFlctcher has not yet been proved guilty of abduction, your honor," contradicted Davenport. "The whole question of his possible guilt hinges on Rose Mason's being less than eighteen years old. There Is no court record of her age. The date must be established by contemporary witnesses and by similar testimony. The only known witness is a womau who apparently recalls no detail of her child's birth except that she says she, three weeks later, made an entry iu a family Bible. The Bible, your honor, is a sacred and unimpeachably truthful book. But its sacred unimpeachability does not include in-clude the records that are placed in It by fallible mortals. Especially, by a womau whose memory has proved so eccentrically defective as this witness'. wit-ness'. I crave permission to go on with my questions." ques-tions." "I object!" cried the district attorney. "Objections overruled," decided the judge, after a moment's consideration. "Go on, Mr. Davenport." The district attorney took exception. The exception excep-tion was noted. Davenport resumed : "Mrs. Mnson, you hnve testified to making a certain cer-tain entry in your family Bible. Y'ou were not under un-der oath when you wrote that entry. You are under oath now. Do you solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that Rose Mason was born on September 3, 180S?" "I I don't know," whispered Mrs. Mason, greenish green-ish white and panting. "Think, madam 1" urged Davenport, with fearful earnestness, "think, before you answer. When you speak under oath It Is not to a mere lawyer you are speaking, nor even to the court, but to your Creator. To the Creator to whom you must one day give account ac-count of thnt solemn oath's sanctity or violation. I ask you again was Rose Mason born on September S, 1S0S?" "No no!" whispered the ghastly and shuddering woman. A gasp ran through the courtroom. The district attorney lurched to his feet, but sat down again. "I the records on June 1, 1808," mumbled the witness. "Gentlemen of the jury," proclaimed Davenport, his voice ringing with glad excitement. "Y'ou have seen the marriage record. It Is dated June 2, 1!)16. At the time of her marriage Rose Mason was eighteen eight-een years and ono day old. Sho was of legal ago to marry. The charge of abduction falls to pieces. The" "I object!" bawded the dumfounded district attorney. attor-ney. "The witness has become confused and" "It's true! It's true I" wept Mrs. Mason, all at once breaking into a spasm of hysteria, and springing up from the witness chair. "It is true! I can't lie to the Almighty. Rose was eighteen last month. And and she isn't my child nt nil. We had been married seven years, lllrnm nnd I. Wc had no children. He longed for a child. And wo were drawing apart, because we had none. He was getting get-ting tired of me. I thought I could hold his love If we had a child. While he was In Europe I went to the Foundling asylum at Butler, and adopted Rose. She was so little and puny, that I could tell him she was three months younger than she rcnlly was. And I wrote It that way In our Bible. She wasn't my baby nt all. I don't know whose she was. Her mother died at the hospital when she waR born. She was a stranger in the town. They gave me the records of Rose's birth at the asylum and " She sank back in her chair, crying and writhing, in helpless abandonment. Amid the uproar which (he Judge's gavel failed to check, Tom Fletcher for (he first time let his eyes rest on Rose's. To the horrified girl his look of stark amaze was one of disgust. She cowered before be-fore It. and pressed her hands over her eyes. "Let him lake her!" snarled Mason's strident voice, above the din. "A foundling brat Is fit wlfo for a son of Stephen Fletcher." "Fit for my son?" shouted Fletcher, In a gush of contempt. "Wc don't marry nameless foundlings, we Fletchers! I'll have the marriage annulled and " Rose waited to hear no more. With the gasping moan of a hurt animal, she ran from the room. Tom, getting a glimpse of her face, sprang after Imr. But the attendant, thrust, him btiek. "Wait, till you're formally discharged, youngster I" growled a policeman. "They'll turn you loose plenty soon, now." tint into the street rushed the terrified girl. In her ears rang the bitter insults of Mason and Fletcher. Stamped deep into her tortured memory was the supposed disgust she had rend In Tom's eyes. She was nameless, outcast, loathed! And the burden was greater than she could bear. On she ran without, dei'mlio aim or purpose, knowing know-ing only thnt a curse had fallen upon her nnd that her loved ones had thrust Icr from Ihem. Presently she came to a halt. She had strayed to the very brink of the lake, at the town'H edge. Before her rippled the blue waters. And beneath those waters lay forgetfulness and peace. Slowly, but as eaimly ami joyously as a maid tc her bridal, she stopped forth Into the sparkllnglj; inviting ripples. The water caressingly lapped her tired feet. Nov? it cneircled the slender waist, and now if hud risen to the white young throat. Onward she went, bravely, eagerly. Ami the pitying pity-ing waves closed above her. While the doom of the young bride troubled the consciences of those enacting various roles in tho tragedy, the greater question was left unanswered the question of "Who's Cnilty?" - (ENX OF TtNTil STOIir.) |
