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Show " . T i i , ' i i i 1 1 n T" r r' T: TrT TjHITTVA by upton Sinclair . L i Nj .SlIT, lyiilliiy). AUTHOR OF "THE JUNGLE" I"- .- ! '. ' ' ' ' " ' , : Cpyriilit. ... . , . LII " " ' ' I ' 1 II' I . T " Helen's voice was bOArtw and gliAlclng'aB she ana-wered him. "It Is from Arthur."- - tbe man started np and rnsbed toward fcer, clutching her by the hand and ex-claiming ex-claiming frantically: "Mary, Mary, it is I speak to me. But the "other's delirium seemed to hava returned, and she only stared at him blankly. At last David staggered to his feet and b,egan pacing. wildly up and down, hiding hid-ing his face in his hands and crying, helplessly: "Ob. God, that this should come to me now! Oh, how can I bear it oh, Mary. Mary! " it down her throat,' and "then David repeated re-peated his Question-once more; but be gave a groan as he taw that it -was all in vain; the wild raving had begun agaiu and the woman only stared at him blankly, until at last tne wretched man quite overcome, sank down at her side and buried his head upon her shrunken bosom and cried like a child," poor Helen in the meantime clinging to him still: (To Be 'Continued.) . PART II. ' CHAPTER II. "-(Continued.)?' ' "No, lefe us go on," the girl said, ' she baa almost no weight, and we must not leave ber ont here in tbe cold. Her hands are almost frozen now." Tbey soon-made their way on down to where the rights of the little cottage shone through the trees. David could not but-shrink back as he thought of taking1 their wretched burden .into their little home,' but he heard the woman CToan feeble, and he was ashamed of his thought. Nothing more was said until they bad climbed the steps, not without difficulty, and had deposited their burden bur-den upon the floor of the sitting-room, after which- David rose and sank back into a chair, -fox the atraiuid-been a-teavy7ne a-teavy7ne for himT . , I, Helen also sprang tip as sbe gazed at th figure; the woman was foul with very misery that disease and sin can bring upon a human creature, her clothing cloth-ing torn to shreds and her face swollen ana stained. She was half-delirious nd clawing abonj her with her shrunken, shrunk-en, quivering bands, so that Helen exclaimed ex-claimed in horror: "Oh, God, that is tba most dreadful sight I have ever een in my life!" . "Come away," said the other, raising himself from the chair; "it is not right that you should look at such things." .- But with Helen it was only a moment mo-ment before her pity bad overnme every ev-ery other emotion; 'she knelt twn by tbe stranger and took one of tbe cold bands and began chafing it. "Poor, poor woman!'7 6he exclaimed. "Oh. what misery yon must have suffered! He saak down upon the sofa again and burst into fearful Bobbing: Helen, who had still been kneeling where he left her, rushed toward him and flung her a fins about him. crying 'out: ."David, David, what is the matter? David, you will kill me! What is it! " . ! And. he started and stared at her wildly, clutching her arm. "Helen," he gasped, "listen to me! I. ruined that woman! - Do-, -you -heatMJHef De -ye hear mf It was I who betrayed er Ivwho made her what she is! I I!-Oh, I!-Oh, leave me leave me alone! Ob, what ean I dof" Then as the girl still clung to him, sobbing his name in terror, the man went on. half beside himself with his grief, "Oh. think of it oh, how can I bear to know it and livet ' Twenty-three Twenty-three years ago and it comes back to curse tne now! And all these yeaTs I have been living and forgetting it and been happv, and talking of my goodne6 oh, God, and ' this fearful madness upon the earth! And I made it I and she has had to ray for it! Oh. look at her. Heln, look at her think that that foulness is mine! .She was beautiful she was pure and she might have been happy, she would have been good, but for me! Oh, Cod in heaven, where can I hide myself, what can I dot" Helen was still clutching at his arm, crving to him. "David, spare me!" He flung her off in a mad frenzy, holding hold-ing her at arm's length, and staring at her with a fearful light in bis eyes. "Girl, girl!" he cried, "do you know who I am do you know what I have done? This girl was like you once, and I made her love me made her love me with the sacred fire that God had given me, made her love me as I made vou love me! And she was beautiful like you she was younger than you, and as happy as you! And she trusted me as you trusted me. the gave herself her-self to me as you did, and I took her, and promised her my love and now look at her! Can yon wish to be near me, can you wish to 6ee roef Oh, Helen, I cannot bear myself oh, leave me, I must die!" He sank down once more, weeping, all his form shaking with his grief; Helen flung her arms about his neck again, but the man seemed to forget her presence. "Oh. think where that woman has been," be moaned; "think I what she has seen, and done, and suffered suf-fered and what she is! Was there ever such a wreck of womanhood, ever such a curse upon earth f And, oh, for the years that she has lived in her fearful sin, and I have been happy great God, what can I do for those years 'how can I live and gaze upon this erime of minet I, who sought for beauty, to have made this madness; and it comes now to enrse me, now, when it is too late; when the life is wr ecked-when it is gone forever!" David's voice had sank into a moan; and then suddenly he heard tbe woman wo-man crvine out. and be staggered to jjavia, woat can a woman do to be punished pun-ished like thist It is fearful!" It was a strange picture which the two made at that moment, the woman in bar cruel misery and tbe girl in her pure and noble beauty. But Helen bad so more thought of shrinking, for all . her soul had gone out to the unfortunate unfortu-nate stranger, and she kept on trying to bring her back to consciousness. ' ' Oh, David," she said, "what can we do to help her!" It is too mueh that any r human being should be like this she JVStdd have died if we had not found ..er."- And then, as the other opened 4 er eyes and struggled to lift herself, i!en caught an incoherent word and '.'I think 6he is thirsty, David; get some water and perhaps 'that will help her. We must find some way to comfort ber, for this is too horrible to be. And perhaps it is not ber fault, yon know. Who knows, but perhaps fcome man may have been tbe canse of it Jl? Is it not dreadful to think of, David!" Da-vid!" So the girl went on; her back was tnrned to her husband; and she was engrossed en-grossed in her task of mercy and did not ee what he was doing. She did not see that ha had started forward in his chair and was staring at tbe woman; she did not see him leaning forward, further and further, with a strange look upon his face, Eut there was something she did see at last, as the woman lifted herself again and stared first at Helen 's own pitying face, and then vaguely about the room, and last of all gazing at David Suddenly she stretched out her arms to him and strove to rise, with a wild cry that made Helen ieap back in consternation: "David! It's David!" his feet. She was sitting up again, ber arms stretched out; David caught her in his own, gazing into her face and crying, "3ary, Mary! Look- at me! Here a am I am David, the David you loved." He stopped, gasping for breath and the woman cried in a faint voice, "Water, water!" David turned and called to Helen, and the poor girl, though scarcely able to stand, ran to get a glass of it; another thought came to tbe man in the mean time, and he turned to the other with a sudden cry. "If there were a child 1 " he gasped, "a. child of mine somewhere in the world, alone and helpless!" he stared into tbe woman 's eyes imploringly. She was gazing at ham, choking and trying to speak; she seemed to be making mak-ing an effort to understand him, and as David repeated bis agonizing question she gave a sign of assent, causing a still wilder look to cross the man 's face. He ealled to her Again to tell him where; bnt the woman seemed to be sinking back into her raving, and she onlv gasped faintly again for water. . When Helen brought it they poured And at the same instant David sprang op with what was almost a eeream of horror; he reeled and etag- j gered backward against the ' wall, . clutching .with his hands at his fore-. fore-. head, his face a ghastly, ashen gray: and as Helen sprang up and ran toward him Le sank down upon his knees with a moan, gazing up into the air with a look of agonv upon his face. "My . God! My God!'' he gasped! "It is my Marv! " And - Helen sank down beside him, cjutching him by the arm and staring at him in terror. "David, David!" she whispered, in a hoarse voice. But the man seemed not to 'hear her, so overwhelmed was he by his own emotion. emo-tion. It is Mary!'' he cried out . epin; "it is my Mary! Oh, God. have -' ''- . upon my soul:" And tnen . -.'""s aer passed over him, and he buried -L.iface in his arms and fell down upon ink floor, with Helen, almost paralyzed wilb, fright, still clinging to him. ' In the mean time the woman bad still been stretching ont her trembling arms te him, crying his name again and again. As the tank back, exhausted, , i - ' |