Show iva fl CHAPTER XVI continued the woman whom we may lecog f size mize as the confederate spy belle stevens did not seem at all confused i by either reproaches or irony well you may doubtless kemem v ber her colonel john I 1 owed you one 6 for what kind attention you gave me 1 in louisville I 1 am a woman who cannot easily forget or forgive an in jury when I 1 put a frost upon your little love affair I 1 fancy I 1 repaid in a measure the debt long past due i perhaps miss mollie may throw you a over uv er now pardon me you do not seem to have been well informed regarding the relations existing between the plant ers daughter and myself you took her into your confidence but she did not return the favor I 1 am ready to believe bit she loves ou I 1 would swear sear to that thank you my dear belle you make me very comfortable that was vas a point on which I 1 could not be very positive so that your evidence Is a great relief As to what you told her I 1 can with the greatest ease prove hf it to be false and you ou may be sure fy I 1 shall grasp the first opportunity to i place all the evidence before my wife your wife certainly mollie granger the playmate of my childhood occupies Q that position which a week ago I 1 was sure no woman on earth would ever fill ire lie did not tell me this and pray who Is hea the woman bit her lip evidently she had not intended going so far well it if you must know major worden then he sent you to Lyndhurst 9 he asked me to go bul bu the desire for revenge upon you colonel john urged me on much taster faster than the majors gold somehow her words aroused him then I 1 do not regret anything I 1 have said or done in return the interview was not to ridgeway s taste my time Is prec precious tous I 1 have been hoti engaged today to day as you may know and I 1 would not have ridden in here only tn in the hope that I 1 might be 0 of assistance to aunt sarah I 1 have heard of your charge the whole city Is ringing with your praise to night which must be gall and wormwood to your rival for the affect tion ot of mollie granger say no more about it let me see my aunt he returned for the very mention of his wife s name by this bold woman seemed like i it had even come to that poll you shall see her oe de seated while I 1 tell her you are here then she glided away colonel john did not know exactly what to think of all this this woman a past was of such a character as to prevent him from be lieving good ot of her she was capable of 0 carrying out the boldest and most desperate of plans in order to further her own ends or in behalf of the cause which she really cherished as sacred wise men always take certain pre cautions even when the case does not seem to justify it and as we have seen john came with a guard and a faithful weapon in his pocket treachery is an ugly beast to ban die dle and one must seize upon the brute with hands his meditations were interrupted some one entered the room tt it was vas a woman roman she could not be far from fifty years of age 4 colonel john arose and approached her aunt sarah I 1 am surprised to see you here and rhya she asked giving him her hand coldly she was a handsome lady despite her age and her dark eyes sparkled with a flare that might have been the envy of a young girl because I 1 believed you safely bous hous ed in louisville where I 1 saw you last indeed and why should I 1 remain there in peace and with all the corn core forts around me while my unhappy country groaned under the heel of the oppressor my heart was wrapped up in the dear old southland and I 1 flew pew to my old home to do what lit tie I 1 could tor for the cause for that perhaps you despise me you a yankee officer on the contrary I 1 admire applaud our principles but why say ray more aunt you sent tor for me see I 1 have come li presence here and the mes sage to me what am I 1 to understand Is this a sort of pitfall did you forge my aunts name the colonel towered above her as he indignantly demanded the truth tor for like all honest men he was averse to being made the tool of an lous plotting woman belle stevens did not flinch whatever else might be said of her at least she was no coward her dar ing ventures as a female spy risking life and all else in the cause of the south stood a guarantee for this the letter you received was ine colonel john she replied stead ily then my aunt is in atlanta 9 yes under this roof it is so j and she appeals to me tor for assist ance ancel you had her letter watching him closely but her son has been here I 1 my self hare have seen him wh could he not help her heri there is to something I 1 do not under stand something TOme iome taing thing she wished to ex plain to you that Is why she sent the message I 1 saw her last in louisville and was able to be of assistance to her at the time yes I 1 know and you failed to in elude me in your samaritan work vork iou ou thought it a little matter no doubt colonel john but sometimes som eUmes such things bear a prodigious amount of fruit 1 I 1 am sorry I 1 have incurred your 4 j 4 enmity belle but it was my duty and no matter what the cori consequences sequences I 1 would do the same again if the occa slon sion warranted it thank you she said with a sneer it was good of you john you have hav the ridgeland Rid geland blood in your veins though it pains me to see you wearing the blue when you should be wearing 9 the gray would that my entreaties could turn you it Is quite useless aunt I 1 have withstood the most severe test even down to having a sweet little rebel for a wife nothing can change my ray sentiments they are like bours ours grounded on a rock even my own life what you are married john I 1 did not know ita do you remember long years ago the little mollie granger of our neigh bor her the I 1 jre ire yes yes I 1 have reason to but john you do not mean she cheis is your wifel her emotion surprised him al though he could not understand it I 1 les es we re v were ere duly married in the presence of her father I 1 confess it was a marriage of convenience for my life was as at stake and the estate of lyndhurst As the property of a federal officers wife it is being pro but I 1 have fallen in love R v ith my wife and I 1 trust sooner or later when her prejudice against the uni form I 1 wear has softened I 1 may win her heart as I 1 have already won her hand he had reached this point when he noticed that his aunt a face had grown very white what la is the matter are you ill he asked no no but I 1 see now they deceived me she muttered as it talking to herself they ey I 1 don t understand aunt who has deceived boutell yo you tell me if I 1 can be of assistance you know I 1 stand ready to do m hat I 1 can she became more historical hysterical and covered her face with her hands dropping into a chair wretched woman roman that I 1 am to think that after all he has done for me I 1 should betray him who Is it aunt tell me no one but yourself john ridge way she said still rocking to and fro he glanced around and seeing noth ing of a dangerous nature smiled my dear aunt it if I 1 am the only party you ou haie wronged cheer up surely I 1 do not bear animosity besides in what way ray could you injure me I 1 have friends near by who will come at a signal it is not that they deceived me pmj I 1 sea now they meant not to rob you of life b t of some hing you must as a true southern ran r an value more ah ali my reputation in the eyes of molli granger what still harping on that matter are they they told me you loved her and would take her from oswald worden bool that I 1 was u as I 1 lent myself to their plans hating myself for doing it don t v orra about I 1 no harm done let them plot they cant out wit fate which has woven roven the threads of mollies mollie a life with mine but listen she saw you enter here saw belle let you ou in now do you realize their malicee CHAPTER out of the trap A change came over the demeanor of the federal officer when ne heard those remarkable words from hi lit aunts own orn lips worden was equal to anything but until lately colonel john could not have believed his cousin crockett would so demean hi lit unselt the motive of the major was plain out and out jealousy that of 0 the woman the fury of a woman scorned while croci croel ett might have dreams of some day coming into john johns s inherit ance should things take a turn in his direction no doubt the last named plotter had no suspicion of the true cause that urged his wife to press the yanked colonel colonels s downfall and would be sure not to let such a fiery headed fighter as crockett ridgeway suspect the truth colonel john paced the flo floor orlin in his agitation he ile had at length been awakened cool and collected even under the hottest fire this man could be if it the right means were brought to bear upon him and when they touched upon his honor in connection with rith mollie granger they struck a key that it if properly played could be made to vibrate with intense zal z al come aunt you tell me a strange thing how am I 1 to understand it I 1 believed my wife to be safe under her fathers root roof and yet you tell me she is in atlanta that she saw me enter this house saw belle stevens admit me every word of it is true when she left home I 1 do not know but there must have been some engagement made tor for she was driven here in her own carriage and by one of her fath ers former slaves one called eze mal ihnow I 1 know the fellow but it Is mon men to think of such a plot to rob a man of his wife to make her des pise me how could you lend your aid to such a things I 1 do not know they badgered me and declared I 1 did not love the south it I 1 should hesitate to defeat one ol 01 her toes foes I 1 acted against my good judgment I 1 trust you will b believe elleve besides there was no whisper that mol lie was your wife had I 1 known that not anything on earth would have in fluen ced me to join them well after all it has not gone so far that it cannot be remedied if jw you really regret the share you have had in fix the matter dear aunt I 1 do believe me deeply then it will be easy to confess the whole thing to mollie and I 1 will onla too gladly forget the share you had in III it she flushed as he spoke for she was a proud woman oman and as such it would rould cut her keenly to confess to duplicity in the presence of dollfe Moll lea a woman roman may not find it hard to beg tor for gi veness from a man whom she has treated treacherously but it Is as bitter as wormwood for her to say the same thing to one of her own sex still aunt sarah meant what she said and was ready to hack back it up to be continued |