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Show iii.""1 jrjjuua.1 "!''' """V" "'"""""'""""""" ."'JJHHl SfHU?1-' L V. w ' tvWjrr v" -!5rrtVr , Copyiljhl, i8oj bvj 3 llrtlncott Co. . , , Ludlow glnnceil fit hit frlcml nlth a ljek of mliiRlrri I'liiltinlty nnil nine. rn. "t wan -onilcrli'B " "'d ilinnitctl t.n.v, .Hugh ' you uril to licnpcurcnlili'fort of allow In college. 1 can't luingliio yon In tlio rolo of lire enter." "do on nod ny thr rest ol It," rnld Klnfbrand, bitterly; "you can't imnjjitio rnf as nn adopted inotnliernf n fire-tnt-Inpr family. Well, I don't blnnie jou; I can't do It inynelf." "1 Rhouldu't lino put It In any sueli uncliarltabla form," rcupondcd Ludlow, tvlltetUcly, "but, alnco you'to men-tlonexl men-tlonexl It, I'll any hnt'n been In my inlnd cut alnco ion told mo whnt broiiRlit jou to Ttepnttlicn. Healer fitliner' husbnnd uill lme todoono of tno thlnffi help flpht tho fnmlly bullies or tcfino to hne nnthlti(f to do with Ihein. The flrtt mny cott him hla life, and the last will lie cryMire In cost him hlslmppincRi. I'm no hand to meddle, nn jou huow, IIurIi, but H'm well enough to conalder" these things lxfore lt' too Intc." "Thafu the pity of It, Tom," replied niiiffbriind, quietly. "I'm nfrahl It'n too Into now. I ieallzed two thlng3 pretty clearly laat nlcht ono wan that Ufa without Heater wouldn't be worth living', and the other w n that I'd ruther dla than haio her And me out for what I nm." "That's puttlnff It rather harably; ypu haven't nny pood renaon for think lti that you nro " "A coward eny It, Tom; I ought to be nblo to bear tho truth, nod that la tho truth. I know It; l'o known It l along, only 1'vo been trying to make mjHclf bclleyo It wasn't bo. Thnt'a whnt was ut tho bottom of nil thoso llttla tilings you remember In the university uni-versity days; jou don't know how I dcfiplso myself when I think of It nil." ' "No, I don't remember nnythlnr but what I wild it moment ago-that jou wore olwuyaripenccnblerjortof felloe ." "Thai Un't It; If one thing to he pen,ceblo from principle, and quite another an-other to bo restrained by n w holcsomo fear of ponacquencea. It's nlw uyx b en the latter vHh me. I can lookbick irver my life and aco how I'm been continually con-tinually dodging. When I una n little (ellorv, the fenr of n whipping wan the airouRtat IticentUo to good bcliin or, nil Ihn fame nrgument has held good .Vr,r alnco. Vpu know that, Tom, If you'd pnly admit '" ' ".Vo, 1 dim't know anything pf li.L' kind." proteilcd Ludlow, "Well, it's true. You remember tht a'iTalr with Ttirnliiill In the lukl yi or when ho went out of Ida wnj to lm ult mo. You took nocosion to pin!; my elf-eontrol, but I want to tell you i mv th-vt It wri the. lnciebt aliain; I wit afraid to iraeut U, nd that's the truth." "oineuke!" relortcil Ludlow; "jou did Just right not to demean juum-U by fighting with n cub of an under ptaduate." "I'm not aigulng about that I IV the motho; It was cownidlee, puio and (Imple; there's no other iinino for It. What are jou laughing ut?" "It's nmualn,T to hear jou III fy yourself. your-self. Hut aeilouilj-, lliigh, this H n ctlals that's got to he met. I take jour word for It that you'io properly In line with Heater Latimer; If ahe docs jou the honor to icttirn jour iiffcotlim whleh, I lake It, Is not jet nfoicgmic eonelualon why, jou'ro n lucky fid. law, and j on aliotiM be thankful enonn-h to. fight her battles, mid those of ur futhrr and biother If need be. It ninj not require amll phenomenal drp-iee of physical lourpge, )it It'll ask for foina of the inorul Mirlety; and th ir'a alwuja a wide poMdbility Hint It'll d"-niatid d"-niatid both In heiolo pniportioun V l ert III jour place I hhould fight the Imttle befondiand; then, If jou llnd jmii'io not going j0 be up to It, the honorable) hon-orable) thing Is to pull out whil.' the girl la jet funey free. 'I hat's p.eltj utrjilglit HUH', mi t you i.now mcoi om, and you lime Invited fimiklU'i-. " They wcte ncurlug tlio fuiiui.e jnrd, and Itlngbrnnd did not reply until they icnclu-d the gntc; then hegrimpcd l.ud low's blind and preyed it waiuilj "Yoy'io a good fylend, Tom. I'll think It oier tiud liy t do pa yoi) nuMac. Oaly If I can't bilng mj'ftlf up to tho tnarlf, you mustn't be Mirprlsed if I jiiioulddiopoiit tineiccteilly. I don't ,UJIre I could face jou or Mrs. Ludlow after that." 'Thinking It over" asked for solitude and quiet auriouiidlngs; nnil nfter lcaMng Ludlow, IHiigbinnd walked on .up the .alley, aklilliur tho bato of the mountain uutil io mine to lough cart road lending (annul the summit. Uo took It beenuto It plunged Into the forest and olTeted shade; and after that Ua paid llttla attention to direction or distance until he found hlmtclt beforo ,vl)ui appeared to be an nbandoned mine, Tho mouth of tho opening was choked up ?Yth broken tlmbeis and massen of rock, npil p n board nailed (o a tro growing out pf n ereykv Just tilmvo the tunnl arch ho read; "Me-Nnkb "Me-Nnkb Tunnel, T. C. & I. Co," The name hrensbt back Ludlow's story of tho fnUd and th1nwllit. and lie rxiitiilncO (lib plmo with nwnkeiilng Juiciest. I'roid (h" rnall denied r-paee in fumt of lb working he could (oo the txtont of (ha ) w Ith lla shrh lug sides pitch-lug pitch-lug down townid thn jellow llekla In lha center; and, as theie hk lint nuo houna In sight In the liowllikc ilc ii' , alon, lie concluded at oneo Hint It wna th boma of tlio Ilymuns '1'urnhifr jptln lo the tunnel, ho found that by ' tirrambllne' oier the pita nf debi in 1 tlii. ruttance. ho could icaili a jiUee 1 whria tho height of tho ecavullon pn milled him to i.tnml upright; and when his ejen I renme ucruaiomril to the dim half-light, he looked about him with the iibsen'inl eiu'oi-lty of in.' i, ho sees liitut pjisilulltna lor the collrotlng of lilernry ivntvi kil fiom tlio iiuiht lomiumiplaeo suiromiUiiiKB. iThtm was llttla to bo aeon unra tba i , I wi-Ui cf coal mill n few tustj nu !'? lull' ilie 1 nd'i.g ito led nb-ni nb-ni I ' ml "fit fii'nllu eutmiiee, ii l rn1 i xim.iliiiii voi n inim Lrcg i ! i g- ip In tlje ci'-e of th.- thick rieaui of i I Li'.' he v i ivaniiull-g a inn i i I i i wlm h In fourd sticking In n irr i lie f. 't n bienth of cold an wliii!", mm nn I loi me f i om n' o n d, Iu.)' it y up. be sui a n urow lift In the inrfhtmn roof of the tunnel from tvlit-di Vlie. di might, nppcnicd (o l"e-f l)'ji-htliir the lamp and thrusting thrust-ing It uijlpro the nfif rtur" on the end of iv tjflelf, l.o nnl.l kw that the rift wldeiiwT above the opening and that It extemled imlefliiitelj Into the mountain nt right Hugh's to the direction of the tunnel. The opportunities for further pjilorntTon wemed promising, and lin gbranil, yielding to mi Inquisltlvo Impulse, drew htiijulf up into thecrcv-!o thecrcv-!o lij the ld! of n coal pick, lly thp ainokj' ilnre of the lamp he could fcee that lie was Handing in a natural tunnel tun-nel of considerable height, running ciossnlac of the coal w oi king and com-munlentlng com-munlentlng with It by the aperture through which he had entered. As It was evident that the latter opening vaR,4nrtlfleinl or necideutal, he determined deter-mined to ascertain If there was uny other means of eificss from the cavern. Turning to the left, the exploration came uliortly to an end against a wall of broken io.J.,nr.d dvlrltus which coroplctily illletl the' crcvlae; re-triiolnff re-triiolnff Lib Blopi, ho poshed forwnul In the opposite direction, mcctlug with no oLiitaele for u considerable dist.-nrf. -'J h cleft was of Irreg-i Irreg-i lar Avlijth, bilt Its walls wcio perpen-(I.ilI"- ml niootli, rising above his head i Itiieli outltucs vcro lost in the glLou.' Al sivijml point k they ap-prtkiclied ap-prtkiclied each other" bo nearly that he had wmo dltllculty In aqucczlng through; but nfter tho passage ol ono of the narrowest of theso rock) struits ho camo out Into n latifo c'...i-nber, In which the muiky dnrkncM was diluted bj- a thin rtrenm of sunlight filtering thiotigh a hole In the iooL He stood gnlng upward ut tho small aperture fur above, Mondirlntf If It could be j tticd us an crttrnncu. without the help I Of a rope ladder.' ' The question had ! Bcaiccly taken shape beforo Its answer nppenred in the foim of a doublo row of judo niches cut In tlio wall and run tiliu In irrtfjultv liUSA'P to lnc li""1' In tins roxif. In tluflliio Camp aaud ut L liUvfsuluU0 W t'1P imprint of a man'a 1 OQt. onj.1 there vrcfu many more of rthijswuU.l1e)(-iid It, 0hu.os.ploref vxi '" i'iufW.irluMu caiefulty. and then r.at duvii upon a wcU t'clas.Ify his find ' Ing. 4T wonifer If I haven't stumbled ' nrn kOiiifthlaij that'll help Ludlow out?" he mused. "This is evidently nn ! er.linitue to the coal roliw that he doesn't know about. It's quite clear it 'tt ' Ttftai ftL ralteP t "-n, W I llf llw raoy fliro of U19 limp lit coulil ale Uit bv woi atauu.nclii o nataral tuanoN il i I It 1 u- b'eu u d,ou,nud "o:. cone Itu tiikt.ii n deal of troubletouiiil.pl nviiil.ilile. 1 vvoudei' If theio's any oihe vn aj out of tho placflV I suppose then Un't." lie roue and wulked iiukihm the cham lr to the joint wjiete the cievltnap pcand to eiiilliuuo Its wny Into tin mountain. 'Iheio was a nanow all how in? that tlio cleft extended stil i .it'n r, I -tit thcponlinctedpasBagewii oi.lj ivi- inelu III wldlh. rnst.'nlni the liouk of the lamp upon one of tin poli.ts of the pick, he pushed the Ugh' into t'.ie cifvl e n far as he could reach, .uui bj- this means whs able to discern the dim outline of another chnmbci similar to the ono In which lie wok tan ling., in moving tho light about to (jet a better view, tho lamp tumbled off and rolled out of icnch; and In en dimming to leeover It with the pick the point of the latter becamo ko llrm ly Used in o.xrak In Hie rock that ho una pn.il'lc to i'trtviitc it. "That wW t' 1Hght thiii;r to do," he f-ald pun 'i t wiiit the fispliatlon fion Ills I ) i ' I'l. ' 1 xil.ip'krt'it UOIllllllllVi Ik i ill l1 e i nn If u v life had dipt tut eil ti ; t it Ci.it tiuiiiK.ij cuiih' for n I, Mh' I ui nni.iu y, 1 1 nn gel nut either WIIJ wlt'ioiit it." lie tit. ted to ro liflek by thp wnj lit hatl tunic, and heivhe vmih iiiicmp inure in the o, t n air In- found tli.it ho hntl Jiim In if tu wtilt hni.''. to Tii'i uillieii befiiie iliiiurr. On the wav tlov.u the li om 'h'ii lit Jlititl with h inself us to m'm tl i It v ue l,u t to tell I i :ii,w at i .i iier", nt-inii-P. Then' w no , ijuiiii l.ioiu why ho hIiuuM i.nt t!i in. In. i Iu : t'utfil that tu M i. as r.l'-i no tix,iton foe tiaMet aUilny of a f v. il ij I'uuld wekp no ilirfrrpucc, i and In that tliwi to inlght bo able tu (ttoav ) I? . ri patlicrifaddlllonai tftirtnalion which would iflt Into tho ;dJ;oTery and so mnUu It more valuable. Taking this lcvv of the matter, ho determined to any nothing to Ludlow nliout tho exist- i cucp of tho crejVlccicavo; and In reach- I lug tbU concl,tiIon lie forged the first ' Iln In rv chain that was to bind him ntn time tthcti ho .Would hale given life itself foran hour of freedom. , Pmslng Iho'furnnc.onhlavvnj totho vlllrtirVi ha called for Ludlow, and they vvalkctl homo together. In answer to lllsfrlcnd's question, Itlngbrnnd replied tliat he bad apent,lio. forenoon on tho mountain. "I've Lean thinking about thoiStory jou "told mo this morning," he.ndded. "Can't j'ou glvo me more of tlioltc.tnlls?" j? "About tho feud, you mean?" t UYcs." udlow complied by giving n mltiutp 'nccounof tho rise anil progress of tho iindejita. repeating his suspicious flbourtbp. ngcncy'ijf tie llynums In re-itardlnfftho re-itardlnfftho work Of. tho Mc.Vnbb. (jj'WlHJt'iensons lidvqjou for suspecting suspect-ing them?" nslcfil ttlngbrnntl, "Xo one clso bail nny mntlvo for Interfering In-terfering with uaf and I am sure that noino ono blew down th roof irf the tunnel more thatnonce." "How can j'ou be sure of that?" "1 taw the marks of the blast, and I snielled black powtler; our workmen were using nothing butdynnmltp. Upsides Up-sides I questioned sonic of the peoplo living1 In the valley near the-McXiibb, nnd several of them ind heard the e.-plonlons." e.-plonlons." "I'ld you havo the tunnel guarded nt night?" "Xo; 1 didn't reach any conclusion nbout It until Just as wo had decided to abandon tho work. When wc begin be-gin again, as I cxpecttoVlthlii a fuw days I shall leavo a watchman up thcio at night." "The plnco will nak for a brnicfnan." "I can find cue," rejoined Ludlow, cheerfully, "Don't you want the Job?" "I'm nlrald I shouldn't be of much use; but I'll take It, If you say bo." Ludlow looked incredulous. "That doesn't sound much lika tho line jou look this morning." "Xo, I know It doesn't; but perhaps I'm a little like the man who wanted a dtlnk of whisky In order to ascertain ascer-tain what effect It would have on him. l'vo tried moral suasion on ray en!.-ncsM en!.-ncsM until I'm convinced thcre't no virtue In thut kind of treatment, and II has occurred to me that a heroic dose of carnago miij' bo what Is needed," "It may be, but 1 shouldn't go around hunting for tho occasion if I were you," replied Ludlow, holding the gnte open. "Pcrhap I'll have to," said lllng- ; brnnd, as they entered the house, "I'os- I slbly the occasion will hunt me," A VKNTVnESOMB VISIT. The preliminary lines of Mrs. Lud- ' lovv'n match-making cnmpnl&u had ' been drawn with such slight difficulty thnt tho small conspirator began to think that there would bo no occasion occa-sion for a go-between. Itlngbrnud's hospltablo welcome by the colonel, nnd tho ensj' facility m Ith which he lngrnll-otcd lngrnll-otcd himself at "Tho Laurtls," left little lit-tle to be desired; and hln infatuation ieaa co v crj' evident that It needed noth I Kg iuthcvvay of encouragement. Sine-lus Sine-lus aide of the crfsp. w as be) ond the need of prompting, rn. Ludlow dliccted her clldrta toward trying to ascertain h1' sluntllng with Hester a praiseworth) endeavor which tho joung1 plrl appeared ap-peared to take a perverse delight Iu frustrating. frus-trating. At oils time she would praise him with such outapohcu frankness thnt Ita very unreserve was a most encouraging1 en-couraging1 symptom; pt, another aim wouhl prlticlsit him u a munncr thai was equally disheartening, bho had ridden down to spend the dnj' with Mia Ludlow on the morning follow lug Illng brand's Introspectlvo Journey down the mountain; and on that occasion she would nllov.' no word of commendutlon to pnsa unchnllciigedi "01. J don't dejij that he'a, a pe(isnnt eoiupanlon," ahe said, in answer to one of Mra, Ludlow' warm t'lilogluius. "He could bttthat and much more without with-out being n genius." "Hut don't j-oii think his literary work Is good?" asked Jicr hostess, vlth fl fdindo of ilcpli'tatlon i her voice. "I don't like It much; he's too nh-strutojind nh-strutojind analytical. I never did 111.0 nn nutuor who Insists ujiou taking lilrt characters to jileces iim If thoy were watclies to bo repaired,'' "What nn Ideal I'm Mire. Hugh never thought tit doing such n thing." "Ho may not think of It, but he does It just the same. Take that last story In the Miscellany; he covers tw o whole pages trylnff tg tell Jiy Mary doesn't lovo Horace, when It's perfectly clear that sho docs lovo him; nnd hctloei. It Just at the time when jpu're positive!) dj'ing to find out what has become of the hero, JiV enough omakn ono pklp everything but hlacomersntlon,'1 "What a merciless crltlo you are, ncstcrl" "I'm not a critic at nil, but I know what pleases mo In a story; nnd that's one of tho things (hat doctp't," She went to tho piano and ran thiough a brilliant fautiuln vvhlla Mra, Ludlow tried In vain to think of somethiugcUc to urge In behalf of the much-abused author. "Then there's another thing I don't like about his atoriea,"itsumed Hester, whirling around on the piano-stool. "That's the way he deliberately takes off the toppf a character's head so that you can sea what the person Is thinking think-ing nbout. U'a perfectly ridiculous; and 1 told him ao tho other evenlntr," "Why, Hester, that was almost vindictive!" vindic-tive!" "Xo, It wasn't; he Invited It, and then tiled to defend himself on the score of being explicit. 1 told him he ought to glv his renders credit for at leufct half n grain of penetration," "What did ho say to that?" ''Ho covered hi retreat with u well-turned well-turned compliment about all Headers not being so dlBcrlmlnntlnfr; as (is some others," Mrs, Ludlow smiled "I believe hu Is iitllte popular," "Oh, I don't doubt that In the least I'm only spcnUlpg for injtvlf, I il u i r4ory vvitli a good strong motive uu 1 plenty of life in It; I can go to church w hen I want to hear sermons," "Hester, jou are actually shrewish this morning. Ono would think, to ! hear jou talk, that Mr, lllngbruud had mortally offended you." 'He has, In a wnj ; Inv has spoiled nil my pietty fancies about Author. I I thought the) were n superior race, nnd jioip tho veiy first one ( meet Is aim ply n well-bred gentleman, who ie-juluds ie-juluds you of nil thotorrrcct qualities oUiU vhititr.. J lllalfUVii tva lmq.'l t P-JalT-l.t. i .yii mi'iwwwj'l "It r-i tu'nlv I loo bad When jouenn find iiothinff wo"p than that to any iiralnct him," rei I vl Mp, l.iiillovv. "J wum In hope" you ulilllUpliliTi." "1 do lil.n him, 1 ut 1M siltni.hlm If lie vvam't ipnii s-i (sirrept," lpjolnetl liealer, mln hicvonsly. "dust think j how tltilglli fill It would be If he vmnld only do fomcthing dreadfully wicked or nUtiiri jnit the vtrj thing one of . Ins bunil oiw heroea wouldn't do," j "You're quite too Ineorrlffllile, Ho ter. I in not going tosaj onother Worth Here c nn s Mr. Jtlngtiran I wltn Tom. now, nnil I shall let him fi(jht hi own lettlt" ' At lie I'nncr table the eonveraatWli tnrnrd upon liingbinnd'a stroll on the inciint i u '"Ah . did .von gn, Mr. Itlngbmniir' nsketl '. ii i . "I'm I n'li fumillai-enough with lo-t'nlltit') lo-t'nlltit') iiioiiiiil here to I.unw, 1 ut I thll.l I v i t . fur na MeXnbb fow ." "Thci von i ivy Um homo of mir hervditw nnuh." alif mid. "J)ltl you notice a log house In the bottom of the cove?" W ; "I did." "t'vo been telllpg Hugh the history iff tho feud," mud Ludlow; "he threaten to write It tip." "Why, Ludlow! jou know I never hinted at such a thing. Miss lit ster, I htqie jou won't believe nnjthiiig that he says." "I'm not nt nil nfrnid of )our put tin(t the feud Into n storj ," rcplivtl Hester, Hes-ter, with nn nlr of eonvletion. Iliugbriind could not let well ttiough (iltuif, and lie asked: "Why?" j. "Jlccuuso tho ehni-notoi aro nil too I drcodfiill) iinpullveiiiiiluntunil, Yo l I couldn't possibly tone tliem down into enncelncsa, if )ou wore to try verso hard." Ludlow lauglicd upronrlniisl) : "Yo'i don't kiinw iiow much good that docs me, Hester. I've been telling Hugh all along that he didn't know the fust piln clplcs of story-wrltlng." "I'm sure I don't know why jou should mi) that," responded tho girl, chnnglng fiont with an eiu-y facility that ninth' Mrs. Ludlow uitch her bic.ith. "I think Mr. lltnghrnnd'R stoiies me perfectly 'delight fill. I only meant that he wouldn't laio to use such lough materials." ltlugbrtlnd glanced up grntcfully nnd saw Mra. Ludlow trying to look re-pi re-pi onehf ully nt Hester; t Iipi; the vtneon-ventionnllty vtneon-ventionnllty of It all appealed to him like, the turning of it new lcnf in the book of expei Icnce, nnd he laughed pleasant!). "Do )ou know It's quite (.harming to hear oiip'h self discussed In open meeting?" he aald. "In nil my life I'io never heard so much frank erltieism as Miss Latimer nnd Tom have given mo in tho last few weeks. It's decidedly refreshing, nfter half n lifetime of meaningless praise on one hand, set off by an iqliul amount of spiteful abuse on the other. I'll give fair vitirniu' now, though, that 1 mean, to turn the tables some llnu day, nnd jou'll hear ice tcllinjr Ludlow how to nm nn Iron-furiince, nnd " "And Mis Latimer how to hold her 'ongupr" Intel rnptcd Hester, iimli-ilousl). iimli-ilousl). "Indeed, 1 wasn't going to eny ntiy Midi uiigalhint thlnf," protested Illug-ii Illug-ii and, , ( , "You might as well any It a to think 't, "icjolnid Hester, tnct kly. "I know I ih.il! catch myself looking for'dn Ini-iHtiniiit Ini-iHtiniiit jouuic imum In all.) our f ii-lurostoiles." ii-lurostoiles." "- ,i'-SW f ftur thnt thu talk drifted bndc'lo Iho feud, nnd llekler telnttd tho, lucl-I lucl-I nt of the ellllllHlfo. "f i,uppoNP t mint hnie 'nm oue of the llyniinis," I poiirlnliil. "tlio it'll I eHift inuig-i inuig-i . wh.it lusi.l.j, t .ii.dtl lime bein.'' "IV,liBn 1 1 vii I uele Hphnilm iftcr a thu kin,' suvhtid Mra. Lud- I'on hi i tl i est ik |
