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Show MOLLY MDONMD J A TALL Of HIE FRONTIER mjdorof "Keith o j&l& DcubTjMy-Ladyoc , I condemn? Hardly, Miss McDonald. McDon-ald. I nm merely a soldlor receiving I orders; 'mlno not to question why.' i Hero Is tho window; now sit down on .this bonch. I'll keep guard, and Uston." His volco sank lower, a llttlo touch of tenderness In It Impossible to disguise. "Are you In trouble? Is It somothlng I can aid you to ovor-' como!" Sho did not answer at onco but rost-od rost-od her chin In ono hand, and turned 'We Were Engaged to Be Married," He Acknowledged Frankly. her eyes nway. Her breath enmo swiftly, swift-ly, as though bIio had not yet recovered recov-ered from fright, and her face In tho dim light looked whlto and drawn. "Yes, you can," she began slowly, "I am sure you can. I I camo to you becauso there was do ono elso In whom I felt the samo confidence I know that sounds strange, but I cannot can-not explain only It seems natural to I trust Borao peoplo even when ou do not know them very well. I do not Bupposo I know you very woll; Just thoso fow hours wo woro together, but somehow I think you aro true." "I certainly hopo bo," ho put In ear-1 ncstly. "I couldn't very well help j being with you." "I bellevo that," and sho lifted nor I i oyes to his face. j "Yet I do not wish you to think mo . bold, or or Indiscreet. You do not . I think bo, do you?" I "That Idea has never onco occurred to mo, Miss McDonald. I am only too glad to bo of service" "It Is good of you to say that; you soo, there, wns no ono elso." i !l "Your father?" ho suggested. ! "But that Is tho vory trouble" she I Insisted, rejoicing that ho had thus unconsciously opened tho way to her confession. "It Is becauso my father Is Involved, Is completoly In her tolls, that I am compelled to appeal to you. , Ho will not listen to a word against her." "Her? You rofor to Mrs. Dupont?" "Of course; why, I hadn't mentioned her name! How did jou guess?" "Becauso I nm not entirely Ignorant of conditions," ho answered soberly. "Although I havo only been nt tho i post a short time, I havo managed to soo and hear a good deal. You know I chanced to beccmo Involved In tho ! shooting of Lieutenant Gasklns, and ' then I saw you riding with Mrs. Dupont, Du-pont, and recognized her." "Hecognizod?" In surprise "Do you nctuully mean you knew her before?" , "Not as Mrs. Dupont, but as Vera Carson, years ago. Sho know mo at onco, and sent your driver ovor to tho barracks with a note." "Why, how stranco. Sho asked mo 00 many questions, I wondered at tho Interest shown. Do you mind telling mo what tho noto was about?" "Not In tho least. Sho referred to tho past, and asked mo to meet her." "Wero you very lntlmato? Great friends?" "Wo woro engaged to bo married," ho acknowledged frankly, his oyes upon her faco. "That was nt tho breaking out of tho war, and I was In my senior college, year. Wo met nt school, and I was supposed to bo the holr to largo property. Sho Is a beautiful beau-tiful woman now, und sho was a beautiful beau-tiful girl then. I thought her as good and truo as sho was charming. Slnco then I havo learned hor selfishness and deceit, that It was my mouoy 1 which attracted hor, and that she real-1 real-1 ly loved another man, a classmate." Sho glanced up at him as ho paused, but ho resumed the story without bo- ing interrupted. i "Tho war camo, and I onllstcd at onco, and recolvcd a commission. Almost Al-most our onllro class wont, and tho man she really loved was next below I mo in rank." , "Eugcno Lo Fovro?" "Yes; how did you know? Oh, I : told you of him out thcro In tho sand-I sand-I hills. Well, I urged hor to marry me ' boforo I wont to tho front, but sho I mudo excuses. Later, I understood I tho reason. Sho wan uncertain as to i my Inheriting tho property of an I undo. Wo were ordered to tho Array I WOHT t1C BY A.C.MtURO &CO. of Northern Virginia. Onco I went homo on furlough, severely wounded. Wo wore to bo married then, but I had not sufficiently recovered when I was suddenly ordered back to tho front. I did suspect then, for tho first tlmo, that sho wns glad of tho respite I .irnrwnrrts discovered that during nil 'this tlmo sho was In correspondence with Lo Fovro, who had been detailed on Early's staff. It was his Influence which brought about my sudden, un oxpected recall to duty. A few months later I was promoted major, and, at Fisher's Hill, found myself commanding command-ing the regiment. Early In tho action Lo Fcvro brought me nn order; It was dellverod verbally, tho Qnly other pap ty present a corporal named Shultz, a German knowing llttlo English. Early's exact words woro: 'Advance at onco across the creok, and engage tho nemy flercoly; a supporting column col-umn will movo Immediately.' Dosper-ato Dosper-ato as tho duty Involved appeared, there was nothing In tho order as given giv-en to nrouao suspicion. In obedience I flung my command forward, leading them on foot. Wo charged Into a trap, and were nearly annihilated, and Shultz was either killed, or mado prisoner. pris-oner. Two days later I was arrested under chargos, was tried by court-mar. tlal, and dismissed from tho service In dlsgraco. Early produced a copy of bis written order; It road 'cautiously 'cautious-ly feel tho enemy's position,' and Lo Fevro wont on tho stand, and sworo the original had been delivered to mo. I had no witnesses " Sho watched him with wide-open eyes, her lips parted. "And sho this Vera Carson?" Tho man laughed bitterly. "Wrote him a letter, which the man actually had tho nervo to show mo whpn I wna hnlnlpus. nrovinir hor falsity. 1 wculd not bollovo, and went back seeking her. But bIio had do-parted do-parted no ono knew where but had first convinced herself that my namo had been erased from my uncle's will. Two months later I heard that sho married Lo Fevro In Richmond." "And sho that woman actually aBkod you to nect hor again tonight?" "Yes." "Did you?" "I must plead guilty." "Whero?" "Hero; Just whero wo aro now; wo ivore togethor half an hour." Sho half nroso to her feet, her band grasping tho rail. "But I cannot understand. Why should you? Do you " "No; w.ilt," he Interrupted, venturing ventur-ing to touch her am. "I name, not becauso be-causo of any Interest In her. Miss Molly but for jou." CHAPTER XX. Molly Tells Her Story. Her breath camo In a little sob, and sho sank back on tho bench. "For moV How do you mean?" "Surely I had every reason to distrust dis-trust her, to question her character, and I could not bellevo you realized tho sort of woman sho Is. I felt It my duty to dlscovor her purposo hero, und to wnrn you If possible." "And you havo succeeded? You learned her purposo In your interview?" inter-view?" "Not exactly," with regret. "My suspicion was merely stimulated. To toll tho truth, wo rather drifted Into a renewal of our old quarrel. However, How-ever, between what sho said, and parts of another conversation overheard, I know there is a blackmailing conspiracy conspir-acy on foot In which you are Involved. In-volved. May I speak vory frankly?" "I certainly deslro It," proudly. "I am not awaro that I hnyo anything to conceal." "Apparently tho schemo theso peoplo havo on foot originated about Lieutenant Gasklns. Ho is wealthy, I understand." "I havo been told so; yes, I know ho Is." "This knowledge, coupled with tho fact of your engagement " "My what?" "Your engagement. I had heard It rumored before, and Mrs. Dupont assured as-sured mo It was true." "But It Is not truo, Sergeant Hamlin" Ham-lin" Indignantly. "I cannot Imagine-how Imagine-how such a report over started. Llou-tenant Llou-tenant Oaoklns has been vory friendly; friend-ly; has " her volco breaking slightly, "qven askod mo to marry him, but but I told him that wns Impossible. Ho has been Just cs kind to mo since, but thori) Is nothing, absolutely nothing noth-ing betweon us. I havo nover spoken about tins boforo to any ono." If Hamlin's heart leaped wildly nt this swift denial, thcro was no ovl-denco ovl-denco of It In bis quiet volco. "Tho point Is, Miss Molly, thnt Mrs. Dupont, and thoso connected with her, think otherwise They aro presuming on Gasklns' being In lovo with you. Mrs. Dupont can ho very soductlvo. Llttlo by llttlo sho has drawn tho Lieutenant Lieu-tenant into hor not. Believing hlra engaged en-gaged to you, they havo him now whero ho must either pav r.;onoy for silence or bo exposed Just how It ivas wprkcdvI do not k,.,ow, Tliq shoot- lng Inst night wns dono to convince him thpy wore serious. Tho fnct thn Gasklns inter denied knowing who lib nssnllants woro even endeavored tc accuse mu Is abundant proof of their succors" Ho hesitated, wondering at her silence'. "What puzzles mo most !b why jou woro present." "I'resent? Where?" "At this quarrel with GasklnB Inst ovcnlng As 1 ran by townrd tho scene of tho shooting I passed you hiding at tho nnglo of the bnrrnck wpll. Of course I havo mentioned tho fact to no one Thnt was why I mndn no attempt at-tempt to defend myself when arrested." Sho gasped for breath, scarcely ablo to articulate "You bellevo that? You think that of me'" "I may hove been dccolved; I hope so; there was but little light, and I got merely a glimpse," ho uxplalned hastily. "You wero deceived," Impetuously. "I was not out of the houso that ove nlng. I was In tho parlor with my father when thoso shots wero fired. You aro Buro you oaw a woman thero hiding?" "Thero Is no doubt of that; her foot-prints wero plainly to be seen In tho morning. This discovery, to. gethor with tho size of tho weapon used, resulted in my imrae&ato release re-lease I saw her, and Imagined her to bo you. I cannot account for tho mistake, mis-take, unless you wero In my mind, and possibly what I had heard of your connection con-nection with Gasklns. Then It must have been Mrs. Dupont. That looks reasonable But sho stays at your homo, does Bho not?" "Sho makes our houso her headquarters, headquar-ters, but Is absent occasionally. Last night Bho was here at this hotel. Well, wo aro getting this straightened out a little that Is, if you believe me." "Of course." "Then I am going to question you. You spoko of overhearing a conversation?" conversa-tion?" "Yes; It wns ofter Mrs. Dupont had loft. Captain Barrott came, and took her away. I was Bitting hero thinking when two men camo into tho parlor." "Who wero thoy7 Do you know?" "Ono was tho soldlor who drives you about Connors; tho other a blnck-benrded, blnck-benrded, burly fellow called 'Hob.' " "Mr Dupont." "What? Is that Dupont? Lord! No wonder sho's gono bad. Why, I thought her husband was a ranchman down south somowherol This fellow Is a tin-horn." Ho ulu run cattle onco, years-ago. I think ho wns qulto woll off, but drank and gumbled It away. I'apa told mo all about It, but I found out ho was tho man by accident. Ho la tho ono I am really afraid of." Sho stopped, her eyes deserting his faco, and stared out Into tho durkness. Ho wnltd, feeling vnguely thnt ho had not heard all she Intended to nay. "What moro do you know?" ho asked. "What was It you expected of mo?" Sho turned again, aroused by tho question. "Yes, I must tell you as quickly ns I can boforo I am missed. I did not know about Mrs. Dupont and Lieutenant Lieuten-ant Gasklns. I realized thcro wan something between them a a slight flirtation, but scarcely gnvo that a thought. What brought mo hero was a much moro bcrlous matter, yet this new Information helps mo to compro-hend compro-hend tho other tho motives, I mean, Mrs. Dupont's mnldcn namo was Veru Carson?" "Certainly; I know her family well." "Sho came hero, and was received Into our family ns a daughter of my father's sister. If truo, her maiden nnmo would hnvq boon Snrnh Counts. 1'npa hnd no reason to suspect tho do-celt do-celt Ho does not now, and I doubt If "en your word would convince him, for ho seems thoroughly under her Influence In-fluence Thero has been such a change In him slnco sho camo; not all at onco, you know, but gradual, until now he scarcely seems llko tho samo man. I I do not dlsllko Lieutenant Gas-kins; Gas-kins; ho has been pleasant and attentive, atten-tive, but I do not enro for him In any other way. Yet papa insists that I marry tho man. Lately ho has been very unkind about It, and and I nm sure nho is urging him on. What can I do? It Is nil so unpleasant." Hamlin Bhook his head, but without rej ly. "You will not tell mo? Then I will tell jou I shall say no! no! no! In splto of them; I shall rofuso to ho sold. But how does that woman control con-trol my father?" sho leaned closer in her earnostness, lowering her voice. "Sho has not won him by charms; ho Is afraid of her." (To bo continued) |