Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
a
Sweeney
TIE CHICAGO LEDGER,
SATURDAYS
OCTOBER 175
1903. 5
would eseape. He cast not one slance back,
ee
York, glad of the
o get away With so little loss of
s late when he passed through the
were few people abroad.
0 one
to's oe
a he was in no humoi
He could tell no one
goin iz, because he did not
tell no one why he was going, bi
we
locked an hat person's” peor
‘ould ¥
“how™ soorr
neath a calm,
niling Nexterlor the deadly, polsonous worm
regret may be continualiy eating its Way
into the very soul.”
“But, Walter, 1 my dear boy,” Marston ob-
, “there can be nothing like that i
" Walter replied almost fe-
would emai unbroken.
of comfort he was doomed to disappoint-
ment.
n
Just as he was in the act of boarding the
train a hand was. placed on his shoulder a and
a voice close le him arrested h
5 fe and wi ithout seeing
d fallen into the
hands of the last person on ves rth he would
have poe to meet. T as Charlie Mars-
is best friend and Jose coo
and hon n on other occasions he had a
here was nothing that Si
e life of o the other did
not know. mney pe ad no ae ets from each
ven. Wat
no excuse or explanation?
him as if he would solve
running fava if there were bul
ay
jut there. were n ans, of
ay eiging ine _flisagreeable, consequences of
nd with in air of
d the car and
Marston fol-
ken. Wal-
when
and those
erless eyes, he, found he hadn't the
heart to ‘do it.
some time passed in’ awkward silence,
then Marston, in a voice full of gentle pity,
looked into that wan, w cary tac
sad, lust
“AN alter,” he said, “why have you, kept
ays? You
a tru
have gladly ‘Tendered you any service in my
have called at your home time
ind ‘aia and asked for you, but was not
admitte You could not have doubted me,
at ,
NNO arston; I never doubted you,” Wal-
ter replied.
sadness
as. I
ial you hye and dearest friend, Marston,
beg you to © ques! ions.”
4 pes Son made no reply, but he eyed Wal-
ter inguiringly, He was clearly puzzled and
amazed, Alm elapsed, then
Walter, unable to “contin ‘his grief longer,
clasped his hands to his head,
7 "Oh, Marston, my “Gear friend, 300 do
t know what’ I have suffere
hot imagine what @ Nelgnt of trouble. hi
= borne down on nd crushed me. ‘Oh,
it's terrible to bear it all and live—to have
il sappointments
trials, troubles,
the e have of it
and suterings, and
the bett
Charlie. “Marston Nn at his friend in
dumb astonishment. - had heard othe! er
ut they were old o1
gr “of lite. one ¢: x=
fected to value the empty shells that are
Jeft in “he nest after the birds are all
more Was young and
His future was, to all
outward appeareaces, as full of possibill
: aching possibilities—as
future’ could had every-
t so seemed, a
and. eyentually he so
w,” Walter replied, “what
of other lives. Tt is all
for us o.. sean the o1
a al it the Conclusion that
m1
{his or'that person’ one no. right ause
to feel sad, discouraged or troubled. But,
jod! if we ly knew what a mine of trou-
We
called Marston away
king blow.
FAG
w of the future
rmina, one
&
the purest, noblest and best of women. Re-
her, Walter, and
had stuck Walter
“She is your wife.” He
his companion, his ‘face
nd_for a moment he
f,
and Wajter saw him
fs
>
; °“Her child! Your child!” Hester repeated.
least, who: thought hér
t lin-
‘There- was- one, at
very beautiful,
gered on her form and, fea
tired of looking, one mind
fondly on the thought ¢7 possesning her (OF
and Hester occupled the old house
almost a
mingling with the world
sible. Armina made no new friends, neither
did she attempt to renew those he}
ays. She simply asked to be left alone
with her sorrow, and a
ple generally whderstood and respected her
wishes.
3 given out by Hester that Armina’s
child was an adopted
ful, honest old sou!
‘ar from the truth in 1b
rmina shi id it
in some instal
trut , and she be
appeared so in this
would hurt no one, and the truth would cal
rmina.
uring their absence abroad
unt now, suspicioned that such a man ex
iste vn
she asked Hester, “was George
pigekmore's name never spoken here
reason it was not, my child,” the o ad
woman replied, sivas because John Black-
more fr ‘bade.
“WW
should. ‘he forbid it, Hester? They
were “Mhoth
no
tire
ishee
Tis
ful,
‘onl
blemw hat an eating eancer of sorrow—was
ship went so long
America, and as far sible from the
scenes of ne bitter “disappointment and
cruel suffer:
~ In those reports, among. the 1
was & fine, rosy cherub of eighteen months
f age, as perfect in health and form as
ever a child was.
‘Armina, though
an wear
more; and auring jhe remainder of
o1 di
0 consequence to him w
as ie ook. him away from
Bu it Nas on ill-fated ghip on, aynich he
the fourth day sea it
ge. there ‘were long
ie aw
respects, they all agreed that the en-
arew and all the passengers had per
't of names
was that of Walter Blackmore.
frtends saw it, Ene leved for
abo as ee fgometimnes
Bs
rs passed wa: Armina and
ig been absent in pus
>
2
ge
a
wearing an alr
of per-
ry, Was
if possible, than in her happiest days,
“Yes, they were brothers, but brothers are
not always friends. John’ and George had
‘or ‘a | they were never on
“What was 1 all about, Tigster” Armina
quest tioned, persistently. “. who was
285
about their
father's propert:
Hester ‘anew ered, eas s
“and Gi
pent money hime
getting into one
hi ym
disgrace. It kept on so until Sa Mr. Black-
mot mney, and gave him to uyderstand
Positively that he would not spend another
cele, to help him out of ocrApe,
a ney and pr ‘ty I've left.’ he
satay ‘belongs of right to John, and if I kee;
he shall have it. ou've gone
through with all that you could ever rightly
claims and you can not have any moj
If whining — milksop,’ replied
t
what you want you will have to look to the
one who can.’
_{John's face flushed and angry darts shot
es, while bis hands clenched 0
tight that the veing stood out on them.
was angry through and through, and if his
father. had not been
wou
to pieces, and I believe he was angry enough
The Blackmoi
have: he
then to have done ft..
Jong as J have known them.
hot-hended. flery
efor them to tan
he father saw John's 's anger, and laying
hand on bis ehoulder, sul
“John, be Remember ‘you two ar
brothers,’ and bot m of you are mores.
Be a gentleman, ‘Joh, whatever George
was an unlucky speech, . for it
ree Wrorousty ly and made ‘him
raging mad. He turned on his, faun r
abused him shamefully, calling hir
f
&
&
S
See
y be years," be said,
long or nahort, the tim pulse
have my revenge. Fol
‘kmore,’ he etinued, his face Teta with
wut let it "
e when TT!
25
s
7S
2
3
=
any way unless it
hatred which penne stronger
n the fires of hell!”
“After that we heard ot George ovca~-
fonally, but not often, and each time we
hi as. a different part of
e was
e heard no more and we had n
val ut e end of that
his wife was
ey
tea where ev
time there came a report that
dead. We never ew whether the report
was true or not, for from that da. nev.
rd the name of Geor Blackmore men-
tioned until we came Ind hin
silence after
was broken by ‘Are
here was a
ceased Freaking, but it
mina, who sal
“I we onder that brings him here now,
Hester?
“I don't know,” Hester replied, "I haven't
thought much about it; suppose it
suits hin to live here at present better than
it would to live anywhere else.”
Armina ook her head doubtingly.
“I don’t know why Nt is, nor how It {s,""
she observed, “but. in som A it has
emed ti ne from the first e I saw
5 jackmore that he was ‘here for a
atever it
it may
eeply, ime
that feeling, and I cannot get
pressed wit
rid_of it.”
td, what purpose could he have
Toasked,*
though, Hester, that he will cause me trou-
ble. I Teel assured of it.”
“He don’t appear to have any ill feelings.
toward you, Armina,
met you he has becn exceedingly. fr jendly
ang. cone ‘sous.
true; but behind his smile
ther “twa seems to me to bea shadow in
hiding. and beneath his mildly rpoken
words I fancy r
dang
his
will throw off his
friendliness nd stand fo ae in his true col-
ors ready Ke inst me. It will
come to that some time, ‘llester; it is s
© come Yo it at list, e Premonition. is
too strong upon me to be ar ancy
“ET hope you are mistaken, child,"
Hester,
he 7
has any x intentions.
02"
ook her "head, end Hester,
t pause, » went
. could have no motive tow war on you
except it was to secure your property, and
if the worst came in that case y
declare ¥ Mlackmore's
You have his own
ablish the truth of your
dis-
suffer
ever re ‘is the wi rong or
ere is no on:
it yous
George
ne.
to motest
was he would be
°
“y wish could ‘tink ‘as ‘yon “do,” Armina
sald. west “but I can't do it. When-
¥ Hat man T shudder and feel as
rant to get as far away from
him as possible. It appears all the time as
though he is ho oiding something over me and
is just awaiting the proper moment to let
that aoe ething fail and crush me beneath
its weig!
“ ester answered, “that you
y Ht find you, are mistaken, You have taken
aney yom Something you have seen
on eard, and uve allowed it to grow
on you untiF you vare xnaple to rid yourself
it. have no feurs of Gearge, none in
the wi ol ld. My mind is ,berfectly at rest so
far as he is concerned.
me’, ney, on which t the ola woman poke
st sentence attr Asmina’s ate
tention and caused her to look up
ears of any one ass,
°
a
ze
thes?
che asked =
Bester did not answer at once, and
semed to have something in mind of w
she a undecided whether it
to speak or mamta silence.
she
which
were better
Finally, how=
ver, she dec: oa ae better to spe: ee
out, and she | Hs a no Jong er
Fen she said, “1 do have fears of some
wons
Of Martin Blackmor
George Blackmore's son
came the reply,
“L.fail to comprehend your mea Ng. Hess
ter. Why pho) ld he be feare
“Becnu: is. dangerous, und ‘trom him,
Wantinaed on page fifteen.)