Lincoln County leader., November 27, 1908, Image 3

"The " I Zhited Cepulchre
X The V V Tale of O Pelee
By Will Levington Comfort
Copyright. by Will Lerlnitm Comlort
wmni. ifj,. oy j. a. lifpiwc.tt Compaxt. All riirhts revrral
CHAPTER VIII. (Continued.)
Here was another issue of Nemesis, the
curse of another life through his coming
back from the edge of the water. In the
crush of self-hate, he smiled at the wom
an. I'ntil a moment aso the
wrecking work of the morning had put
thoughts of Soronia from his mind. He
had come to the shop partly to marshal
his final resources in an out-of-the-way
spot and arrange .the last line of action,
and partly to avoid the possibility of ar
rest for the moment in case the Panther
had brought an emissary of the law. His
end was a matter of hours at best ; his
cruising and his friendship with Consta
ble were over. Saint Pierre, of the lesser
islands, was the last station of his trav
eling. During three days he had passed
many hours in the shop. What those
hours had accomplished was dramatically
revealed now in the nngu'iBh of the maid
en as she waited for the answer to her
question.
"1 have been thinhing a great deal since
yesterday. I found that I couldn't do
what I tried at least, without seeing
you again, Sonoria." Itreen spoke vague
ly, lie had sullicient honesty not to be
deft with the forces he was now employ
ing. "The future, I cannot tell yet. I
may have to leave Saint Pierre for
awhile, but I shall leave my heart here,
and if I live I will come back ! To-day
I must see my friejid and tell him that
I cannot cruise farther south with him."
She would have fallen had he not held
her, but her eyes were shining. The old
man ran for restoratives. Preen would
have put the girl into a chair, but she
ilung to him.
"I have waited for you so long, my
maker of pictures," she whispered.
I'ere Itabeaut stood beside them with
ft' medicines. The veneer of shop servitude
was gone from the gray old face. The
sharp black eyes were directed steadily
upon the stranger, who saw that they
were ready to soften or burst into flame.
Breen saw, too, that he was less in the
presence of the father of a Creole girl
of Martinique thau the father of an old
world household.
"I am waiting for you to ipeak, mon
ieur," said Pere Itabeaut.
"You have not waited long, sir," Breen
answered. "It was just an instant ago
that I had the honor of hearing from
jour daughter's lips that she would wait
for me until I could come back perma
nently to Saint Pierre."
"I know you will forgive an bid sol
dier of France. So many people do not
understand don't try to understand
that I deemed it a privilege to marry the
mother of the maid in your arms not
because a governor general of Martinique
was her father but because she was wor
thy the worship of an old soldier of
France. The girl is like her mother,
nonsieur."
"It is nn honor I do not deserve, sir
the daughter of a country woman of Jo
aephiue and a soldier of France," said
Breen, grateful that one of his utter
ances contained or covered no lie.
The bow from the veteran was a gra
cious thing, lie held a glass to the lips
cf his daughter.
"I do not need it now, father," Soronia
aaid softly.
There was a knock at the door. The
maid hastened to her room, and Pere
Itabeaut, once more the master of the
shop, greeted a gasping patron. Breen
was left to his thoughts. That
which he had done was unchangeable.
"Nicholas Stembridge, rejoice! this is
your wedding day!" he muttered. "What
a time you've had down the years ! You
have lived long and freely, taking what
you saw and daring consequences and
prattling like a defective to keep up your
spirits! Nick, do you recall the prime
sentence of your philosophy 'There is
nothing which Doctor Death cannot
cure'? Isn't it a wonderful saying? So
wonderful that it has exceptions ! No,
Death will not put Peter and his lady out
to sea ! The police are after
you ; your lips are hot with lies ; you sit
In the gloom. Nick Stembridge, you are
whipped, cornered. You go out a coward
and a liar. Where is your laugh of yes
terday?" , And yet he smiled at the perfection
of the pride-humbling trap the Fates had
laid for, him this day; smiled at the words
he had uttered to Soronia and her father,
who had bristled into a soldier of France.
And yet there had been no other way.
After what he had done to Constable, it
was not in him to deprive Soronia of
what she seemed to need not under her
pitiful eyes! His own part did not enter.
He conjured no golden haze as the mate
of this creature of ardor, fragrance, and
gentleness.- Nor, on the other extreme,
did he reflect that to spend one's days
In a torrid shop with a woman of black
blood was a fitting end for a brutalized
'ife.
He put the woman out of his mind,
and turned to the sorry business of the
wounded friend. He must find Consta
ble and say the last words; then take the
blame from his friend in the presence of
the women. If he were taken into cus
tody on the way there was no help for
that. All remnants of justice and white
nmnship demanded that he set out at once.
! He hurried to the court.
"Soronia," he called, "I'll have to go
now. Mr. Constable expects to leave
with his ship to-day, and I must talk
with him before he goes."
She appeared In the dress la which he
M
had first seen her. There were tender
remonstrances which he scarcely" heard,
but he answered gently. His mind was
with the man.
"And you will be back this afternoon?"
In the hollow of the universe there
seemed no reason that he could utter why
he should not be back that afternoon.
"Yes, little fairy," he answered.
"And I shall watch from the upper
window, if the smoke clears, for your
friend's ship to sail. Ah, don't
stay long from me!" '
The sun could not shine through the
ash-fog which shut out the harbor dis
tances and shrouded the great cone, but
volumes of dreadful heat found the earth.
Though the Madame lay well in the har
bor, she was invisible now, even from the
terraces. There was no line dividing the
shore from the sea, nor the sea from the
sky. It was all an illimitable mask,
whose fabric was the dust which had lain
for centuries upon Pelee's dynamos.
There was no carriage for hire. The
day had driven the public drivers to cover.
Dreen walked to the plantation house.
The servant was long in answering his
ring. .Mr. Wall was in the haiiway. The
fall from-guest to an enemy of the house
pulled hard upon Hreen's philosophy.
"Come in, sir," said Uncle Joey. His
tone was repressed as he added: "Had I
known your address, I should have sent
your effects to you."
"I wasn't thinking about that, but look
ing for Mr. Constable," Breen declared.
"You are Nicholas Stembridge?"
"Yes."
The elder man Btared at him savagely.
"Don't you think you have done enough
damage?"
"More than enough, Mr. Wall ; but
there remains, from my point of view, an
unfinished sentence."
"He is not here."
"Then I need trouble you no further."
Itreen had not the heart that instant
to ask to see the ladies. At the pier he
learned from Ernst, who had charge of
the launch, that Mr. Constable was not
aboard the ship, and had given up the
idea of sailing for the day, apparently.
At the Iloxelane, Breen found that Con
stable had made his way beyond toward
the Iliver Blanch, which had flowed black
and boiling yesterday. At the Hotel des
Palins there was definite word of M. Con
stable, American. The proprietor bore
witness that the gentleman had stopped
at the establishment long enough to pro
cure food, mules and guides the last at
great cost, since the natives were in dead
ly fear for a trip to the craters of Pe
lee. " CHAPTER IX.
The morning which broke through the
defenses of Breen, and crumpled the dear
est purpose of Constable, also drew Miss
Stansbury into the vortex of intense emo
tions. Whatever dominant traits and im
pulses she had inherited from her mother,
it had been her self-training to repress.
Ample opportunity had been afforded her
to note in her mother the career of an in
domitable mistress of affairs. The result
of her observations was a positive distaste
for stiffness of views in any sphere, and
a conviction that the display of master
fulness in woman did not make for wom
an's happiness.
As a girl, it had not occurred to Lara
to exert an authority counter to her
mother's. When she became a young wom
an she carefully avoided any extremity
which might lead to the breaking of
either her own or the more visible will
of the house.
Now, in the midst of painful develop
ments, it was borne home to Lara that
she had progressed too far in the way of
amiability ; that she had unconsciously
outstripped her intention, and passed into
the boundories of self-effacement. In the
crisis of the newspaper revelations, she
had followed her mother's initiative with
out question. The creature of indecisions
that she had become grew more and more
odious to her as the forenoon passed, and
in her contrition she realized that the
man whose first wish was to spare her
from harm had been repaid with a lack of
courtesy and a greater lack of courage.
Nothing that she had said or done, it
seemed to her now, carried the stamina of
decision. She had implored him not to
speak ; she had run from him, like a
frightened child to her mother, when he
had told his love and begged her to seek
Rafety aboard his ship. In none of her
dealings had she shown the strong wom
anhood which marked her ideals; and in
singular contrast stood out his graeious
ness and patience. The thousand little
things in which she hnd subserved her
own inclinations to the maternal will had
dulled the delicate point of personality,
without which a man cannot stand val
iantly through the crux of harsh days.
It was all plain now, so hideously plain.
The chief of the acts she regretted had
to do with the morning itself. What
manner of "friendship" was this which
accepted as authoritative the testimony
of a newspaper's suspicions? She had
done more than this, In handing Constable
the document that witnessed against him,
and shutting the door upon his possible
defense. There was an added poignancy
In the knowledge that her mother would
not have thus used one of her favorites.
Her distaste for the American caused
Mrs. Stansbury so readily to accept news
paper evidence as a triumph of her judg
ment. As 1 such thought of wretched
ness were not sufficient to start tear or
vexation, Lhra's mind finally added to the
Inventory of its miseries by reverting to
her conversation with Constable in the
carringe on the day of his arrival. How
she had berated the essayist for declar
ing that the stuff of friendship stirred not
womankind ! How vigorously he had
agreed with her !
She sought her own room when the tu
mult mounted to the point of tears. Pres
ently she went to the door and locked it,
for the inevitable thought hnd come. What
did the name of Peter Constable mean to
her? She had felt his strength. Long
ago she had dreamed of such strength and
put the dream away. Whether or not he
was to be the conqueror, she knew that
mastery like his could rouse her heart.
She was evading the substance of the
question. Before the mirror she frowned
severely at the Lara there.
"Tell me this," said the woman, "do I
want him to go away?"
"No, no!" said the image.
"No," repeated the woman ; "not if he
be innocent."
The image scowled at her conservatism
"Y'ou deserve to suffer. Y'ou sent him
away without a tithe of your trust, with
out a morsel of your mercy."
Standing in the upper hallway, sht
heard what passed between Breen and
the planter at the front door. Why did
not L'ncle Joey demand extenuating cir
cumstances? She was sure that Breen
would have dropped some hint, at least,
of Constable's part in the mysterious al
liance, had it not been for the barbed
iron of the other's words. Lara's palms
ached from the pressure of her nails.
She did not go downstairs to luncheot,.
but often crossed the hall, entering Con-ot-lMn'n
renin to look nt the mountain and
cityward along the smoky highway. In
one of these watches she saw the little
black carriage of Father Datnien nn
proaching. He would have driven by, but
she ran below and called to him from the
veranda :
"Come in and rest a minute, father. Is
there any good to tell?"
"Very little, Lara. ,The gray curse is
on Saint Tierre, indeed. I have grown
afraid for my people, and am warning
them to seek refuge in Fort de France.
Your guest suggested this step, and has
helped nobly with money to care for the
people fleeing to the capital."
She drew from him an account of his
meeting with Constable on the highway
in the morning. He told her, too, how the
young man bad sent sick native mothers
and their children out to the ship for
refuge from the heat and sulphur fumes,
and of the large sums of money he had
volunteered for the care of the favored
few who fled to Fort de France. Lara
bent her head forward toward the priest.
"And what do you think of this man,
father?" she questioned suddenly.
The old man's mild gaze fell before tht
glowing eyes of the girl. "I did not
think when I first met him that he was
gifted with such zeal," he answered
weakly.
"Where is be now. Father Damien?"
"That I cannot tell, dear. We have
not seen him since morning. Some say
that he has gone to Morne Rouge; others
that he has ascended to the craters of
Pelee."
She sprang up, but repressed the ex
clamation upon her lips. Her mother had
entered.
"Good morning, Father Damien," Mrs.
Stansbury said pleasantly. "Is Lara re
hearsing private theatricals for you?"
The priest made haste to depart, saying
that he was on the way to Fort de France
with the money Constable had given, to
make the refugees there as comfortable
as possible. The ladies followed him to
the door. It happened that the old man
faced Lara as he said :
"I hope it may be a falso rumor that
your friend has sought the craters of
Pelee. Such services as his we cannot
afford to do without. There Is power In
the man "
"I think 1 have felt it, father," the
girl answered quietly.
"What does this mean, this talk of
'friend' in connection with the confrere of
a thief?" Mrs. Stansbury asked.
"I did not quibble in the use of thf
word "
"Do you count as a friend one who
would try to put you aboard a ship which
bears the reputation of the Madame de
Stael? one who would bring to our house
the notorious Nicholas Stembridge?"
"Y'ou were also invited to go, remem
ber." ,
"My dear child, you are overwrought.
I cannot believe that you are appealed to
by this sudden interest of his in your wel
fare; nor that you dreamed of accepting
terms that would have frightened our
Uomremy snint who braved wars."
"I do not like your talk of terms, moth
er. There were no terms. Mr. Constable
asked me to board his ship, that I might
be safe. His care for my welfare Is no'
important in this talk."
"Do you think you would be safe to g,
with him?"
"Safe as the' sea safe as the black
women and their babies now crowded- up
on the terrible de Stael! I do not care
to talk further. You have followed your
inclinations regarding Mr. Constable, and
until now I have allowed your Inclinations
to be mine. I am guilty as you are of
outraging the sensibilities of a man who
deserves at least the consideration of a
gentlewoman. I shall learn the truth
about these reports, and if they are as
false In substance as I believe, I shall
make up for my Incivilities."
Mrs. Stansbury felt that here was K
resistance no less formidable than sudden.
It must be crushed, of course, but the
present moment was not propitious. She
laughed gently.
(To be continued.)
The deposit of dew Is greatly Influ
enced by color. It will be found thick
est on a board painted yellow, but nol
at all on red end, black.
AWKWARD
y'l-Wf" JJL U" ""'."V1 V""' "SI . " VS"'s"C ' "J1" "l,llai
fi tf Win, ". &V I'' ' - i - I,, : :: , ., " ,: . , I
- r - .
-4 t-Li A4." ' .V . .V
t ki "-ru I , ' il
H'Vrr 4'
lr ft
k - t 1
BUFFALOES FOR AMERICA'S NATIONAL RANCH.
t. Transporting tiuiTaloen fur preservation.
The animals driven down the chute to the
traveling wagons.
2. The bulTalo's traveling saloon for a
2.000-nille Journey.
II. Arrival of tlie bultaloes from the New
Vork Zoological I'ark at the Wichita ranch,
Oklahoma.
4. The buffaloes) sprayed with crude oil
before they were released upon the ranch.
5. One of the I'nlted Stales buffalo pre
eerves. A general view of the Wichita
aneh.
6. Tart of the herd that stocked the gov
ernment ranch. Uuu'ulocs In the New York
Zoological l'ark.
STATISTICS OK SmVIVINQ BUKFA-I-OICS.
Total hulTaloes In the world 2 047
Wild ;t2S
, In eaptlvity 1,722
Wild In V. S. A 2B
Wild In Canada son
Captive In I'. S. A 1,1111
Captive In Canada 47(1
Captive In Europe l.tu
Photographs by Shopstone.
The I'nlted States governnient Is In
terested In the preservation of the buf
'alo, and it 1ms estaltllshed two ranches
AMERICAN FARMERS WANTED.
Victoria In After Them to Start Irri
gation In Aunlrullu.
The Invasion of the Cnnadlnn whent
belt by American fanners, about which
there was so much comment two or
tfiree years ago, mny be duplicated In
Australia, says a Melliourno dlKpntch
to the Boston Transcript. George
Swlntmrne. the minister of agriculture
of this state, proposes that nn organ
ized effort 'be made to Induce American
farmers with a practical experience of
irrigation to settle In Victoria. In this
he is seconded by El wood Mend, the
American Irrigation expert, who, nfter
serving the United States government
and various American colleges, is now
chairman or tne commission on nvi
and water supply of the state of Vic
toria, with headquarters In this city.
It Is nrgued In the commonwealth
that in the I'nlted States Irrigation has
advanced beyond theory and become n
prosperous realization, whereas In Aus
tralia there Is much to be done in edu
cating the farmer besides affording him
a supply of water. Experiments, lec
tures and lessons In Irrigation are hav
ing good results here; there nre exam
ples of successful irrigation farming
already In the commonwealth, and
since the terrible years of drought
which culminated In 1002, Irrigation on
a large scale has lcen hailed as the
hope and the aim of Australia. Int it
is likewise true that nt many plnces In
Victoria and New South Wales, where
Irrigation Is employed, much water Is
xsted and the soil Is Improperly used.
It Is Mr. Swinburne's idea, therefore,
to get the Americans to settle In differ
ent pnrts of Victoria and actively en
gage in farming, so that their Austral
ian neighbor" may lie able to learn Irri
gation from them. Mr. Mead has told
Mr. Swinburne that there are hundreds
of farmers In the western United
States who would readily settle In Vic
toria If they knew that the land in
many parts of this state was more pro
ductive thnn that of n large number
of successful Irrigation districts In the
United States. Mr. Mead Intends to
make, this latter fact widely known,
and It Is planned by Minister Swl.i
bume to hiire two or three representa
tive American farmers Invited to Vic
toria at this state's exivense to so what
it has to offer In tho way of land and
opportunities, nnd enable tlieni to re
xirt to their friends.
Should the plan succeed It may be
that New South Wales will adopt It
also, for thut state Is nlrendy com
mitted to what Is known as the Burren
PASSENGERS.
t ' U , ,1 J fl
-A-
n,-..iiWt
--uiie at Wlchltu, Ok., uuil the other in
Montana. For the latter Congress lum
voted a Bum of 8,000, 0,000 of which
btts been pnld to the Flathead Indians
for the ground. The renin Inlng 2,000
will go to the expense of fencing the
nuich, which covers twenty square
miles. The Wichita ranch covers
twelve square tulles. It was stocked
from the New York zoologlcnl park
with twelve pure blood American buN
fuloes, presented by the director, Dr.
Ilornndny. The animals innde the Jour
ney of 2,000 miles by rail. Ktieli one
was placed In a large comfortably pad
ded crate, Into which It was driven
clown a chute leading from the buffa
loes' lnclosure. The method Is shown
in the first photograph. When the buf
faloes arrived, nfter a seven days' jour
ney, they were sprayed with crude oil
mid then released. Cnniulu Is also es
tablishing buffalo preserves. Illustrat
ed London News.
Jack project, which when completed
will be one of the biggest 'lrrigatlou
plunts in the world.
THE READING HABIT.
Soma Peraonn Who I'eruna Many
Hooka Unln I. It lie by It.
The phrase Is n very common one It.
these days of splendidly equipped libra
ries nnd trained librarians, nnd un
doubtedly "the rending hnlilt" may be
one of the most valuable possession
one can acquire; but unfortunately
there are so many rending habits al
most as ninny as there are Individuals
who rend.
"Kosle Is such a reader!" Uosle's
mother Informed a caller, proudly. "She
reads everything thnt comes out. The
lady up at the library snys she can't
keep up with her. She has three or
four books u week."
"What have you been reading late
ly?" the caller asked, turning to Itosle.
Koale stammered and hesitated, she
could remember two or three books but
no more. She wns simply making a
sieve of her little empty mind, nnd
pouring the stories through as fast as
her eyes could swallow the print.
The caller's thought rnn back to het
own childhood, where, like little Chur
lotte Yonge, she had been allowed a
chapter a day of "Waverley," provided
she first read twenty pages of Gold
smith's "Rome" or some equally solid
work. What If the "Koine" vanished
with the years? "Waverley," slowly
rend and eagerly pondered, became the
Joy of a lifetime. She thought of the'
children whose bedtime "poetry hour"
with mother wns the very heart of tha
day of still another mother, who for
a whole summer lived with her boys
and girls the splendid King Arthur leg
ends. What of all the slowly distilled wis
dom and delight of these treasured
hours could poor little Kosle know,
rushing nt express speed through ulJ
the "best sellers"?
"Poor Kosle!" she sighed. "I'oor lit
tle Kosles everywhere !" Youth's. Com
panion. To Sharpen Sclaaora.
Cut them rapidly on the neck of a
small glass bottle, or better still, on a
ground-gltiHS stopper. It trues the
edges nnd nmkes them cut like new.
Woman's Home Companion.
What bus become of the' old-fashioned
home where children had mo
lasses for every day, and the Jam wu
saved for Sundays and company T '
s