CorvnoHT. iIm. iv bmt Kami. B If
"Well, I don't wonder! Here are all
the women nuking me who is that good
looking Mephistopheles, with the burn
ing eye, who is prowling around my
rooms as if searching lor a victim.
Why, you're sniilng for all the world
like poor Jim, when he used to do the
Bed Avenger."
Susy's voice, an illustration, recalled
him to himself. "Furious I may well
lie," he said, with a gentler smile, al
though his eyes still glittered, "furious
that 1 have to wait until the one woman
J came to see, the one woman 1 have
not seen for so long, while these pup
pets have been nightly dancing before
her can give me a few moments from
them, to talk of the old days."
In his reaction he was quite sincere,
although he felt a slight sense of re
morse as he saw the quick faint color
rise, as in those old dors, even through
the to-night's powder of her cheek. '
"That's like the old Kla'uns," she said,
with a slight pressure of his arm, "but
we will not have a chance to speak
until late. When they are nearly all
gone you'll take me to get a little re
freshment, and we'll have achat in the
aronserratory. But yon must drop that
awfully wicked look, and make your
self generally agreeable to those worn-,
n until then."
It was perhaps part of this reaction
which enabled him to obey his hostess'
commands with a certain recklessness
that, however, seemed to be in keeping
u illi u.c previous Satanic reputation he
hod, all unconsciously, achieved. The
women listened to the cynical flippancy
of the good-looking soldier with an un
disguised admiration, which, in turn,
' excited curiosity and envy from his
own sex. He saw the whispered ques-
turning, the lifted eyebrows, the scorn
ful shrugging of shoulders and knew
' that the story of his disgrace was in
the air. But I feor this only excited
him to further recklessness and tri
umph. Once he thought he recognized
Miss Faulkner's figure at a distance,
and even fancied that she had been
WBtching him but he only redoubled
his attentions to the fair woman beside
h im, and looked no more.
But he was glad when the guests be
gun to drop oft; the great rooms
thinned, and Susy, appearing on the
nrm of her husband, eoquettishly re
minded him of bis promise. "For I
want to talk to you of old times. Gen.
Brant," she went on, turning explana
torily to Boompointer, "married my
adopted mother in California, at llobles,
a dear old place were I spent my earli
est years. So you see we are sort of
relations by marriage," she added, with
delightful naivete. Hooker's once vain
glorious allusion to his relations to the
man before him flashed across Brant's
mind, but it left now only a smile on
hiBlips. He felt he had already become
a part of the irresponsible comedy of
life around him. Why should he resist
or examine its ethics too closely? He
offered bis arm to Susy; they descended
the stairs; but instead of parsing in the
supper-room, she simply passed through
it with a significant pressure of hiB arm,
and drawing aside a muslin curtain
stepped into the moonlit conservatory.
Behind the curtain there was a small
rustic settee; without releasing his arm
she sat down, so that when he dropped
beside her their hands met and mutual
ly clasped.
"Now, Kla'uns," she said with a
slight comfortable shiver as she nestled
beside him, "it's a little like your chair
down at old Robles, isntrtr Tell me.
And to think it's Ave years ago. But
Ida uns, what's the matter? You are
changed " she said, looking at his dark
lace m the moonlight, "or you have
something to tell me.
"I have."
"And it's something dreadful, I
know," she said, wrinkling her brows
with a pretty terror. "Couldn't you
pretend you had told it to me and let us
go on just the same? Couldn't you,
Kla'uns? Tell me,"
"lam afraid I couldn't," he said, with
a sad smile. :
"Is it about yourself, Kla'uns? Ton
know," she went on with cheerful ra
pidity, "I know everything about you
I always did, you know and I don't
care and never did care, and it don't and
never did make the slightest difference
to me. So don't tell it and waste time,
Kla'uns."
"It's not about me but about my
Wife," he said, slowly.
;," Her expression changed slightly. "0,
her!" she said, after a pause. Then
half resignedly: "Go on, Kla'uns." ,
lie began. He had a dozen times re
hearsed to himself his miserable story,
always feeling it keenly, and even fear
ing that he might be carried away by
emotion or morbid sentiment in telling
It to another, but to his astonishment he
found himself telling it practically,
calmly, almost cynically to his old ploy
mate, repressing the half devotion and
even tenderness that had governed him,
from the time that his wife, disguised as
n mulatto woman, had secretly watched
him in hie office, to the hourthat he had
passed her through the lines. He with
held only the incident of Miss Faulk
ner's complicity andsocrifioe.
"And she got away after having
kicked you out of your place, Kla'uns?"
said Susy when he had ended.
Clarence stiffened beside her. But he
felt he had gone too farto quarrel with
his confidnnve-, "She went away, I
houMtir teuiri tfaat ws ttall
fee 1 i4ilii UtttiM
you this!"
"Kla'uns," she said lightly, taking his
hand again, "don't you believe ltl She
wont let you go. You're one of those
men that a woman when she once has
hooked os to won't let go of even when
she believes she no longer loves him or
meets bigger and better men. I reckon
It's because you're to different from
other men maybe there are so many
different things about you to hook on
to and you don't slip off as easily as
the others. Now, if you were like old
Peyton, her first husband, or like poor
Jim, or even my Boompointer. you'd
be all right! No, my boy, all we can do
Is try to keep her from getting at you
hen.: I reckon she wont trust herself
in Washington again in a hurry I"
'But I cannot stay here my career
is in the field."
"Your career is alongside o' me,
honey and Boompointer. But nearer
me. We'll tlx all that. 1 heard some
thing about your being in disgrace,
but the story was that you were soft
on some secesh girl down there and
neglected your business, Kla'uns. But
Lordyl' to think it was only your own
wife! Never mind, we'll straighten that
out. We've had worse jobs than that
on. Why, there was that commissary
who was buying tip dead horses at one
end of the field and selling them to the
government for mess beef at the other;
and there was that general who
wouldn't make an attack when it
rained, and the other general you
know who 1 mean, ivui uns whu
wouldn't invade the state where his sis
ter lived but we straightened them out
somehow, and they were a heap worse
than yon. We'll get you a position in
the war department here, one of the
imreeu offices, where you keep your
rank and your uniform you don't look
imd in it, Kla'uns on better pay. And
you'll come and see me and we'll talk
over old times."
Brant felt his heart turn sick within
him. But he was at her mercy now!
He said with an effort: "But I've told
you that my career nay, my life now
is in the field."
"Dont you be fool, Kla'uns, and
leave it there. Yon have done your
work of fighting mighty good fight
ing, too, and everybody knows it.
You've earned a change. Let others
take your place."
He shuddered as he remembered that
his wife had made the same appeal.
Was he a fool, then, and these two
women so totally unlike in everything
right In this?
"Come, Kla'uns," said Susy, relapsing
against his shoulder, "now talk tome!
You don't say what you think of me, of
my home, my furniture of my posi
tioneven of him! Tell me!"
"I find yon well, prosperous, and
happy' he said, with a faint smile.i r
"Is that all? How do I look?" " '
She turned her still youthful mis
chievous face toward him in the moon
light. The witchery of her blue eyes
was still there as of old, the same frank
irresponsibility beamed from them; her
parted lips seemed to give him back the
ureath of his youth. He started, but
she did not. .
"Susy, dear!"
It was her husband's voice. "I quite
forgot," it went on, as he drew the cur
tain aside, "that you ore engaged with
a friend, but Miss Faulkner is waiting
to say 'good night,' and 1 volunteered to
find you."
"Tell her to wait a moment," said
Susy, with an impatience that was u
undisguised as it was without, embar
rassment or confusion.
But Miss Faulkner, unconsciously fol
lowing Mr. Boompointer, was iilread
upon them. For a moment, the tvhol.
four were silentalthough perfectly
composed.
Senator Boompointer, unconwiciiwoi
any Infelicity in ui interruption, ivas
calmly waiting. Clarence, opposed sud
denly to the young girl, whom lit: lie
lieved was avoiding his recognition,
roue, coldly imperlurbuble Miss
Faulkner, looking talleraiid inoieerect
in the long folds of her satin cloak,
neither paled nor blushed, us she re
garded Susy and Brant with a smile of
well-bred apology
"I expect to leave Washington to
morrow, and may not be able to will
again," she said, "or 1 would uothaveo
particularly pressed a leavetaking up
on you."
"I was talking with my old friend,
Gen. Brant," said Susy, more by way
of introduction thun apology.
Brant bowed. For an instant the
clear eyes of Miss Faulkner slipped icily
across him as she made him an old-
"I tu unuug to my old fnod, Otn. Brut,"
Hid Suay-
fa-Uionecl colonial courtesy, and taking
busy's arm she tit the rooai.., Uiumii 4
Uai lift'lsr. iut ttoli Uavi w hit hail ai-
most in the same breath. At the front
door a well-appointed carriage of one
of the legations had Just rolled into
waiting. He looked book and saw Miss
Faulkner, erect and beautiful as a bride
in her gauzy draperies, descending the
stairs before the waiting servants. ' He
telt his heart beat strangely. Ife hesi
tated; recalled himself with an effort--hurriedly
stepped from the porch into
the path as he heard the carriage door
close behind him In the disianae, and
even felt the dust from her horses'
hoofs rise around him as she drove post
him and away. S
CHAPTER IB.
Although Brant was convinced as
soon as he left the house that he could
not accept anything from the Boam
polntaj Influence, and that his inter
view with Susy was fruitless, he knew ,
that he must temporise. While he did
not believe that his old playmate would
willingly betray him, he was uneasy
when he thought of the vanity and im
pulsiveness which might compromize
him or of a possible jealousy that
might seek revenge. Yet he had no. rea
son to believe that Susy's nature was
jealous, or that she was likely to have
any cause, but the feet was that the
climax of Miss Faulkner's reappearance
when they were together affected him
more strongly than the real climax of
his interview with Susy which was her
offer. Once out of the atmosphere of
that house, it struck him, too, that
Miss Faulkner was almost as much of
nn alien to it as himself. He wondered
what she had been doing there. Could
it be possible that she was obtaining
Information for the south? nut ne re
jected the idea as quickly as it had
occurred to him. Perhaps there could
be no stronger proof of the unconscious
influence the young girl already had
over him.
He remembered the liveries of the
diplomatic carriage that had borne her
away nnd ascertained without aim
culty that her sister had married one
of the foreign ministers, and that she
was the guest in his house. But he was
the more astonished to hear that she
and her sister were considered to be
southern unionists, and were greatly .;
petted in governmental circles for their
sacrificing tldenty to ine nag. mo in
formant, an official in the state depart
ment, added that Miss Matilda might
have been a good deal of a madcap at
the outbreak of the war, far the sisters
had a brother, in the confederate serv
ice, but that she hod changed greatly,
and, indeed, within a month. "For," he
added, "she was at the white house for
the first time last week, and they say
the president talked more to her than
any other woman.
The indescribable sensation with
which this simple .information filled
Brant startled him more than the news
itself. Hope, joy, fear, distrust.and de
spair alternately thrilled him. He re
cnlledMissFaulkner'salmost agonizing
glance of appeal to him in the drawing
room at Susy's, and it seemed to be
equally consistent with the truth of
what he had just heard or same mon
strous treachery and deceit of which
she might be capable. Even now she
might be a secret emissary of some spy
within the president's family; she
might have beau in correspondence
with some traitor in the Boompointer
clique, and her imploring glance only
the result of : fear of exposure.; 0rr
again, she might have truly recanted
after her escapade at Gray .Oaks, and
feared only his recollection of her as
go-between of spies,. And yet both of
these presumptions were inconsistent
with her conduct In the conservatory.
It seemed impossible that this impul
sive women, capable of doing what he
had himself known her to do, and
equally sensitive to the shame or joy
of such impulses, should be the same
heartless woman of society, who had so
coldly recognized and parted from him.
But this interval of doubt was transi
tory. The next day he received a dis
patch from the war department, order
ing him to report himself for duty at
once. With beating heart he hurried
to the secretary. But that official hod ,
merely left a memorandum with his
assistant, directing Gen. Brant to ac
company some fresh levies to a camp of
occupation near the front for "organi
zation." Brant felt a chill of disap
pointment. Duties of this kind hail been
left to dubious, regular army
nurneuiy ; uipiwu. iiwmi . ivmw
and favored detrimentals. But It It
was not restoration, it was no longer
inaction, and It was at least a release,
from Washington.
It was, also, evidently the result of
some influence, but hardly that of the
Doompointers. for he knew that Busy i
wished to keep him at the capital. Was.
there another power at work to send
him away to Washington? His pre
vious suspicion returned, Nor were
they dissipated when the chief of the
bureau placed a letter before him with
the remark that it had been intrusted
to him by a lady, with the request thatj
it should be delivered only into his
own hands. . "She did not know your
hotel address, but ascertained yot were,
to call here, , She said it was of impor
tance. There is no mystery about it,
general," continued ihe official with a
mischievous glance at Brant's hand
some, perplexed face, "although it's
from a very pretty woman whom we
all know." ,!
"Mrs.' Boompointer" suggested
Tl arttat;llfl,MM
It was a maladroit speeftli.i;,Theofil -
ciol's face darkened, ,"Ws have not yet
become a postal .department for the
Boompointers, general," he saii, drily,
however great their influence ' else -
ffhere. It was from ratnera ainmem
ITyie vi woman mian rauiKnvri- iw
will receive your papers later t your
note), and leave-to-night."-- -
Brant's unlucky slip was still potent
enough to divert the official attention,
or he wogld have noticed the change
in his visitor's face, and the abruptness
of his departure.
Once in the street, Brant tore off the
euvelop. Bat bsMaik, U.waa asothar,
Stt til WvWSl&w sSU.M'
fined hand: "Please do not open this .
unt il you reach your destination."
Then she knew he was golngl And
I his was her Influence. All his suspi
cions again returned. 8he knew he was
going through the lines, and Oils very
appointment, through her Influence,
might he a plot to serve her and the en
emy. Was this letter which Bhe was
Int nistini? to him the cover of a missive
to her southern friends, which she ex
pected him to carry, ns a return for her
own act of aclf-saurillce? Was this
the appeal she had been making to his
chivalry, his gratitude, his honor? Tha
perspiration stood in beads ou his fore
head. What defect lay hidden In his
nature that seemed to make him an
easy victim of these Intriguing women?
He had not even oheexcuse of gallantry.
Less susceptible to the potencies of the
sex than most men, he was still com
pelled to boar that reputation. He re
membered hie coldness to Miss Faulk
ner in the first days of their meeting,
and her effect upon his subalterns.
Why had she selected him from among
them, when she could have modeled the
others like wax to her purpose? Why?
And yet with the question came a pos
sible answer that he hardly dared to
think of; that in Its very vaguenes
seemed to fill him with a stimulating
thrill and hopefulness. He quickened
his pace. He would take the letter and
yet be master of himself when the time
came to open it.
. That time came three days later, In
hlstent on Three Pine Crossing. '! Ashe
broke open the envelope he was re
lieved to find that it contained uoother
inclosure, and seemed intended only for
himself. It began abruptly:
"When you read this you will under
stand why I did not apeak to you when
we met lust night; why I even dreaded
that you might speak to me, knowing
what I ought to tell you even at such
a place and moment something you
could hear from me alone. I did not
know you were in Washington, al
though I knew that you were relieved!
I had no way of seeing you or sending
to you before, and I only come to Mrs.
Boompoirrter's party in the hope of
n(ariAg newa 0f you.
"iou miow that my brother was cap
tured by your pickets, In company with
another officer. He thinks you sus
pected the truth, that he and bin friend
were hovering near your lines to effect
the escape of the spy. But he says that
although they failed to help her she
did escape, or was passed through the
lines by your connivance. He says that
you seemed to know her, that from
wIiatKoc,themulnttowomau,toldhun,
yon and she were evidently old friends.,
I would not speak of this, nor intrude
nion your! private affairs only that
I think you ought to know that I had
no knowledge of it when I was in your
house, but believed her to be a stranger
to you. You gave me no intimation
that you knew her, and I believed that
you were frank with me. But I should
not speak of this at oil, for I believe
that it would have made no difference
with me In repairing the wrong tluitl
thought I had done you, only that as I
oui forced by circumstances to tell you
the terrible ending of this story you
ought to know it all.
. "My brother wrote to mo that the
evening after you left the burying par
ty picked up the body of what they be
lieved: to be a mulatto woman lying
on the slope. It was not Base, but the
body of that very woman the real and
only spy whom you hod passed
through the lines at daybreak. My
brother thinks she was accidentally
killed in the first attack upon you by
her own friends, and so fell a double
martyr, , But only my brother nnd his
friend recognized her through her
blackened face and disguise, and on the
plea that she was a servant of one of
their friends, they got permission from
the division commander to l ike her
away, and she was buried by hur Mends
and among her people in tlie.iMlcajm.
etcry of Three i'lncs crossing not tar
'from where you have gone. Mj brother
tliought I ought to toll you this; it
wenut that he ami his frii'cid had
itlrttnge.syujpaUiy for you in ' ill they
appear lo Know or guess of yym ie!a-
tions with that woman, and 1 think he
was touched by what he thought was
your kindness and chivalry to him on
account, of his sister. But I do not
t 0Mk eTer pr wlu kn0Wi hoB
great is the task that he has Imposed
upon me,
"You know now, do you not, why I
did not speak to you when we first
met. It seemed to Impossible to do
it in an atmosphere and a festivity that
was so incongruous to the dreadful
message I was charged with. And
when I had to meet you later perhaps
I may have wronged you but it seemed
to me that you were so preoccupied
and interested with other things that
I might perhaps only be wearying you
with something you oared little for,
or perhaps already knew and had quick-
Iv forirotten.
1 (To be continued.)
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Undertaking a Specialty.
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return until October 10th, to Yaquloa
Bay, are now on sale by the Oregon
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and Corvallis at the usual reduced
rates), viz:
Albany to Yaqulna and return 3 60
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"Resolute" has been placed In regular
service between Yaqulna and. Newport
for the accommodation of excursionists.
The "Resolute" Is one of the largest
and most commodious tugs on the
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ties to seaand return whenever desired
the weather permitting.
SUNDAY EXCURSIONS, '
Beginning with Sunday, June 21st,
and on eaoh succeeding (iunday, a
special excursion trulti will leave
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arriving at Yuquina at 11:16 A, M.
Returning, boat leaves Newport at 6:80
F. M. Train leaves Yaqulna at 7 P. M.,
arriving at Corvallis at 10 P. M. and
Albany at 10:30 p, H.
Fare, good on this tram only, from
Corvallis, Albany and Philomath to
Newport and return, $1.30,
CuItVALT.IB, June 17. 1806.
H. L WALDKN, H. 11. IiOWMAN,
Agent, Albany. Agent, Corvallis.
Edwin Btonr,
Manager, Corvallis. .
To The Mothers.
You have nice children, you know
and nothing pleases them better than
a Dice nobby suit of clothes that keeps
them warm and healthy. Baker has
th ru and for hut little money. Can
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up to 4 ittir All these low prices you
will Dud at Hiram Baker's,
During our closing out sale no goods
Will b. aolfi except fr spot cash .
oon X,
uua
Tire, No. 103, is llio lightest
Write for list. " "
and athletic goodF, 130 Fixth
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OVERMAN WHEEL COMPANY.
W. B, Kkrnan, Manager.
0
regon Central
& Eastern,
XL. It. CO.
Yaquina Bay Route.
Connecting nt Yaqnhm Buv with the Ban
Kraiicinoo ami equina Buy Stoainsliip
itoinpauy.
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Bails from Yaqulna Buy every eight (lays
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Shortest Route Between the Willamette
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