.i(S1KJtW. 1
THE
rn
By
m ana minter
UNDERWEAR
Louis Tracy,
PILLAR of
Author of
"The
Winrfa
of the
Morning"
&j
Si
LIGHT
t i
'J
Copyright. 1004, by
Edward J. Clode
1
CONTINUED.
J
"I did uot regret, I have uovcr regret-
tuil, the outcoino of tho duel. IIo was
inortiilly wouuded and was carried to
his house to die. I tied from Paris to ,
escape arrest, but the woman In whoso
defense I encountered him behaved
most cruelly. She deserted mo and
-went to blm. Ask Mrs. Shcppurd. She
was your English nurse at the time,
Constance. It was she who brought
.von to England. I never met my wife
again. I believe, on my soul, that she ,
was innocent of the greater offense. I ,
twine sue reueiicu ugainsc me iiiougut
that 1 had slain one who said he wor
shiped her. Anyhow, she had her price.
She remained with him, In sheer de
fiance of me, until his death, and her
reward was his wealth. Were It not
for this wo might have come together
again and striven to forget the past In
mutual toleration. The knowledge that j
she was enriched with that man's gold
maddened mo. I could not forget that.
I loathed all that money could give
the diamonds, tho dresses, the Insane
devices of society to pour out treas
ure on tho vanities of tho hour. By
Idle chance I was drawn to tho light
house service. It was the mere whim
of a friend into whose sympathetic
cars I gave my sorrows. It is true I
did not Intend to devote my life to my
present occupation. But its vast si
lences, Its isolation, its seclusion from
-the petty, sordid, money grabbing life
ashore, attracted me. I found quiet
joys, peaceful days and dreamless
nights In Its comparative dangers and
privations. Excepting my loyal serv
ant and friend, Mrs. Shcppurd, and the
agent and solicitors of my estate, none
knew of my whereabouts. I was a
Jost man and, as I imagined, a fortu
nate one. Now, In tho last week of
my service for I would have retired
in a few days, and it was my Inten
sion to tell you something, not all, of
my history, lurgely on account of your
lovcmaklng, Enid the debacle has
come, and with It my wife."
"Father," asked Constanco, "is my
mother still your wife by law?"
"She cannot be otherwise."
"I wonder if you are right. I am too
young to judge these things, but she
spoke of her approaching marriage
with Mr. Traill in a way that suggest
ed she would not do him a grievous
-wrong. She does not love him as I
understand love. She regards him as
n man admirable In many ways, but
she Impressed me with the Idea that
fche believed she was doing that which
was right, though she feared some un
foreseen diillculty.
Brand looked at her with troubled
eyes. It is alwjiys amazing to a parent
to find unexpected powers of divination
In a child. Constance was still a little
girl In his heart. What had conferred
-this Insight Into a complex nature like
lier mother's?
"There Is something to bo said for
that view," ho admitted. "I recollect
now that Fyne told mo she had lived
some years In the western states, but
he said, too, that her husband, the man
-whose name she bears, died there. My
(poor girls, I do, indeed, pity you if all
this story of miserable Intrigue, this
squalid romance of the law courts, Is
to be dragged Into the light in a town
-where you are honored. Enid, you aeo
now how doubly fortunnte you are in
"being restored to a father's arms"
"Oh, no, not" walled Enid. "Do not
say that. It seems to cut us apart.
"What have you done that jou should
lrcad tho worst that can be said? And
why should there bo any scandal at j
-nil? I cannot bear you to say such
things."
"I think I understand you, dad," said '
Constance, her burning glance striving i
to read his hidden thought. "Matters '
cannot rest where they nre. You will
not allow my mother to go away a
second time without a clear state-1
ment as to tho future and an equally J
honest explanation of tho past."
tuis was precisely tno question ho
dreaded. It had forced Its unwelcomo
presenco upon him In the first moment
of tho meeting with his wife, but he
was a man of order, of discipline. Tho
habits of yenrs might not bo flung
asldo so readily. It was absurd, ho
held, to inflict tho self torture of use
less Imaginings on the first night of
their homo coming after tho sovero
trials of their precarious life on tho
rock.
Abovo nil else It was necessary to re
assure Constnnce, whoso strength only
concealed the raging fire beneath, and
Enid, whoso highly strung tempera
ment was on tho borderland of hys
teria. IIo was still tho arbiter of their
lives, the one to whom they looked for
galdnnce. He rebelled against tho
prospect of a night of Bleonjessnilscry' '
l'r 'CS0 tW0' n,Hl Jt noc0(1 ,l,s om
phutlc dominance to direct tliolr
thoughts Into n more peaceful clmu-
nol.
So he asHtitned tho settled purpose
he was fur from feeling and sum
moned a kindly smile to his aid.
"Surely wo have discussed our dllll
culties sufficiently tonight," he said.
In the morning. Constance. I will
meet Mr. Traill. IIo is u gentleman
n,i a nm f the world. I think, too,
that his nephew will he resourceful
,i Wso j,, C()Unsoi beyond his years,
xow we rc nj K0B to btnln some
muni needed rest, cither you nor
I will yield to sleepless hours of' brood
ing. Neither of you knows that not
forty-eight hours ago I made myself
a thief in the determination to save
your lives and mine. It was a need
less burglary. I persuaded myself that
It was necessary in the Interests of
llle Trinity Urethral, those grave gen-
tlemen in velvet cloaks. Enid, who
would be horrified by the mere sug
gestion. I refuse to place myself on
the moral rack another time. In the
old days when I was a boy the drama
was wont to he followed by a more
lively scene. I forbid further discus
sion. Come, kiss me. both of you. I
think that a stiff glass of hot punch
will not do me any harm, nor you, un
less you imbibed freely of that cham
pagne I saw nestling In the Ice pall."
They rose obediently. Although they
knew he was acting a part on their
account, they were sensible that ho
was adopting a sane course.
Enid tried to contribute to tho new
note. She bobbed In the npproved style
of the country domestic.
"Please, Sir Stephen," she said,
"would you like 8ome lemon In the
toddy?"
Constance placed a little copper ket
tle on the fire. Their gloom had given
way to a not wholly forced cheerful
ness for In that pleasant cottage sor
row was an unwelcome guest when
they were surprised to hear a sharp
knock, on the outer door.
At another time the incident, though
unusual at a late hour, would not have
disturbed them. But the emotions of
the night were too recent, their sub
sidence too artificially achieved, that
they should not dread the possibilities
which lay beyond that imperative sum
mons. Mrs. Shcppurd and the servant had
retired to rest, worn out with the
anxious uncertainties of events re
ported from the lighthouse.
So Brand went to the door nnd tho
girls listened in nervous foreboding.
They heard their father say:
"Hello, Jenkins, what is the matty
now?"
Jenkins was a sergeant of police
whom they .knew.
"Sorry to trouble you, Mr. Brand, but
nn,odd thing has happened. A lady, a
stranger, mot me ten minutes ago aim
asked me to direct: her to your house.
I did so. She appeared to be In great
trouble, so I strolled slowly after her.
I was surprised -to see .her looking In
through the window of your sitting
room. As far as I could make out she
was crying fit to break her heart, and I
Imagined she meant to knock nt the
door, but was afraid."
"Whore Is she? What has become of
her?"
Brand stepped out Into tho moon
light. The girls, whlto nnd trembling,
followed.
"Well, she ran off down the garden
path and tumbled In a dead faint near
the gate. I was too late to save her.
I picked her up and placed her on a
Bent. She Is there now. I thought It
best before carrying her here to tell
you"- '
Before Brand moved Constnnce ran
out, followed by Enid. In a whirl of
pain the lighthouse keeper strode after
thorn. IIo saw Constance stooping
over a motionless figure lying prone
on tho garden scat. To those strong
young arms tho slight, graceful form
offered nn easy task.
Brand heard Enid's whisper:
"Oh, Connie, It Is she!"
But tho daughter, clasping her moth
er to her breast, said quietly:
"Dad, she has come home, and sho
may bo dying. Wo must take her In."
IIo mndo no direct answer. What
could he say? Tho girl's fearless
words admitted of neither "Ye's" nor
"No."
He turned to tho policeman.
"I am much obliged to you, Jenkins,"
vho said. "Wo know tho lady. Unless
unless there are Berlous consequences
will you oblige mo by saying nothing
about her? But stay. When you pass
I tho Mount's Bay hotel please call and
Bay thnt Mrs. Vnnslttnrt has been
seized with sudden Illness and Is being
cared for at my house."
. "Yes, sir," said the sorgcant, salut-
Mt(
"Oi, Connie, It Is kic"
lug.
As he walked away down the garden
path he wondered who Mrs. Vunsltturt
could bo and why Miss Brand said she
had "come home."
Then he. glanced back at the house
Into which tho others had vanished.
He laughed.
"Just fancy It," he said; "I treated
lit in as If ho was a blooniln' lord. And
I suppose my position Is a better one
than his. Anyhow ho Is a splendid
chap. I'm glad now I did It, for his
sake nnd tho sake of those two girls.
How nicely they were dressed. It has
always been a puzzle to me lfow they
can afford to live In that style on the
pay of a lighthouse keeper. Well, It's
none of my business."
CHAPTER XVI II. ,
T"VYDY MAHGAItET took her du
I parture from the hotel at an
early hour. Her son went with
- her. Their house was situated
on the outskirts of tho town, and, al
though Stanhope would gladly have re
mained with the two men to discuss
the events of this night of surprises,
he felt that his mother demanded his
present attention.
Indccdg, her ladyship had much to
say to ldm. She, like the others, had
been Impressed by Mrs. Vauslttarfs
appenrauce, even under the extraordi
narily difficult circumstances of tho oc
casion. The feminine mind Judges Its
peers with the utmost precision. Its
analytical methods nre pitilessly sim
ple. It calculates with mathematical
nicety those details of toilet, those
delicate nuances of manner, which dis
tinguish the womnn habituated to re
finement and good society from the
interloper or mere copyist.
It had always been a matter of mild
wonder In Penzance how Constance
Brand had acquired her French trick
of wearing her clothes. Some women
are not properly dressed after they
have been an hour posing In front of u
full length mirror; others can give
one glance at a costume, twist and pull
It into the one correct position and
walk out perfectly gowned, with a hap
py consciousness 'that all Is well.
Every Parislenue, some Americans,
u few Englishwomen, possess this
gift. Constnnce had it, nnd Lady Mar
garet know now that It was a lineal
acquisition from her mother. The dis
covery enhanced the oollef, always
prevalent locally, that Brand was a
gentleman born, and her ladyship was
now eager for her sou's assistance In
looking up the "Landed Gentry" and
other works of reference which define
and glorify the upper ten thousand of
the T'ultod Kingdom. Perhaps that way
light would be vouchsafed.
Being a little narrow minded, the ex
cellent creature believed that a scandal
among "good" people was not half so
scandalous as an affair in which the
principals were tradesmen "or worse."
She confided something of this to her
son as they drove homeward and wns
very wroth with him when ho treated
tho idea with unbecoming levity.
"My dear boy," she cried vehemently,
"you don't understand tin? value of
such credentials. You always speak
and net as If you were on bonrd one of
your hectoring warships, where the best
metal and the heaviest guns nre all Im
portant. It Is not so In society, even
the society of a small Cornish town.
Although I am an earl's daughter, I
cannot afford to be qulotly sneered nt
by some who would dispute my social
supremacy."
As each complaisant sentence rolled
forth ho laughed quietly In tho dark
ness. "Mother," sold ho suddenly, "Mr.
Trnlll nnd I have had a lot of talk
about Enid during thp pnst two days.
I have not seen you until this evening
before dinner, so I have had no op
portunity to tell you all thnt has oc
curred." "Some now Imbroglio, I suppose,"
sho Bald, not nt all appeased by his '
seeming carelessness us to what tho
dowager Lady Tregarthen or Mrs.
Taylor-Smith might sny when gossip
started.
"Well, It Is, In n sense," ho admitted.
"You see, wo are Jolly hard up. It Is a
squeeze for you to double my pay, and,
ns I happened to Inform Mr. Traill that
I was going to mnrry Enid, long before
ho knew Bhe wns his daughter, It camo
ns a bit of n shock afterward to hear
that ho Intends to endow her with
200,000 on her wedding day. Now tho
question to.b.Q.djBc.usse(Jjs not whether
Infants' all-wool Vests, button clown
front, all sizes 40c
2 for 75c
Infants' all-wool
Rising
Children's separate Cotton Garments
with llcece back, size 16 at 12JC
2- 1-2C rise per size
Children's Cotton Garments, extra
heavy flqece, size 18 at 18c
Rise 4c on each size
Union Suits in Cotton at 25c 50c, 60c
and 75c
Union Suits in Wool at $1 00
Ladies' separate Garments at 25c, 50c
Ladies' separate Garments, extra
large sizes, at 50c
Ladies' Union Suits at 75c, $1.00, $1.25
YARNS!
Our stock of Yarns was never
so complete in colors and qual
ity. Prices the lowest.
INFANTS' WOOL HOSE at 15c and 25c
CHILDREN'SIWOOL HOSE at. . . 15c, 25c, 30c
LADIES WOOL HOSE at 25c 30, 40c
F. NEWHOUSE,
L
Dry Goods, Laces
the ndopfed daughter of a poor llght
lioiiso keeper, who nmy bo Lord This-nnd-That
In disguise, Is a good match
for mo, but whether nn impecunious
lieutenant In tho royal navy Is such n
tremendous catch for n girl with n
great fortune."
Lndy Margaret was stunned. Sho
began to brentho quickly. Her utmost
expectations were surpassed. Before
she could utter a word her son pre
tended to misunderstand her agitation.
"Of course It was fortunate that Enid
nnd I hnd Jolly well made up our
minds somewhat In ndvuiv.'e, but It wns
n near thing, a matter of flag slgnnls
otherwise I should havo boon com
pelled to consider myself ruled out of
the game. Therefore, during your tea
table tactics, If tho dowager, or that
old spitfire, Mrs. Taylor-Smith, says a
word to you about Brand, just give 'em
a rib roster with Enid's two hundred
thou', will you? While they nre reel
ing under the blow throw out a gentle
hint thnt Constnnce may ensnare
Traill's nephew. Ensnare' Is the right
word, Isn't It? The best of It Ib, I
know they havo been worrying you for
months nbout my friendship with 'girls
of their class.' Oh, tho Joy of tho en
counter! It must bo like blowing up
a battleship with a tuppenny hnponny
torpedo boat."
So her ladyship not without ponder
ing over certain entries In tho books
of tho proudly born, which recorded
the birth and mnrriago of Sir Stephen
Brand, ninth baronet, "present where
abouts unknown" went to bod, but
not to sleep, whereas Jack Stanhopo
nover afterward remembered undress
ing, so thoroughly tired wns he, and
so absurdly happy, notwithstanding
tho awkward situation divulged nt tho
dinner.
Pyno, left with his uncle, set him.
self to divert tho other man's thoughts
from the' embarrassing topic of Mrs.
Vnnslttnrt.
IIo know thnt Brand wns not likely
to leave them In any dubiety as to tho
past. Discussion now was useless, u
more Idle guessing nt probabilities, so
ho boldly plunged Into the mystery ns
yet surrounding Enid's first your of
existence
'Mr. Traill, glad enough to discuss a
more congenial subject, marshaled tho
ascertained facts. It was easy to seo
that hero at least ho stood on firm
ground.
Rubens Vests, No. 1
5c per size
40c
and Embroideries
LI
"Your father, ns you know, wns u
noted yachtsman, Charlie," he said.
"Indeed, ho wus one of the first men
to cross, the Atlantic In his own boat
under steam und sail. Twenty years
ago In this very month ho took my
wife and me, with your mother, you
und our little Edith, then six months
old, on n delightful trip along tho Flor
ida coast and the gulf of Mexico. It
was then nrranged that we should pass
the summer among tho Norwegian
fiords, but the two ladles wore nervous
about the ocean voyage east In April,
so your father brought the Esmeralda
across, and wo followed by mall
steamer. During tho last week of May.
and the whole of June wo cruised from
Chrlstlnnla almost to the North capo.
Tho fine, keen nlr restored my wife's
somewhat dellcato health, nnd you nnd
Edith throve -nmnzlngly. Do you re
member the voyage?"
"It Is a dim memory, helped a good
deal, I lmnglue, by what I havo hoard
since."
"Well, on the Fourth of July, putting
Into Ilardanger to celebrato tho day
with some fellow countrymen, I re
celved n cable which rendered my
presenco In New York absolutely Im
perative. There was n big develop
ment scheme Just being engineered In
connection with our property. In fact,
tho event which had such a tragic se
quel practically quadrupled your for
tune and mine. By thnt time the la
dles wore bo enthusiastic about tho
seagoing qualities of tho yacht that
they would have sailed round tho world
In her, nnd poor Pyno had no difficulty
In persuading them to take tho leisure
ly way home, while I raced off via
Newcastle und Liverpool to tho other
Bide. I received my last cable from
them dated Southampton, July 20, nnd
they were due In New York Bomowhcro
nbout Aug. G or 0, allowing for ordi
nary winds and weather.
"During tho night of July 21 wl)en
midway between the Scllly Isles nnd
tho Fnstnot they ran Into a donso fog.
Within fivo minutes, without tho least
wurnlng, U10 Esmeralda wns struck
amidships by a big Nova Scotlan bark.
Tho little vessel Bank almost like a
atone. Nevertheless your father, buck
ed by his skipper and a splendid crow,
lowered two boats, nnd all bands were
saved for the moment. It wns Pyno'a
bongyimj; hlo bonta were always stored
(Continued on Fafee rilx.)
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