w
PILLAR
LIGHT
OONTINUBD.
"But," she punted in thaf unnerving
whisper, "I treated you so vilely. I
left you to Join Uio man you hud
fought to save mo. I deserted my hus
band and my child for the Bake of tho
money ho bequeathed to me. In the
lust of wealth I strove to crush you
out of my heart. And now that God
luiH humbled me I must humble my
self. Stephen, I am not your wife. I
obtained a divorce"
"Nnuettc," ho cried, "I cannot bear
to see you kneeling at my feet. I ask
no revelations. I forgive you any
wrong you may huvo done mo fully
ond freely, s I hope to be forgiven."
She yielded to his pleading and al
lowed him to raise her. For an Instant
nlie was clasped' to his breast.
"It would be happiness to die In your
anus, Stephen," she said wildly. "I do
not deserve it, I know, but heaven Is
merciful."
Tho dreadful idea possessed him that
in her weak stato this passlonato wish
might he grunted. '
"Nanette," he cried, "you must con
trol yourself. If you will not promise
to sit down and talk quietly I will
leave you."
She obeyed him instantly.
"I don't euro how much you scold
mo," she said, "hut you must not go
way. I meant to see you before I left
Penzance. I came hero that night. I
looked through the. window, I saw my
-daughter and her adopted sister listen
ing to you and weeping because of a
mother's shame. Then I must have lost
my senses. I ran away. I remember
nothing else until I woke up to And
Constance caring for me In your
house."
Ho tried to break In upon tho trend
of her thought. This was by no meaus
the lino he hud Intended to pursue. Ills
.hope was to soothe and culm her, to
part from her In amity and without
giving her cause to deplore a loss of
dignity.
"i am only too pleased that when 111
jiOBS overtook you you wero committed
to my cure and to Constuuce. Poor
girl! She thought you wero dead."
"Did you tell her that?"
"No, but I allowed It to bo assumed,
which Is tho same thing."
"When did she know the truth?"
"In tho hotel after you left tho
room. I hud to suy something. It was
bettor for you that I should say
.you were my .wife."
"So oven In that trying moment you
strove to shield mo from unjust suspi
cious. Stephen, how could I have acted
toward you us I did?"
Again ho endeavored to lead her to
talk of tho future rather than tho past.
"There Is one great surprise In store
for you," he said. "Hut It Is a pleasant
one In every way. Enid Is Mr, Traill's
daughter."
"I nm glad," she said simply. "1 do
not understand, but you must toll me
another time. Just now I can think
only of you and of myself. You must
listen, Stephen. I will do all that you
(lemnnd, hide myself anywhere, but
you must know everything. "When wo
parted, when I deserted you to nurse a
dying man, I was foolish and willful,
lnit not' wholly abandoned. Nor have I
over been. I was rich enough to grat
ify my whims, nnd for a time I lived
hi Paris, on tho Itlvlera, In Florence
-and In Biarritz. But I was always
meeting people who knew you, nnd,
although my wealth and perlmps my
good looks kept mo In a certain sot, I
felt that our friends Invariably took
your side and despised me. That lm
blttercd mo the more. At last your fa
ther died, and I saw some vague refer
ence to i your dlsappearnnco from soci
ety. I employed agents to trnco you.
They fulled. Then I went to America
and lived on a ranch In Nebraska,
wliero I obtained a divorce from you
on tho ground of desertion. Desertion,
Stephen! That was tho plea I raised."
She gave a mocking llttlo laugh.
Brand, thinking It best to fall in with
her mood, sat In silenco on a chair
which ho had drawn close to the win
dow. From his houso ho could see
tho wide sweep of Mount's bay. Tho
Trinity tender was steaming out from
tho harbor. It struck him as an ex
traordinary fact that this was tho day
of his relief had he served his full two
mouths on the rock.
Today by his own design tho second
orn of his checkered eurcer would huvo
come to a peaceful closo. Within h
Httle while ho would have taken Con
fitanco and Enid, If unmnrrlcd, on that
long contemplated continental tour.
But tho hurricane camo when "tho
blast of the terrible ones Is as a
storm," nnd tho pillar, tho refugo of
his distress, became the ceuter of luflu -
eucos destined to mold his life afresh,
What did It all mean? Ho bowed
By
Louis Tracy,
Aothor of
"The
Wintfs
of the
Morning"
Copyright. 1004, by
. Edward J. Clode
his face Into his hands. He heard his
wife's low, sweet voice continue:
"I lived thcro nearly six years. Then
my manager died. lie wob an English
man mimed Vuusltturt. Within a
month his wlfo died. There was some,
fever about the place, and I became
frightened. A longing for the old llfo
seized me, and I went east, hut not ns
Mrs. Brund, the name which I always
bore In Nebraska. I had done with It
nnd with you, as I thought Constance
never entered my mind save as a fee
ble memory so I became Mrs. Etta
Vuusltturt."
Brand raised his head and looked at
her again. She was speaking now In
n curiously subdued tone. She was
giving evidence against herself nnd
giving It truly.
"In Newport, Saratoga and tho Adl
rondncks In summer, In New York
during tho winter, I lived In a drowsy
content. People who take drugs must
rench that state, but their condition is
pitiable when they are aroused. Many
men asked me to marry them. I laugh
ed at tho Idea. At lust I met Mr. Traill.
Wo were friendly for quite live years.
I came to Europe, to tho Engadlne,
where I found that Mrs. Stephen
Brand's troubled life was forgotten,
but Mrs. Vanslttnrt, tho rich widow,
was populuj. There I saw Mr. Traill
again. He offered me marriage, and I
fancied It would be well to ally my
self with a man so distinguished nnd
widely known on both sides of the At
lantic. I did not love him. I respected
nnd admired him that was all. I ac
cepted him, but stipulated that I
should go back to the States and wind
up my affairs there, returning to Paris
for tho wedding. That wns necessary
If I would maintain my deception. So,
Stephen, nftcr a lifetime of vagary and
wandcrlngthls Is the result. I nm be
spattered by tho mud of my own acts.
J seo my forgotten daughter grown to
beautiful womanhood. I meet my hus
band, whom I might have loved and
honored, patiently following tho path
Into which iny neurotic Impulses drove
him. Stephen, do you think my punish
ment Is complete?"
Tho bitter self condemnation In her
voice wns nol defiant, but subdued.
She hnd traveled far in spirit through
the vale of tears since the Gulf Itock
barred her onward progress.
Though sho asked a question she
seemed to expect no answer. Brand,
thinking to render her task less trying,
was still looking through the window
and watching tho steady churning of
the tender toward Cam du and thence
to the lighthouse.
At lust he spoke.
"When I entered this room," he snld,
"I mount to avoid a scene which must
hnvo Ijecn as exhausting to you as it is
painful to me. Yet as it happens It Is
well for both of us Uiat you have lifted
the veil from what has gone before.
Now It should be dropped forever."
"Tell mo what you wish to do. I
will obey."
"Don't you think It will bo bettor If
wo defer u llnal settlement? You hnvo
already tuxed your frail powers be
yond their limit."
"No, Stephen. Speak now. I will not
faint uor yield to wenkuess. I will
live. Have no fear. Death does not
come as a skillful heujer of tho wound
ed conscience. It mny bo sought, nnd I
huvo thought of that. But Constance
would suffer, and if It will Bpare her
pain I will endure to tho end. Surely I
owo her that reparation. I committed
moral suicide once In my life. Let It
suillco!"
The fixed plan of tho study, with Its
carefully arranged phrnses, wns not so
readily acceptable to the man now.
What would becomo of his wlfo -If ho
drove her forth this time of his own
accord to live In mournful solitude,
brooding over a wasted life and look
ing forward only to nn occasional visit
from her daughter?
A host of Impossible Ideas jostled In
his brain. lie strove desperately to
find some easy way of suggesting the
settlement which appealed to him as
tho fitting one, but his soul revolted
from tho notion of formulating a de
cree of banishment against this ethe
real, ghostlike creaturo who had been
thrust back Into his very keeping from
out the heart of tho storm.
He stood up nnd faced her, careless
whether or not the stress of Inward
conlllct In his eyes belled tho calm
gravity of his words.
"Pcrhnps you are stronger thun I,"
ho said. "Wo must meet again, to
morrow or .next day. Some of tho
young people will bo returning soon.
If you wish It I will not tell them I
have seen you."
"It Is for .vou to decldo. Stenh"'i."
1 She Boomed to bo quite hopeiu-s, re-
signed to any twist or turn c' f'lto.
Hero wns a broken woman Inihvil. uud
the npeetaclo was torturing. He had
never understood her as a bright young
girl and a bride of nineteen, lie did
not understand her now, A man of Ills
oakllko qualities could not grasp the
nature of n woman who bent as a rood
before each puff of wind.
It was hard to utter even u common-
place farewell. She held him by her
'ery helplessness. Hut the rapid trot
of U horse caught his ears, and while
h stood Irresolute he saw Constance
alighting front the downrt. Ills wife i
looked out too. They heard their daugh
ter laughingly regret that she could not
ask Mr. Pyno to luncheon meals wero
irregular events Just then.
Brand felt a timid hand grasping his,
.lud n choking sob proclaimed that Con
stance's mother was crying.
He stooped with a motion that was
almost a caress,
"Don't cry." ho said. "I cannot boar
It."
"1 can bear anything. Stephen," sho
sobbed. "If only you will let me stay
with you forever."
"Do you mean that, Nanette?" ho
gasped Incredulously.
"I have prayed, yes, dared to pray,
that It might be so ever since I saw
my child. She has brought us togeth
er again. Let us not part, for her sake
and for mine, Stephen, If It Is not too
late."
So Constance, i hastening up the gar
den path, could not believe her eyes
when she saw her father lift her moth
er Into his arms and kiss her.
Mary, the maid, never ceased won
dering why every other member of her
sex In Laburnum cottage should bo
tearful yet ridiculously happy that aft
ernoon. Mrs. Vanslttnrt wept nnd Miss
Coustnnce wept, and Miss Enid wept
when she enme In, while Mrs. Shoppard
was weeping at Intervals all day.
Nevertheless they were all delighted
In their woo, and Mrs. Shoppard. al
though she cooked a tremendous din
ner, never scolded her once.
It was also a remarkable thing that
tho Invalid lady should Insist that she
was strong enough to come downstnlrs
that evening. She did not eat n great
deal, poor thing, but sho looked ever so
much better nnd seemed to llntl all her
pleasure In gazing alternately at tho
master and Miss Constance and In lis
tening to every word they suld.
In tho garden next night, tho moon
being now very brilliant Indeed, Pyno
said to Constance thnt, the step-aunt
Idea having fizzled out, he guessed thnt
the Indy who llgured In that unolussl
lied degree of relationship would pose
uiofo satisfactorily as a mother-in-law.
He said other things that have been
said In many languages since men be
gan to woo women, but the phrases are
hackneyed save to those who listen, and
need not be repeated here.
Hut why two marriages should take
place after extraordinarily short en
gagements no one lu till Penzance
know siive Lady Murgnret Stunhope,
and she, mlrabilc dlctu (being a wo
man), kept her counsel. It created no
end of n sensation when Constance
wns described In the Loudon newspa
pers as "only daughter of Sir Stephen
Brand. Bart., of Lesser Humbledon.
Northumberland." Local gossip quick
ly exhnustcd Itself, ns both weddings,
took pluce lu London, the only avall
ablo Items being tho magnllleence of
tho dlumonds given to Enid and Con
stance by Mr. Traill and the fact that
hi Coustuifce's case "tho bride's moth
er" was described as "looking charm
ing In n silver gray costume trimmed
with point d'alencon lace."
Even when confronted with this mo
mentous statement by Mrs. Tnylor
Smlth, Lady Margaret only shrugged
her shoulders and purred:
"A romance, my dear a romnnco of
real life."
On the day following the depnrturo
of two happy couples for tho continent
Mr. and Mis. Pyno to Italy, Lleuten
uut and Mrs. Stanhope to tho Itlvlera,
with Intent to meet lu Homo at Easter
a quieter and more sednte couple
took train at Waterloo for Southamp
ton, bound for the far west.
Although a Nebraska decree of di
vorce does iiot hold good In English
law, Lady Brund wished to bo married
again in tho state which sanctioned
her early folly. Her husband agreed
rendlly. Everybody, Including Mr.
Traill and Lady Murgnret, hud arrang
ed to turn up at tho north country
mansion in May. Provided there wero
no hurricanes, Sir Stephen thought his
wifo's health would benefit by tho dou
bio sea voyage, and ho was personally
delighted to see the new world for tho
first timo In her company.
Tholr steamer sailed from Southamp
ton at 11 a. m. After dinner that night
they wero abreast of tho Gulf Uock,
and Brand pointed out to his wlfo Its
occulting gleam from afar.
"It makes mo feel very humble," sho
Bald after they had watched Its radl
nnco darting out over tho tumbling
seas for a long timo In silence.
"Why, Hweethenrt?" ho asked.
"It Is so solemn, so Intcuso In Its en
ergy, so splondldly devoted to Its sin
gle purpose."
"Now, It la nn odd thing," ho replied,
as watchful to check hor occasional
qualms of retrospect as he had been
during many a long night to keep that
fiavae light at Its normal stato of clear
eyed brilliance, "but It does not ap
peal to mo In that way. It Is winking
portentously, as much ns to say, 'You
old humbug, thero you are, leaving mo
after all theso years and running awur
' with your own wire."
the end.
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