1
?Who?s Who? In the Story. ?SATAN? SANDERSON, the hero, dare-devil, quixotic friend and minister of the Gospel. HUGH STIRES, prodigal and criminal. JESSICA HOLME, the beautiful heroine, helpless in tbe rush of events and the principal sufferer in a case of mixed Identity. MRS. HALLORAN, the camp oracle DAVII) STTRES, stern, vet f^r giving, and at the last made happy by another's unhappiness. THE BISHOP, the victim of a m isu udersta uding. HALLELUJAH JONES, the re- ligious fanatic on wbVSe shoulders rests the whole weight of the story. EMMET PRENDERGAST, the false friend, perjurer and thief. THE SHERIFF, who ia very much divided between duty and in- clination. ?BIG? DEVLIN, who turns champion Instead of prosecutor aft- er the hero?s race with death. Chapter 11 my son II ugh. In re- \u25a0 turn for the ere and sorrow he has caused me j all the day, of his life. 1 y for his dissolute career ?s and his desertion, 1 do give and bequeith the sum of SI,OOO and the memory of his misspent youth.? It was very quiet In the wide, richly furrlshed library. The May night was stlil, but a faint susplratlon heavy with the fragrance of Jasmine flowers stirred the Venetian blind before the open window and rustled the moon silvered leaves of the aspens outside As the Incisive professional pronounce- ment of the Judge cut through the si- lence the grim face on the pillow of the wheel chair set more grimly, a girl seated In the shadow of the fire screen caught her breath, and from serosa the table the Rev. Henry San derson turned bis handsome, clean shaven face and looked at the old man A peevish misogynist the neighbor- hood labeled the latter, with the parish chapel for hobby and for thorn-ln-the- flesh this only son Hugh, a black sheep whose open breaches of decorum the town had borne as best it might till the tradition of his forbears took him off to an eastern university. A reck- less life there and three wastrel years abroad had sent him back to resume his peccadilloes on a larger scale, to quarrel bitterly with his father and to leave his home in anger. ?Walt." came the querulous voice from the chair. ?Write In ?graceless' before the word ?desertion.? ?? ?For his dissolute career and his graceless desertion," repeated the law The parchment crackling under his pen yer, the parchment crackling under his pen. Judge Conwell glanced curiously at Harry Sanderson as he blotted the emendation. He knew the liking of the cross grained and taciturn old In valid, St. James' richest parishioner, for this young man of twenty-live who had come to the parish only two months before, fresh from his theo- logical studies, to dll a place tempo rarlly vacant and had stayed by sheer force of personality. He wondered if, aside from natural magnetic qualities, this liking had not been due first of all to the curious resemblance between the young minister and the absent son whom David Stlres was disinheriting, for as far ns mold of feature went the young minister and the ne'er-do-well might have been twin brothers. No one perhaps had ever Interested the community more than had Harry Sanderson. He had entered upon bis duties with the marks of youth, good looks, self possession and an ample In- come thick upon him and had brought with him a peculiar charm of manner and an apparent Incapacity for doing things In a hackneyed way. Conven- tion sat lightly upon Harry Sanderson He recognized few precedents either In the new methods and millinery with which he had Invested the service or In hi* personal habits. Instead of at- tending the meeting of St. Andrew?s guild. after the constant custom of his predecessor, he was apt to be found playing his violin (a passion with him) In the smart study that adjoined the gothic chapel where he shepherded Ids fashionable flock or tramping aero - the country with a brier pipe In his mouth and his brown spaptel, Rummy, Dosing at his heels. His athletic trams and clean Cuisetec rca??re« ina.15 liFm a rare figure for the reading desk, ns bis violin practice, tbe cut of bis golf flannels, the Immaculate elegauce of his motor car, even the white carna tlou he affected In bis buttonhole, made him for the younger men a good- ly pattern of tbe cloth, and It had speedily grown to be tbe fashion to bear the brilliant young minister. Something of all this was In the law- yer's mind as he paused?a perfunctory pause?before he continued: ?I do give and bequeath tbe sum of SI,OOO and tbe memory of bis misspent youth.? Harry Sanderson?s eyes had wan- dered from the chair to tbe slim fig- ure of the girl who sat by the screen. This was Jessica Holme, tbe orphaned daughter of a friend of the old man?s early years, who had recently come to the house In tbe aspens to fill the void left by Hugh's departure. Harry could see the contour of throat and wrists, the wild rose mesh of the skin against the Romney blue gown, the plenteous red bronze hair uncoiled and falling In a single braid and the shadowy pathos of her eyes. Clear hazel eyes they were, wide and full, but there was In them no depth of expression, for Jes- sica Holme was blind. As tbe crisp, deliberate accent pointed the Judicial period as with a subterranean echo of irrefutable condemnation Harry saw her under lip indrawn, her bands clasp tightly, then unclasp In her lap. Pliant, graceful hapr?s, ue thought, which even blind"-;.* could not make maladroit (So on.? rasped the old man. ?The residue of my estate, real and personal, I do give and bequeath to my ward, Jessica Holme?? He broke off suddenly, for the girl was kneeling by the chair groping for the restless band that wandered on the afgban and crying in a strained, agi- tated voice: ?No?no ?you must not! He is your son!" ?In the eyes of the law, yes. But not otherwise!? His voice rose. "What has he done to deserve anything from me? What has he bad all bis life but kindness? And how has he repaid It? By being a waster and a prodigal. By setting me In contempt and finally by forsaking me In my old age for his own paths of ribaldry.? The girl shook her bead. "You don't know where he Is now or what he Is doing. Oh, he was wild and reckless, I have no doubt, but when he quarreled and left you wasn't It perhaps because ho was too quick tempered? And If he hasn?t come back isn?t It perhaps be- cause he Is too proud?? ?Jessica. I?ve not forgiven him seven times. I?ve forgiven him seventy times seven. But he doesn?t want forgive ness. To him I am only ?the old man? who refused to ?put up? longer for his fopperies and extravagances! When he left this bouse six months ago he de- clared he would never enter It again. Very well; let him stay away! He shan?t come back when 1 am In my grave to play ducks and drakes with the money he misuses! And I?ve fixed It so that you Won?t be able to give It away either, Jessica.? ' r he girl, still kneeling, turned half about with a hopeless gesture, ?Oh. won?t you help me?? she said. She spoke more to herself. It seemed, than to either of the men who waited. ?Sanderson,? said the old man with bitter fierceness, lifting his hand. ?I dare say you think I am hard, but I tell you there has never been a day since Hugh was born when I wouldn?t have laid down my life for him! Yon are so like! When 1 look at you I seem to see him as he might have been but for his own wayward choice! If he were only as like you In other things as he Is In feature! You are nearly th*» same age. You went to the same col lege. I believe. Yon have had the same advantages and the same temptations. Yet you. an orphan, come out a divtnl ty student, and Hugh?my son! comes out a roisterer with gambling debts, a member of the ?fast set,? one of a disso- lute fraternity known as ?The Saints, - whose very existence, no doubt, was a shame to the Institution!? Horry Sanderson turned slowly to the light. A strange panorama In that moment had flashed through his brain -kaleidoscopic pictures of an early reckless era when he bad not been known ns the ?Kev. Henry Sanderson.? ?I think I ought to say that I was the founder, and at the time you speak of. the abbot of The Saints. I was In the same year with Hugh. We sowed our wild oafs together, a tidy crop, I fancy, for us both. That page of my life Is pasted down. I speak of It now be cause It would be cowardly not to. 1 have not seen Hugh since college closed four years ago. But then I was all you called him?a waster and a prodigal. And 1 was more, for while others followed. I led. At college I was known as ?Satan Sanderson.?? ?It Is the Hugh of the present that I am dealing with,? said the old man. For David Stives was Just and he was feeling a grim respect for Harry's honesty. Harry acknowledged the brusque kindliness of the tone with a little mo- tion of the hand. As he spoke he bad been feeling his way through a maze of contradictory Impulses. For a mwnent -* "* ii ermin"e L rives. II Author of ?Hearts Courijeoui," Etc. <? a> n ' COPYRIGHT IMS. THE BOBBS- MERRILL COMPANY | JL JL JL %9 JL JL v'c-;-S? he had been back In that old irrespon slide time; the Hugh he had known then had sprung to his mind's eye, an imitative Idler, with a certain grace and brilliancy of manner that made him hail-fellow-well-met but withal shallow, foppish? and incorrigible, a cheap and shabby imitator of the out- ward manner, not the Inner graces, of good fellowship. Yet Hugh had been one of his own ?fast set.? They had called him "Satan?s shadow,? a tribute to the actual resemblance ns well ns to the palpable Imitation he affected Harry shivered a little. The situation seemed, in antic Irony, to be revers- ing Itself. It was as If not alone Hugh, but he. Harry Sanderson, In the person of that past of his, was now brought to bar for Judgment in that room. For the Instant he forgot how utterly characterless Hugh had shown himself of old, how devoid of all de- sire for rehabilitation his present rep- utation in the town argued him At that moment it seemed us if in saving Hugh from this condemnation, he was pleading for himself as he had been, for the further chance which he, but for circumstances, perhaps, had needed too. ?Y?ou." h r said, "have lived a life of Just and balanced action It is bred In the bone. You bate all loose con- duct, and rightly. You hate it most in Hugh for the simple reason that he Is your son The very relation makes It more impossible to countenance. He should be like you?of temperate and prudent habit But did you and he start on equal terms? Your grand- father was a Staudish; your ancestry was undiluted Puritan. Did Hugh have all your fund of resistance? With me it was the turning of a long lane. Hugh perhaps has not turned?yet." A breath of that past life had swept anew over Harry, the old shuddering recoil again had rushed upon him. It gave bis voice a curious energy ns he ended: ?And I have seen how far a man may go and yet?come back!" There was a pause. The Judge had an inspiration. He folded the parch ment ?Perhaps it would be as well,? he said in a matter of fact way, "if the signing be left open for the present.? He rose as be spoke and laid the doc- ument on the table. For a moment David Stlres sat In silence. Then he said, with a glint of the old ironic fire: ?You should have been a special pleader. Sanderson. There?s no client too bad for them to make out a case for! Well?well, we won?t sign tonight. I will read it over again when I am more equal to It.? For long the old man sat alone, mus- ing in his chair. At length he sighed and took up a magazine. He was thinking of Harry Sanderson. ?How like!" he said aloud. ?So San- derson sowed his wild oats too! ? ? ? When he stood there, with the light on his face?when he talked ?l?l could almost have thought it was Hugh!" Chapter 2 SANDERSON and ttwJ' the Judge parted at the K.|A J. gate, and Harry walked !!\u25a0 )!il slowly home In the moonlight. " - T- ." The youthful follies that he had resurrected when he had called himself his old nickname of ?Satan Sanderson" he had left so far behind him, had buried so deep, that the Ironic turn of circumstance that had dragged them Into view seemed Intrusive and malicious. He bad saved an old college mate from possible disinheritance and the grind of poverty, for David Stires' health was pre- carious. He thought of this with a tinge of satisfaction. The least of that pe- culiar clan, one who had held his place not by lik- able qualities, but by a versa- tile talent for entertain ment. Hugh Stires yet deserved thus much. Harry Sanderson had never shirked an obligation ?As a man sows"' words used by W«« he. the ??Saturn the old mun?re Sanderson" that curred to him uas. getting hi* Did any man deserts. reap w j,,, t hl , sowed, after all? Was he the "Satan Sanderson" that was, getting his de serfs? *??*»»* The later nlglit was very still. and the moon, lifting like a paper lantern over the aspen tops, silvered all the landscape. In Its placid radiance the white house loomed In a ghostly pallor The windows of one side were blank, but behind the library shade the bulbous lamp still drowsed like a mon stcr glowworm. From the shadowy side of the building stretched a narrow L, Its front covered by a rose trellis whose pale blossoms In the soft night air mingled their delicate fragrance with that of the jasmine. Save for the one bright pane there seemed now no life or movement in the house. But outside In the moon light a lurching, shabbily clothed fig ure moved, making his uncertain way with the deliberation of composed in ebriety The sash of the window was raised a few Inches, and he nodded sagely at the yellow shade "Gay old silver top." he hiccoughed ?see yon In the morning!" He capsized against an althea bush and shook his head with owlish gravl ty as he disentangled himself Then he staggered serenely to the rose trellis and. choosing Its angle with an assur ance that betrayed ancient practice, climbed to the upper window, shot its bolt with a knife and let himself In. lie painstakingly closed both windows and Inner blinds before he turned on an electric light. In the room in which he now stood he had stored his boyish treasures and shirked his maturer tasks. It should have had deeper human associations, too, for once, before the house had been enlarged to Its present propor tlons, that chamber had been his moth er?s. The Marechal Nlel rose that clam- bered to the window sill had been planted by tier hand. In that room he had been born. And in it had occurred that sharp, corrosive quarrel with his father on the night he had Hung him self from the house vowing never to return. As Hugh Stires stood looking about him It seemed for an Instant to his clouded souses that the past six months of wan dering and nn savory adveu tore were a dream. There was bis bed. with Its clean linen sheets and soft pillows. Ilow he would like to lie down Just ns he was and sleep a full round of the clock! Last night he had slept where had slept? lie had fnptrnHoti fAt* tlm i> , .. ? forgotten for tho He made difficult se momeDt Ht . lection Irum these. , , , , , looked longingly at the spotless coverlid. No; some one might appear, and It would not do to be seen in his present condition. It was scarcely 10. Time enough for that afterward. He drew out the drawer of a chifTo nler. opened a closet and gloated over the order and plenty of their contents. He made difficult selection from these and, steadying his progress by wall and chair, opened the door of nn ad- joining bathroom. It contained a cir- cular bath with a needle shower. With- out removing his clothing he climbed Into this, balancing himself with an effort, found and turned the cold fau- cet and let the icy water, chilled from artesian depths, trickle over him in a hundred stinging needle points. It was a very different figure that re-entered the larger room a half hour later from the slinking mudlark that had climbed ttie rose trellis. The old Hugh lay. a heap of soiled and sodden that ward of whoso coming he had learned. Moreau was a good friend to have warned him. Was she part of a plan of reprisal?her presence there « tentative threat to him? Could his fa- ther mean to adopt her? Might that great house, those grounds, the bulk of his wealth, go to her. and he. the son. be left In the cold? He shivered Per- haps he had stayed away too long! As he turned again, he heard a sound In the hall He listened A light step was approaching?the swish of a gown. With a sudden Impulse he stepped Into the embrasure of the window, as the figure of a girl paused at the door tie felt his face Hush She had thrown a crimson kimono over her white night- gown. and the apparition seemed to part the dusk of the doorway like the red breast of a robin. She held In her hands a bunch of the pale Marechnl Mel roses, and his eye caught the long rebellious sweep of her bronze hair and the rosy tint of bare feet through the worsted meshes of her night slip- pers. garments; the new stood forth shav en, fragrant with fresh linen and clean and tit apparel. The maudlin had van- ished, the gaze was unvexed and bright, the whole man seemed to have settled Into himself, to have grown trim, nonchalant, debonair. lie held up his hand, palm outward, between the electric globe and his eye. There was uot a tremor of nerve or muscle He smiled. No headache, no fever, no uncertain feet or trembling hands or swollen tongue after more than a week of deep potations. He could still ?sober up? us he used to do (with Blake, the butler, to help hirai when It had been a mere matter of an even- ing's tipsiness. And how tine it felt to be decently clad again! He crossed to a cheval glass. The dark, handsome face that looked out at him was clean cut and aristocratic, perfect save for one blemish?a pale line that slanted across the right brow, a birthmark, resembling a scar. All his life this mark had 1 ceil an eyesore to Its owner. It had a trick of turn- ing an evil red under the stress of an- ger or emotion. On the features, young and vigorous as they were, subtle lines of self in- dulgence had already set themselves, and beneath their expression, cavalier and caressing, lay the unmistakable stigmata of Inherited weakness. But these the gazer did not see. He re- garded himself with egotistic compla- cency. Here he was Just as sound as ever He had had his fling and taught ?the governor? that he could get along well euough without any paternal help If he chose. He attentively surveyed the room. It was clean and dusted?evidently It had been carefully tended. He might have stepped out of It yesterday Not a thing had been disturbed?yes. one thing His portrait that had hung over his bed was uot in its place A mo- mentary sense of trepidation rushed through him Could his father really have meant all he had said in his rage! 1 Did he really mean to disown him? For an instant he faced the hall door To his wonder the sight of the light ed room seemed to cause her no sur- prise. For an instant she stood still ns though listening, then entered and placed the roses in a vase on a reading stand by the bedside. Hugh gasped. To reach the stand the girl had passed the spot where he stood, but she had taken no note of him. Her gaze had gone hy him ns If he had been empty air. Then he real- ized the truth; Jessica Holme was blind! Moreau's letter had given him no Inkling of that. So this was the girl with whom his father now threat- ened him! Was she counting on his not coming back, waiting for the wind- fall? She was blind?hut she was beautiful! Suppose be were to turn the tables on the old man. not only climb hack into his good graces through her. lint even? Tht* thin line on his brow sprang suddenly scarlet. What a supple, graceful arm she had! How adroit her fingers as they arranged the rose stems! Was he already wholly black ened In her opinion? What did she think of him? Why did she bring those flowers to that empty room? Could It have been she who had kept It clean and fresh and unaltered against his return? A confident, daring look grew In his eyes, lie wished she could see him In that purple tie and velvet smoking jacket. What an opportunity for a romantic self justification! Should he speak? Suppose It should frighten her! Chance answered him. His resplra tion had conveyed to her the know! edge of a presence In the room. He heard her draw a quick breath. ?Some one Is here!" she whispered. He started forward. "Walt, wait!" he said In a loud whisper as she sprang back. But the voice seemed to startle her the more, and before he could reach her side she was gone. He heard her flying steps descend the stall and the opening and closing of a door. with clinched hands Somewhere In the house, unconscious of his presence, The sudden flight Jarred Uugli's pleasurable sense of novelty. lie thrust his hands deep Into his pockets. Now he was In for It! She would alarm the house, rouse the servants. Me should have a staring domestic audience for the Imminent reconciliation his sobered sense told him was so necessary. Shrugging his shoulders, he went quickly down the stair to the library. He had known exactly what he should see there?the vivid girl with the hue of fright In her cheeks, the ?My son/" he cried. shaded lamp, the wheel chair and the feeble old man with his furrowed face and gray mustaches. What he himself should say he had not had time to re- flect The figure In the chair looked up as the door opened. "Hugh!? he cried and half lifted himself from his seat. Then he settled buck, and the sunken. Indomitable eyes fastened themselves on his sou's face. Hugh was melodramatic?cheaply so. He saw the girl start at the name, saw her hands catch at the kimono to draw Its folds over the bare white throat, saw the rich color that flooded her brow. He saw himself suddenly the moving hero of the stngery. the tractive force of the situation. Ileal tears came to his eyes; tears of Insin- cere feeling, due partly to the cheap whisky he had drunk that day, whose outward consequences he had so dras- tically banished, and partly to sheer nervous excitation. father, he said, and came and caught the gaunt hand that shook against the chair. Then the deeps of the old man's heart were suddenly broken up. "Mv son!" he cried and threw his arms about him. "Hugh, ray boy. my boy!" Jessica walled to hear no more. Thrilling with gladness and (lushing with the sudden recollection of her lure throat and feet, she slipped away to her room to creep into bed and lie wide eyed and thinking What did he look like? Of his face she had never seen even a counterfeit (To tc Continued.( NIGHTHAWK-LOOMIS STAGE LINE Carries passengers, mail and txpess. Meets all trains at Ntglithawk and all s ages at Loomis for county seat and other points, seven days in the week. First-class livery Stable at Nighlhawk. I. W. BAKER Prop?r. CAPITAL CITY NURSERY COMPANY SALEM, OREGON Will take your orders for spring delivery of Superior High Grade Nursery Stock Fruit, Ornamental Trees and Shrubs for Home, Orchards and Resience Grounds. None Better! Nursery Stock is the best investment the farmers of Okanogan County can make and when you buy trom the oldest and most reliable company in the west you are taking no chances. H. P. NEBOLD, . V,V giSvppl I WASH. Jj Notice is hereby given that Linnie H. Hart, of Wehesville, Washington, who, on Nov. 19, 1908, made timber and stone entry, No. 11512, (Serial No. 01515,for Section 10, Towship 89 n, ?26e.vv.m., has filed notice of in- tention to make final prnot, to cs tablish claim to the land above de scribed, before Fred J. Fine, U. S Commissioner, at his office at Oro villc. Washington, on the sth daj of March, 1909. Claimant names as witnesses : John F". Samson, of Oroville Washington; Frank Arnold, Fret G. Hart, W. B Reilley, all of W* hesville, Washington. W. F. Haynes, Register. LET US SHOW YOB That we carry a complete and M up to date line of Wall Pajier, Paints and Plumbing Sup- \u25a0 plies. We do the best I PAINTING, in all branches I PLUMBING, TINNING AND I METAL WORK. I R. C. CARR 8. H. SANDERSOII GEO. |. PARKER Scenic ami Portrait PHOTOGRAPHER. Pictures Enlarged. J 2nd door from custom .office OROVILLE, WASH THE OKANOGAN LIVERY STBLE First class rigs and teams, with or without drivers. A First Class Feed Stable. Hay and Grain for sale. C. E. JOHNSTON PROP?R. SUITS Made to Order Cleaning, Pressing and Repairing. All Work Guaranteed. GEORGE SCHWARTZ Upper Main Street.

-* ii II · playing his violin (a passion with him) In the smart study that adjoined ... same year with Hugh. We sowed our wild oafs together, a tidy crop, Ifancy, for us both. That

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?Who?s Who? In the Story.

?SATAN? SANDERSON, thehero, dare-devil, quixotic friend andminister of the Gospel.

HUGH STIRES, prodigal andcriminal.

JESSICA HOLME, the beautifulheroine, helpless in tbe rush of

events and the principal sufferer ina case of mixed Identity.

MRS. HALLORAN, the camporacle

DAVII) STTRES, stern, vet f^rgiving, and at the last made happyby another's unhappiness.

THE BISHOP, the victim of am isu udersta uding.

HALLELUJAH JONES, the re-ligious fanatic on wbVSe shouldersrests the whole weight of the story.

EMMET PRENDERGAST, thefalse friend, perjurer and thief.

THE SHERIFF, who ia verymuch divided between duty and in-clination.

?BIG? DEVLIN, who turnschampion Instead of prosecutor aft-er the hero?s race with death.

Chapter 11my son IIugh. In re-

\u25a0 turn for the ere andsorrow he has caused me

j all the day, of his life.1 y for his dissolute career?s and his desertion, 1 do

give and bequeith the sum of SI,OOOand the memory of his misspentyouth.?

It was very quiet In the wide, richlyfurrlshed library. The May night wasstlil, but a faint susplratlon heavywith the fragrance of Jasmine flowersstirred the Venetian blind before theopen window and rustled the moonsilvered leaves of the aspens outsideAs the Incisive professional pronounce-ment of the Judge cut through the si-

lence the grim face on the pillow ofthe wheel chair set more grimly, agirl seated In the shadow of the firescreen caught her breath, and fromserosa the table the Rev. Henry Sanderson turned bis handsome, cleanshaven face and looked at the old man

A peevish misogynist the neighbor-hood labeled the latter, with the parishchapel for hobby and for thorn-ln-the-flesh this only son Hugh, a black sheepwhose open breaches of decorum thetown had borne as best it might tillthe tradition of his forbears took himoff to an eastern university. A reck-less life there and three wastrel years

abroad had sent him back to resumehis peccadilloes on a larger scale, toquarrel bitterly with his father and toleave his home in anger.

?Walt." came the querulous voicefrom the chair. ?Write In ?graceless'before the word ?desertion.? ??

?For his dissolute career and hisgraceless desertion," repeated the law

The parchment crackling under his pen

yer, the parchment crackling under hispen.

Judge Conwell glanced curiously atHarry Sanderson as he blotted theemendation. He knew the liking ofthe cross grained and taciturn old Invalid, St. James' richest parishioner,for this young man of twenty-live whohad come to the parish only twomonths before, fresh from his theo-logical studies, to dll a place temporarlly vacant and had stayed by sheerforce of personality. He wondered if,aside from natural magnetic qualities,this liking had not been due first ofall to the curious resemblance betweenthe young minister and the absent sonwhom David Stlres was disinheriting,for as far ns mold of feature went theyoung minister and the ne'er-do-wellmight have been twin brothers.

No one perhaps had ever Interestedthe community more than had HarrySanderson. He had entered upon bisduties with the marks of youth, good

looks, self possession and an ample In-come thick upon him and had broughtwith him a peculiar charm of mannerand an apparent Incapacity for doingthings In a hackneyed way. Conven-tion sat lightly upon Harry SandersonHe recognized few precedents eitherIn the new methods and millinery withwhich he had Invested the service orIn hi* personal habits. Instead of at-tending the meeting of St. Andrew?sguild. after the constant custom ofhis predecessor, he was apt to be foundplaying his violin (a passion withhim) In the smart study that adjoinedthe gothic chapel where he shepherdedIds fashionable flock or tramping aero -

the country with a brier pipe In hismouth and his brown spaptel, Rummy,Dosing at his heels. His athletic trams

and clean Cuisetec rca??re« ina.15 liFma rare figure for the reading desk, nsbis violin practice, tbe cut of bis golfflannels, the Immaculate elegauce ofhis motor car, even the white carnatlou he affected In bis buttonhole,

made him for the younger men a good-ly pattern of tbe cloth, and It hadspeedily grown to be tbe fashion tobear the brilliant young minister.

Something of all this was In the law-yer's mind as he paused?a perfunctorypause?before he continued:

?I do give and bequeath tbe sum ofSI,OOO and tbe memory of bis misspentyouth.?

Harry Sanderson?s eyes had wan-dered from the chair to tbe slim fig-ure of the girl who sat by the screen.This was Jessica Holme, tbe orphaneddaughter of a friend of the old man?searly years, who had recently come tothe house In tbe aspens to fill the voidleft by Hugh's departure. Harry couldsee the contour of throat and wrists,the wild rose mesh of the skin againstthe Romney blue gown, the plenteousred bronze hair uncoiled and falling Ina single braid and the shadowy pathosof her eyes. Clear hazel eyes theywere, wide and full, but there was Inthem no depth of expression, for Jes-sica Holme was blind. As tbe crisp,deliberate accent pointed the Judicialperiod as with a subterranean echo ofirrefutable condemnation Harry sawher under lip indrawn, her bands clasptightly, then unclasp In her lap. Pliant,graceful hapr?s, ue thought, which evenblind"-;.* could not make maladroit

(So on.? rasped the old man.?The residue of my estate, real and

personal, I do give and bequeath tomy ward, Jessica Holme??

He broke off suddenly, for the girlwas kneeling by the chair groping forthe restless band that wandered on theafgban and crying in a strained, agi-tated voice: ?No?no ?you must not!He is your son!"

?In the eyes of the law, yes. Butnot otherwise!? His voice rose. "Whathas he done to deserve anything fromme? What has he bad all bis life butkindness? And how has he repaid It?By being a waster and a prodigal. Bysetting me In contempt and finally byforsaking me In my old age for hisown paths of ribaldry.?

The girl shook her bead. "You don'tknow where he Is now or what he Isdoing. Oh, he was wild and reckless, Ihave no doubt, but when he quarreledand left you wasn't It perhaps becauseho was too quick tempered? And If hehasn?t come back isn?t It perhaps be-cause he Is too proud??

?Jessica. I?ve not forgiven him seventimes. I?ve forgiven him seventy timesseven. But he doesn?t want forgiveness. To him I am only ?the old man?who refused to ?put up? longer for hisfopperies and extravagances! When heleft this bouse six months ago he de-clared he would never enter It again.Very well; let him stay away! Heshan?t come back when 1 am In mygrave to play ducks and drakes withthe money he misuses! And I?ve fixedIt so that you Won?t be able to give Itaway either, Jessica.?

'r he girl, still kneeling, turned halfabout with a hopeless gesture, ?Oh.won?t you help me?? she said. Shespoke more to herself. It seemed, thanto either of the men who waited.

?Sanderson,? said the old man withbitter fierceness, lifting his hand. ?Idare say you think I am hard, but Itell you there has never been a daysince Hugh was born when I wouldn?thave laid down my life for him! Yonare so like! When 1 look at you I seemto see him as he might have been butfor his own wayward choice! If hewere only as like you In other thingsas he Is In feature! You are nearly th*»same age. You went to the same college. I believe. Yon have had the sameadvantages and the same temptations.Yet you. an orphan, come out a divtnlty student, and Hugh?my son! comesout a roisterer with gambling debts, amember of the ?fast set,? one of a disso-lute fraternity known as ?The Saints, -whose very existence, no doubt, was ashame to the Institution!?

Horry Sanderson turned slowly tothe light. A strange panorama In thatmoment had flashed through his brain-kaleidoscopic pictures of an earlyreckless era when he bad not beenknown ns the ?Kev. Henry Sanderson.?

?I think I ought to say that I wasthe founder, and at the time you speakof. the abbot of The Saints. I was In thesame year with Hugh. We sowed ourwild oafs together, a tidy crop, I fancy,for us both. That page of my life Ispasted down. I speak of It now because It would be cowardly not to. 1have not seen Hugh since collegeclosed four years ago. But then I wasall you called him?a waster and aprodigal. And 1 was more, for whileothers followed. I led. At college Iwas known as ?Satan Sanderson.??

?It Is the Hugh of the present thatI am dealing with,? said the old man.For David Stives was Just and he wasfeeling a grim respect for Harry'shonesty.

Harry acknowledged the brusquekindliness of the tone with a little mo-tion of the hand. As he spoke he badbeen feeling his way through a maze ofcontradictory Impulses. For a mwnent

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he had been back In that old irresponslide time; the Hugh he had knownthen had sprung to his mind's eye, animitative Idler, with a certain grace

and brilliancy of manner that madehim hail-fellow-well-met but withalshallow, foppish? and incorrigible, acheap and shabby imitator of the out-ward manner, not the Inner graces, ofgood fellowship. Yet Hugh had beenone of his own ?fast set.? They hadcalled him "Satan?s shadow,? a tributeto the actual resemblance ns well nsto the palpable Imitation he affectedHarry shivered a little. The situationseemed, in antic Irony, to be revers-ing Itself. It was as If not aloneHugh, but he. Harry Sanderson, In theperson of that past of his, was nowbrought to bar for Judgment in thatroom. For the Instant he forgot howutterly characterless Hugh had shownhimself of old, how devoid of all de-sire for rehabilitation his present rep-utation in the town argued him Atthat moment it seemed us if in savingHugh from this condemnation, he waspleading for himself as he had been,for the further chance which he, butfor circumstances, perhaps, had neededtoo.

?Y?ou." h r said, "have lived a life of

Just and balanced action It is bredIn the bone. You bate all loose con-duct, and rightly. You hate it most inHugh for the simple reason that he Isyour son The very relation makes It

more impossible to countenance. Heshould be like you?of temperate andprudent habit But did you and hestart on equal terms? Your grand-father was a Staudish; your ancestry

was undiluted Puritan. Did Hughhave all your fund of resistance? Withme it was the turning of a long lane.Hugh perhaps has not turned?yet."A breath of that past life had swept

anew over Harry, the old shudderingrecoil again had rushed upon him. Itgave bis voice a curious energy ns heended: ?And I have seen how far aman may go and yet?come back!"

There was a pause. The Judge hadan inspiration. He folded the parchment

?Perhaps it would be as well,? hesaid in a matter of fact way, "if thesigning be left open for the present.?

He rose as be spoke and laid the doc-ument on the table.

For a moment David Stlres sat Insilence. Then he said, with a glint ofthe old ironic fire: ?You should havebeen a special pleader. Sanderson.There?s no client too bad for them tomake out a case for! Well?well, wewon?t sign tonight. I will read itover again when I am more equal toIt.?

For long the old man sat alone, mus-ing in his chair. At length he sighedand took up a magazine. He wasthinking of Harry Sanderson.

?How like!" he said aloud. ?So San-derson sowed his wild oats too! ? ? ?

When he stood there, with the light onhis face?when he talked ?l?l couldalmost have thought it was Hugh!"

Chapter 2

SANDERSON and

ttwJ' the Judge parted at theK.|A J. gate, and Harry walked!!\u25a0 )!il slowly home In the

moonlight."

- T-." The youthful folliesthat he had resurrected when he hadcalled himself his old nickname of?Satan Sanderson" he had left so farbehind him, had buried so deep, thatthe Ironic turn of circumstance thathad dragged them Into view seemedIntrusive and malicious.

He bad saved an old college matefrom possible disinheritance and the

grind of poverty,for David Stires'health was pre-carious. Hethought of thiswith a tinge ofsatisfaction. Theleast of that pe-culiar clan, onewho had held hisplace not by lik-able qualities,but by a versa-tile talent forentertain ment.Hugh Stires yet

deserved thusmuch. HarrySanderson hadnever shirked anobligation ?As aman sows"'words used by

W«« he. the ??Saturn the old mun?reSanderson" that curred to himuas. getting hi* Did any mandeserts. reap w j,,, t hl,

sowed, after all? Was he the "SatanSanderson" that was, getting his deserfs?

*??*»»*

The later nlglit was very still. andthe moon, lifting like a paper lanternover the aspen tops, silvered all thelandscape. In Its placid radiance thewhite house loomed In a ghostly pallorThe windows of one side were blank,

but behind the library shade thebulbous lamp still drowsed like a mon

stcr glowworm. From the shadowyside of the building stretched a narrowL, Its front covered by a rose trelliswhose pale blossoms In the soft nightair mingled their delicate fragrancewith that of the jasmine.

Save for the one bright pane thereseemed now no life or movement inthe house. But outside In the moon

light a lurching, shabbily clothed figure moved, making his uncertain waywith the deliberation of composed inebriety The sash of the window was

raised a few Inches, and he noddedsagely at the yellow shade

"Gay old silver top." he hiccoughed?see yon In the morning!"

He capsized against an althea bushand shook his head with owlish gravlty as he disentangled himself Then hestaggered serenely to the rose trellisand. choosing Its angle with an assurance that betrayed ancient practice,climbed to the upper window, shot its

bolt with a knife and let himself In.lie painstakingly closed both windowsand Inner blinds before he turned on

an electric light.In the room in which he now stood

he had stored his boyish treasures andshirked his maturer tasks. It shouldhave had deeper human associations,

too, for once, before the house hadbeen enlarged to Its present proportlons, that chamber had been his mother?s. The Marechal Nlel rose that clam-bered to the window sill had beenplanted by tier hand. In that room hehad been born. And in it had occurredthat sharp, corrosive quarrel with his

father on the night he had Hung himself from the house vowing never toreturn.

As Hugh Stires stood looking abouthim It seemed for an Instant to his

clouded sousesthat the past sixmonths of wandering and nnsavory adveutore were adream. Therewas bis bed.with Its cleanlinen sheets andsoft pillows.Ilow he would

like to lie downJust ns he wasand sleep a fullround of theclock! Last nighthe had sleptwhere hadslept? lie hadfnptrnHoti fAt* tlm

i> , .. ?forgotten for tho

He made difficult semomeDt Ht.lection Irum these. , ,

,,

,looked longinglyat the spotless coverlid. No; some onemight appear, and It would not do tobe seen in his present condition. Itwas scarcely 10. Time enough for thatafterward.

He drew out the drawer of a chifTonler. opened a closet and gloated overthe order and plenty of their contents.He made difficult selection from theseand, steadying his progress by walland chair, opened the door of nn ad-joining bathroom. It contained a cir-cular bath with a needle shower. With-out removing his clothing he climbedInto this, balancing himself with aneffort, found and turned the cold fau-cet and let the icy water, chilled fromartesian depths, trickle over him in ahundred stinging needle points.

It was a very different figure thatre-entered the larger room a half hourlater from the slinking mudlark thathad climbed ttie rose trellis. The oldHugh lay. a heap of soiled and sodden

that ward of whoso coming he hadlearned. Moreau was a good friend to

have warned him. Was she part of a

plan of reprisal?her presence there «

tentative threat to him? Could his fa-ther mean to adopt her? Might that

great house, those grounds, the bulk of

his wealth, go to her. and he. the son.be left In the cold? He shivered Per-

haps he had stayed away too long!

As he turned again, he heard a sound

In the hall He listened A light step

was approaching?the swish of a gown.

With a sudden Impulse he stepped Intothe embrasure of the window, as the

figure of a girl paused at the door tiefelt his face Hush She had thrown a

crimson kimono over her white night-

gown. and the apparition seemed to

part the dusk of the doorway like thered breast of a robin. She held In herhands a bunch of the pale MarechnlMel roses, and his eye caught the long

rebellious sweep of her bronze hairand the rosy tint of bare feet through

the worsted meshes of her night slip-pers.

garments; the new stood forth shaven, fragrant with fresh linen and cleanand tit apparel. The maudlin had van-ished, the gaze was unvexed andbright, the whole man seemed to havesettled Into himself, to have growntrim, nonchalant, debonair. lie heldup his hand, palm outward, betweenthe electric globe and his eye. Therewas uot a tremor of nerve or muscleHe smiled. No headache, no fever, nouncertain feet or trembling hands orswollen tongue after more than aweek of deep potations. He could still?sober up? us he used to do (withBlake, the butler, to help hirai whenIt had been a mere matter of an even-ing's tipsiness. And how tine it felt tobe decently clad again!

He crossed to a cheval glass. Thedark, handsome face that looked out athim was clean cut and aristocratic,perfect save for one blemish?a paleline that slanted across the right brow,a birthmark, resembling a scar. Allhis life this mark had 1ceil an eyesoreto Its owner. It had a trick of turn-ing an evil red under the stress of an-ger or emotion.

On the features, young and vigorousas they were, subtle lines of self in-dulgence had already set themselves,and beneath their expression, cavalierand caressing, lay the unmistakablestigmata of Inherited weakness. Butthese the gazer did not see. He re-garded himself with egotistic compla-cency. Here he was Just as sound asever He had had his fling and taught?the governor? that he could get alongwell euough without any paternal helpIf he chose.

He attentively surveyed the room.It was clean and dusted?evidently Ithad been carefully tended. He mighthave stepped out of It yesterday Nota thing had been disturbed?yes. onething His portrait that had hung overhis bed was uot in its place A mo-mentary sense of trepidation rushedthrough him Could his father reallyhave meant all he had said in his rage! 1Did he really mean to disown him?

For an instant he faced the hall door

To his wonder the sight of the lighted room seemed to cause her no sur-

prise. For an instant she stood still ns

though listening, then entered andplaced the roses in a vase on a readingstand by the bedside.

Hugh gasped. To reach the standthe girl had passed the spot where hestood, but she had taken no note ofhim. Her gaze had gone hy him ns If

he had been empty air. Then he real-

ized the truth; Jessica Holme wasblind! Moreau's letter had given himno Inkling of that. So this was thegirl with whom his father now threat-ened him! Was she counting on his

not coming back, waiting for the wind-fall? She was blind?hut she wasbeautiful! Suppose be were to turnthe tables on the old man. not onlyclimb hack into his good graces throughher. lint even?

Tht* thin line on his brow sprangsuddenly scarlet. What a supple,graceful arm she had! How adroit herfingers as they arranged the rosestems! Was he already wholly blackened In her opinion? What did shethink of him? Why did she bringthose flowers to that empty room?Could It have been she who had keptItclean and fresh and unaltered againsthis return? A confident, daring lookgrew In his eyes, lie wished she couldsee him In that purple tie and velvetsmoking jacket. What an opportunityfor a romantic self justification!Should he speak? Suppose It shouldfrighten her!

Chance answered him. His resplration had conveyed to her the know!edge of a presence In the room. Heheard her draw a quick breath. ?Someone Is here!" she whispered.

He started forward. "Walt, wait!"he said In a loud whisper as shesprang back. But the voice seemed tostartle her the more, and before hecould reach her side she was gone. Heheard her flying steps descend the stalland the opening and closing of a door.

with clinched hands Somewhere Inthe house, unconscious of his presence,

The sudden flight Jarred Uugli'spleasurable sense of novelty. lie thrusthis hands deep Into his pockets. Nowhe was In for It! She would alarm thehouse, rouse the servants. Me shouldhave a staring domestic audience forthe Imminent reconciliation his soberedsense told him was so necessary.Shrugging his shoulders, he wentquickly down the stair to the library.

He had known exactly what heshould see there?the vivid girl withthe hue of fright In her cheeks, the

?My son/" he cried.shaded lamp, the wheel chair and thefeeble old man with his furrowed faceand gray mustaches. What he himselfshould say he had not had time to re-flect

The figure In the chair looked up asthe door opened. "Hugh!? he criedand half lifted himself from his seat.Then he settled buck, and the sunken.Indomitable eyes fastened themselveson his sou's face.

Hugh was melodramatic?cheaply so.He saw the girl start at the name, sawher hands catch at the kimono to drawIts folds over the bare white throat,saw the rich color that flooded herbrow. He saw himself suddenly themoving hero of the stngery. thetractive force of the situation. Ilealtears came to his eyes; tears of Insin-cere feeling, due partly to the cheapwhisky he had drunk that day, whoseoutward consequences he had so dras-tically banished, and partly to sheernervous excitation.

father, he said, and came andcaught the gaunt hand that shookagainst the chair.

Then the deeps of the old man'sheart were suddenly broken up. "Mvson!" he cried and threw his armsabout him. "Hugh, ray boy. my boy!"

Jessica walled to hear no more.Thrilling with gladness and (lushingwith the sudden recollection of herlure throat and feet, she slipped awayto her room to creep into bed and liewide eyed and thinking

What did he look like? Of his faceshe had never seen even a counterfeit

(To tc Continued.(

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Claimant names as witnesses :

John F". Samson, of OrovilleWashington; Frank Arnold, FretG. Hart, W. B Reilley, all of W*hesville, Washington.

W. F. Haynes, Register.

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