Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / July 13, 1917, edition 1 / Page 2
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By CYRUS -TO WNSEND BRADY Father and Son - Here Is a Powerf ml Stay of Failure and Sacrifice and Love and Courage and Success Copyright by Fleming H. -Revell Co. OF CHAPTER XVI. Continued. 10 Colonel Illingworth had dismissed Meade from his mind because he hated him. Helen Illingworth refrained from talking about him to her father because she loved him. So they were never In each other's presence without thinking of the man. This was a source of great irritation to the father. On occasion he almost found himself at the point of shouting at his daugh ter to talk about him. And that she so carefully avoided the subject and as the avoidance was so obviously in ac cordance with his own wish, the re straint irritated him the more. The fact that they both sought so carefully to maintain the old relationship made it more impossible. For relationships which are primarily founded on love cannot be maintained by constraint without the weakening of the great force upon which their tenure had pre viously depended. There is nothing like concealment to Impair and weak en a tie unless it be a ban! Prohibi tions rarely prohibit. Still there remained a deep and abid ing affection between father and daughter and they managed somehow; to get along outwardly much as before. Indeed Colonel Illingworth was more kind and considerate than ever to his daughter, and she repaid him with more than usual care and devotion. The very fact that she seemed to have accepted the situation and obeyed the law he had laid down gave him some compunctions of conscience. On that account, perhaps, he had been the more willing to accede to her request to take Shurtliff into his employ. In no way was Shurtliff responsible for the fail ure of the bridge or for any mistake in the calculations of the Meades, and Shurtliff was an invaluable man, not only for an engineer but for the presi dent of the Martlet Bridge company. He was familiar with the subjects that Colonel Illingworth discussed and wrote about. He was intelligent and reliable to the last degree, his reputa tion for steadiness and discretion un questioned, and he was marvelously ef ficient in his subordinate position. The colonel, having first tried him out, had advanced him rapidly after learning bis worth. He was now his private secretary. Shurtliff being an old bach elor without kith or kin, and not orig inally fond of women, found himself suddenly in touch with one of the sweetest and kindest, as well as the youngest and most beautiful of a sex about which he knew nothing. His new position naturally brought him into close touch with the colonel. The old man transacted a good deal of his business in his own house. Shurtliff was frequently there. Under other circumstances Helen Illingworth would have treated him with that fine i and gracious courtesy which she ex tended to everyone with whom she came in contact, but she would not have especially interested herself in him. She would not have made him the object of the delicate attention and given him the careful consideration which would have completely turned the head of a younger and more sus ceptible man. There had been a prejudice In Shurt liff's mind against women in general, and Helen Illingworth in particular, ne had quickly realized that she above all persons had the greatest Interest in disproving Monde's statement and his own and In laying the blame for the failure of the bridge where It be longed on the shoulders of the patron to love whom had been the habit of his life. Therefore the old secretary was constantly on his guard lest he be trapped into admissions or actions which might be used to discredit the older Meade and convict the two con spirators. But nelen Illingworth was far too clevei to allow any inkling of such a dssign to appear. Not the remotest hint of such a purpose did she betray. She deliberately set about to win the old man's regard and respect and per haps eventually his affection. She had the ordering of her father's household. of course. That was a matter in wl the colonel concerned himself all so long as things went smo as they always did. He was astonished at her treatment o liff, but the old secretary w a gentleman, and there was wny, it Helen chose to in among her friends and i dinner end otherwise ma come in the house, she . so. And in his dry, pw lift was rather likable, and flattered by her It f his susniciof Vrew less, by th4 himself seemin 1 Illingworth had no suspl- aatsoever that there had been msnirjipv tn snriTrss tho truth not! i f as t f V m r J I J V r I 1 j5MrrT-w,-..,v f v i . - i' t ' . , v.. . - . j . x . . i"' " - uuu i ill 1 J CAn v i.nj foiil shift the blame. True, his daugh- it The old man actually got to think ter had protested on that fatal day j Ing of her as a daughter. Sometimes that she did not believe Meade and when they had an hour together he Shurtliff, but that was in the excite- found himself seconding her arguments ment of the moment and understand- for the innoeeace of the younger able in lew of her plighted troth. I Meade, for she had progressed that far Helen hid never discussed that with! by now, with liule details which his him; even the very name of the engi- 'knowledge and experience of the two neer being banned, she was silent. She was wise enough not to try to worry or bother hor father with arguments on that point, to which, of course, he would not have listened in any event. Accordingly the conferences with Rodney had never been brought to his notice. There was no use stirring up trouble and strife. There was no neces sity even to discuss it with her father until she had found more proof. So he at least had no suspicions as to her treatment of Shurtliff. He could not see any end to be gained and therefore he jumped to the conclusion that there was none. In course of time, as Miss Illing worth never referred to Meade in the secretary's presence, all his mistrust disappeared. Finally he even brought The Old Man Got to Thinking of Her as a Daughter. up the subject of Meade's whereabouts of his own motion. Although the girl was fairly wild to talk and ask ques tions she had wit and resolution enough to change he subject when it had been first broached and for many times thereafter. Helen Illingworth was fighting for the reputation of the man she loved and for her own happiness, and she was resolved to neglect no point in the game. She partook in a large measure of her father's capacity, but she add ed to his somewhat blunt and mili tary way of doing things the infinite tact of woman, stimulated by a grow ing, overwhelming devotion to her ab sent lover. She cherished that feeling for him in any event and would have done so but the whole situation was so charged with mystery and surcharged with romance that it made the most powerful and stimulating appeal to her. She lived to vindicate Meade and she bent every effort toward that end. She did not overdo it, either. Final ly, as he himself continued to press the subject upon her, she made no se cret to Shurtliff of her devotion to the younger Meade, her sorrow that he had made such a declaration, and her de termination to wait for him. She was always careful to end every conversa tion by saying that she knew her out look was perfectly hopeless and that she could expect nothing except sor row until the younger Meade was re habilitated. She so contrived matters, while constantly affirming her feeling for Meade, as to let Shurtliff infer that she was convinced that he had j been telling the truth in what he had ' said. After a time she deftly appealed to ' him to know if he could not help her discover the truth she tactfully niain j tained even in face of the evidence that I Shurtliff had given. And she did this , In such an adroit way that Shurtliff J became convinced that she did not con j nect him with any willful deception, J and that she believed that he was de j luded himself and occupied the posi j tion of an innocent abettor. And Shurt J liff, in his strange, old, self-contained ' way, finally grew to like Helen Illing- yorth exceedingly. Indeed he started his work with natural antagonism Colonel Illingworth, and when he nseu, as he very soon did, the dif-w-nce that had arisen between father daughter, he espoused the cause of latter. He was the kind of a man had to devote himself to some . He began to wonder if there nv wiiv to sppiirf the firl's hun- - - f - ' i 'ss without betraying the elder Jtde. She compassed the secretary, who of course, old enousrh to be her father, with sweet observances and be found it increasingly hard to keep true to his falsehood. Now she was cap- able of fascinating bigger personalities ; than Shurtliff, although she cared lit- ! tin fni thnt nmum. oni n-m,.;.-,! .was. men could supply. Trifling in them selves as were these contributions, as Rodney pointed out when she repeated them to him, they nevertheless added something to the cumulative force of the argument so laboriously built up by the friend and woman. And they were decidedly indicative of a growing mental condition on the part of Shurt liff from whic,h much might be hoped and expected. But Shurtliff could not bring him self to come out boldly and confess, and his failure to do that made him more and. more miserable. At first his conscience had been entirely clear. He had viewed his conduct In the light of a noble sacrifice for the great man. Now he began to question: Was it right to blast the future of the living for the sake of the fame of the dead? Probably he would have questioned that eventually without regard to Helen Illingworth, but when he began to grow fond of the woman and when he realized, as she unmistakably dis closed it to him, that her own happi ness was engaged and that he was not only ruining the career of a man but wrecking the life and crushing the heart of an entirely Innocent woman, he had a constant battle royal with himself to pursue his course and to keep silent. Yet such is the character of a tem perament like that of Shurtliff, nar rowed and contracted by a single pas sion of life and lacking the breadth which comes from intercourse with men and women, that his compunctions of conscience only made him the more resolved. The lonely, heart-broken old man swore that he would never tell. The young man could go his own gait and work out his own salvation, or be damned, if he must. The woman's heart might break, pitiful as that would be, but he would never tell. He was as unhappy in that determination as any other man fighting against his conscience must inevitably be. Sometimes looking at the misery in the old man's face (for on his counte nance his heart wrote his secret), Helen Illingworth experienced com punctions of conscience of her own, which she told to Rodney in default of other confessor. That fine young man appreciated fully the woman's feelings and understood her keen sen sibilities, and his comprehension was a great comfort to her. He encouraged her to persevere. Since it was only through Shurtliff that the truth could be established, she must not falter nor reject any fair and reasonable means to gain his whole confidence and make him speak. It was, after all, simply a question of whether the game was worth the candle. How best could they expose or fight a deceit? And that the deception was for a noble purpose and to serve a laudable end In the minds of the deceivers did not alter that fact. "You are doing nothing In the least degree dishonorable, Miss Illingworth," said Rodney, reassuringly. "Woman's wiles have been her weapons since the Stone Age.". "But I do feel compunctions of con science occasionally." "Personally I think you are abunt antly justified," urged Rodney. "Yes, to establish the truth, to give the man I love his good name would justify more than this," she replied, "and yet" she smiled faintly "my conscience does hurt me a little. The old man is beginning to love me." "That's the reason It hurts you," said Rodney. "When he loves you enough he will do anything you want, as I would " The young man stopped, logked long at her, and then turned away with a lit tle gesture of was it appeal or re nunciation? He was too loyal to his friend to speak, but he could not con trol everything. The tone of his voice, the look In his eyes, his quick avoid ance of her, told the woman a little story. They had been very closely as sociated, these two. Rodney also had not had much advantage of woman's society, certainly not of a woman like Helen Illingworth. She had given him her full confidence In the Intimacy. He was a man. ne loved like others. She was too fond of him, too great, too true a woman to pretend. "Mr. Rodney," said the girl, laying her hand on his arm as though to re strain him. "that way madness lies." "Mish Illingworth," said Rodney, turning and facing her, his lips firm ly compressed, his eyes shining. "I'm devoted to Bert Meade and to you" he lifted her hand from his arm and kissed it "and I'm going to do every thing for your happiness." Brave words and he said them more bravely. "I understand," said the woman, "and I honor you for your loyalty to your friend and your devotion to me. Loyalty is not always the easiest thing on earth, I know." "You make it easy for me because you understand." So the fall and winter were filled with Interest to nelen Illingworth and there was In her days no lack of hope. Every Saturday the flowers that Meade had arranged for spoke words of love to her and bade her not forget, al- 1 though that was admonition she did not need. That was the only message that she , received from her lover. He had ! dropped out of sight completely. They caused search to be made for him, sought tidings of him in every possible way, but In vain. Her heart almost broke sometimes at the separation. She had confidence enough in her power over him, and in her woman's wit, to feel that if she had only another op portunity she might learn the truth, force it from him, constrain him to tell It, because she loved him I CHAPTER XVII. Once More Unto the Work. The Martlet Bridge company had finally weathered the storm, although It was, of course, not Intrusted with the new International bridge which was about to be commenced. When Ber tram Meade read of the new undertak ing, it cut hlra to the heart. This time there would be no mistake. In the necessity of recouping its fortunes, the Martlet Bridge company entered upon an even wider career. The direc tors took contracts which they had hitherto disdained because they were comparatively unimportant, and they bid on operations which they hud hitherto left to competitors. They were building the great steel viaduct by the town of Coronado below the dam, and they had already built the splendid steel arch that spanned the ravine, here almost a gorge, in the valley of the Kicking Horse to the eastward of the big mesa. After Christmas, Colonel Illingworth decided to make another of his tours of inspection, and as Helen was not look ing particularly well from the strain under which she was laboring, he of fered to take her with him, especially as he was going to the far Southwest, where the weather would be mild and pleasant, to inspect the growing via duct and the completed ' arch. She gladly availed herself of the permis sion. There was always a possibility, albeit a most remote one, that she might hear of Meade. That It might be well to invite a representative of The Engineering News, to wit, Rodney, to accompany them, so that the really splendid work the Martlet company was doing might be made widely known. The party consisted of the father and daughter, Curtiss, the chief engineer, Doctor Severence, the vice president and financial man, and Rod ney. Now Helen Illingworth had not the least reason in the world to suspect that Bertram Meade was in any way connected with this engineering proj ect, but Rodney had pointed out and had imbued her with his own belief that sooner or later, when Meade was found, he would be found engaged in engineering In some capacity. "It's in his blood," said Rodney. "He can no more keep away from It than he can stop breathing. He can't do anything else. Somewhere he's at the Helen Illingworth Stood on the Steps of the Private Car. old job. It might be in America, and it might be out there at Coronado, or It might be in South America, Europe, Asia, or" "I wonder if we can't find out all the engineering work that is being done in the world and send representatives to seek him." said Helen Illingworth. Rodney laughed. "To hunt that way would be like hunting a needle in a haystack. I can not bid you hope that he is there; in fact, I think it Is most unlikely that he would be any place near where the Martlet people are operating, but there's a chance, even if only the faint est one." Well, women's hearts can build a great deal on a faint chance. They are calculated for the forlorn hope. And so Helen Illingworth stood on the steps of the private car as It rolled across the mile-long temporary bridge at Coro nado, and scanned the workmen 1 grouped on one side of the track, their work suspended for a moment that the train might pass on the wooden tres- . tllng, in hope that she could see In one of them the man she loved and sought. And Rodney stood by her side, equally interested, searching the crowd with his glance, also. There was nothing In the town to at tract Helen out of the car. She had visited West and Southwest many times. Colonel Illingworth, with Rod ney and Severence, there left the train. Miss Illingworth decided to go into the hills and get away from the arid and heated plains. A siding had been built near the sfcel arch under the slope of the hill from which the huge mesa arose, within two miles of the dam, and the car wu3 to be placed there. The men left behind would use the pri vate car of the division superintendent of the railroad when they had ended their several tasks. It had been raining dismally during the afternoon, and when the car was detached and switched to the siding and left up in the hills some twenty miles from the town, it was too wet and uncomfortable to leave it. Dis regarding the downpour, however, Cur-t tiss, who had come up with it, made a very careful investigation of the completed bridge, which more than surpassed his expectations in its ap pearance of sturdy grace, as well as in the evidences of careful workman ship in its erection. That evening the special engine pushed the other private car up from the valley, bringing the people who had inspected the bridge. A few more weeks would complete the great via duct. Everything was" proceeding In the most satisfactory way and Colonel Illingworth was very much elated over the situation. "Who would have thought," he said as they sat down to dinner in the brightly lighted observation room, "that It would rain in this country at this season of the year?" "It will probably be over by tomor row morning," observed Rodney. "If it continued long enough and rained hard enough, that dam would have to be looked after. "We'll go over and see it tomorrow," said the colonel cheerfully. "What would happen If it gave way?" asked his daughter. "It would flood the valley, sweep away the town, and " he paused. "Well, father?" "Ruin the bridge." "We can't afford to have another failure after the International," said Severence. Now there was a newcomer at the table, a big rancher named Winters, whom Rodney had met in the town and had Introduced to Colonel Illing worth. The latter had invited him to dinner and to stay the night in the extra sleeper, and Winters, who had particular reasons for wanting to talk with Rodney and to meet Miss Illing worth, had accepted. "You can count on its stopping," he said at last. "My ranch Is a hundred miles to the north of here. I heard Rodney was with your party, and as he was an old classmate of mine In fact, my best friend at Harvard along with Eert Meade" and the mention of the forbidden name caused quick glances to be passed around the table, but raised no comment "the chance of seeing him brought me down here. I know the weather along this whole section of the country ; it's the dryest place on earth, and I would almost of fer to swallow all the rain that will fall after this storm spends itself." "Well, that's good," said Curtbs, "be cause I've heard that the dam lacks very little of completion, but that the spillway has been delayed." "You'll find that the storm has bro ken In the morning," said Winters con fidently. After dinner Colonel Illingworth, de sirous of talking business, called the men of the party, except Rodney and Winters, back into the observation room of the other car, leaving the two men with Helen. . "Mr. Shurtliff," said Helen, as the men stepped out on the platform, the secretary following, since his employer had intimated his services might be needed, "if you can, I wish you would come back here as soon as possible." "Certainly, Miss Illingworth," said the secretary, "Immediately, if your father finds that he does not need me." "Rod," said Winters when they were alone, "I'd go a long way to see you, but I might as well be frank. I did not come down these hundred miles, leaving my ranch In the dead of winter with all Its possibilities of mishap, to the cattle, simply to see you, or even Miss Illingworth here, although she is worth it," he went on with the frank bluntness of a western man. "Of course you didn't," said Rodney, smiling. "I know I'm not a sufficient attraction." "I came to talk about Meade." "Mr. Winters," said Helen, clasping her hands over her knees and lean ing forward, "'If you know anything about him, where he Is, what he is doing, how he fares, Is he well, does he think of I beg you to tell me." "Miss Illingworth. there is nothing I would refuse to u 11 you if It rested with me." "I don't mind confessing to you, you are such old friends, you and Mr. Rod ney, and so devoted to Bert, that I am worrying " "You need say nothing more, Miss Rllngworth. I know all about the situ ation. Rodney wrote me and " "Well, then, you understand my anx iety, my reason for asking?" "I do." "And you will tell us?" "I wish to heaven I could." "Can't you tell us anything?" "Well, yes, I can." "What?" "It may be a breach of confidence." "I'd take the risk," said tSe girl, her bosom heaving. Was she at last about to hear from her lover? "Know where he is, old man?" asked Rodney. "I think so not sure, but " "Where?" from the woman, breath Jessly. "I didn't agree to tell you that." "What then?" "All I can say is that after the death of his father he turned up at my ranch one day some five months ago and told me his story." "What!" exclaimed Rodney. "Did he tell you he was Innocent?" "Not at first. He told mo he was guilty." "But you didn't believe him, did you?" asked the woman Impulsively. "I certainly did not." "Why not?" "Well, I don't know why. I Just didn't, that's all. I know Meade. I know him well. I know his make-up. We get accustomed to sizing up a man's actions out West here, and It didn't take me longer than It took him to tell the story to know that it wasn't true." "Oh, thank you for that," said the woman. x "But our beliefs are not evidence, Dick," Interposed Rodney. "We can't prove it and that's the point. I told him," continued Winters, "that It was a da darned lie I beg your pardon, Miss Illingworth. I mean I told him that it was not true and that he was a fool for sticking to it, and er he admitted I er," floundered Winters, suddenly realizing that he was on the eve of a breach of confi dence and checking himself just in time. "In fact, the subject was painful to him, and I let him alone, which is what we generally do to a man who doesn't want his affairs Inquired Into too closely," Winters ended lamely, realizing how near he had come to betraying his friend's confidence and telling of Meade's own admission that he had said what he had to save the fame and honor of the father. "Well, what next?" asked Rodney, understanding as did nelen Illing worth herself the ranchman's hesita tion, and respecting It, although the unavoidable inference gave her great joy. "He hung around the ranch for a month or six weeks to get his balance. He was pretty badly broken up. I'm a bachelor myself and don't know much about those things, but I can say that he loved you, Miss niingworth, more than life itself." "But not more than the reputation of his father," she said with a little tinge of bitterness. "Well, I take It he looked at that as a matter of honor. You know a man's got to keep his ideals of honor." "Even at the expense of a woman's heart?" said the girl. "It sounds hard, but I guess we've got to admit that. But that's neither here nor there," he continued, gliding over the subject, "the point is I found that he had to fight it out himself, and I mainly let him alone. I gave him a horse and gun and turned him loose in the wilds. Best place on earth for tit man in his condition, Miss IllingwortJ l'ou can go out into the wilderness ani get nearer to God there than an,? place I know of. H came back finally, turned in his gun, borrowed the horsf bade me good-by, and said he was gr ing out to make a new start." "Where did he go? Which wayT "He was headed south when I sa him last, and all this lay In his way." "Y'ou mean?" cried the woman. "He may be here?" said Rodney. Winters nodded. "I have thought so. It's only a guess, of course, and probably a poor one. But when I read in the papers that Colonel Illingworth was coming here, and that you were along, and Miss Illingworth, I thought I'd just take a run down here and see what could be done." "Oh, I'm so glad you have come." "He's not working on the bridge," said Rodney. "How do you know, Rod?" "I examined all the pay rolls, and none of them bears his name." "He wouldn't work under his own name In the Alartlet Bridge company," said the woman. "Certainly not. That was jnly my first step. I went around among the workmen, too, and I got a look at every one of them. I'm sure he's not there, (TO BE CONTINUED.) Clock St'-uck One. Horrid Bore "I rise by an alarrr clock." Pretty Girl T retire by one There It goes nowl" Judge
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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July 13, 1917, edition 1
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