Crawfordsville Weekly Journal, Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, 27 November 1896 — Page 11

THE WELDON ESTATE.

By ALPEED E. OALHOTJB.

fCopjTigbt, 1806, by American Press Association.]

CHAPTER XXX.

Old Lawyer Bliss iu West Virginia got tho dispatch of his sou Tom from DeadwootL It was a full and therefore an expensive telegram. It told him that he was wanted in the far west with all the money ho could raise, and it further informed him that Valentine Kyle was living, and that he should come prepared with all the papers and power necessary for arrest. So far Lawyer Bliss had successfully combated the efforts of the collateral heirs to possess themselves of tho vast estate of old John Weldon. "the patriarch." The solo executor of iie estate defeated them at every point with the one argument that the claimants had no proof that Valentino Weldon or his children wero not then living.

If there were ever sons who deserved to be called "chips of the old block," Sim and Tom Bliss wore tho men. Father and sons were as much alike as two of last year's peas in company with one of tho year before. From a man who had deserted from Bouton's party and was making his way to the settlements Lawyer Bliss learned the whereabouts of the Kylo and Blaneliard families. Though not sure of it, lie felt confident that the former were the missing Weldons. Tho lawyer brought a guide with him, and this guide led him to the canyon, at the entrance to which they left the vehicle in charge of tho driver and continued down through the pass on horseback.

Lawyer Bliss had 10 men with him, and his son ami self made 12. They were all armed, but the shrewd old man placed more reliance in the legal processes which he carried in his pockets than in the aggressive or resisting power of his party. They entered the valley after the fight was over and Captain Brandon and the Prophet had gone to tho cave.

The flickering light from the altar fell on Henry Kyle's face and revealed death's unmistakable pallor. From the brave breast the red current was oozing. Ho clung to the hand of tho dying girl beside him, and her glazing eyes were turned to him with their old fond expression. Dr. Blanehard had examined the wounds of Henry and Kusliat, and when lie rose and shook his head sorrowfully Mrs. Kyle threw herself on the floor beside tho son who had so bravely redeemed his errors, and she cried with that heartbroken agony that only a mother can feel: "Oh, my sou, my soul Would to God that 1 could die with you or for you!" "Brave, dear mother," he gasped. "Kiss me and say you forgive ma "Forgive you, my son! Oh, you never sinned against my love! To mo you were never false! I knew you would come back to me and back to yourself! It was your head that erred and not your heart that harbored evil! We were to blame, for wo took you away from the active life for which you were designed. But you will live—my brave boy must live! My kisses will warm your cold brow! Oh, Homy, do not leave me now that you are back, pure and white souled as when your first cry—the first cry of my first child—told me I was a mother!'*

Poor mother! The bullets that passea through your bravo boy found a lodging place in your heart "Where is father?" Henry managed to ask, and with unexpected strength he turned his head and looked up at the anxious faces clustering around. "I am here, my boy!" cried Valentine Kyle, and, he was beside him, kneeling with the ime expression he wore when he knelt beside Louis and told him the crime that weighed so heavily on his soul.

At that moment the poor youth recalled the story of the Prodigal Son. which his father had often read to him, and he sighed: "My father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I am no more worthy to be called thy son." "Bravely have you compensated for the sinning," and Valentine Kyle kissed his son and wept. "Can Kusliat be saved?" asked Hemy feebly. "I am beside you," she said in a low, sweet voice that in no way told of tho agony she must be suffering. "I am heside you, Henry, as I said I would he when the hour for parting with all others came. To me you were never a bad man. You were to other men as the summer sun to the stars*" "He giveth his beloved sleep," broke in the Jft-ophet solemnly. 'But from that sleep there shall be a glorious awakeuing."

He went to the altar, put fresh fuel on the perpetual fire and added oil to the lamps burning on the corners. "Nora—Louis?" said Henry, with a questioning expression. "We itre here, dear brother—here beside you." "Kiss me, Nora. Take my hand, Louis.'' They did so, and a sweet smilo passed over his face, and he looked to be enjoying pleasant dreams iu a calm 6lcep. "Hemy," whispered Mrs. Kylo, "your uncle Blanehard is here and your cousin. Would you speak to them?" "Alice Blanehard?" he asked, with sudden energy. "Is she here? Would she speak to me and forgive me?"

Mrs. Kyle looked pleadingly at Alice, and Alice, her cheeks tear stained, came and knelt over him. "l am here, Cousin Henry, praying heaven to spare you. And by this kiss I press on your forehead"—she kissed him, and her tears fell on his face—"1 assure you of my affection and forgiveness. "Can she help but forgive, when from the firr.t his heart has gone out to her?" said Kusliat "And Brandon—brave Captain Brandon—is ho safe? Does he know that I received in my own heart tho volley that he might live?"

"Enow it, neiiry Kyle!" cried the captain. "I know that you are dying forme! Would to (Tod that our positions ctmld be changed!"

He knelt beside Alice. Ho tried to bo calm. The broad breast heaved, tho muscles of his face moved convulsively, and ho burst into a wail that, told of tho agony in his heart. 'I hear tho herders singing on tho hills," sighed Ileniy. "And the bells of flic folded sheep. Cling to ray hand, Henry. It is growing dark," whispered Kusliat.

He did cling to her hand, and so they passed over the river—children of an alien race—to the arms of a common Father. "Here," raid the Prophet, "Iproposo to tell you many things which you will marvel to hear.''

The people sat down by tho fountain or on stone benches ranged near tho walls, aud the Prophet was about to continue when tho clanging of sabers and tho stamping of heavy l'eet, accompanied by loud voices, were heard. "I did not intend that the soldiers should come here, "said tho Prophet, "but as the world must know what I havo to say perhaps it is as well." While he was speaking Captain Duncan came into the apartment, and after him carno Lawyer Bliss, followed by his two bous and the sheriff and escort. "You will pardon me for intruding," said tho captain, removiug his hat, "but this gentleman (pointing to Lawyer Bliss) has come on here with a requisition from the governor of Montana to arrest some parties. I, of course, know nothing about it, but it seems 1 am instructed to aid in forcing the writ."

The young captain looked as if he were not at all pleased with the business on hand, but was .simply doing his duty as a soldier. "We are ready to hear and obey," said tho Prophet. We arc a law abiding people, aud wo try to follow God's law as well as man's.

The little, dried up old lawyer coughed behind his shriveled hand, and

"The chargc ny.7fri.st Valentine Kyle is that of murder!" removed his hat iu imitation of tho captain, thus showing he was very bald. Putting his hat under his arm he drew a package, bearing red seals and tied with red tape, from his pocket and looked over the assembly till his eye fell on Valentine Kyle.

Valentine Kyle did not avoid his gaze. The worst had come, and whatever awaited him could be no worse than he had already endured. "This,"said Lawyer Bliss, "is the most unpleasant duty of my life. Is Valentine Weldon here?" Mr. Kyle rose slowly to his feet and said: "That was once my name. "Ah! Sony to meet you under such circumstances. Could I talk with you aside, Mr. Weldon?" "I do not wish to go aside. I shall not resist your writ. "But you had better come to one side," said the lawyer in wheedling tones. "Do, do, Mr. Wei—Mr. Kyle. It will be to your advantage, said Tom Bliss, who, being witli his father of late, knew exactly what he was driving at, which was that Valentin^ Kylo should give vrpto tho old lawverhis claim ution the West Virginia estate in consideration of his freedom. "What is the offense with which Mr. Kyle is charged?" asked tho Prophet, walking to tho front with an expression on his face such as it wore tho morning when he charged the outlaws. "Ah! I do not know, sir, that you have any right to ask that question," said the lawyer, with a bow intended to be very polite. "If I had not the right to ask, I would not do so. Now, sir, I shall resist you process, for I, too, have been a lawyer— to my shame be it said—mul I know our rights," said the Prophet sternly. "Oh, if you will insist on placing a gentleman in an unpleasant position before his friends, of course I can't object. The charge against Valentine Kyle i9 that of murder!" said Lawyer Bliss. "Murder!" gasped the people, with a shudder. "Yes, for the murder, nearly 19 years ago, of his brother, Frederick Weldon. Therefore I arrest you, Valentine Weldon.

The lawyer advanced to lay his htuid on the heartbroken man's shoulder, when a thundering "Hold!" stopped him. "Who asked me to hold?" asked the lawyer, looking anxiously about lam "It is I who ask you to hold!"

Captain Brandon had washed tho blood from his face the scar down his cheek was paler than it had been since the day it was first made, and the remaining eyo burned with a light that struck awe to all who saw it "Do you not know me?" "No!"

I am Fredcr ck Wel don!" "Frederick Weldon!" came like an audible throb from the hearts of tho people. "Frederick, who was dead, but who still lives," said the Prophet.

T'-.e intense silence tliut followed was at length broken by tho sobs of the women and unchecked tears flowed tho eyes of strong men unused to weeping-

Valentine Weldon rallied by an effort of will and looked into the face of the man who had clasped liim in his arms, and he saw the sear, from brow to chin, saw it as he did that night in tho long ago, when by the lightning's flash he stood over his prostrate brother. Ho could not realize that Frederick lived, even though his voice, the eyes aud tho perfect profile assured him. "Has the grave given up its dead?" he managed to ask. "No, Valentine, but the time has come when the clouds should roll away from our lives. That this has not been done before is not my fault, as you shall see.'' "Oh! If you are Frederick Weldon, I should be delighted," said Lawyer Bliss, putting the bundle of papers under his arm and dry washing his lean hands. 'Do not interrupt me. I am now speaking for the information of my kinsmen and friends here assembled." Captain Brandon, or Frederick Weldon, conducted his brother to a seat facing the people and continued: "My position can only be understood by telling you in as brief a way as possible my story since the sad night when last. 1 saw my brother."

The captain hesitated, while a coughing and a shuttling of feet told of tho profound interest of the people. He went on: "When I returned to consciousness after the blow 1 found myself in a hospital where Union troops wen! being cared for, and my nurse told me the place was Cincinnati. From this mail I learned that a scouting party of the Twenty-third Ohio had come upon a man robbing tho body of another whom he was supposed to have murdered. By the glare of the lightning they recognized this man as a noted bushwhacker and fired at him. He plunged into tho river, and his was tho body found afterward, but of which I knew nothing until recently. "The officer in command, believing rightly that I was a Union man, after ascertaining that I still lived, had me placed in an ambulance aud scut to a hospital. Some of his men kindly gave me a change of clothing, and, as they were soldier's clothes, the physicians, though having no record of my case, sent me on with the wounded troops. "I had been unconscious, it seems, nearly six weeks. My brain was affected, but, thanks to skill and care, I recovered. For several months my organs of speech were affected, and when asked my name it seems they understood me to say 'Brandon,' when I meant Weldon. Every one about the hospital called me Brandon, and for my brother's sake I determined to adopt the name. "At first I thought to return home, but the war spirit ran high, and I reasoned that my presence would bring trouble to my brother, and that if I became as one dead he could inherit the property for his children. So 1 gave up home and fortune. I entered the Union army when I became strong enough and came out a captain at the close of the war. "Then I wanted to go home, for yearned to tell my brother, who belonged to the beaten side, that I had rorgiveu him and that all my old love vjent out to him. But I thought I sua looked on as one who is dead. Whr should I go back? The people think that I fled at the time of my disappearance, for 1 never dreamed that my brother was suspected. My every thought was to shield him." 'God bless you, Frederick. God bless you, my brother!" sobbed Valentine. "So," continued the captain, "I decided to go to a land where I would meet none whom I knew, and there live as a hunter and pr tor. Fourteen years ago I came to the west, and in these mountains I met the Prophet. I told him my story and made him swear perpetual silence before the altar. If it had not been for this, he oi.r.M have saved us all this trouble. New scenes and associations gradually banished old memories, and

mr 'Onnt.m'n

Brandon'

was quite willing to spend the remainder of my days in the wilderness." "In God's land, captain! In God's land!" interrupted the Prophet. "It has truly been God's land to me. Last spring I went to Omaha for supplies, and there fell in with a party of immigrants bound for the far west and anxious to secure a guide. They wero told to come to me, and they did so. At first I hesitated to lead them, but when I learned that Dr. Blanehard and his family might be of the party I hesitated no longer. Of course I knew Dr. Blanehard, but the seal I had placed on the Prophet's lips was on my own, and I was resolved to keep my identity to myself. Yet my heart went out to the people of my kin, and I yearned to take them to my heart and say, II am Frederick Weldon.' "I met Henry Kyle as we neared the mountains, and having heard evil reports of him I was glad when be and his companion, Robb, went. I had long known of Mr. Kyle, but I never imagined that he was my brother. "This is my story. This I can prove. But my heart is too full to think of other proof now. Come, stand beside me, Valentine. Hold my hand as you did in boyhood when we climbed tho mountains. The grasp is stronger and truer now that wo are entering tho valley."

CHAPTER XXXI.

As much more might bo written in describing the incidents and changes that followed, but as the reader, with all tho recorded past behind him, can imagine tho consequences, it remains for us only to summarize them.

Lawyer Bliss went back to West Virginia, where he hastily arranged his affairs, which was simply a gathering of all tho cash he could reach, and then ho returned to the west This large sum of money ho spent in a vain effort to free his sons from the power of tho law and the charge of highway robbery Hrnmrlifc otr'viimt tlioiu iiutn1iovu Bouton's nefarious gang. Sim and Tom are in the penitentiary, and whou they tret out. 20 voars hence, tliev will be as

shriveled and gray as their father and much less prepared to fight the, battle of life. Font Rolib is dead, and many think he committed :niicido in order to avoid a trial.

The remnant of Bouton's gang was sent, by ones and twos, to many states mil territories, where they atoned with life to the outraged law.

Black Eagle was killed iu a fight with Captain Duncan's company. lie refused to surrender when his companions did. His braves were disarmed and sent back to the reservations from which they had escaped at Bouton's urging.

Leaving the immigrants in charge of the Prophet, Frederick and Valentino Weldon, with Mrs. Weldon, Louis and Nora, and Dr. Blanehard's family, returned to West Virginia. But they only remained king enough to settle up tho estate, and to convert into cash all tho ivailable assets that Lawyer Bliss had left. Their claims wero not opposed,

a-A

"Your son died forme, my brother." though no legal steps wero taicen to invalidate the will of John Weldon, "tho Patriarch."

The brothers had been too long in tho graud west ever to be content in the east again, and then the associations of tho former wero far more pleasant, for tho fratricidal war had never beat its red spray against the mighty mountains bordering tho Yellowstone. They went back, taking with them stock, seed, agricultural and mining implements, and a largo number of fanners and mechanics with their families, who wero anxious to make a fresh start in that land of wonderful possibilities.

But before leaving tho east for their return "home," as they called the mountains, two events of importance transpired—viz, the marriage of Louis Kyle and Alice Blanehard and that of Howard Blanehard and Nonu Their friends at first thought that consanguinity might be a bar, but love broke it down, for in one case the tender passion existed before other rclatiouship was known, and iu the other case the young people were so much like strangers to each other that love preceded affection.

For reason., best known to himself young Captain Duncan resigned from the service. Some think Clara Blanehard was the cause of this, and there is good reason for the belief, for Clara Blanehard is now Mrs. Duncan, and the first child born in the new town of Weldon is hers. It is a boy, and he bears the uame Henry Kyle Duncan, in honor of the heroic but misguided youth. Captain Brandon's (Frederick Weldon) deiifness has disappeared. His years sit lightly on him, and tln.se who have known him for a short time forget his wound and think him vny handsome. Mary Weldon, the captain's wife and the daughter rf honest Jehu Clyde, is certainly of that opinion. Her love for the captain had never been a secret to others, and when lie discovered it lie crowned it with his hand, heart and fortune.

The new settlement, is on the Blue Water, not far from the cam]) where the immigrants were attacked by Bouton's outlaws. And Dr. Blanehard thinks it the most beautiful place in the world. The good old man has every reason for this opinion. His house is directly opposite that of the brothers. From the much before his door he can see a hundred mountain peaks cutting into thin air, like pinnacles, from which, when the sun is setting, cloud banners of crimson and gold stream out against the blue depths of that glorious sky. The dark girdles of pines about, tho lower ranges, the emerald expanse of mountain meadows, the glistening crests of granite ridges, the courses of silvery streams, the glaciers spiritually white, the valley yellow with the harvest and odorous with young vineyards all gladden the Eight and lift the lieart higher than the mountains and beyond the sunset clouds.

There are herds on the hills attended by Valentino Kyle's old herders. There are children shouting about tho schoolhouse or playing by the river. From a grove in the center of tlie settlement a white spire points upward like an angel's finger. And on Sabbath days the rocks and ravines take up the sound of tho bell and toss it back and forth till it dies away in the hills, the music of a peace that must, ever remain.

The Prophet still lives in the solitude of his cave and finds his soul rest in the peace of the beautiful valley. But he is no longer a hermit. Once a week he comes to Weldon to preach, and, though at first his teachings startled the people, they have learned to look beneath his eccentricities and see there the strong, simple truths of his religion of nature and humanity.

At the foot of the loftiest cliff in the Prophet's valley there are two graves marked by one stone and knitted together by a matting of vines and wild flowers. Tho stone bears the simple inscription, with the date of death added, "Here lie Ilenry Kylo and Kusliat, a Sioux maiden."

The settlers often visit tho valley. Frederick and Valentine go there every month, and as they stand by the graves Frederick says: "Your son died, for me, my brother. Ho died for iuc!"

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