Page:Curwood--The Courage of Captain Plum.djvu/338

 as I loved her—and he was a good man!", he whispered shrilly. "Quick—quick—I must tell you—they had tried to escape from Missouri and the Danites killed him,—and Joseph Smith wanted Jean and at the last moment she killed herself to save her honor—as—Marion—was going—to—do, and she left two children—"

He coughed and blood flecked his lips.

"She left—Marion and Neil!"

He sank back, ashen white and still, and with a cry Nathaniel turned to the lieutenant. The officer ran forward with a flask in his hand.

"Give him this!"

The touch of liquor to Obadiah's lips revived him. He whispered weakly.

"The children, Nat—I tried to find them—and years after—I did—in Nauvoo. The man and woman who had killed the father in their own house had taken them and were raising them as their own. I went mad! Vengeance—vengeance—I lived for it, year after year. I