The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-11-01

| S.hi|S, ,lho 10 HOW cOnunoQ TO her ped.
Her illness is, Of course, serious, but
she has youth and great natural
strength on her side, and we must
hope and put our trust in Heaven.
81 think / need scarcely urge your
instant coming. Poor Margery for
gets her own happiness in attending
on her sister. Mr.. O'Halloran ap-
pears as anxious for her rs any of us.
'Belleve me, very truly yours,
sMARTHA LANGHANI.
sopHY RESUMES HER DIARY.
DECEMBER "a CHRISTMAS Eve
The Christmas bells are ringing mer-
rily; the fire blazing brightly; NAM
ma sitting with her knitting in the
chlmney-corner. Iresume my diary
once more, with feelings of humble
and devout gratitude.
have been very i'll since l wrote
last in this volume, and remembered
nothing of many unrecorded days.
They sent for my mother; she came,
and at once installed herself by nv
bedside.
One night, while she was Watching
my restless slumbers and listening to
my murmured words, she heard me
say, eff I die, they will read my
diary"
That possibility was the one hope
and thought of my lucid intervals:
so, in my delirium, I spoke OF it.
Miss Sophy often says that
ma'am, observed the nurse, who sat
up with mamma. Her diary runs a
deal in her head"
where is it?" asked my mother. a
sudden thought darting into her
mind. "Go and ask Miss NTargery.
Margery had locked my book up at
the beginning of my illness-she
gave it to the nurse; and my mother,
assuming her maternal prerogative,
and firmly believing that her Sophy
had no secrets from her, opened it,
and read from the period of our ar
rival at Maldon up to the close.
Surel y my guardian angel smiled
beside her Us she did SO.
The whole secret was plain now.
The next morning, almost at day
dawn, my mother sought the rector
and confded the tale to him. He
came up and saw Miss Lanrham.
then rode off and secured n police
inspector at once
OHalloran and the footman were
taken into custody. O'Halloran fell
on his knees and offered to confess
everything, if Miss Langham would
pardon him. Of course, she could
not
They are both now enduring penal
servitude for life
1t seems that Edward, the foot
man, was one Of q gang of London
thieves, who, with false character,
had got himself engaged in Miss
Langham's family, for. the purpose of
robbing the house.
Soon after his arrival, Jervis, the
butler, who is a garrulous old man,
related to him the family history,
and how Mr. Anthony Langham was
heir, because Miss Dorothy Lang
ham, great-niece of Sir Jonathan's,
had never been heard of since she
ran away with the Irish officer and
went to America; nor could they
trace her or find that she had left any
children, though the lawyers had ad-
vertised for them many times
Ned was q genius in his line. The
idea occurred to him of supplying an
heir to the estate in the O'Halloran
family. He had q nephew who had
received q good education at q ma
tional school, and might, he thought,
pass for the heir. With the aid of a
low attorney employed by thieves,
plot was so ably concocted that even
Miss Langham's cautious man of
business was deceived, and Mr.. Cor
ney O'Halloran (the footman's ne.
phew) was received at Maldon Hall
as its future possessor.
doubts had, however, occurred
since to the family lawyer, and he
had sent clerk to America to inves-
tigate more closely the pretender's
claims. knowledge of this Lad
reached Green, and induced him to
come down to Maldon on Halloween,
to warn his confederates of their
danger and to advise decisive mea-
sures. They-Edward and O'Hallo-
ran-had walked out with him, fear
ing to hold any conversation of i'm
portance within the possible hearing
of listeners, and on their return
homeward, after seeing him on the
road to the railway station, they had
fingered, as I too well knew, in the
church-yard.