Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-09-15

abridae nv od. hours - much - possible
And 30 went Lydia Pennypacker Oh
Once or twice after that I met Graham
in the street. He looked hard at me, bat
there was no expression in his face y
though he mourned the missing girl, ard
20 / was Obliged to believe that there hsd
been nothing between them but firt-
ton. A few weeks passed and ~
him no more, and on inquiry learnd
that he had received an engagement n
some South American city, 70 which ne
had departed.
I come now to the third inqdet,
which for . time puzzled me ext1lf ~,
but which can here be disposed Of TX
following the events already narrated, I
was following out rule l had adopted
Of walking, every evening could get
rapidly, as health preservative. On
this particular evening had crossed the
Schuylkill at the Wire Bridge, and was
trotting away under bright moonlight,
my back being turned 70 tae orb, when
I saw couple coming toward me with
the rays full in their faces. AT glance
I took in both fgurea The one was
John Barrett, and the otder-good Heav-
ems was the lady Of the forged cheque,
changed as TO the style and every point
of her dress, but the same In every Inca
ment and In the expression OF the face ;
for never could mistake that cold blue
eye and stony look, which made her In
the moonlight seem like an animated
statue. / stared her fall in the face, but
to this day cannot tell whether l stood
still as they passed or went on at my reg.
ular pace. l remember looking after
them and noticing that John never turned
his head something told mo that he had
not recognized me. BY the time l had
recovered my presence of mind they were
out of sight, and as all my efforts 70 trsce
them were In vain, drew the CONCLUSION
that my first supposition was wrong, and
that had been seen and purposely avoid
en. The storm of conflicting emotions in
which went home that night was terri
BILE. Never before had any suspicion of
John entered my mind, but here was real
evidence, and the duty of revealing it
seemed clear and unavoidable. We had
never been very friendly, but the daily
intercourse Of years had produced q Ger.
tain intimacy, and on my part at least a
feeling of regard and l WAS now in q
state of agony. I walked the streets till
the last allowable hour, and when l
reached my room found John already
there 1t was plain from his composed,
even cheerful look, that had not been
seen but coon steady glance showed
that he noticed something in my face that
differed from his usual expression. IcOuld
see the change myself as l glanced 1t
the glass. At last the question came from
him:
"What is the matter?"
81 saw you this evening"
"Ahi did your Why didn't you
speak,"
This staggered me little, for there was
q pleasant smile upon his face.
You know the reason why"
ooh, you needn't have minded that. l
would have introduced you"
Good Heavensi What did the man
mean. only exclaimed,
introduced mel'
eyes, certainly She's q very clever
girl. I'm very fond of her, and had
met her few months sooner, there's no
knowing what might have happened.
was bringing her home from her broth
er's, where she had been spending the af-
ternoon."
echoed his words:
"a clever girl'
Yes, very clever. What 10 you
mean ?"
Meant Why, John, do you know with
whom you were walking, or do you think
I have forgotten herr"
"Forgotten herr do l know with
whom was walking! What the deuce
do you meant -
do you talk to me in this way, know.
ing that the woman you were walking
with is the one to whom you paid the
forged cheque"
The smile went out of his face now,
but his lip curled in derision. / was
getting frightened. There was dead
silence OF some seconds. At last he
spoke
"See here, Warrener! If I had ever
seen you drink, should say You were
drunk. AS it is, can only believe you TO
be laboring under some hallucination, for
l know you would not dare to try such q
thing % this on me as Joke"
was spcechless. He went on:
"The young lady with whom you saw
me is OF unin peacbable character. l new
er met her until within few months,
and she no more looks like the woman
who brought that accursed cbeque than
che looks like you. Your mSdness and
Jolly, possibly, would lead you to repeat
| this tale to others, and in SO doing, though
you cannot permanently injure her or me,
| you could revive the sorest subject Of my
| life, and bring an estimable girl into no
torieiy and suspicion. To avert all this
if you are not too positively insane to see
truth when it is set before you, | viii
| give you u chance to meet me with the
same lady, at the same place and same
hour, to morrow evening speak to hei
and satisfy yourself of your delusion. In
the meantime, let me advise you to sleep
off the wild air your countenance wears
1t won't look well in the office to. morrow
! Good night"
He turned from me coldly, and In 9
few minutes was abed and apparently
asleep.
That night I tossed and tumbled fear
fully in my bed. The GOODNESS and conf
| depce Of Barrett had staggered my convic
| tons. turned the matter over in my
thoughts, and wondered whether it were
possible that the memory Of this woman
dwelling always on my mind could have
led me to identify her appearance with
that of another. remembered how two
or three times within the past year had