Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-02-26

up little haughtily, and continued
addressing as all Il did you great
wrong once, Mr.. Neville. | have
travelled many thousand miles to of.
fer what PREPARATION | can. That will
by which obtained FIVE thousand
pounds was forgery. But have
come to pay it back with interest,"
| Papa bowed bis head, but remained
silent.
Money was absolutely necessary,
then, for | had many pressing en-
gagements to meet-my safety, my
liberty, was at stake-I was desper-
ate; but though my base trick sue
ceeded, it was too late. Absolute
ruin and disgrace stared me in the
face, and was compelled to fly, like
a thief in the night, to escape the
consequences of my folly. That
night / secretly left the house, escap-
ing by my bedroom window. Con.
cealing all the money | had, l took
passage for Australia, where, by
careful speculation and hard work, |
soon realized considerable fortune.
| bad no desire to return / formed
new friends; new habits; a squatter
life suited me; and so I remained
year after year. But / was heartily
sorry for and ashamed of the part /
played about the will, and resolved
one day to make it square with you.
Then the gold fever broke out and
and the spirit of adventure being
strong in me, | resolved to go to the
diggings. | was singularly success.
ful; but others we're not SO fortunate.
One poor fellow who went by the
name of Down Ted | heard spoken
of as singularly unlucky. One day
| was surprised to receive message
from this fellow requesting me to
come to see him, as he was very i'll.
and had very important confession
TO make. | went at once and saw at
a glance that the man was dying but
imagine my surprise, when, on a
closer survey of his features, recog.
nized him to be Ted Judson, the son
OF your old steward-good for-noth-
ing, graceless, vagrant Ted, who got
me into almost as many scrapes as |
got him out of. With the utmost
difficulty, for he was dying. he told
me singular story. On the very
night LETT Garrick, he tried to rob
and murder me.
Hearing from his father that /
had large sum of money by me, he
resolved to have some of it /; and en-
tering IN the dusk of the evening, he
concealed himself behind the corri-
dor window, and waited till the house
was all quiet then he entered my
room and after searching in vain for
the money he seized knife which
lay on the table, and in fit of drunk
en- rage and disappointment he re.
solved 10 cut my throat if did not
give up my purse. Advancing to
the bed, where lay sound asleep,
be lifted the knife and made a slash
at my throat; when to his horror he
saw the White Lady, who walks
bending over me. Throwing down
the knife, he fled in terror, aud made
his escape through a window he
found open. In a moment 1t flashed
upon me that your room was mistak-
en- for mine, and my window, which
l had left open, proved the means of
escape for the villain, as it bad al
ready proved the means of escape
for me. | hope the White Lady
prevented any serious mischief
1T did, 10 me, papa said sadly;
but the slash that missed my throat
cost my sister her right hand She
was the lady who saved me, Jeffrey =
4 am better pleased to have the
mystery. cleared up than l would be
to have1he right hand back again, if
such a thing were possible. aunt
said, softly.
'The knife Judson saw on the Ia
BILE must have been your pruning.
knife. Robert, which / asked one Of
your servants to return to YOU con.
tinued Mr.. Lawson. Here is Ted's
written and signed confession, wit.
messed by a magistrate. And now
let me once more entreat your for
giveness and, as my mission is &C.
complished, will not intrude any
longer. | should have remembered
that the Nevilles are not a race to
forget or forgive
Are the Lawsons, Jeff?' papa
cried, advancing, with !outstretched
hand. If so, claim yours. / have
done you an infinitely greater wrong
than you did me. am very sorry
A bright smile passed over Mr..
Lawson's face, altering its whole ex.
preston, as he grasped papa's hand /;
and / am sure there were tears in his
eyes as he bent down to kiss Aunt
Edith's forehead and in the smiling
silence that followed, while they
looked into each others eyes, all old
scores were wiped out, all old sores
healed and forgotten