The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1883-03-22

POI Ah'NL-
it was the governess retiring for the
night.
She had recognized the guest as the
man who had blighted her life, and was
meditating ON the advisability of leav-
ing Sunny Slope.
Il dare not see him. she had said to
herself many times. ''Oh! what will
Mrs. Newnham think when she knows
| have obtained the sit1ation under a
false name? But it was only to cover
up my grief. 1t could not be wrong.
No, as Heaven is my judge, / have done
no wrong"
And yet the poor girl was distracted
with the thought of being under the roof
with her false lover.
1t was not long before sleep came to
Walter Percy's relief, afte, he had got
into bed. The silence was unbroken
until he had been asleep at least an
hour, and then
The window was slowly opened and a
man entered the room.
But the intruder himself W as disturbed,
for distinctly in the calm oi the night he
hears footsteps in the hall outside.
His ears must have been remarkably
sharp to have detected then, but with
the GOODNESS of experience he hurries to
the door.
1t is fastened, and he is glad, for a
hand is upon it in another moment.
Whose?
Mr.. Newman had sat thinking for
some hours after his guest had retired.
As he walked along the hall to his bed
room he was surprised to hear light
distant footstep. 1t was the new gov
erness. But what object could she have
in walking about so late at night?
When Mr.. Newnham entered his room
he looked out of the window, and there
was Just sufficient moonlight for him to
see across the lawn.
He saw the figure of a man slink
away from the house and leap the wall.
The first impulse was to run after the
fugitive, the second to see if the house
had been robbed.
The man had evidently come from
under Walter Percy's window.
To the guests room he would 90 first.
The door was locked. No answer
came to his repeated knocking. He
therefore felt himself at liberty to break
open the door
As he did SO, terrible sight met his
gaze.
Mr.. Walter Percy lay on the floor
with the blood trickling from wounds
in his chest.
Mr. Newnham raised an alarm, and
soon the inmates of the house were
ready to render any assistance they
could.
A doctor was sent for, but it would be
an hour ere he could arrive.
'Help! Murder'' shouted Jackson,
Mr.. Percy's secretary, and then turning
to Mr.. Newnham he said, with wild de-
lirium:
''You have killed him.
ZIP" asked that gentleman.
Eyes! Before your wife and servants
/ declare you murdered my friend and
master..''
THAT is false" came from voice
near the door, and then Miss Minus
stepped forward:
''It is false, say Mr. Percy was
murdered by some tramp who entered
the house by the window
How do you know?' asked Mr..
Newnham.
Il overheard some men Whispering
under my window" said the girl, land
heard them say that the window of
Mr. Percy's room was open. / was
going to warn that gentleman, when /
saw Mr.. Newnham in the hall, and
thought he was going to see Mr.. Percy,
SO | went back to my room"
The story seemed plausible, but Jack
son refused to believe it.
''Mr. Newnham owed my master a
lot of money, which he didn't want to
pay, and dead men tell no tales"
Jackson kept repeating both to himself
and the servants at Sunny Slope.
Mr. Newnham notified the authorities
and sent to Philadelphia for the servi-
ces of skilful detective to ferret out
the mystery.
Mr.. Percy was alive, but unconscious.
Miss Minus told her story to Mrs Newn-
ham, and pleaded for permission to sit
by the bedside of the wounded guest.
All the bitterness of her mind left hel
when she saw how feeble and helpless
Walter Percy lay.
Three weeks passed, and then Mr..
Percy showed signs of consciousness.
"Heavens!' he groaned. That per-
fume! Oh, why should it come across
me just as l am dying. Oh, Beatrice
Beatricen' and then he sunk back again
into torpor.
Again he turned uneasily on the bed
A sweet, low voice, almost whispered,
"Walter!''
Then he understood all. Tears came
to his relief; but they were tears of re-
pentance and joy.
Beatrice, trust me and forgive me.
Be my own-my wife, - said the sick
man.
''Yes, Walter, my darling. Love has
conquered after all.
We draw the veil over that happy re-
union. A month later Mr. Percy re-
covered sufficiently to take part in a GER
emony in which he and Beatrice Meyer
pledged their love till death should
sever the links.
There was not happier man any
where than the bridegroom, unless it
was Mr. Newnham, for he had seen the
mortgage bond destroyed.
That is the way thank you for shell
tering my Beatrice" said Walter Percy,
as he destroyed it.
The would-De murderer was never
discovered; for Percy admitted that the
wounds were made by the man he had
nearly run over on the day he went to
Sunny Slope, and that he had cruelty
wronged a sister of the would-be assas-
sin.
'.Poor fellow l deserved all he gave
me. l tried to make reparation for the
wrong / had done his sister, but it was
too late. She was dead"
What the wrongs were we know not.
The past is dead. Let the future rejoice.
To Women Who Want to Write.