Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-03-02

photograph had not Florence herself return.
ed to the subject
II ought to have told you before" she
said, evidently with some effort, "what you
havo by chance learned tonight Tommy
told you tho truth have had another broth
err, older than myself He was a wild boy
and caused father a great deal Of trouble,
until he committed 30 great an offence that
father cast him off altogether. Perhaps il
he had been little more leuient"-here her
lip quvered and fancied the tears came to
her eyes-"it might have been different, but
you know fathers way. Poor Dan went oil
years ago, and we have never heard a word
from him since. Papa forbade US to ever
mention his name, or to make the slightest
reference to the past. That picture which
you came across was taken when he was
boy, and it is the only memento of him that
have. Whether he is dead or living, | can
not tell-poor Dan ~
This confession, while it surprised me,
made not the slightest difference in my love
for Florence. / simply ptied her for the
grief which the narrative had called forth,
and at once turned the conversation to other
topics
Two acts Of the play were over Florence
had enjoyed the performance, as she always
did theatrical entertainments and in her Cn-
joyment l. too, bad found pleasure. In the
third act there first appeared a character
which, although Of secondary impostance,
was strkingly well played The moment the
actor who assumed this part-it was that of
polite villain who was leading astray the
hero-came upon the stage, 1 gave an iuvol-
untary start which was noticed even by Flor
ence.
"What is it Z" she whispered
"Nothing-a mere fancy replied.
But it was no fancy From the moment
my eyes became riveted on the actor | knew
that had seen his face before. Too deeply
had that countenance been craven on my
memory ever to forget it. 1t was the face
which lad revealed itself to me on that night
in the Laedyille hotel when the falling Ian
tern had shot forth its CLEAN of light This.
then. was the man who had attempted TO
murder me for the sake of the money in my
possession That he had failed was due 10
the merest chance morally, he was as truly
the assassin now rs he would have been had
his scheme succeeded. And yet it was not a
hard face-not tho face that one would asso-
ciate with crime. That I watched this actor
throughout the rest of the play with peculiar
and intense interest | need hardly add To
my surprise, l found that Florence was also
strongly impressed by the mans face. On
her part it was 10 astounding recognition,
such as had made for what in truth, had
sue ~ IttbkhIse Dut II ttthtu IhtltI 10
be the gradual development of a suspicion
at first vague and shadowy, but growing into
a settled conviction. The suspicion was that
somewhere, some time, she had seen that face
before this conviction was that it was the
face Of her wayward brother-the disowned
and disinherted Daniel Mason. When we
were seated in the carriage on our way home
she made known to me her discovery for
such she regarded 1t, and no amount of rea-
soning could have shaken her in her belief
"That man your brother r l exclaimed
why he is and then l stopped short.
What could | sayl II Florence's suspicious
were true, then the man who had attempted
to murder aud rob me in the Leadville hotel
was her brother There was no mystery
now about the impression which the photo
graph had left on my mind-the vague i'm
preston Of having seen the original some
where | had indeed seen him that menora-
bic night.
"Who is he Z" insisted Florence, when
stopped thus suddenly in the midst of the
sentence Have you ever seen him before
DO you know him Oh, tell me all about it,
for know--know it is Dan :"
But could tell her nothing 1t would
have been simply brutal to have even hinted
at what felt was the truth. She was al
ready so greatly agitated that her condition
alarmed me, and whatever | said must be to
soothe and comfort. Would / find out
where this actor was stopping; Would I
call upon him the first thing to.morros
Would | take note to him from Florence
herself?
Yes, l would do all this-I would do any
thing for her sake The man might be a vii
lain, but he was still the brother of Florence
Mason.
III.
IN
that it is not likely to fade from my memory
while life lasts. Again Florence and l were
seated in the orchestra chairs of the Melpo-
none theatre-but on this occasion Flor
ence's father was also at her side. A week
! had elapsed since our strange recognition of
! the unknown actor What had happened
during that week, aud why it was that Mr..
| Mason who very rarely attended any place
OF Amusement, came to be present at the
| Melpomone that one night, may be thus
! briefly told I had searched out the actor,
! whose name, according to the playbills, was
| George Delmanning, and found him to be in
| truth Daniel Mason. knew him to be also
| the man who had attempted to rob me, but
| Of that not a syllable had been spoken either
| to him or TO Florence. The earnest and af-
! fectionate appeal which the sister made IN
| her first letter begging the wayward son to
! le. her bring about a reconciliation with his
| father had touched him deeply. The first
| was followed by a second, and the second by
| q meeting between the two. This man, |
| thought, whatever circumstances may have
! tempted him TO do in the past, cannot be
| wholly lost when he greets his sister As Dan
! iel Mason greeted Florence. He would not
consent voluntarily to go TO his father and
ask forgiveness; but he was finally brought
| to promise, on condition that his father
! should signify his willingness to receive him,
that he would do all that lay in his power to
compass the desired end. With all the en-.
thusasm of her nature, Florence had given
! herself TO this work She had thought it
! wiser, for the present, to say nothing of her
! discovery TO her father but she had hit upon
the strategy of persuading him to attend the
theatre, aud for this reason The play was
one that turned upon prodigal son, who,
after being disinherited, in the first act, for
his youthful follies, proves himself hero
| and is received back in the last act with open
arms 1t was an ordinary enough drama,
. but under the circumstances Florence was
| hopeful that it would produce deep impress
sion on her fathers mind. Gsorge Delman-
ming was cast for the wayward son, and here
in lay he strongest point in the plan.
He cannot fail to recognize Dan, she eX-
| claimed to me, land then, Just when he is
most All, cted by tho scene, l shall tell him
Anxious as l was on Florence's account,
that the scheme should succeed l felt, in
truth, grave doubts As to the result. Still
gladly lent my aid to the project and found
| myself almost as excited when we took our
seats as was Florence herself, 1t had re-
quired much persuasion to induce Mr.. Ma
son to attend the theatre at all he surely
never would have consented had he known
the real object which mis- daughter had in
view.
Well, the play began. Very closely did
scan the face of Florence's father when the
prodigal son first appeared on the stage-but
there was not the slightest indication of any
startling recognition. Still l could see that
he was deeply interested in the performance,
and that the scenes were to him actual reali-
ties, as they are apt to be to persons of
strong sensibilities who are not accustomed
to dramatic representations. Two or three
times, as the play progressed, Florence and
exchanged significant gances but we could
not determine whether our strategy was
proving a success or failure, And now the
last act had come. The interest of the story
had reached its climax, and the wayward son
had been welcomed back to his boyhood''
home Mr.. Mason was moved to degret
! IL II. 81, -