Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-05-02
clause. At last I reached the follow.

clause. At last I reached the follow.
ing: '-1e AoA1
nan "A do hereby, design ye fayre-oken
an verse V cuS ye ye Me,sh ye h poy,trate is limnsd
ana smooth. polished an cleer, With mo ND harm
uo wv TO ye payntin' thereon.
ments sshhssass; n much K be ars fsehe n9r byyc e .. sdo ora
aairpeSS 70 ye ke eae cl EoIna q ye payntin' bein' re.
Then followed some special beouests:
ana, lastly, this:
loved SON Edwin, by him to 90 ny ~ b Il
second son, IL .havins one; If not. to he
c cahdea Or d To- ravs by y ye .I bands Of V oldest
10 with in accord with above"
Three questions presented themselves:
!. Why did Sir Guy lay such stress
upon having the oaken panel ALWAYS
kept "brite and smooth''? 2. Wiy
vas the party, engaged in "brighten-
ing n smoothing said panel, not
permitted even to touch the painted
mem OF the old soldiers garmentp 3.
~ had become of the s.fayre reepp
of gold?" s
This last question only I now asked
10, that ring! 1t is herein this cabi-
net among a lot of antiques, collected
~ my father. 1t IS too clumsy for any
ooay to wear; and there are other
reasons why none of us can wear it, so
u mas found its way into this collection
OF family relics. We hold it a valuable
heirloom" so saying he handed me a
gold ring-a plain heavy band-set
with a large emerald, cut in the form
OF 9 Keystone, and bearing, engraved
within a circle, the mystic letters FL
IW SSTK S, while encircled by the
letters Themselves was carved the an
Gent crest Of the Hillertons.
"You know that Sir Guy was a Free
mason?' l asked, looking up from the
ring and pointing to the emerald,
What we would now call a Royal
Arch Mason. Here is his Jewel and his
mark"
Certainly, ! knews-we always have
known 1t. But" he added with some
little embarrassment, "Masonry has
never been very popular in our family
since his day. There is a good reason
for it; we have been, for generations.
members of the Roman Catholic faith.n
"Will you let me compare this ring
with the one on the finger of the por.
trait" l asked at a venture; for, though
l had seen this very ring on the right
hand of Sir Guy last night, yet l had
forgotten how it appeared in the pic
ture.
"Of course; you will see it plainly re-
produced, )" Hillerton replied, as he led
the way to the gallery.
It was a bright. sunny day. A flood
of light poured in through the broad
windows, and striking upon the hiphlv
waxed floor was reelected directly upon
the painting. Very carefully 1 COM
pared the ring l held with the one rep
resented upon the third finger of Sir
Guys right hand. 1t was the same ring
minutely repeated. Then I cast my
eyes down and read the verse. I read
it over critically three or four times,
bordering every word. Suddenly a
light dawned upon me-. It seemed as if
q brother Mason spoke to me from that
dead panel. Three words made clear
the meaning of the verse. They were,
Observation-Disclosures"
So far the train of reasoning / had
been pursuing bore me out in the dim
suspicion haunting me since last night
and now fast becoming q certainty.
There remained, you will observe, two
questions yet to answer: the careful in
structions about caring for the panel,
and the injunction not to NEEDLE with
the painting-what did they mean?
Their presence in the will was nothing
strange, had l not felt they stood kin
dred to the carved verse, exceeding the
mere letter.
Hillerton had only one answer when
1 asked him: ''Why, to keep the por-
trait and panel in good preservation, of
course"-the same answer 1 myself
might have made had l not a clue to q
deeper meaning"
| again inspected the picture closely,
especially the hands. The right one
soon engrossed my attention.
"Hillerton," l exclaimed abruptly,
for I was laboring under Unsurpassed
excitement, "will you leave me alone
with this portrait o rhalf an hour or so?
The result may be much or nothing.
After all, I have a mind to try an x
pc iment; but 1 can't very we'll have a
witness. won't harm the picture. In
fact, l may be enabled to do you much
good"
The heavy door closed, and 1 was
alone.
cit is very evident, Sir Guy" 1 said,
half aloud, ''you mean by this verse
that 1 am to give you the grip Of a
Master Mason-you gave me a sign last
night | cannot mistake. To take you
by the hand is impossible, but to indi-
cate thereon the precise. spot where a
certain part of that grip would fall is
easy enough.
.:I feel sure there is more about this
panel than men have thought, and
somewhere beyond it is your t, easure."
So speaking, and with a fast-beating
heart, scarce daring to hope for any
result, | pressed with all might upon
a certain part of the hand. The spot l
exerted my strength upon was, eem
ingly, the most skillfully painted por-'
ton; yet l was sure felt it yielding
slowly, almost imperceptibly, under the
pressore brought to bear upon it. 1
nov distinctly saw that a portion of the
hand-about two inches by n inch
had rec died. Ca king and flecking off
q tile of tire paint so deity co. ering
IT, and then If returned SLOWLY to its