The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-03-16
CHAPTER VII.

DHAI 1 EN- IL.
While Mrs. Tregarthen was afflicted
herself with unnecessary mseries, her hus-
band was suffering from griefs less easily
TO be avoided. The copy-books say that
Innocence is bold" and it is one of the
conventional arguments against Suspect
that he runs away, As matter of course,
the runaway is merely an indication of
character, and has nothing to do with guilt
or innocence, The shrug of surprised pity
at the benighted accuser, the placid
mien of assured innocence, the
martyrs resignation and the saints for
giveness, are things familiar in our courts Of
justice, and are displayed there, never by
the innocent, but daily by the branded
rascals who use them as part of stock in
trade. But it takes much experience to
kill a phrase, and "Innocence is (stilD
bold" in the copy books and the apprehen-
sion of the unworthy.
Mrs. Tregarthens flight, her foolish,
innocent letter, and her continued silence
were enough to prejudice the most trust
ing of men against her The real motive
for flight was abSurdly inadequate to any
body who could survey the case dispassion-
ately To Tregarthen its inadequacy
seemed exaggerated, because he, better than
any outsider could have known it, knew
his own readiness to forget and forgive the
small deceit of which his wife had been
| guilty-if that were all. The agonized
letter, with its talk about guilty deceit
and unknown past" seemed to point to
more than the wickednesS of a month or
two upon the stage; and when week after
week dragged by, and brought no news
from the runaway, Tregarthen's first sus-
picions and fears were, bit by bit, con-
iirmed, until they settled into dreadful GER
tainty.
He dismissed and paid the architect and
the builders and brought the works at
Tregarthen tot close Blocks of stone, rough
or trimmed, balks Of timber, mounds of
mortar, and tracts of trodden lime, de-
| faced the grass before the old mansion,
and We're left there unheeded-a visible
sign of hopes abandoned A new I'M
finished wall or two Knocked the ruins, and
the whole place was desolate with the
signs of raw repair. Tregarthen left the
house in which he had resided during his
brief married life, and went back to the
home of his fathers.
AS may be guessed, the whole country
side was alive with speculation. Where
everybody was equally ignorant, it was
natural that there should be many who
We're the sole repositories of truth; and it
was equally natural that all the
versions set about by these en-
lightened people should differ. But,
howsoever they differed in detail, it
was remarkable to notice how they agreed
in the main point The old story against
Tregarthen revived and took additions to
itself, and it was settled by common con-
sent that he had done something dreadful,
and that Mrs Tregarthen had been COM
PEELED to desert him. Some of the hun
grier after melodrama found shivery hints
of murder i'll the story, and dropped dark
sayings about convenient caves on Tregar-
| then Island
| In Tregarthen's mind his wife's flight was
thing of long ago before a somewhat
| obvious reflection occurred to him. She
| had given him her fortune to pay for the re-
| pairs of the old house, and he had no right
to retain it. From the moment when he
thought of this the money seemed to burn
him, and he went off in hot haste to Lon
don Messrs, Lowe & Carter, of Clements
Inn, had been his wifes solicitors, and he
naturally applied to them The senior
partner was a man of genial aspect, not at
all legal in his looks; an elderly man, with
a boyish frankness of manner and smil-
ing eye.
Tregarthen told his story with savage
brevity
MY wife, for reasons of her own, has
left me- You know that she made over to
me the whole of her own fortune
Gin spite of my ADVICE said the law
| yer.
| Precisely | am here to return it, If
you have no present knowledge of her
| whereabouts
None in the world.'
"Hou may advertise, requesting her to
apply to you, and saying that her fortune
lies in your hands If you will execute the
necessary instruments | will sign them be-
fore leaving town.
"You wish the transfer to be absolute
and unconditionalin
Absolute and unconditional Be good
enough not to mention my name in the ad-
vertisement. She will respond to the name
of Miss Churchill
"Her stage name said the lawyer, "be-
fore she married"
"You knew thati' said Tregarthen.
looking darkly at him.
1--WE knew that. Certainly. We ar
ranged her fathers affairs, and were in oc,
casional communication with her until a
Few months ago Excuse me- Mr.. Tregar
then Men in my profession sometimes
hear good deal of domestic discomforts
, ana sometimes succeed in patching up Q
difficulty
shall not ask your mediation in
: inns case, sir" Tregarthen answered
q -, ~ shall be obliged if you will delay me as
:, little as possible, | have no other bushes,
u in London
lie dld not leave pleasant impression
f, on the lawyers mind; and if he had known
= 1t, or had cared to know it, he had n dis.
y agreeable impression to clear away. To be
= gin with. The lawyer had heard Ire
= garthen's unfortunate regimental stor,
~ from the one quarter in which IL wa