The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-08-22

! visit, or forgot about 1t until the next
morning, when they found it was too late
to telegraph. % .-''' il
Frank, with "hope eternal growing like
a eucalyptus came down as he had fore
warned his friends, by the morning train.
He was rather surprised at not seeing his
two tall cousins on the platform, or any
signs OF the wagonette outside the station.
He secured a hanson and drove straight to
Lakewood House. Do '
Whitaker opened the door. IAN we'll,
Whitaker asked Carruthers cheerily. He
did not hear the servants reply, for, at that
moment Horace and Herbert appeared and
shook hands heartily They took him into
the dining room, and once mors the three
men shook hands .,..i,
swell, how are you bothr' asked Frank
They told him they were quite well, but, all
the same, Frank knew by their solemn faces
that something had gone wrong. He Won
dered what the cook had been up to.
.'"And Miss Clausons Beatricein he con-
tinued with an assumption of carelessness,
but longing for the door to open and admit
her. The Talberts exchanged sad glances.
Beatrice" said Horace, "is not here"
His voice was so solemn that Franks
blood ran cold. Horace was not addicted to
the use of canting colloquialisms, but tho
| words We're spoken In such a way that Frank
believed mot here" must inevitably be
followed by "but gone above" He was
immensely relieved when the speaker stopped
short
mot here he said. "Gone out, you
mean. My greetings must wait"
The brothers eyes sought counsel OF one
another. -...
Beatrice went to London yesterday"
! said Horace. Frank seemed much aston
ished. "a ...J 10
ITO London' She left London only d few
days ago. Is she gone back to her father'sf'
He was already framing excuses for leaving
Hazewood House and returning to town.
An ominous silence followed his question.
"What is the matter9 Is anything wrongr
he asked in great agitation.
"My dear Frank" said Horace, l"some-
thing strange has happened, but it is so
|, strictly family affair that we are consider
| ing whether we ought to mention it to you.
Not but what your advice might be of serv-
ice to U.S." -.., .. ,G
Frank grew seriously alarmed. "But I
am one of the family" he said hastily This
Talberts shook their heads doubtfully. They
sisted of two, or, counting in Beatrice, three
at the outside.
81 have another right to know-a stronger
right stlll," said Carruthers, who was on
thorns of suspense. "There is no reason
why should make a secret Of it. l have
loved Beatrice since the day we met My
one hope is to make her my wife | claim
the right to know anything that concerns
her."
The astonishment depicted on the brothers
faces spoke volumes in favor of their trust.
full natures or Franks circumspect lovemak.
ing. Good heavens, Frank!n calculated
Horace.
Eyes; asked her to marry me before l
left here last autumn. She refused; l was
now going to repeat my offer" :s'
"She refused youF' asked Horace.
YES" said Frank, sadly. "But what is
the matter! For Heavens sake tell me-"
"Herbert,n said Horace, 81 believe this
gives us the clue to the mystery" Herbert
nodded. ..,..,...
"What cue' WHAT mystery' Ny good
fellows, don't you see you are driving mo
mads" said Carruthers
Beatrice left US yesterday. This morn
ing we received this letter" The letter was
handed to Frank, and whilst he read it the
brothers drew aside and talked in whispers.
Franks establishment need not he described
Like his cousins, he could only calculate,
"What does it meanp
Horace and Herbert came forward Her
bert spoke. As the romanticnside OF the
question had again turned u1sit was felt
right for him to be spokesman. Frank"
he said, ''we do not wish to misjudge you,
but the fact of Beatrice's having refused you,
and of your coming down to renew the offer,
makes us think that she must have fled to
avoid you. We know little about such mat
ters ourselves, but we have heard of young
girls fivng to get out of the way of distaste-
ful-ahem, what shall saya-' .'.a5-
s'Persecution," put in Horace. ,r.
mo. the word is too strong-dstasteful
advances, Frank. This is, of course, mat
ter entirely between yourself and your con-
science" o.. % s.I " -tL.J.aE1
As the Grafton proceeded Frank stared
from one to thu other Then he burst into
short peal OF laughter I'M spite of his anx-
iety about Beatrice, the situation over
powered him. .,-..tl ,rJ,u.,,
Horace.
0.Tbeie is madness, sheer madness in the
air, nv good men, said Carrnthers. 10
look ike a man who would subject a woman
10 distasteful persecution Hang itf l am
prouder than you are. had Beatrice's per-
mission to come. Perhaps you may know
that it was arranged that we should travel
down togetherH it
They remembered that Beatrice had told
them this, and at once saw the folly OF their
new theory They. .apologized humbly to
Frank. Nomen in this world could apologize
more gracefully than our friends. Then they
talked the whole matter over again, without
any result Frank did not say much lie
wanted solitude and quiet thought. By and
by the wagonette came round to the door.
'tYou must excuse our not having sent to
meet you,r said Horace 1.-THE truth is the
roads are dirty and we could not have had
the wagonette cleaned in time to take US
out"
4''Where are you going for driven
a,'sWe are going to make a.rpundlof calls.
Frank marveled, and thought that under
the circumstances this social amenity might
have been postponed.
at is painful. most painful duty" said
Horace, but We feel it must he done. We
must go round and indirectly give our friends
to understand that Beatrice has left t,s under