Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-10-01

obEoryo ru1t Wliue snow was IN the room.
and she dealt him rather an impsrious look,
which made him very uncomfortable.
'sWho Is thisP her father asked petulantly;
slandlord,s sonF
aOnly a friend, father y Vanity answered
'sDon't mind him. They will be gone In a
few Minutes
While saw she trembled now excessively,
and be remarked that the old man gazed at
! him with searching eyes Did be recognize
himl Did he know anythingi Then Vanity
walked up to her former lover and said In q
/ low voice:
'swhy you came In here don't know. As
you are here now, you must stay till these
men have gone.n
/ Willie stood feeling as he had never felt In
his life before; but he could not utter word,
and Vanity returned to her fathers side.
The trampling Of feet was heard overhead
rs Of men going from room to room, and two
,r three times there was heavy sound Of
furniture being dragged over the floor.
Old Hardware looked up from his reading
again and asked, now in really angry man
DER:
.sWhy do you not answer me, Who are
these menl What business have they hereF
As IL he had forgotten her explanation.
Willie saw that Vanity trembled, and her
voice, as she pitched it high for her fathers
leaf ears, was tremulous with agitation.
"Only the landlord, father, tell you
only the landlord
Her tones must have been audible all over
the house; but the old man held up his hand
inquiringly, and ma lie her repeat the words,
and th'sl, grumbling, settled down to his
paper once more
In a few minutes the heavy downward
tread of the detectives was heard ON the
stairs, and the two men re-entered the room,
the chief looking puzzled and disappointed
He tried, however, to hide his vexation under
an air of surly civility.
II have made a mistake, miss he said to
Vanity. "Fact is, have been misinformed.
hope you will admit that have tried to
make the job as pleasant as l could"
All this time he was eyeing round with
dissatisfied air.
What does he sayf' old Hardware called
out, gazing with kind of angry curiosity
from face to face, aud speaking in tones
which faltered with age and anger
s'Oh, father" Vanity called out impatiently,
nothing of consequence. He only says the
roof is oil sound y"
"Says what is soundq' the old man cried,
in accents full OF suspicion.
''The roof the roofr' Vanity callel out
Then, turning to the detective, she said:
"If you have done, do go. / shall have
such an afternoon with him If he once gets
upset"
And truly old Hardware was looking round
with an expression of distrust which seemed
to show that he was not altogether blind to
the facS that be was being deceived The
detective after one more moment of troubled
irresolution, was just about to obey Vanity
when his eyes were arrested by something
which caused his whole face to light up.
The room was papered, and right behind
the chair in which old Hardware sat was
what seemed, at thu first glance, to be q
door, SO neatly arranged amidst fowery
pattern that it was almost invisible. In an
instant the detective guessed that there was
closet in the wall, and all the mystery wa
clear to him. His prisoner was standing
within two yards, hidden by that papel
screenl BE walked straight up to old Hard
ware.
'.Now, old gentleman, found out is the
word Get up, if you please"
All the officer meant was that the old mar
should make way for him to examine thu
closet But in this he made fatal mistake
The closet, after all, existed only in bis owl
imagination, and the clumsy wooden parti
ton, which suggested the idea, was pard
ton, and nothing more But he whom tn
! officer addressed misunderstood the words
and in an instant the mystery was REVEALED
indeed. Suddenly the aged, decrepit figur
sprung up with the energy of lion. III
tore off his cap, and with that his spectacle
and wig and beard artfully made in on
10 ~ hafo bn e%o IL,
group Vanity's father, indeed, but not tn
tottering graybeard that Vanity's father wa
supposed to be. A man Of forty-fve or fifty
tall and handsome, of powerful build, who's
face glared with rage and defiance.
Such was the transformed figure whicl
leaped out Of the disguise And Willie coul
see even in this face, whose every featur
was tense with defiance and animosity,
fierce outline of the irresistible beauty which
in the daughter, had taken a shape SO en-
chanting. Father and daughter, they stoo
face to face, and the other figures for th
moment seemed to sink into the background
Hardware concentrated all the rage Of hi
expression upon his daughter, who SCENE
ready to swoon with terror. In her pallo
!, he read the proof of his own furious cor
lecture, that his daughter had betrayed him
and while the detectives, petrified wit
amazement, paused, though this was not 70
five seconds, he had time for all he wishe
to do Drawing revolver from his breai
he pointed it at Vanity, and, with terribl
cry, discharged it into her side. The poo
: young woman stood erect one moment, gain
at him with fixity almost as dreadful q
his own; and he, as if he would answer th
look, called out:
! 'sYou have not deceived me with all you
! pretense! You sold me, you sold mel TAX
your rewardp'
And as she sunk down upon the ground
he leaped across her body, and dashed to th
door which led upstairs
ITO BE CONTINUED.
{ The Business Situation.