The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1885-01-02

LKWTA; FRIDAY, JANUA
poor little Mabel, and these peo-
PIE afs determined to get me married.
I'd better break my bond before it's too
late:ss
I'M: Creighton; ! would like 10 speak
with yon for ? moment, please"
tered si.vyel, ,iAllfiasss s:sas aia9. 81 5ishsfrm
Of Gray & Myers, solicitors. =. = T.
Certainly, NJ. Grayl What's the
business now3" 49,.
"Rather an unpleasant business, lam
sorry to say, sir. But will you step in
my Office, where can fully explains"
50 Con followed him in, and waited
to hear what the unpleasant business
might be.
you are Swsre, sir, that your late
uncle; from whom ydu inhsrit yonr for.
Tune died iiptssstate / should say,
was thought .tp, have died iRtestate.
a few days since, however, We made,
what to you must prove painful discov.
ery-viz., the certificate Of his marriage
and hall. .drawn-up will, in which he
bequeathed I'LL he possessed to his uh-
acknowledged wife, or leg children,
should she have any: After dillHett
Inquiries We have discovered that the
late Mrs, Gfeigt0n died III giving birth
to child; but the ;hild is still living,
90, my deaf Mt: Creighton; with deep
sorrow, I must inform you that sou
sPennilessiI"; i; finished Con, glloSomliiiiy; iii
but with deliberation.
"Not quite, Mr.. Creig ghton. Your fa-
ther left you $4,000, which is some-
thing, though considerably less than
G1O0, 600. Your cousin arrived to-day,
I believe"
Poor Con! He didn't care very much
1t she never arrived; but he managed
to get into the street without disgrace
fully showing his feelings, and then,
by way Of keeping up the illusion tried
to whistle.
But the effort was miserable failure,
for, after all, it's no joke to find ono
self suddenly prscipitated from the pin
racle. Of millionalresllip.
"Well. after all, there's one comfort, /"
be said. returning to his solil6quy !;
Emily Cummings won't want me. now,
SO fancy I'll give her warning. Mabel
will take mo. rich or poor, and I hope
I'm not such miserable coward as to
shirk the labor of man."
His meditations brought him up in
front of the Cummings residence.
Five minutes after he was sitting in
the daintiest of boudoirs, Emily before
him in the mist recherche Of French
morning robes, fragrant with the sub.
tlest of French perfumes.
"You look dreadfully tired; Con.
Have, you been walking very far?" she
asked. q sweet sympathy percepti-
BILE in her voice, and tender anxiety
in her luminous ewes.
"Not particularly far. but I have had
bad news; and, as a general thing, that
is more hnrassine than the nero effort
of walking"
Con had way of plunging right in.
to difficulties, and now he wanted to be
over with it.
why, what news have you had3
Nothing very serious, hope"
"Oh, not at all! Only that I've lost
every penny of the fortune my uncle
left mel"
He now noticed with great satisfac.
tion that her fair face grew very white,
and that she instantly put on IN indie.
scribably expression Of withdrawal.
"Lost, eh? Oh, no! How?"
"Oh, in romantic way Of course.
1t seems that my supposed bachelor un-
Gle was in reality Benedict. but as his
marriage was q secret one, and the girl
was not of his own social status, nobody
knew anything about it, so he told her
the ceremony was false, and left her.
She died heartbroken, but left an heir
or heiress. I don't know which. This
child takes the silver spoon out of my
mouth, and I, as you see, lose G1O0 900
and ON ruined. Plain and lucid, isn't
it?"
But Emily didn't answer; she was
growing over her fallen castles, musing
over her unpaid bills, and wondering
whether her father could stand this
last stroke of misfortune.
"Of course, Emily, / came to you at
once to release you, if you wished, from
our engagement. Reared as you have
been, I could not expect you to marry O
poor man; and, indeed, fear that, in
my changed circumstances, I would be
no fit husband for you.
Then Emily Cummings showed that,
girl that she was, she was equal to the
occasion.
Standing fully before him, where the
light fell directly on the beautiful,
naughty face and slender, graceful fig
ure, she assisted him out of his difficult
ty with an ease and grace that was al-
m ost superb.
"Ican readily perceive, Mr.. Creigh-
ton. that it is your wish that our en-
gagement should end, and knowing this,
I should be the last one to oppose your
inclinations. As regards your loss, I
sympathize with you sincerely, but
cannot fail to rejoice that it happened
before I awoke to the fate of an un-
loved wife,"
She paused for breath, and, then as
Con stood in shameful and, it must he
confessed, slightly disgusted silence,
she went oil. "And now, Mr.. Creigh-
ton, rather than prolong our unpleas-
ant interview, had we better not say
goodbye"
So, for the last time, Con went down
the marble stairs, saving to himself,
"At any rate, I still have two thousand
and Mabel"
He walked along the streets, feeling
his spirits considerably lighter, his
troubled conscience comparatively at
rest; but just as he reached his mothers
residence Gray once more encountered
him.
"Ah. here you are again! The very
fellow I want! Your cousin has ar
rived and is anxious to see you. Would
Won 90 to her at anca2 She ia with