Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-11-06

~
IT remember tying up the letter NTH the
parcel, tohere can ii be gone tor
"After eighteen years." he said, "after
eighteen years. The ink will be faded and
the papers yellow. But we shall see the
certificates of the marriage and of your bap.
tism, Iris; there will also be letters to diff
terent people, and a true account of tho
rupture with his father, and the cause, Of
which his letter spoke. And of course we
shall find out what was his real name and
what is the kind Of inheritance which has
been waiting for you SO long, my dear.
Now then"
The covering in case of the packet was q
kind OF stiff cardboard or millboard, within
brown paper. Mr.. Emblem laid it open.
1t was full Of folded papers. He took up
the first and opened it. The paper vas
blank. The next, it was blank; the third, it
was blank; the fourth, and fifth, and sixth,
and so on throughout The case, which had
been waiting SO long, waiting for eighteen
years, to be opened on Iris's twentY-first
birthday was full Of blank papers. They
were all half sheets of notepaper.
Nj. Emblem looked surprised at the first
" VI eAACC RdDOISs bubu u6 LuFuou pdl6,
then he rushed at the rest. When he had
opened all, he stared about him with be-
wilderment.
where is the letter ~ he asked again.
Then he began with trembling hands to tear
out the contents of the safe and spread them
upon the table. The letter was nowhere.
II am certain" he said, for the tenth
time, 81 am quite certain that l tied up
the letter with red tape, outside the packet.
And no one has been at the safe except
me-"
TELL u.s." said Arnold, 'the contents of
the letter as well as you remember them.
Your son-in-law was known to you under
the name Of Aglen, which was not his real
name. Did he tell you his real nameF'
"No."
"What did he tell YOU'D Do you remember
the letterP'
Il remember every word Of the letter."
"If you dictate it, l will write it down.
That may be a help"
MIR. Emblem began quickly, and as If he
was afraid of forgetting:
when you read these lines, 1 shall be in
the Silent Land, whittier Alice, my wife,
has gone before me-"
Then Mr.. Emblem began to stammer,
"'ln one small thing we deceived you,
Alice and 1. My name is not Aglen'-is
not Aglen-"
And here a strange thing happened. His
memory failed him at this point.
Take time" said Arnold; 'there is no
hurry"
Mr.. Emblem shook his head.
Il shall remember the rest tomorrow,
perhaps" he said.
"Is there anything else you have to help
usF' asked Arnold; "never mind the letter,
Mr.. Emblem. No doubt that will come
back presently. You see we want to find
out, first, who Iris's father really was, and
what is her real name. There was his coat
Of arms. That will connect her with some
family, though it may be a family with
EJany branches"
"Yes-oh yesl his coat of arms l have
5een his signet ring a dozen times. Yes, his
coat; yes, first and fourth, two roses and a
boal's head erect; second and third
forget.n
"Humphi Was there any one who knew
him before he was marriedP'
Eyes, yes" Mr.. Emblem sat up eagerly.
Eyes, there is-there is; he is my Oldest GUS
toner. But l forget his name. l have for
gotten everything. Perhaps l shall get
back my memory tomorrow. But I am
old. Perhaps it will never get back"
He leaned his head upon his hands, and
stared about him with bewildered eyes.
81 do not know, young man." he said
presently, addressing Arnold, ''who you
are. If you come from Mr.. Chalker, let me
tell you it is a day too soon. Tomorrow we
Will speak of business" Then he sprang to
his feet suddenly, struck with a thought
which pierced him like a dagger. "To-mor-
cow It is the day when they will come to
bill me up. Oh, IrisI what did that matter
when you were safea Now we are all pau
pers together-all paupers"
He fell back in his chair white and trem-
bling; Iris soothed him; kissed his cheek
and pressed his hand; but the terror and
despair Of bankruptcy we're upon him. This
is an awful spectre, which is ever ready to
appear before the man who has embarked
his oil in one venture. A disastrous sea-
son, two or three unlucky ventures, a sue
cession Of bad debts, and the grisly spectre
stands before them. He had no terror for
the old man SO long as he thought that Iris
was safe. But now
"Idle talk, Iris-idle talk, child" he said,
when they tried to comfort him. "How
can a girl make money by teaching9 Idle
talk, young man. How can money be made
by p~ainting9 It's as bad a trade as writing.
How can money be made anyhow but in an
honest shop2 And tomorrow 1 shall have
no shop, and we shall all go into the street
togetherl"
Presently, when lamentations had yielded
to despair, they persuaded him to go to bed.
1t was past midnight. Iris went up stairs
with him, while Lala Roy and Arnold
waited down below. And then Arnold made
a great discovery. He began to examine
the folded papers which were in the packet.
l think he had some kind of q g idea
that they might contain secret and invisible
writing. They were all sheets Of ~notepaper,
Of the same size, folded in the same way
namely, doubled as If for a square envelope.
On holding one to the light, he read the
water mark:
HIEROGLYPHICA.
A Vegetable Vellum.
NJ S. & Co.
Ihey all had the same water-mark. He
1 ghnHan thu th4aas - a. III a. 4