Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-05-03
Richard Pardon s Peril.
BY D. l.. FARJEON.

L Let be, let be" said. receiving and re- turning Eunice's ciress with coldness.
 Don't be disheartoned, darling" said my
 wife. drawing Eunice to her. "Your father
 Is not himself this morning."
 ''There Is nothing new, mamma?" asked
 Eunice, anxiously.
 "No, dear child." replied my wife. "Rely
 upon me-"
 "I will. mamma. I will, muI.nured Eurice her. face upon her mothor's breast. We will go down now. Richard" said my wife; "you will join us presently3 "Yes, presently" replied.
 They left the room together, taking the loose roses with them, and proceeded to make my toilet. It was soon comrh ted, and took my watch from my pocket to nscer- eain the time. As l put it back my fingers encountered a ring. Itook it out and gazed at 1t in dumb .stonishmeut; it was the diam ond ring my uncle had placed upon hls finger on the first night of his arrival. By what strange means had it come unconsciously into my possession?
 l shook my head anSil!y and impntiently, and tried to think. My uncle had not given me tho ring, and could scerc,iy li.lva tatcn 1t without his knowledge. But Hrtl ar with out his knowledge I must hnvn taken fl, for lay in my trembling hand. How lid It come into my pocketp Was I :l thief? It needed but a question like this to make my despair complete. Little did suspect what was yet to be revealed to me and all Of us. The stone in the ring Was, as I have already stated, not large. and could, at the utmost, have been worth not more than twenty pounds. That should have been gull Y of a theft, and oi theft So paltry shoc! |. and overwhelmed me. Yes, that was par,y 2iy thoughts not only Of n theft, bu: "f the't so paltry. l will make no attem i Ut disguise. In the workings of q man. heart mean and sordid motives take their place-even in the hearts Of the noblest of men; and ill my state ot despair shud- dered to think that it was possible, in the light of the threatened futufe before me, that might be tempted to commit a crime if it would save nay wi:s art daughter from wreck and ruin. This horrible reflection brought wildly to my mind the guilty hope which had stirred within me but q few hours ago. that my uncle would die in tho night.
 What should do with the ring? I dared not show 1t to my wife; the thoughts which 1t must inevitably have inspired in her gentle breast would, us 1t wore, have revealed to her base depths in my nature of which she did not believe me capable. Nor had myself ever believed that I could fall into degradation so deep so complete. But my soul being now brought to the bar. carelessness or lnaction would invite an exposure damning that l could never hope to recover from 1t. must be careful, wary cunning. The cir cumstance must not bo mcn,oilcI to q liy- ing soul. The secret was mine mino alon. and must be jealously preserved. The re- spect of those I loved so dearly, and in whose sunshine I may be sai! to huvo lived must not be jeoparded. I had to soc my, < cle on this morning, and I would take opportunity of slipping tho ring somewhere in his room, or of dropping it upon the floor, and thus avoiding suspicion. So resolving, 1 went down to my wife and daughter with my guilty secret in my pocket, ready to my right hand.
 Mir. Mortlock was with them, at broa kfast, and Mdlle. Rosalie. MT. Mortock eave mo Good morning." and with hatred in my heart which, had not held myself in moral and physical control, would have impolled me to strike him in the Iuco, I returned the salute, desHlsing myself the while for my contemptible weakness and lack of manhood. Mdlle. Rosaio raised her eyes shyly to my face, softly said, Good morning. sir," and then lowered them again. What was the meaning of her shy, timid singular look? Did she know my secret? Or was it that I was in the mood to placo extravagant con- structions upon the most insignificant details of social intercourse? I chose the worst view. and, gazing with perturbed looks at them all, took my seat at the table.
 "You do not seem well this morning." ob- served MT. Mortlock
 Again Mdlle. Rosalie raised her eyes to mine with tho same strange look again she lowered them immediately.
 liam quite well MT. Mortlock." I said. and in no courteous tone. "What makes you think otherwise2"
 MT. Mortlock simply said. II beg your par- don." and proceeded with his breakfast.
 If had put the proper construction upon my wife's behavior to him should have known that 1t was prompted by a feeling of gratitude towards one who, after ali. was still our guest, for his courteous and constd. crate reception of my brusque words, but was in distorted mood, and it displeased me to observe n momentary graciousness in her manner 10 the man who had proved himself to be our evil genius. However, I preserved silence. though my feelings must have been apparent to all.
 "Have you seen Mr. Fleetwood this morn ing3" asked Mtlle. Rosalie.
 The question was not directed to any one in particular and my wife answered no. that she had not seen him. Then, once more. Mdlle. Rosalie looked at me. And now in her strange glances I seemed to detect a hidden meaning which irritated and con- fused me, because could not interpret 1t.
 Do you wish particularly to know ifI have seen him2" asked.
 ''No, sir," she replied quietly. II was asking generally. I observs that he has not placed the usual flowers on the table,"
 This was a reference to a mark of affection and graceful attention which Samuel FIoet- wood was in the habit of paying my wife and daughter. Every morning, when they came down to breakfast, there was n posy for each of them placed before thsir aceus tom ed caafe at fha <ohla spd tb.,,