The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-09-20
to a n,tiiio1tr - " ~
2. CHAPTER XIII, -
..s A RAY OF LIGHT. 5.
Tll rI, yrt -

| 1t was the joyful cry OF gr&efuf
heart, heart too full for further liter
ance. The emo thing I'M all the torld
which she would have wished mdt to
hear, she heard, and the great iot of it
had almost bereft her of her sen4s.
But she did not faint; she simtly sat
there with her sunny head restina upon
MIR. Edgar's shoulder, his fatherlJ arms
supporting her, while her big, soft eyes,
brlmful of tears, were fixed upon va
cancy, with so heavenly an expression in
them, that one would say that they had
pierced the limits of mortal vision and
were contemplating the effable beauty
of the promised Paradise.
Wishing to allow her to fully realize
the great intelligence he had impaired,
the lawyer did not disturb hef strance,
and so she sat there, lest in her day
dream, with the genial tAsnsh iaesof< the
-ysEeff sprwaof1n. -
Those were moments of indescribable
ecstasy for little Oracle, long to be re-
membered after the storm-clouds had
again gathered, and the sunlight of
hope had vanished. At last she spoke
in a low murmur, as though commun-
ing with herself
"Father! My fatherl-Oh, how
sweet to think of it!"
yes, Gracie, your father" echoed
Mr.. Edgar.
She started then, the spell was
broken, and drawing herself out of his
protecting clasp, she asked:
Glow long have you known this
glad truth?"
II knew it only on the night your
father died"
"Thcn perhaps it was to tell mo the
secret that he wished to see mel"
II am sure of it."
ooh, blessings on him Oh, how
blind / must have been in all these
years, not TO have seen what his love
and protection for me meant! And yet
only have loved father as loved
him."
"And he loved You equally in RETURN"
roioined MFR. Edgar. "On that fatal
night drew up will at his request,
in which he leaves every penny of his
enormous fortune to you"
She looked puzzled and half panied,
rs she replied:
what should / do with so much
money? should have been better
pleased, had he bequeathed me some
knowledge of my birth, some explana-
tion of the strange, unacknowledged
life have hadto live.
"For that 1 blame him!" exclaimed
tRs hHi laTEsGr llfGs EtGr ttt ttSstlyxi WV
/ shall know it when we meet in the
next"
"But he evidently intended to tell
you all that night, if his life had been
spared He gave me some hints,
"Yes! what did he tell you?" she
cried, turning eagerly and laying her
hands upon his arms.
"He said that your mother still lived.
"My mother lives! my mother lives
oh where is she?"
Somewhere near Boston, think
He told me that she was beautiful, ia
tally beautiful. That is all I know"
Slowly the girl gained her feet with
fast locked hands, and eyes into whose
depths the far-away look had returned
"Poor mother!" she cried, chow yor
must have suffered too in all these lonl
years when thought you safe il
heavenl" Then turning to Mr.. Edgar
she added with nervous energy: Z"
must go and find my mother shat j
my first duty!"
"Not yet, Gracie," objected the law
yer rising, prepared to impose hi
authority now that his time TO speal
had come, "There is time enough fo
that. First of all, we have duties o
paramount importance to adjust here il
this very city, and this very day!"
She looked at him wonderingly, on,
he continued:
"Do YOU realize that the object d
Mr.. Clifford's murder WAS the theft q
the will which establishes you rs hi
heiress? That will was stolen, an
until it is recovered you are n pnuper.
Her eyes began to light as lie pre-
gressed, with strange, intelligent fire
and when he ceased speaking she dc
manded, breathlcssly:
an the event of his will never bein
found, to whom does my fathers fe
tune fallp"
, "To his NEXT - ~ 80
Max Boyden. ""H f'T'7v %, az sIau
l. "Ah!d she exclaimed, sc IL,
, But my mother She is living; wi,
should she not inherit her share?"
l "That is n mystery which have NJ
-, yet been able to probe. All that
: know is that she Is not mentioned
the will. Every penny is left uncond
0 tionally to you"
Little Oracle walked slowly to I'll
0 window and for few moments stoC
looking down into the quiet, sum
8 street, lost in the deepest thought.
e Suddenly she turned, asking:
Is Mr.. Bancker still in the house?
V so, please call him; have somethii
e to say to you both.
" The detective having been quick
" summoned to the little parlor, Grac
@ continued:
e "My good friends, until the prese
# moment my lips have been sealed co
corning the past. see now that / mu
:; speak in justice to you both, and ASST
4 you all can. On the nigsv- that n
d poor father was murdered, murder,
= by the man whom from early childho
: I had been tanght TO regard as n
a father-1 was iD the adjoining roc
;, with the nurse, waiting my chance
e go to my father as requested by NJ
| Ed0or Mo ho1 3,nfh parf a L on nf 4