The Red Cloud chief., 1889-12-20

ExMtyA&
81 KNEW HIM WELL; so He IS DzAD?"
are in shipshape," he added, shrewdly,
glancing ut Allan again.
"YOur cousl is q sort of curious-minded
lady" began the solicitor in ~anotherstrain;
''fOr it was some months before she al
lowed US to find her. She has a world Of
animosity somewhere in her soul toward
those old ancestral halls fcr some reason"
"Most likely" answered Allan, rather
evasively.
"Well, if she has I suppose it is really no
business of ours" r~ejoined the barrister;
''but it's a fine old place, or was some years
a~go-before your aunt, Lady Percival's
death; and it looks mighty strange to me
why your cousin should choose . home on
the other side of the water and rid herself
Of Heatherleigh. But then every thing you
do not understand is strange until you find
out its mystery, and then every thing II
easily understood"
After this most logical speech the old ma
dipped his pen in his ink and wrote some
thing on a slip of paper. Handing it t. Al
Ian he said, loosely: There's your pass
word, friend Of ours" Then gravely: ut
seems to me that I I'M with your father, my
boy; you are SO much like what he used to
be when I knew him. So he is dead! Well!
well! we all must die"
Then some one claimed his attention, and
he must 60. After having hidden the old at
torney q friendly goodbye. Allan drifted
out and mingled with the steady-going
throng Of the worlds metropolis, for Lon
don isn't England no more than it is any
thing else, that is, in makeup. From every
nation on earth almost they gather, gather,
gather and affiliate, and no one feels
abroad, either.
Allan Percival felt as much ''abroad,"
perhaps, as any one in Rotten Row, for he
seemed present only in the flesh as he
threaded the motley crowd.
"Business will all be settled up to-mor-
row." he said, as he lighted q cigarette in.
the seclusion Of his lodging-house. land
then for my jewels jewels. But let me
see," he said, fumbling in his pockets.
"Where is that slip the g%arrulous old fel-
low gave me-, and what is it, anyway /
haven't thought Of it since he gave it 10 me
until this blessed moment.
by the way" continued Allan, search
ing for the paper, ''he thought I was the
counterpart of my unfortunate father.
Well, l have no desire to be, only in feat
ure, for he was undeniably handsome.
Poor father!" and he sighed audibly.
''There it is now" he CALCULATED, drawing
forth the ong-sought-for slip from the
diary in which he had placed it for safe
keeping and had so soon forgotten. "Ohi
l must present this to the jolly old Ban
croft, and obtain the keys and guide As
If I needed "a guide to explore Heather
leigh! That isn't it, however. I need .
fellow to keep an eye on me while I ex-
plore. I understand it. All! yes. Then
the smiling old squire has the keeping Of
the Hall, Ell! remember Of having heard
that he was, or would have been, . staunch
friend Of my uncle, Sir Rupert's. IL that
curious old curmudgeon would have stopped
to recognize his betters."
A baleful glow crept into the fine eyes,
and the cigarette was tossed into the open
CRATE spitefully.
Il Am afraid I am not so much tie child
Of my mother As I have always imagined"
he resumed, as if in apology to his better
self, ''for I feel as Miriam must have felt
when she talked to me of the Hall when I
was i'll. How we'll remember the fash Of
her beautiful eyes as she rehearsed to me
how Sir Rupert waved her OF from his
presence. Away in the cold world he sent
her in her sorrow! No wonder she ever
wishes to sunder every tie binding her to
the roof that sheltered hfmr"
He walked back and forth the length Of
the little apartment, savagely, restlessly.
1t seemed that the spirit Of the Percivals
had given Allan q fresh baptism of the
ranking hate, which could carry its victims
the desperate on short notice.
II don't know" he ground through his
set teeth, and he shivered; II don't know
that the evil brooding in the accursed
halls Of our ancestors reaches out for its
victims even here, for it seems to me that
the nearer I get to Heatherleigh the moro
unlike myself I become"
He paused before the diminutive mirror
over against the window and surveyed him |
self for some minutes in silence. Then he
went back to the mantel and, resting his
elbow on the corner Of it, tried to con-
troll his hatred Of the dead. The pitiful
tales Of cruel, angry treatment told him by |
his father As enacted toward himself BY |
Leon Percival, his father, rushed hotly |
across his mind; and the cruelty Of Sir
Rupert to his beloved dared him to forget
them, or to remember them kindly.
The angry flush be had noticed so plainly |
in the mirror surged up to his noble brow
and his soul burned for revenge. But they |
were dead-all Of the maledictive ones-and |
were, perhaps, getting their dues, while he, |
Allan Percival, was standing there giving |
vent to the spirit which had dragged them
down. Ali this would never do, his soul |
warningly. No; this giving
way to the vanity of useless wrath would
never bear to be dallied with. By Q power
full effort he choked down the rising auath-
ems and betook himself to asserting some
papers he had brought with him from Trou-
vile.
Seated ut the table. ARRANGING tia CON.