Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-05-15

him; he told me so."
81 learned who he was that night at
the Casino, he replied calmly.
81 feared So" she said, with a low
moan. "And yet he went to you the
next morning. Fool. fool. fool. that he
wasw
"rhat conclusion" continued Hol-
brook, conscious he was torturing her rs
a cat does a mouse, twas strengthened
by the report of an interview between
yourself and Mr.. Fountain on the veran-
da Of your uncle's house at Newport"
She sprang to her feet, nerved by the
strong tide Of anger and contempt that
swept over her.
"And were you low enough, base
enough, to spy, upon us, or to place a
spy upon usY'
Holbrook was struck with her great
beauty as she stood before him, burning
with scorn, and he admired her.
"No, Miss A~shgrove." he replied, quiet
~, "you wrong me, You are mistaken
In both ~conjectures. l neither spied on
you nor placed n ON you. The report
came to me in my professional capacity,
after it was all over and without my
knowledge that Mr.. Fountain was being
followed and watched. This, l say, n
firmed the suspicious and strengthened
my conclusions, but l desire to say to
you now that both of US have been
wrong. I hasten to inform you that Mr..
| Fountain did not commit the deed"
"Did not" The revulsion of feeling
was TOT great. She sank back in her
chair, and for q moment Holbrook
| thought she would swoon.
He started up hastily to go to her as
| sistance, but she waved him back, and
after a supreme effort regained control
| Of herself.
"How-he is Innocent?
Eyes, innocent. He was not within a
hundred miles of Union square when
| the deed was done"
"And why do you come to me with all
this?''
Having repossessed herself, she took
refuge in haughtiness. while her manner
was an assumption of extreme indiffer
ence. q
She made Holbrook angry, and it was
with difficulty he could control himself
"You will pardon me, Miss Ashgrove,
I hope, if I remark that your tone and
manner are particularly offensive to me,
and neither wise nor just. It is far from
my purpose + descend 80 low as to
threaten a lady, but prudence should
suggest to you that it is not wise to show
such contempt, whatever you may feel,
toward a man who is in possession OF
such knowledge as you know I am"
"And pray, what may that bel"
THAT you love the man Fountain with
a strong, powerful love-a love which
excites my respect and admiration; that
the object of that love Is a man who
bears a name by s%uferance only, not by
right; and that even when you believed
him to be a murderer you shed the bright
light of your love upon him."
Chow do you know these things"?
"They come to me professionally
am the legal adviser of the dead Temple
toms mother and sister,"
"Mother and sister," she exclaimed.
II thought he had neither mother nor
sister-nor any relative"
THAT is strange, since he was a rela-
tive Of yours-a remote one"
Flora blushed.
"That was a fib, Mr.. Holbrook, l free
ly confess it; I confess also in the game
of wits l am beaten. Though I am not
pleased that you know SO much"
"Be not alarmed. But one other per
sol possesses these facts. and you can
rest assured neither he nor / have any
desire to use the knowledge thus OBJ.
tanned to your disadvantage or to that OF
Mr.. Fountain"
THANK you. But may l not ask what
your purpose is in telling me these
things?
81 might fall back on the statement
replied Holbrook smiling, 'that having
a feeling of regard for you l desired to
relieve your mind of unjust suspicion
against n you love so well and the en-.
tertaining Of which must have given
you so much torture; but such statement
would not be the whole truth, for I have
another purpose as well, not an entirely
unselfish one"
"And that purpose isl"
"Let mt explain. The fact of Mr..
Fountains innocence came out inciden.
tally in the pursuit of certain inquiries
and the proposed initiation of some &C.
tons touching the murder of Mr.. Tenn.
pleton, and perhaps it may be said also
in an effort, feeble as yet, to connect the
late Mr.. TempIeton with the late Mr..
Pierson. shall be very frank-brutally
SO, l fear, Miss Ashgrove. The fact that
you suspected Mr.. Fountain of the muir.
der Of Mr.. Templeton-that Mr.. Fountain
had remarked, with reference to an en-.
terprise he was engaged upon, that Provi.
dence had removed Mr.. Templeton from
his path, and the final fact that that en-.
terprise was made known to me by Mr..
Fountains call upon me, to be an effort
to obtain the late Mr.. Persons property,
shows that in some way, unknown to
me, Nh. Templeton was connected with
Mr.. Pierson, and the interests of Mr..
Fountain and Mr.. Templeton were an.
tagonistic. I have the audacity to ask
you in what way Mr.. Fountain touched
Mr.. Pierson, and how it was that Mr..
Templeton's interests were a~ntagonistic
to those of Mr.. Fountain? In that point
lay your reason for accusing in youI
mind Mr.. Fountain Of the deed"
MAY I ask to what use you would put
the information were I to give 1t to you
always presuming I had such informa.
tionT'
II believe I had the honor of inform.
ing you that 1 am the legal adviser Of
Mrs. and Miss Templeton. The interests
Of the brother are now the interests Of
| the mother and sister,"
Flora showed clearly that the knowl.
edge of the existence of a mother and
sister of Templeton was not pleasant to
her, and she remained in profound
thought for a moment or two.
Sufferers