Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1890-04-26

arrer 1t was all over, and without my
knowledge that Mr.. Fountain was being
followed and watched. This, say, con-
firmed the suspicious and strengthened
my conclusions, but desire to say to
you now that both Of us have been
wrong. hasten to inform you that Mr.
Fountain did not commit the deed"
ibid not!' The revulsion Of feeling
was too great. She sank back in her
chair, and for a moment Holbrook
thought she would swoon.
He started up hastily to go to her as
sistance, but she waved him back, and
after supreme effort regained control
of herself.
"How-he is Innocent"
"Yes, 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.
She made Holbrook angry, and it was
with difficulty he could control himself
"You will pardon me, Miss Ashgrove,
hope, if remark that your tone and
manner are particularly offensive to me.
and neither wise nor just. 1t is far from
my purpose to descend so 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 am"
"And pray, what may that beF"
"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 man who
bears name by sufferance only, not by
right; and that even when you believed
him to be murderer you shed the bright
light of your love upon him."
"How do you know these things?"
"They come to me professionally
am the legal adviser of the dead Temple
tons mother and sister,"
Mother and sisterl" she exclaimed.
Il 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, free
ly confess it; confess also in the game
of wits l am beaten. Though l am not
pleased that you know so much"
"Be not alarmed But one other per-
son possesses these facts, and you can
rest assured neither he nor l have any
desire to use the knowledge thus OBJ
tanned to your disadvantage or to that Of
Mr.. Fountain"
"Thank you. But may not ask what
your purpose is in telling me these
things?" ...
II might fall back on the statement" :"
replied Holbrook smiling. "that having
a feeling of regard for you desired to
relieve your mind of unjust suspicion
against one you love so well and the en-
tertaining of which must have given
you 80 much torture; but such statement
would not be the whole truth, for have
another purpose as well, not an entirely
unselfish one."
sand that purpose is"
"Let me explain The fact Of Mr.
Fountains innocence came out inciden-
tally in the pursuit of certain inquiries
and the proposed initiation of some &C.
tions 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.. Templeton with the late Mr.
Pierson. shall be very frank-brutally
so, 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, Mr.. Templeton was connected with
Mr.. Pierson, and the interests of Mr.
Fountain and Mr.. Templeton were an
tagonistic. l have the audacity to ask
you in what way Mr.. Fountain touched
Mr.. Pierson, and how it was that Mr..
Templeton's interests were antagonistic
to those of Mr.. Fountain In that point
lay your reason for accusing in your
mind Mr.. Fountain of the deed"
TO BE CONTINUED