The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-06

L
will"
"Thankee, Alice. You've been a good
friend TO me. And we're like sister and
brother, aren't weT
There's many brother not been half so
good to his sisters as you to me,n said
Alice, the tears rising to her sad eyes.
II don't know about that answered
Stephen, who nevertheless thought that
w1at she said was true "Bnt / know
you've been very good TO her; and ! shall
always care for you because of that
Only because of that! Alice felt little
sick as she turned away. Size could not
speak. 1t was 50 painfully plain to her that
Stephens interest in her depended wholly
and solely upon her interest in JESS
1t was enough to throw some women into
an agony of jealous anger acd pain. But
Alice, although she loved Stephen, was not
the sort of woman who grudged him his
right of choice IL seemed to her quite
natural that he should prefer Jess bale.
sweet face and auerole of golden hair to he.
own homely, pleasant features and whole
some look of health and hope and earnest
ness. She had no charm with which to
compete against Jess for his favor. Aud.
like many other brave and good women, she
tried to put her pain aside and take refuge
in doing good to others-the strongest and
surest anodyne for sorrow that can any
where he found.
Jess received the news of the coming re-
moval with great apparent tranquility but
she bent over tne baby in order TO conceal
the flush upon her cheek, aud the sudden
shortening of her breath. Quick as light
ming the thought occurred to her that if she
went back to Mill street, George might yet
be found; that If Stephen and Dick did not
live in the same house with her, she might
even one day find her way to him; and al
though she said to herself that nothing
would now make her live with him again,
she could not think even of an interview
with him without throbbing of her
pulses a glow of heat upon her face. An
inexpre ,sible longing had again ri 81 up in
her heart--a longing for his words of love,
for his kisses, for his embraces even
while she said to herself that she was very
wicked to long for these things again, the
desire would not be utterly suppressed.
She had tried to tell Stephen about her
grandmother's disclosure, but he had cut
her short rather roughly by saying that old
Mrs. Flint's lies were never to be believed.
She was silent then. aud felt glad that she
had not spoken of the papers which she car
ried about in her pocket. She looked at
them, but they told her very little. The
reading of manuscript was not easy to her,
and Capt Armstrong; letters to his wife
were written in hand which Jess found
almost undeciphearble. She was obliged to
put them away with sigh, and convic-
ton that some one else mus read them be-
fore she found out whether or no they woald
ever be of use to her. Aud she knew
nobody who would be able or willing to
read them; and again the desire for George
Eas5wood's help rose up like fame within
her
So well, however, did she conceal her feel
ing, that Stephen felt quite treasured coz
corning her. She had tor gotten George he
was sure and by and by she would love him
as she had never loved Eastwood at all.
Stephens conviction on this point amounted
almost to mania. He was perfectly sure
that she would yet become his wife, and
when the idea crossed his mind, as it occa-
sionally did, that she might yet forsake him
for some other man, it seemed to him as if
red and lurid visions of murder beckoned
him along highroad of destruction. For
il Jess abandoned him, ne said to him
self, everything good within'his soul would
die.
In due time the move from the Model
Dwellings to Buck street was made. The
one room which Alice and jess and the
baby were now to share between them was
not large, but it was comparatively clean
and airy. To jess IL was a great relief that
she did not see muc of Stephen and Dicks
absence was thing for which she was
grateful every day. She did not like Dick !;
and Dick hated her. Not even his interest
in little Meenie had made him civil to jess.
1t was delightful to her, therefore, to get
away from the brothers, and to feel that
she was to some extent her own mistress.
She did not fad out for some time that
syste II OF constant espionage vas kept up
by Dick Eyre upon all her movements;
that she seldom went out without his fol-
lowing her, and that he often slept upon the
landing outside her door, When t ese
facts began to dawn upon her, she was at
tackled by sudden fear For all her alks
abroad of late had had one end; she had
hoped to see George again, and she had
wondered in the direction in which she
fancied that he might be. Had Dick told
Stephen of all her doings! and would
Stephen suspect her and shut her up agai 2
jess shrank with horror from the notion of
ii second imprisonment such as she had sus-
tanned before her baby's birth. She began
to wonder whether she could not escape
from Stephen after all. Could she ever be
safe from the gaze of Dicks prying, peering
eyes?
"A woman whom she had known in previ-
GUS days came to her assistance at this juno
ture. BLACK Sal,n as her swarthy COM
plexion caused her to be named, was not a
very reputable character, but she had q
hitIQ ut1ID anu u WuFH lON6 LOT CQll-
dren. Her tenderness to Meenie when the
child was i'll won Jess gratitude and affec-
ton, and emboldened the girl one night to
tell her large part Of her story, including
her nervous fear of the Eyres-a fear in
which Alice was to some extent included.
DON'T you be afraid any more then,
honey said Black Sal. "You trust to me
and III help yer. If don't see you any
where for few days I'll hunt you up. And
I'll tell you what-you might give Alice
Drew and Dick Eyre the Slip one fine day
and come up to my attic iii Mill street."
81 thought you lived in this house, here,
in Buck street" asked Jess, rather doubt
fully.
$50 do when I'm at 'ome,n laughed
Black Sal. 'But pye got another hole,
too. It's convenient sometimes Do you
know them three houses in Mill street
where the folks were all turned out little
tine agos If you go to the third one, you'll
always find it open aud enpty--except
when tramp gets in now and then. And
there's stairs aud trap-door into the next
house, which makes il good place to go to
when p'lcce has their eye on you. I'll
show you the whole place some day If you'll
come along o. me and it's a handy spot to
know of, specially If you wants to get away
from anybody. You goes up the Stairs Of
one 'ouse, you know, aud the p'lics follows
you. But they can't find you--for whyi
Because you've got into the next house
through the door in the roof. And the peo-
PIE in the lodgings always covers up the
door with coats and things and sSears that