The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1890-04-18

on ASK stianBo qucslioh. nave ui-
ready answered"
every well; tell you he is innocent.n
Elbow do you knows All convicted GRIM
inals say they are innocent. Everybody
knows that"
He rose brusqucly and walked back and
forth two or three times, and then said bit
terly, looking at her with a hard and rene-
trating glance:
"Al, mother. mother, take carel Do not
peI,jurc yourself"
''My poor sou, you must suffer greatly to
speak SO cruelty TO me-"
~ neither vaat nor need your p.sy.'
Raymond, 1 pardon you"
''Nor do 1 want your PARDON"
'Gseat Godr'
"Roger Laroque Is innocent, and it Is not
that iGnominy which forbids me to wed his
taug!itcr.n
s'Iiow can you certify to his innocenccg'
"a woman played a part in this frightful
drama. Do you hear, nother-a wonanm
The guilty mother began again TO tremble
violently. She stammered:
81 hear, my son."
GA woman whom Laroque would not name,
though in naming her he might have saved
himself.n
"Romance."
''Truth! This woman had borrowed money
from him and had been Lis-mistress; and to
condemn him. to be revenged, she gave him
this money. or course she could not have
done this alone, and she had an accorlplicc, a
tool, named Matthias Zuber, otherwise known
as Lsiversan."
Show was this discoveredg' asked she, in
the same strange voice, which seemed TO her
not to be her own, but some mechanical con.
trivance that spoke for her.
''By Laroque, after all these years."
"And he has brought them to Justice, thceo
two guilty oness"
"Not yet, but he will in q few days"
"This-this woman; does he think her
| guiltyg'
'He does not know how far He knows
| that she gave him the money. He knows
nothing of her relations with Luversan nor
| the vengeance, which do. The letter which
found in my fathers pocket was proof
''The letter!'
"Yes, the anonymous letter, which re-
| vealedr-
"What? whatT'
"Oh, mere nothing. 1t only said that the
woman who gave Laroque the money, who
had been faitEless wife, an unworthy
mother, was was Oh, 1 cannot say itr'
"Who, who, Raymond You see l cannot
understand My poor head is so confused.
Did know here Was she Il friend OF ours,
of Luciens?'
"Thc woman was you, Julia De Noirville,
| ny mother You!"
~ hear you. But what a singular historyi
| What a romance. Yes, romance. II it
were not SO terrible, could laugh. do
augh, ha! ha! You hear me laugh, Ray
| nond."
$50 you deny it9"
| "Why not, since it is not true? This is
| calumny, Raymond, an infamous calumny;
and you believe it, against your mother. You
| come here and make scene instead of COM
| ing to show me this ridiculous affair that we
might both laugh over it. Do you know
am almost vexed with you, you naughty
| boy?"
Raymond wes so ashamed for her that he
hid his face.
"And you say nothing, instead of asking
| my pardon. You are a wicked and migrate
| full son, for you have nothing to reproach me
with. / have been tender and good to you
| and have always loved you with four fold
| affection, even so much that l scarcely had
any left for your brother"
$50 you still denyp
"Unhappy child Why should l dony such
| an atrocious accusation9 l even ought not
| listen TO you, but l cannot let you believe so
horrible thing"
Raymond took the accusing letter from his
| pocket and gavc it to her. She tried to read
| it, Then he said coldly:
"Have you read itp'
"Oh, my poor boy, /, your motherl" Then
she continued wildly: 81 must tell you.
There is no word of that true. 1t was a
mans vengeance, not woman's. That
f,.;a1 70 DO Iowa
"Whol Laroqueg'
''No the other, Luversan."
"You just pretended not to know him!"
~ lied, did know him; he avowed his
love; he was violent, brutal capable Of any
thing, and l was afraid of him, but repulsed
him and he kept his word and revenged him
self, as you can see, since your father died
believing me guilty"
"Falsehoods lFalsehoods! Do you think
my father would have believed so base an
accusation, an anonymous one, too, had he
not had other reasonsa No, he remembered,
and he was convinced and died without hav-
ing been able to curse YOU"
"Raymond! what wild imagination has
taken possession of your Return to your
motherl You are frightful, with your hor-
rid stories"
"Mother, father had written things which
show me that he had suspected"
aft is falsel tell you, falsel How you
SANDER in accusing your mother. Do you
think of that, Raymondp
"And that is not all, mother. Do you re-
member the day showed you photograph,
on the back of which were the dates of Roger
Laroque's arrest and condemnation, and
also the day of Larouette's murder and the
houra You told me then story which
might have accounted for all that, but that
discovered beyond doubt that that was
Roger Laroque's photograph. oh, you were
well revenged. You pierced the photograph
even as you pierced the originals heart"
She knew now she was lost. She had even
no strength left to frame new lies, and she
abandoned herself and threw herself upon
the floor, where she writhed in sobs and gasp
ing groans, but no tears came to relieve her.
She crawled to his knees, and gasped: "My
son, my son, do not curse me. Pardon me.
You are on the threshold OF life and know
nothing of its passions avow you were not
deceived You know the truth, but OIL do
not curse me for it. IL would be horrible
from you, whom / have SO loved. Oh, Ray
mond, my son, see how. I supplicate you. I
have repented so bitterly. If could have
undone the past; but / am only woman,
ond 7 could not deliver myself IN TO iustice.