The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1891-07-11
"shan I tell himP Shall I confess all

Again Mrs. Smith is frightened. She
does not ike to think what the result OF
that confession win be- They've man.
aged at last to find a spot where they can
live quietly and unknown. Why must
all the miserable story be brought up
again?
! Miss Smith, failing to get any practi-
cal advice from her mother. thinks the
; matter over quietly by herself, and by
the time she s"es her admirer again she
has settled ON her course Of action.
she meets him in the fields that lead
TO the church.
1t is a bright summer morning. and
they pause 10y a stle to lcok al The vel
low and red OF the far stretching fields.
The Rev. Charles Grosvenor COM
mences by talking about nature. and
gradually comes down to talking about
hlmseii-his aims and prospects in life.
Little by little the conversation slides into
the groove he wished. and in fivrmimtes
his hand and fortune hNvc been laid at
the feet 2f the lady Il. i,ner.
lie hacn't meant 10 be so abrupt: he
had meant to keep his secret little
longer, hut it had slipped out accidentally
among the poetry and domestic details,
and he was very glad it was over
Miss Smith was of course very much
surprised. The curatc had caught her
hand as his accents grew more impas-
stoned. She allowed him to retain it till
he had finished, then drew it gently
away.
" Mr.. Grosvenor, she said quietly, al
will answer you fairly and frankly. Be-
fore you made me such an offer Won
should have ascertained to whom YOU
were speaking.
"What do you mean?"
You do not know who or what am.
u know that you are an angel.
Miss Smiths lips curled slightly, but
her voice trembled as she answered:
As you have gone so far it is only
right you should know something about
me. My name is not Smith. That is a
false name"
"A false name!" the parson gasped.
Dear mel why do you want a false
name?"
Listen and I will tell you. Did you
ever hear of a terrible crime for which
two men and two women were con.
demned: 1t was called "a ysterv' Mt
first. But when the facts came to light
1t was called murder One man
starved his wife to death. and the other
people helped him. He wanted TO marry
younger woman, and this Younger
woman was one of the accused.
I.
curate. "It was very awful; but don't
see what you've got to do with it.
The pelspiration stood on his brow and
he began to mop it with his pocket hand.
kerchief. He half expected to hear that
Miss Smith was a relative of one of the
criminals.
1ou remember, continued the girl.
speaking rapidly now and without emo
ton, that all four were condemned to
death, but the young girl was at the last
moment granted free pardon and al
lowed to return to the world and to her
friends.
Yes, gasped the clergyman, 81 re-
member; but what has all this business
to do with you?"
This, answered the lady whom he
had Just made an offer of marriage: 81
was the girl that allowed the murdered
Woman's husband to love me: was the
Girl for whose sake the murder was COM
l was the girl who was con-
demned to be hanged by the neck and
then granted free pardonl I am"
She stopped. The Rev. Charles Gros-
venor had reeled back against the stile
and closed his eyes.
Excuse me, " he muttered, "a little
Laintness, that's all "
lie pulled himself together, stam-
mered little, coughed, and for a min.
ute seemed at a loss what to say.
She broke the silence first.
81 have told you now the secret of nv
life. l am here with my mother. and
here wish to remain-unknown forgot
ten by the world. We are bound to live
Under an assumed name. We should be
booted and stoned if it were known who
"o really are, Win you keep my
.ccret;"
Certainly" stammered the curate;
'Gnd trust
THAT shall keep yours. Rest assured
Of that, Mr.. Grosvenor l will forget
.hat anything has happened this morn
IN" beyond the ordinary interchanges of
between clergyman and par
She smiled and bowed and passed on.
He walked back slowly to the church,
to himself, "What an escape
.EOd have thOnobt itgr
The Rev. Charles Grosvenor is still the
-uate Of Chumleigh, and Miss Smith
and her mother still live at Iaburnam
,o,tagc. The parishioners however,
coice that the visits Of the clergyman
10 the cottage are few and far between.
and that when he calls he is generally
accompanied by one or other of his lady |
.iitoIs.
And old Dame Turvey, who knows
eycry thing about everybody and is a
great authority on village matters, as
'ures every one that she can't make it |
)ut at all, for she was quite sure the par |
i0n was sweet in that quarter and she |
quite expected that Miss Smith would |
lare presided at the parsonage tea table. |
something must have happened very |
60 break it all off, ~ con
''r''es the worthy dame, "for it was all |
Itcred like in a minute.
Dame Turvey is right for once. What
iaWpcued was very unexpected, and it |
made such an impression on the Rev.
lharles Grosvenor that he win remember
t TO the end of his life.
Tommy-Can we play at keeping q |
tore in here, mamma: Mamma (who |
'as a headache)-Certainly, but you
must be very, very quiet. Tommy
Well, wen pretend we don't ADVERTISE
Art in Advertising.
81 say, Bill. wot makes Won 90 iround |