, 1891-10-10
Highest of all in Leavening Power:-Latest U. S. Govt Report
R@!h!:,!.!! BsMdsz
ABSOLUTELY PURE
ABSOLUTELY PURE

been dashed for a moment, laughs so
much the more lightly the moment
after.
But while the ball was at its height
Sallie took an opportunity to withdraw
unobserved, making a private signal to
the count as she did so. He followed
her to the east room, where for a mo-
ment they were alone.
II nave to thank you for a delightful
evening" she said. Il can never forget
it"
1.-THE pleasure has been mutual" re-
turned the count, bowling.
81 feel that l know you so much bet
ter than did before 1 came here" Sallie
continued. Before you had seemed
mysterious and enigmatical; you were
something like a prince in a fairy tale;
you might undergo transformation at any
moment into a hobgoblin, or a wisp of
straw! But now-well-now l think
there can never again be any doubt be-
tween US as to u true relations to each
other"
81 I'm glad to hear you say So" re-
sponded the count courteously.
Sallie eyed him for a moment, and
then stepped close in front of him,
changing her tone of polished sarcasm
to one of intense earnestness. 81 can be
good friend and a good enemy" she
said. "You have nearly everything that
a man can wish for, Count de Lisle, but
If you had twice as much it would still
be worth your while to make a woman
like me your friend. And l am ready to
join hands with o on any terms you
propose. What motive can you possibly
have to ~antagonize me? l have done you
no harm. If / have harmed any friend
of yours it was unknowingly, and l am
willing to make PREPARATION. Comel
shall we be allies? Am l so repulsivey'
Sallie certainly did not look so at that
moment. There was something, not
gelically, but superhumanly attractive
in her eyes and aspect. To see her now
was to understand how some women rise
to the highest points of social or politi-
cal eminence with nothing but them
selves to help them-themselves or the
devil. Beauty, brains and utter I'M
scrupulousness in combination make a
dangerous power, before which the
strongest men nave weakened.
The count looked at Sallie, and as he
did so he removed his gold trimmed eye
glasses. This altered his appearance not
a little. His eyes were powerful, and 1t
seemed to Sallie hat she had met their
glance before somewhere-but when or
where she could not determine. The
count looked at her keen, handsome
face, at her white neck and arms, at her
graceful figure in its golden hued dress
and he saw that she was fair. But, in
stead of softening, his countenance grew
stern.
"You say you are willing to make
reparation for any harm that you have
done?' said he.
She nodded her head slightly.
"Will you come back to the ballroom
with me-" he continued, "and tell the
people there who you are-and who you
are notT'
"Why should 1 tell them what they
already know.
"Do they know that you were never
married, either in France or elsewhere,
to Harry Trent; hat he refused, in spite
of all your threats and entreaties, to
make you his wife; hat after his death
you caused a bundle of papers, among
which was a will purporting to be his,
to be discovered in a drawer of a piece
of furniture in a Philadelphia hotel?
And will you tell them that this will was
a forgery, copied from a genuine will
written by Trent himself, but deciding
his fortune, not to you, but to another
woman, whom he designed to marryi
For that woman's name you substituted
your own; and you yourself hid it in the
room at the hotel which, as you hap
pened to know, Trent had once occupied.
By mean of that will, and of the
certificate Of marriage, also a forgery,
but written on a printed form which you
had procured while travelling in France,
you made good your claim to the estate.
Will you tell them thisy"
II will repeat no such foolish tale" re-
piled Sallie steadily. Glow could | have
forged a copy of the genuine will unless
had had the genuine will to copy from?
And how could l have become possessed
of that?'
81 will tell you, since you have forgot
ten" said the count. you found the
genuine will among Harry Trent's papers
on the night that he was murdered"
"1ndeedl Twas with him on that night,
then, it ~appears?"
"You were. You were the last to see
him alive. He was alive when you took
the Japanese knife from the table and
passed behind him and drove it into his
heart. 1t was you who murdered Harry
Trent, Mrs. Matchinl'
She laughed. "You amuse me-" she
said. "You seem not to be aware that
there was a trial for that murder, and
the evidence showed that but one person
was admitted to the house that night,
and that was a mantle man who was
found guilty and condemned"
Yes, l know the story" rejoined the
count quietly. But it was not told in
the evidence that when that man left
the house, neglecting to latch the door
behind him, another person, who had
been hiding in the shadow of the porch,
slipped in unseen and went up stairs to
the library where Harry Trent sat. One
of the witnesses, l think, testified that
she had seen a short mar with a dark
beard speaking with Trent late that
night"
THAT evidence vas not believed. But
suppose it We're true, how would it affect
me? l fear your imagination will get
you into trouble, Count de Lislel'