Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-08-14

she added calmly but u trife sterniy, Isl
Horace must not die jRst yet"
bat, my dear madam. he is dead" | re
monstrated.
at is possible" she continued withou
deigning to notice any interruption, "tha
her may die tomorrow, for his brother, AID
miral Sibthorp, is said to be sinking fast
still people often linger on longer than Il
expected. IL Is tiresome to have to entel
into explanations, but | suppose the posi-
ton OF affairs must be made Ineligible u
you. Admiral Sibthorp, as perhaps you
may be aware, is heir to the baronetcy and
| the entailed estates. As he has half Q
dozen daughters and no son the next In
succession is Dick Sibthorp, the only child
Of Sir Horace's younger brother, who died
many years ago. Dick is married to my
| sister, and am very fond of them both
that, | suppose, Is one reason why Sir
/ Horace has chosen to bequeath his per
sonal property, which is very large, to the
admiral instead of to them. Dick is only
to inherit in the event of his surviving his
uncle.
II may tell you," she added with scorn-
ful smile, that | am acquainted with the
contents Of my late husbands will, and
that long ago found my way into this
Bluebeard's closet of his, of which he was
so childishly proud. Since he chose to
defy me, ! thought, and still think, that.
having outmaneuvered him. / was fully
entitled to take every advantage Of my
success. Well, now you understand how
things are The admiral must, of course,
have made will leaving all that he had to
dispose of to his family If, therefore. he
survives Sir Horace, his daughters will
divide great sum of money between
them, while poor Dick will come into
property which he will not be well enough
off to keep up"
81 quite understand all that, Lady Sib-
thorp," replied. What do not under
stand is why you should imagine that I
am likely to assist you in perpetrating a
fraud"
returned composedly.
well, Lady Sibthorp," said |, 81 won't
waste breath by arguing with you, nor will
tell you what think of your heartless-
ness and dishonesty, for | feel sure that
you are perfectly indifferent to my opin-
ion. fatty refuse to obey your orders,
and have the honor to wish you good
morning"
But you must obey my ORDERS" she re-
joined calmly. "If you don't shall sim
ply leave you where you are. AS you are
not provisioned, ! am afraid you will DO
rather uncomfortable"
Not half so uncomfortable as you will
be when | come out and reveal the truth,
Lady Sibthorp," retorted
"Oh, am not afraid Of your revelations.
Nobody will believe that | found my way
in al loco ,.-in IL,
me believe that could behave In such a
manner. as you will represent. Neverthe-
less, trust that you will not drive me to
extremities."
She now changed her tone and conde-
scended to plead with me. After all, she
said, she was not asking me to injure any
body, she was merely assigning TO me that
part of a beneficient manipulation OF events.
Admiral Sibthorp's girls would be amply
provided for; riches would bring them no
additional happiness, but poor Dick and
his wife were in danger of being crippled
all their lives long by "A cruel freak of fate.
For herself, she had nothing to gain or to
lose; her jointure was assured, and not
penny more than her jointure would she
receive. But since remained deaf to these
entreaties and declined the bride which she
was phit uiplt hlbb W blltT me,
she broke off the negotiations abruptly,
with stamp of her foot.
Every well, them" said she, you may
stay here and starve. You needn't trouble
yourself to call for help. You might yell
till you were black in the face before any
body would hear YOU"
Now, need scarcely say that | had no
intention of letting Lady Sibthorp quit
4 haf t.Fffh 81.
out could follow her, and most egregious-
ly stupid it was of me to allow myself to
be tricked by transparent device
Good heavens" she exclaimed sudden
ly, staring at the curtain, toward which
my back was turned. what is thatr'
whisked around, but neither saw nor
heard anything, except a click behind me,
which let me know too late that l bad !
fallen into her ladyship's trap. Well, she |
was gone, and was once more prisoner !
was furiously angry, but there was no |
more use in being furious than in attempt |
ing-as, OF course, did attempt-to DIS |
cover the panel through she had made her |
exit. had to console myself as best | |
could by rejecting upon the revenge which |
must eventually be rhine, for, Infamous |
woman though she was, hardly thought |
she would run the risk Of letting me die Of |
hunger. Added to which, my housekeeper |
must by this time be raising hue and cry. |
had been awaiting events philosophi- |
cally forssomething like three hours, when |
all of a sudden perceived, to my amaze
ment, that one Of the panels had moved |
slightly back from the beading which sur
rounded 1t. ! started up. 1t yielded TO
my touch, and in another moment was
,ut in the open air and face to face with
Lady Sibthorp, who bowed ironically.
"You are like the prisoner in Artemus
Wards book, Dr. Drew" she said Sud
ienly bright idea has occurred to you
you have opened the door and walked out.
Allow me to congratulate you. am sure
hat you, on your side, will congratulate
ne when tell you that Admiral Sibthorp
'xpired yesterday morning. They might
nave telegraphed to me, but they neglected
o do so, aud the news only reached me by
he second post, which has just come in
ilps well that ends we'll You can 90
Issy and tell the whole truth, for you sec
he admiral did die before Sir Horace,
ifter all"
"Do you look forward with pleasure to
ny telling the truth about our recent in
erview, Lady Sibthorpp Inquired grimly.
you can tell it if you like" she an
wered. But | really think you had bet
er hold your tongue. In self defense l
INST give you the lie, and | think I am
more likely to be believed than you are
Besides, what will you gain by telling your
'reposterous story You won't injure me,
or ! shall leave Sandridge very shortly,
nd you won't do yourself much good by