San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-02-04
CHAPTER /.

II
school should never live to see you again il I
went there with Mr. Starting. don't like him,
and have good reasons, and am going TO stay
away until am o man, and then shall come
back hope you won't feel bad. for can take
care of myself, and when come back you shall
know all about why went away. Give my love
to Aunt Mary, and give my dog and guinea pigs
to Clarence. l shall be G I'D for him to have
them. Goodby. From your loving grandson,
| GEORGE
This letter came by the earliest post,
and created great sensation and alarm
in the house the writer had deserted.
Two persons especially were maue very
| uneasy. One was Mr.. Morris, George
Marvin's grandfather, and the other was
the one mentioned as Mr.. Startling, who
was the boys guardian, and whose evil
character and greed Of money had already
| led him to commit terrible crimes-crimes
which were yet unsupported and unpun-
ished.
Everybody respected Mr.. Startling; he
| was so gentlemanly and refined, and
Georges father had trusted him with
everything; and now his father was dead,
| and his blessed mother also, and he was
helpless and an orphan and in this mans
| hands, with even his good old grandfather
against him.
His parents had been buried, and the
old grandfather was staying on here with
George, waiting for Mr.. Startling to de-
eide what to do with the little boy, scarcely
IL years old yet
When the last sod had been laid upon
bis parents graves, George stepped for
ward toward Startling, who saw in the
brown eyed boy dangerous accuser Of o
lar ta1 nd lac hr,,y b
and turned cold as George said to him be-
tween his clenched teeth:
at is you who have killed my parents,
and by the help Of God I'll have YOU hung
for itl''
With rage of hatred and fear burning
in his heart Startling took his way home.
| This audacious child, who was already in
| his way, braved him, and he felt that,
| child though he was, he would never stop
| until he had accomplished his end, unless
he was suppressed, and that soon.
The law appointed him the boys guar
| dian and the administrator of everything
| he possessed, and while he had all that In
| his own hands he wanted the boy out of
| the way. George went to his grand
| father and asked II there was no way by
| which he could reclaim his Inheritance
| without having to accept this man as his
| guardian, but he found that he must sub
| NIT to the judgment of his father, who
| had left the matter in Starling's care, and
| that 1t was his duty to do so. George said
| nothing TO his grandfather about his sus-
| picion, for he saw that Startling had COM
| pletely gained his grandfather's affection
| by his gentle sympathy and ready assist
ance in everything that he needed.
1t was he who attended to the sale Of
the furniture and to the letting Of the
house, for its sad associations would have
made it too painful for them to wish to
remain In it, and 30 everything was ar
ranged between the guardian and grand
father, and they finally decided to place
| George in college. The boy heard this de-
| cision in silence. His grief had made him
prematurely old, and he saw clearly that,
| young as he was, he could not cope with
| Startling, and that he must be apparently
obedient and try in the meantime to
| gather such evidence as would serve TO
| convict him Of this most atrocious crime.
Poor boyl Often his hot, childish tears
wet the pillow at night, and he fell asleep,
| clasping to his heart his mothers picture
with lock of her hair inside the case.
| He had not seen his fathers body, and so
| that death had been in some measure de-
pr1Veu Ol llS nOTTOT. anu nc uhu nOJ ISIb
his fathers death 80 bitterly as the loss OF
| his angel mother, whose cowar1ly muir
| der he was determined to avenge, and to
which duty he intended to devote his life.
George haunted the room where she had
| passed her last hours, and often he sobbed
| out his grief under the lilac bushes,
which were low covered with thick green
leaves instead of the flowers that had
bloomed 50 thick and full on the day when
| Mrs. Marvin had met her death.
One day he sat covering under these
bushes, and his eye fell upon a glttering
object, which he picked up and found to
be part OF q little horseshoe scarf pin,
| and in this piece were two small pearls
| which had been set there to represent
nails. He felt somehow that he had made
a valuable discovery, though he could
| hardly deflae his idea, but he folded the
| object in n piece of paper and hid it in his
purse.
During the afternoon Mr.. Startling came
| and held a long conversation with Mr.. Nor
ris, which George did not hear, but which
| had resulted in their decision to send
George to q school in Pennsylvania and
| that Startling was to take the boy there, as
| Mr. Morris was too broken with his sor-
row and the terrible emotions he had
borne to undertake so long trip.
George felt his heart swell with indig-
| nation when he discovered the plan that
| had been made, and he took to wandering
or by himself to think Of his position and
Of some way OF changing it.
One afternoon he was sitting by the
river side behind some piles of lumber, and
was Illuminating on the possibilities OF
making his grandfather believe in his sus-
picions when he heard step approach and
he involuntarily drew back, not wishing
to be seen by anybody, and yet he was