Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-07-26

pisy ioi III rage at the failure Of her
own plans. -oI1v eye.
cute your commissions she sa'u "' '"''
with sheer. .,.d ssvou
looked so angry that / did not nnisI ~ ,
sentence. was going to say tnae ioi
pos 20 deliver the ribbon for nearly an
hour after you gave it to me.
..Well," she said; but could see sne
was intensely interested.
"I met a friend of mine down to"n
and we got to talking, and so the llI1e
nassed. It was Mr.. Frank Holden. Do
YOU know him?"
She answered "No," but l knew that
she meant YES. at was curious, went
on. "but he was taking some RIBBON 10
Jordan & Marsh's Also" l paused LOT d
minute in astonishment, Tor thls n1u
been the widest sort or guess on my
part, and yet could see from ner inTo !.
untary start that had unwlttingiy niV
upon the truth; then proceeded: just
before we arrived at the store, however,
another friend stopped him to talk, anu
I hurried on to do your errand ana ieit
him" She looked immensely renewed.
NV first bit of fiction had succeeded so
well that determined TO try again, so
said as innocently as could, That was
not all, Miss Ormsby, for the girl that
gave the ribbon to tainted" She made
no direct reply to this, but muttereo,
''The little fool"
"What do you think of that" asked.
II think" she said, that your con-
duct is very ungentlemanly, and that
you are saying these things to me Ior
some purpose. What do you mean3
Either tell me at once or be kind enough
| to leave the room"
81 mean, Miss Ormsby," l replied,
'that | know why you sent the purple
ribbon; that 1 have followed you every
where that you have been tonight; that
! the body of Miss Mason has been found,
and that have seen II; finally, l mean
that l have 1t in my power to have you
arrested for murder"
For a minute or two she did not say
word, but stood looking at me and bit
| ing her lips; otherwise she was perfect
! ly calm, and presently said in a hard
dry voice, that told of suppressed feel
! ing: ''You make bold assertions, Mr..
Cummings. Can you prove them?"
"Yes,"I replied, producing an en-
velope had prepared for the occasion,
"here is letter found on her body,
charging you with the deed, and with
the proof l already have it would serve
as conclusive evidence.
'Has any one else seen this letter|
''No one but myself. l found 1t, as l
have just said"
She waited a minute and then re-
piled: "Why don't you summon help
and hand me over to jestice, my chival
rous gentleman; you see am defense
less"
''By Jove!" l cried, as looked at her,
"you are brave woman, If you are
bad. hate to give you up for punish
ment, much as you deserve 1T.
She fell into the trap just as l hoped
she would, for she thought | was weak
ening, and almost before l knew 1t she
was imploring me to have mercy upon
her and save her.
now had her where l wanted her,
and after pretending to be obdurate for
a while, finally seemed to relent.
"Well," said, 81 will grant you what
you wish on one condition; that you
make clean breast of thewhole affair
to me-"
"WiIl you give me the letter and
swear on your honor not to betray me?"
eyes, but not till you have told me
about it.
The reader already knows so much of
her story that l will only give brief
summary of her confession.
She told me that she was engaged to
Mr.. Frank Holden, and had been for
mort Judn a yOGI, 0uO V"~O 49, N"e
ment had never been announced. About
ak months before she had learned tnat
her fance was paying marked attention
TO a shopgirl in Jordan 81 Marsh's, with
whom he had become enamored.
He offered her honorable marriage
but the girl was too sensible MOTTO FORE
see that complications would arise
owing to their different stations IN lie
and refused him. Holden, however
was persistent, and Miss Mason, VINO
did not know that he was already en-
gagged, submitted TO his wishes to this
extent. She told him he must leave
her and see nothing OF her Tor three
months. II at the end of that time he
wished to marry her she would consent:
It was further agreed that he should
inform her of his decision in the follow
ing manner: When the three months
were past if he still loved her he should
send her bit Of red ribbon; II not,
scrap Of purple.
All this Miss Ormsby discovered, as
we'll as the date on which he would seno
the token. She knew well enough that
IL would be red, and she knew also that
al long as Miss Mason lived her own
love was vain. She likewise learned
that Miss Mason was of highly ner-
vops temperament and very much in
love with Mr.. Holden, so she felt quite
sure that should he disappoint her she
would do something desperate.
1t now only remained to send a bit OF
purple on the day that Holden sent the
red ribbon, and so arrange matters that
the shop girl should have several hours
at her disposal before her lover could
discover the trick.
Miss Ormsby did not care to take the
package herself for fear that she might
be recognized, and meeting me used me
as the reader knows.
Nv proyidential delay was all that
saved the shop girls life, for 1t gave
Holden a chance to get to Maiden before
she could harm herself. She was an or
uhan and all her family were buried
there, so Miss Ormsby reasoned rightly
enough that thither she would go to die
among them.
When she had finished her confession
I handed her the letter-it contained
only blank piece Of paper-and then
turned to look out OF the window. Right
opposite me in the other wing was Hold