Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-17


| can be responsible for the acts Of this young
man. am his legal and lawful keeper and
have been ordered to restrain him of his liberty
lest his violent acts should again result in de-
| stroying human hfe!'
| Infamous wretch" shrieked Writ; 'your
day is near at hand. Don't listen to him. Theo:
shun him as you would viper His lips are
dripping with falsehood. Go at once and in
| form our friends what the man is doing. am
no longer a mailman. Theo. My reason has
| come to me again. Father is not dead. He is
only hiding under the ground. He is not dead,
tell you; he is not deadr'
At the sound of these wild and freuzied words
| Theodore covered her face with her hands and
sank with groan into a chair, and. as the form
OF my poor boy disappeared behind the oaken
door. she sobbed out:
'Oh, Writ, Writ, God help you, God help
your'
Skilled as he was in the strategy of villainy
Bran fokel pushed on with resstless energy
| from one victory to another. The very next
day Theodc n was informed Of the failure of
the WOO mills. The news fell like a thun-
derboit upon many a widow and orphan whose
! little fortunes were invested in the concern
| supposed to be the stanchest in the land. To
Theodore it meant poverty--absolute and
AFFECT poverty-for. no matter how much Bran
| lokel might be inclined to make provision for
| Theodore and her mother out of Wirt's prop
| erty, the law would not permit a single penny of
a trust estate to be so applied. Hence mother
| and daughter must make choice between the
| hard alternatives of taking their departure
| from my roof or accepting charity at the hands
| Of Bramwell Yokel.
Need assure you that it seemed as il the
fair form of Wirt's bride must bend and break
| beneath this crushing load of sorrow and mis-
| fortune! But the sight of the silver hair nest
| ling upon her mothers brows and the sound of
my words ringing in her ears Remember you
| must live to watch over our poor Writ. steeled
her tender heart against these dire calamities.
Miss Clegg." murmured Yokel with faint
CLINT OF implsh satisfaction in his small, deep
set eyes. 1T Is true You are penniless. and
| know how useless it would be for me to offer
| you and your mother assistance; but there's a
simple way out of this difficulty. l have asked
you to be my wife. Now that YOU and YOUR
mother stand helpless and alone in the world,
Will you not listen to me? Will you not believe
| me when come to you honorable man
with the offer of my hand and my fortune and
say that love you? II my love for you were
not as strong as it is pure l should feel the
| hurt which your disdain and contumely have
given me- But, Theodore, look about you. On
every side you see desolation; your uncle dead.
your fortune gone. Writ hopeless lunatic. In
| few weeks l shall transfer him to the state
| SALE"
Theodore gasped and it grew black before
| her eyes.
| Calm yourself, Theodore. 1 do not press
| for an answer. You and your mother may
think it well over. It's an important decision
| to make will not hurry you
| And you. inpatient reader doubtless you are
asking yourself why didn't hasten to the res
cue of my children? Why did not burst upon
this keen and refined rascal and put a speedy
end to his cold-blooded villanies? All. we
| gropers after scientific truths are oftentimes.
through the very pride of our intellects. made
more liable to err than the untutored son of the
plain, whose very instinct marks the poisonous
berry and needs no analysis to teach him that
death dealing germs swarm in the Gmpid rill.
awoke at last. COggerynossetts cave was dark
| and silent as becomes the habitation of the
dead. My parched lips and tongue grated upon
each other and my breath came and went in
quick. faint puffs. .'Oh. merciful heaven
thought l. ''am 1 dying, must 1 go hence
| without another look upon the faces of Writ
and Theodore and Cousin NJ yra. without another
| sound of their voices. another touch of their
| handsY" That would be more than human
heart could bear. In my despair l made n
sudden effort to sit up in my beG, My hand
| struck bottle and it fell to the rocky floor OF
| the cave. The next moment nv nOstrils were
filled with the stimulating odor of ammonia 1t
| revived me completely and l set my feet upon
the ground, but shuddered rs sharp and far
reaching pains leaped from joint to joint.
| Merciful Father. can it be that have slept too
long. With trembling hands CROPPED for the
matches, but SO stiff and helpless were my
hands and fingers that it was several moments
| before l could succeed in grasping match
firmly enough to strike it. A glass of wine
| helped me to collect my thoughts. MY chro-
nometer had run down. The oil in the lamp
whisper, ''perchance l have slept too long.
may come too late to keep him from working
irremediable injury" Taper in hand 1 went
staggering toward the door Of the cave. Twice.
ing refused to move. Ny strength was rup.
idly leaving me. In another instant felt
that should totte- and fall. Making a
superhuman effort 1 succeeded in dis
placing the smaller of the stones.
The sight of the SUMS rays lent me new cour-
asc. l worked the other block of stone out of
! the foundation and crawled GU. into the blessed
light of day. The cellar of my laboratory had
been cleared of ashes and debris Iclambered
up the stone steps on all tours, for dared not
garden walk a newspaper lay in the path.
stopped and picked it up. 1t was dated June
81. My brain reeled | staggered to a rustic
seat. God help my dear ones.'' cried out.
! 1T is three weeks since l entered Coggerynos-
| sett cave!' Suddenly carpiercing shrek
caused me to spring up. 1t was the gardener
He had caught sight of me and had fallen in a
| swoon. paid no heed to him. Other beings
were in my thoughts turned my steps toward
| the house. They were uncertain. but every
| stride gave me new strength and unlocked my
stiffened joints. As l rounded the corner OF
the house deep. measured. solemn voice fell
upon my ear: DO you. Theodore, take this
man to be your welded husband
With bound reached the low verandah and
| pushed open the outer door. and in another
instant stood in the doorway Of the drawing
| room.
stop" cried out in a tone which echoed
through the old mansion with distinctness
that startled me. ''Stop, say; put an end to
this infamous business
can't remember exactly what happened.
| but there were shrieks from the women pres
ent. My eyes were fastened upon the wretched
Yokel. He staggered back and turned his face
| away from me if he feared that my eyes
would burn into his very hearts fiber.
Cor l exclaimed. Away with you, Take
your vile body with its viler heart from be-
meath my roof lest hand you over to the Off
| Ger of the law"
He did not wait for q second conn and, but
backed out of the room with averted eyes. Dy
this time Theodore had sufficiently recovere 4
from the shock of seeing the dead return to
life. She threw herself in my arms am for an
| instant our tears ran together. But suddenly
she drew back and called out:
"Come, come, dear uncle, and set our poor
Writ free"
"Free2', gasped ''why, has Yokei dared to
| imprison himY'
Ives, in the oak ROOM" she answered: she s
a prisoner in the oak room. Come. come. I'll
| help you. Oh. if we had only believed him
when he told Us that you were not dead"
With half dozen blows of an axe beat the
door open and caught my beloved son in my
arms. Theodore stood by. dumb with amaze
ment at the sight of Wirt's face lighted up with
its Old-time glow of love and intelligence.
L n