Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1892-03-17

ment of her father.
Having hastily thrust the few articles
into his travelling bag which he desired
TO take with him, Stuart Harland quilted
the apartment.
1t was undoubtedly something which
he regarded as most important which In
duced him TO undertake a secret mid
night journey. as we have gathered from
his mutterings
There was no light in the hail without
Stuart's room at this hour, and the pas
sage and the stairs leading down to the
street door were envelOped in gloom
4 do not wish to disturb any one. In
fact 1 desire that no one should know
of my departure, said Stuart to him
self as he silently descended the stairs
in the darkness.
At the foot he paused suddenly, Tor he
thought he heard a noise from the Office,
and it sounded TO him like q half-stifed
grOan.
Stuart was startled.
At this hour he thought there could
be no one in the Office unless burglars
had clandestinely entered, and with
bated breath he listened in profound
silence for an instant
There was no repetition of the alarm
ing sound, but thrill trembled through
his nerves as he thought:
~Johu Oakburn may have left the
u
/ fore closing hours in the safe in the
Office.
With the laudab,e idea in mind of pro-
tecting his employers property if it was
endangered, Stuart took q step in the
| direction OF the Office door.
AT that precise moment it was opened.
With the utmost celebrity Stuart re-
cOiled against the wall where the shad-
| Ows were dense and black as a blade Of
I HfnhF Hazhad rhranUh frInnrn
the open door.
a young woman with lamp in one
hand and paper and something with
| polished surface from which the light
was rehscted clutched in the other,
/ glided stealthily out Of the Office.
Marion Oakburn," said Harland,
mentally, for the young girl was John
/ Oakburn's daughter, and he experienced
a feeling OF the greatest relief as he rec
! Ognized her
] ~Her father must have sent her for
for some paper, I suppose, as unseasOn-
/ able as IS the hour for the old ma
! sometimes spends half the night at office
| work in his own apartment thought
l Harland-
Luckily she has not seen me, and if
all goes well l shall have returned TO my
room by daybreak, and no one will be
the wiser" he continued.
The beautiful features of the cash
| ier's daughter were liyid with a dread
/ ful paIlOr. Her eyes were dllated with
an expression of unutterable horror and
she trembled from head to foot.
Silently she closed the door and pro-
! ceeded to insert the great key which
Stuart knew so we'll into the lock, but
her hand trembled so that metal rat
tied against metal and the sound seemed
startlingly loud in the midst Of the pro-
| found silence.
The girl chung to the door as though
about 10 fall TO the floor, while her
breath came In frightened gasps, but
with what seemed like a desperate effort
she turned the key in the lock, and then,
casting furtive glance about her. she
fed
Along the dark hall she fitted and
gained the rear stairs, up which she
darted as though she fancied she was
pursued by invisible dangers
~Ah," thought Harland, smiling, Hshe
/ is timid; the darkness and the silence of
the night frightened her. and yet fan
cied she possessed more force of charac-
ter. Indeed we clerks in the Office have
often said among ourselves that beautl-
full, sad-eyed Marion Oakburn was com
posed of the material Of which heroines
are made
But now that there was no reason for
further delay Harland unbolted and I'M
locked the street door and passed out.
! Then softly closing the door he locked il
by means of a night key, and casting a
glance up and down the street which
seemed just at this time to be desert ted,
/ at least in this Immediate neighborhood
he walked swiftly away.
The night was cool and Harland wore
a spring Oyercoat which he buttoned
closely, as q stiff night breeze swept w
from the water and struck him chill
ingly.
He was aware that he had barely time
TO reach the Grand CentrEl Depot in time
to catch a certain train on which he
wished to leave the city, and he delayed
not on the way.
Meanwhile a quarter of an hour
elapsed and al was silence and darkness
in the house which Stuart Harland had
just left But presently the stiffness
was broken by the sound Of an opening
door, and Marion Oakburn emerged
| from her sleeping-rOOm. gliding forth
stealthily. In her hand she carried the
lamp as before, but the paper and the
metallic something from which the light
had glistened when Harland saw her
was no longer in her possession.
For moment she stood mOtiOnless as
statue and listened, while we note
how extremely beautiful she is
Marion Oakburn possessed a form
above the average height Of women,
| which might have been the ideal of a
Grecian sculptor, and her rare brunette
| loneliness was unsurpassed Here was
the dark and radiant beauty of Egypt's
queen, but Cleopatra did not rival her,
and MariOn's eyes sparkled with the
light Of n pure heart and 4 noble ma
ture-
But there was an expression Of sad
ness upon her perfect features-a look
OF melancholy that was pitiful, and il
led one 10 think that sorrow had en-
| tered her young life; that In the heart
| of the beautiful girl there was some
blighting grief And yet Marion was
ever cheerful, as though sustained by
sorrows pale star-hope.
Marion Oakburn was twenty-fOur
years of age, and therefore in the full
bloom and perfect development of a
glorious wOmanhOOd-
As she stood at the door of her bed
| chamber listening, she detected no
/ breach of the silence, and so she glided
! along the passage to the back stairs
noiselessly and gained the lower hall
There she passed directly to the Office
door, which she unlocked, and, remov-
ing the key, she proceeded to the street
entrance.
There she discovered that the bolts
were drawn, and that only the night
| latch secured it
Marion seemed startled at this, and
she reeled back against the wall, where
| she stood for a moment trembling
slightly, but with her brows contracted,
as though in deep thought
If she was mentally debating some
question, she arrived at a conclusion al.
most instantly, for with hand that no
longer trembled she unlocked the street
door.
Then leaving the entrance to the Office