Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1892-12-18

/ Will duOIu 10 yOuf cuis - "oN
| tile to prophesy. / must confess tnas 10
some OF her moods altogether iali 10
understand her,"
Marcus Gray lacked nothing OF that
easy self possession which seems to Dc
the birthright Of so many OF his coun-
| trymen, but 1t must be confessed that
| when, on being ushered into the draw
| ing room at Oakdale, he found himself
confronted by q tall, white faced woman,
with hollow cheeks and hair which
| few short weeks had abundantly streak
ed with gray, and with strange steely
glitter In her deep set eyes he felt for
once that his tongue refused to DO his
bidding.
'sPray be seated, Mr.. Gray" said the
widow. ST have consented to see You
\ In Difference to the wish of your uncle,
| who was my dead husbands dearest
| friend, as he is now mine. He tells me
that you have conceived an affection for
my daughter, and that You wish me to
sanction an engagement between your
self and her."
THAT is the dearest wish Of my life,
Mrs. Lumsden."
"And do you consider. Mr.. Gray, that
this is q fit time to dream OF love-
making and giving In marriage, while
the blood of my poor murdered husband
cries out from the grave for vengeance
on his assassin? II you think SO, GER
tainly do not"
| Gray knew not what to reply. Never
| in his life had he felt so nonplussed.
Eyes, the murderer is still at large"
she resumed, speaking with slow, quiet
intensity; las innocent seeming as you
or /, mixing with his fellow men, no one
knowing or suspecting him for the vile
wretch that he is. Every day that
passes lessons the chances OF
his detection. Already at Scot
land Yard my husbands death Is
| looked upon as merely aodlng
another item to the long catalogue OF
mysterious crimes which have never
been brought home to their perpetra-
tors. The task has been given up as
hopeless, other interests have come to
the front, the reward remains un-
claimed and soon the name OF Edward
Lumsden will have faded from the
minds OF all, save few who were
nearest and dearest to him."
She had risen, and was pacing the
room slowly, with something of the air
of a Gagged animal, her clinched hands
pressed tightly to her bosom, as II to
crush down the surging emotions at
work below. GRAY had no words at
command.
For little while the silence remained
undroken; then Mrs. Lumsden stopped
! abruptly in her walk, and fixing her
large, dark eyes, luminous with SOM
bre fire, full on the American, she said:
You ask me, Mr.. Gray, to give you
nv daughters hand. Ny answer to
you is, first do something TO prove
yourself worthy of the gift. You are
here in London, idling away your time.
with no object beyond the amusement
OF the hour, and yet the assassin OF the
| father OF her you would make your wife
is still untraced, his crime goes still I'M
punished and you have never so much
as lifted your little finger in the effort
to track him down. Oh, that | were
man instead OF the weak, helpless
creature am. Oh. that had son
who"
But at this juncture the door was
opened.
"Dr. Hynton, ma'am," said the parlor
maid.
Gray rose as the doctor entered. The
widow gave him her hand, and with
smile that had in it much OF her old
sweetness, said:
You will excuse me now, will you
not, Mr.. Gray? You must come and
see me again a few days hence. IL may
be that have talked little al random
to-day, but Il you could only partially
realize what have gone through, you
would know how to make allowance for
me-"
Gray bent and touched her fingers
with his lips and withdrew. He had
scarcely been ten minutes in the house
and had not spoken more than dozen
words.
Without protesting to be actuated by
any other motive than one OF simple
curiosity, when Gray related to his
uncle the result of the interview he
drew him on TO talk about the crime
with frankness he had never exhibit
ed before. Mr.. Orde was by nature a
man of caution and reserve, and not
even to his nephew had he heretofore
cenfided the particulars in connection
with Eustace Crake, nor how his sus-
picions, unsupported though they were
by any direct evidence, pointed I'M
euuivocally to him as being the crimi-
nal. To-day, however, he told his
nephew everything. 1t was as though
the latter had brought away from his
interview with Mrs. Lumsden q pass
KEY to the secret chamber al his uncle's
mind.
AS he left the house he said to HIM
self:
Tomorrow will seek out and make
the acquaintance Of Mr.. Eustace
Crake."