The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-12-18

the hopes again, and been In darkness COM
plete for ever and ever.
And Leo, for one, did not doubtshe would
have kept her word.
Yes, the secret of the deception was In
deed safe.
But at what costl
Is it guesSed2
In part 1t may be. to the full it could not,
it is impossible.
1t was indeed what the deception imaged-
a living death. The living liza living
death.
The man who was dead yet lived. The
man who lived was yet, If not dead. dying
the most terrible of deaths, by inches, and
| with his life in his own hand.
Shut up, Gagged, as it were, he held in his
hand the key to his prison aud dared not
use it; nor yet even gain what relief to his
suffering, If any but complete freedom
could be OF any use, from medical aid. All
this for his child's sake.
But for her he would have risked all to
have been free-have flung aside in the face
| of the world the deception-have fled aWav,
away to the other end of the EARTH to re-
main forever on outcast, to begin life again
as best he might.
But Nelliel Even the slightest attribute
of this wealth and honor, which was naught
to him, was hers as well in part, and so he
could not. dispite all, give 1t up.
l. IL was not that he any longer doubted
that whatever the chance, she was still, and
ever would be, his child in love- No. 1t
was not her love be doubted now for one
instant, but his own.
| To dim the brightness of her present, Of
her and her children's future for, needless
to say, the delayed marriage was consum-
mated at an early date-With all pOmp and
show to cast out so much as one shadow of
suspicion on Leo's taking his proper name
| and pOsitiOn-the cause Of the delay in
| which was Iugeuiously accounted for by his
| father to throw 80 much as one shadow on
| the path which was now such pure and I'M
| aloyed sunshine was more than the now
| thrice unhappy father could do. And 80 he
lived on, dying the while, facing death, out
cast and criminal as he was, as-nAy ten
times as bUavely-as the noblest soldier In
the battlefield, and would so go on living to
the end-for even that he was prepared,
and had provided with the same care and
skill which only made him more than ever
his own gaoler.
To that end it had seemed that not merely
| Nellie, but all the world would, must know,
as Leo had said sadly in his protest
NO. answered the intrepid spirit ''The
secret which living can keep, dead l will
hide forever beyond all power to discover i.
| Thereu be no dying bed for me, no pomp
| and funeral show TO let the world see the har-
vest of the good have tried to do, and so
raise monument ty my honor. Still less will
| Nellie say good-by TO me or bring her flow
ers to lay upon my grave. But at least the
grave shall have will not be misshapen.
For when the warning at my heart tells me
| truly at last, that the end must be, down on
the shore there lies at anchor-my cradle,
as call her 20 you-my coffin as IL should
be. In that boat will sail alone out, out
to where the waves carry no burdens to the
| shore, and with burden to my neck to
make safe sure. There'll be those who may
see me go, but don't let any, don't let Nellie
most OF all, watch for my coming back: for
that will never be, never be. And don't let
her grieve, at least not much. for shall be
happy as have tried to make her; and
under the dark waves which will hide all
trace of any sorrow she might have through
me, | shall lie straight. stretched out
straight once more, at last and forever"
Tears had risen to mis- listeners eyes at
this story of what was TO be, and aware
most of all by its recital how utterly use
less 1t was to try and turn to better or at
least more true purpose-such iron will
and set resolve Leo had given way, perhaps,
because in the flood Of his newly found hap
piness. the dreary fate which Swallowed the
| life of his unhappy second father seemed
somehow a long way off.
For his own sake, aware that his greatest
safety lay in confidence in his own strength
alone, the Rat did not urge the truth upon
him at the first, nor at the last spare any
precaution to keep him in ignorance. This,
though a word of sympathy, clasp of the
hand when the growing agony seemed more
than could be borne in silence and alone
would have been surely but slight guerdou
to have claimed.
But "for Nellie's sake" it was set aside
And SO the days Of the living lie went OF
untll-the end.
1t came at last, despite so long delaying
swiftly, suddenly.
And despite, too, all the skillful, patient
planning, not quite as might have been ex-
pected.
1t was one lovely midsummer that-whils
within the house was much merry making
and feasting TO celebrate his latest and high,
est honor-the master, and new made dig
nitary, set out on his journey which was K
have no end.
How he reached the shore he never knew
His hand was pulling wildly at the rop'
which bound his frail bark to the shore
wildly. for every moment was precious now
, TO his design-when-
What was it,
Was it death already comet Or. il not
surely his senses were leaving him.
How else could it be9 That there In hi
path was-was it his shadow or a ghost
and in his ears voice which he alone
could not mistake for his own, saying thu
, same old tones:
cousin, l was coming to find you. You
have won enough wealth and honor for me
as yourself. In future will be myself, anC
you"
, No, it was not death nor yet dream.
The strangest chance of all had come to
pass. Lawrence Huntingford living, and
yet dead-hsd never died at all that night
Guilty haste had done is work, and tn,
great London river which hides 80 many
dark mysteries had given up this one t
! make the substance of one stranger still.
, IL had been tiendish plot of revenge
Knowing from the experience of those boy
ish days what it had cost for the likeness o
his crippled body to be assumed, and tn
double trapping it would be to discover tn
deception at last, the dwarf-the true Law
renee Huntingford- as it were. from
: the dead, had planned TO bide his time, t.
wait his opportunity.
: But now the time had come, and the op
portunity and
Yet strangest of all was the chance, tn,
last Of all, which defeated this last act o
treachery.
! Last-for death was not to sbe doubly
cheated of his preY-doubly. for as Law
renee Huntingford fell dead upon the shore
: struck down by an instant pain of tn
| haort in uyb2ch - almost Saaroad thu x<r1,ol