The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-06-14


| A grim little smile crept upward from
the droooing ends of North's mustache
and just illuminated for an instant the
sharp glance Of his eyes When he
spoke his tones seemed full Of mocking
sarcasm.
swell fortified? So we did appear to
be. 1t was strong case until the tear
ing and rending of our opponents be-
gan; then our really unsubstantial
fabric went to tatters in an instant"
''Mr. North, what do you mean?" de-
manded Mrs. Maynard, while her beau
tiful eyes grew darker still with alarm
and excitement. "Let me know the
whole truth-the worst that there is to
tell! Speak plainly, If you pleased"
II will do 30, Mrs. Maynard, If you
insist, although the plain truth Is not
always an agreeable thing to hear. In
brief, then, the will that was put for
ward In support Of your claim to Mrs.
Dunkirk's fortune has been openly de-
clared, and furthermore proven TO be, a
forgeryI"
"a forgeryr
Mrs. Maynard repeated these words
mechanically, a. II she were unconscious
Of speaking aloud; then with sudden
vehemence she cried:
"Who says It Is q .forgeryl Who
dares to say 60? How can they prove
itY'
North was watching her closely, re-
slizing with how much significance her
words and manner at this crisis would
be weighed; yet he was unable to de-
termine the precise effect produced upon
her by his announcement That she
was startled and dismayed he could Of
course perceive at glance; beyond this
he could not analyze her emotions
Holding himself steadily In hand and
continuing his watchfulness Of her. he
replied TO her last excited words with q
touch Of reckless nonchalance in his
manner.
"oh, the proofs are invincible, Mrs.
Maynard I. myself, see clearly now
that 1t was very poor policy to risk that
business"
He spoke at random, knowing that
his first venture must be made more or
less daringly In the dark; but no sooner
were the words uttered than he congrat-
ulated himself that his random shot had
hit the mark.
"Poor policyr' repeated Mrs May
nard, In perplexed tones, while she
raised her eyebrows inquiringly. "And
pray, Mr.. North, who sanctioned this
poor policy?"
Precisely what Propose to find out"
said North TO himself, with grim deter
mination. by strong implication, my
self-or rather Noll. However, that re-
mains to be established"
Then to Mrs. Maynard he added, in
his most conciliatory tones:
"0h, well, Mrs. Maynard, we can
scarcely afford to discuss that point at
the present interesting crisis OF course,
whatever has been done thus far has
been undertaken with the very best In
tentions and a confident anticipation Of
success. A few days ago our position
seemed tenable enough; now, however,
since the case has been subjected to
such a merciless examination, Il see very
clearly the weak and utterly untenable
points. The fact is, Mrs. Maynard, that
forgery, as l now perceive, was far from
slSillfully contrived, and the best we
can say for-ah-for the perpetrators
thereof'-he paused just for an instant
here, with a meditative little laugh,
while he mentally commented: "Therel
got over that very neatlyr'-"is, that
II proves them to be rather inexperi-
enced in such work. Now, let me go
over the whole ground, Mrs Maynard"
he added more seriously, "and point
out to you the fatal discrepancies that
ed TO our de-defeat."
He had commenced TO say "dctec-
tion," but just as the word was trcm-
bling on his lips he substituted for 1t
the more non-committal term.
Mrs Maynard having assented silent
ly to his proposition, he proceeded at
once TO his critical review of the forged
will.
TO BE CONTINUED