Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1893-10-26

proceeded 20 declare crrclsoust 10 flaa.
ilc taisinquiry She hal known llamil
t1a D.raltaud his wife infinitely, and
wa5 rwa;iy alta 'hcJ 3D. them both: an.
for ..r sJ.sc5 she felt an unJ,lIl iu.
tn.t iu their iuflut daughter. wh'
was. am told, at that time rcmurlM
bly, beautiful child-whi.h ! can very
easily believe, having seen Tor mysri.
what a charming woman she has be
come
As he spoke these last words with the
same air Of simple good faith that had
characterized all his previous state
mcnts, Mr.. Maynard glanced invpi1u
tarily at Miss Hilary. rs II phtting h
verdict 10 the critical test Of her own
dispassionatc judgment. Miss Hilary.
with eyes downcast, was unconscious IS
the swift scrutiny, Smiling q little as
he observed II, North continued:
This lady Furthermore stated that
she was slightly acquainted with Mrs.
Duul,irk, Hamilton Dupont's sister.
Now this is in effect what she said
10 the authorities at the asylum
Mrs. DunlSirlt Is wealthy widow,
and Annie, rs her only living relative,
has claim upon her which no one
can dispute. But Mrs. Dunl;irk Is u
cold, stern woman, utterly unfit To be
the guardian Of tender child like
Annie. Let me adopt this little one and
rear her lovingly for her own and her
parents salSes Lest Mrs Dunlsirk
should discover her and try to take her
from me, will conceal her real name
and call her by my own; not even the
child herself shall ever know that / nm
not her own true mother until ! shall
/ deem that the proper time has come to
| disclose the secret. will have all
necessary proofs Of her identity at hand,
7 40 that II her aunt should die leaving
/ her fortune 10 the next Of kin. Annic's
claim can easily be established All this
/ | promise and will fulfill; only let me
have the child to care for and love as
my own
"Wcll. TO be brief about II, the lady
carried her point. The adoption papers
were duly made out, and before an
other day had elapsed Annie Dupont
had left the orphan asylum, never t.
enter IL again. She was taken to the
home of her new mother and given the
name Of that lady-thc name ny wlu.H
she was ever after called; and She hu.
never known 10 this day, though shall
marvel very greatly II she doesn't be-
gin TO suspect It soon, that She ever wa'
Annie Dupont
Again Mrs. Maynards glance sought
Miss Hilary, this time 10 encounter
Myras eyes, full Of eager speculation
II each had spoken the thought Ia hci
own mind In that instant, the dcnouc
mcnt of North's story would have beer
materially FASTENED. But they boil
held their peace and waited for him I,
unfold the mystery in his own way.
"Beyond this point he went on
catching up the narrative again after {
mcditativc little pause, II cannot in thi
necessarily brief outline follow her his
tory step by step for the next fifteen oi
twenty wears. II Is essential however
10 note that the lady soon after en-
barkcd for Europe, where her husban,
held some official position under on
govcrnmcnt-consul in some rcmut,
foreign part ! may as well add II
this connection that he died yea
later, and his widow, now more thar
ever devoted % her adopted duughtc
and drcuding Il separation from he
more than anything in the world, re
manned abroad for several years, drift
ing from one point of interest To an
other; thus Annie was nearly grow
to womanhood before She revisited he
native land. Owing 20 this fact, a
well ms to the entire lack of any definit
information To work on, and the multi
plicity of false clews that were givci
from time 10 time, the detectives whom
Mrs DunlSirlS at different periods on
gagged in her search for her niece wer
baillcd in all their attempts TO find her
Swallowed up in another name an
identity, Annie Dupont had PRACTICAL
ceased TO exist.
"And now | must digrcss just for
moment In order to bring TO you
notice yet another person who play
nm important part in the scquc
This person Is ut present living I
Evansburg, small place abou
ten miles from u, and II wa
from her that | succeeded In OF
tanning my chief evidence In TIL
case. Her name is of no consequence,
or rather, II Ia OF 50 much consequence
that shall withhold 1t for the presen
Taken ut an early age from wretche
tenement house In New York, an
transferred To the different atmospher
of wealthy lady's home, where for III
first time In her life she was treated Z
human being, where her hands wer
trained To dizziness in all househol
duties, where she was given soun
rudimentary education and was ftte
by kind and painstalIing instruction (,
the humble walk In life for whic
nature and circumstances had evident
designed her, this girl knew no bett'
than TO misinterpret the intentions Z
her kind benefactress (who was, as yc
may have already shrewdly surmise
none other than Annie Dupont
adaptive mother, and upon this misi
, depreciation to build the most absui
, and eXtravngant expectations. II mt
have been the girls own prepostero,
vanity that conceived the notion, or
. is possible that the thought was su
( Rcsted TO her by some older person.
this as II may, she began to cherish Il
I hope that she would some day receive
Q liberal share of the lndy's small forum
. To which, as she knew, there were
I immediate heirs. II was only VIII
y Annie Dupont was legally adopted tn
@ this absurd bubble burst. LEARNT
+ accidentally at this time Of the fooli
9 expectation that the girl had been
Il dulging, the lady told her to dismiss I
!. | idea Mt once Il shoull npvpr ma