Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-05-04

fair for him to throw me over in this
/ unceremonious way. By Jove! I'll
tell him what / think Of this unbroth-
| erly conduct when / see him again.
And can tell him something else that
will interest him quite as much, per-
haps that there hasn't been :
day in the last six years when
Uncle Dick wouldn't have given
his right hand to make up his
| quarrel with No11 and receive him back
into full favor again, If only Noll would
make the first advances. How should
like to see the dear old fellow againl
This Cervantes brings him up so wildly,
to think that he should still keep 1t
about him! It must be for the Sale Of
old associations That is so like Noll.'
While these thoughts were passing
! through his mind North had taken up
| the book again, and he was now slowly
turning the pages, pausing occasionally
to read some marked passage or mar
ginal note scrawled in pencil.
As he did so a folded paper futtered
| from between the leaves and fell to the
floor. North picked up the paper and
unfoldcd it. It was telegram adj
dressed to Ollin North. Before he was
conscious of what he was ss..ag Allan
| North had read these wordl:
"Wiu proves to be forgery. N.sa IS respon.
| sible for this? We look to yourself and Mrs.
| Maynard for explanations Search for Mrs.
| Dunkirk's niece will be prosecuted Also an
! investigation OF this forgery Let US hear from
| you 1t once. HOPKINS s. SHEPHERD
1t would be impossible to give any
adequate description of North's state OF
| - $1,sc vr,1,s L. t.,
startling significance slowly penetrated
through the first dazed wonder that it
created. BY degrees clear and definite
idea shaped itself in his mind.
''Wen!' he exclaimed aloud, ''if this
isn't the most remarkable coincidence
I ever heard Of! And it plunges me
deeper than ever into embarrassments.
Mrs. Maynard-surelv that is the name;
why did it not occur to me at once?
Mrs. Maynard, represented in court by
Hopkins and Shepherd, of New York, is
the claimant in the Dunkirk will case,
in which my partners, Hunter and
Ketchum, appear as executors and So
Gcitors of the estate. l, who have pre-
viously had no connection with the case,
come here to Y as the representa-
tive of Hunter and Ketchum, to investi.
gate clew which they hope may lead
to the discovery of Annie Dupont, the
sole heir at law; and behold, am mis-
| taken by the claimant for her own
| lawyer! Could such combination OF
| circumstances occur more than once in
hundred years?"
Once more he took up the telegram
and read it. In his first hasty perusal
he had overlooked one point which a
second and more careful reading now
brought out with startling prominence.
"'We look to yourself and Mrs.
| Maynard "-he read the sentence aloud
| in puzzled way for explanations.
What does this mean? Can it be pos
sible that they suspect Good
| heavens! It all flashes upon me now!
Why was 1 so blind as not to see it be-
fore?'
Dashing the telegram Gown on the
desk, he rose to his feet with his face
grown suddenly white, and commenced
to pace rapidly to and fro.
Mrs. Maynard, the claimant. Ol1in
North, her confidential legal adviser.
What had been his own previous suspi-
cion concerning these two? Only too well
did he remember it now; and he saw it
plainly reflected in that message OF
Hopkins & Shepherd. In swift rush
of thought Allan North reviewed all
the incidents Of the case that had first
led to his suspicion; he took up one by
one the various links which, though
slight and Insignificant in themselves,
yet when skillfully united formed a
complete chain of damaging evidence:
Nv, lo
finished he had surrendered most re-
luctantly to the belief that seemed to
be irresistibly forced upon him.
"Can it be possible" he asked him
self, still in a maze of bewildcred
thought, Of unwilling conviction, that
Noll has so far forgotten his personal
and professional honor as to descend to
such deed as this? There is only one
hypothesis upon which can explain it
at all. He must have been mad-in-
fatuated! A beautiful face has lured
many man to his ruin, and Noll has
doubtless been the victim Of the artful
wiles that were practiced upon me to-
day. So be it! Fate has NEST strange
" put it within my power to visit a
just retribution upon her, and | will
exercise that power without mercy.
will deliberately keep up the deception
in which have thus far acquiesced for
my own idle amusement, and il the as
surned character of my brother asce-.
tain how far Mrs. Maynard has know
ledge and completely in this forgery.
And if find that she is responsible for
the wretched conspiracy, let her be-
ware!"
There was a pitiless anger in North's
heart as he spoke these words in
audible soliloauy, and pitilcss ex-
preston on his stern, set face. He did
not for one moment question the cor
rectness of his suspicious, the justice of
his conclusions; he felt an inward con-
viction of their truth which was to mis-
mind confirmation strong as proofs Cf
holy writ The thought of the crime to
which he believed that his brother had
been lured, the exposure and disgrace
that threatened him, the stigma that
would thenceforth rest upon the fani-
thus his resolution was formed; he
would take advantage Of the peculiar
circumstances in which an exceptional
turn Of fortune had placed him. to learn
the whole truth concerning the forgery.
and if possible divert public suspicicsi
and discovery from his brother, for the
sake of the innocent ones who would
suffer if his crime became known.
TO DE CONTINUED.
Ancient Dentistry.
- 4 - - o-,.aof